'Where will you take water of these rivers?': Jamiat chief Arshad Madani on suspension of Indus treaty

NEW DELHI: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind chief Arshad Madani on Sunday appeared to doubt the feasibility of the government's suspension of a river water treaty with Pakistan . Madani said rivers have been flowing for "thousands of years" and questioned where the water of these rivers will go.

Following the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed terrorists, the government took various measures against Pakistan. The steps include suspending the Indus Waters agreement signed in 1960.

"If someone stops water, let them stop it... These rivers have been flowing for thousands of years, where will you take their water? It's not easy," news agency ANI quoted Madani as saying.

Madani further suggested that there should be a "rule of love," and not hatred.

"The rule should be of love and not hatred. I am a Muslim, I am spending my life here in this country, and I know that the things which are being promoted here are not suitable for the country", Arshad Madani said.

Pakistan has called suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India an "act of war." The country's politicians have been making provocative remarks on the subject.

"Modi has unilaterally decided to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, under which India had acknowledged that the Indus belongs to Pakistan. I want to tell India that the Indus is ours and will remain ours. Either water will flow in this Indus, or their blood will," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party chief and ex-foreign minister, said days after India suspended the agreement.

On Sunday, Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif, vowed his country would target "any structure" India builds on the Indus River.

"Certainly, if they (India) attempt to build any kind of structure, we will strike it. Aggression is not just about firing cannons or bullets; it has many faces. One of those faces is [blocking or diverting water], which could lead to deaths due to hunger and thirst. But for now, we are heading to forums available to us, starting from the Indus Waters Treaty," Asif told Geo News.