Pakistan pokes fun at Indian PM Modi over Bihar defeat

• 10 November 2015
 
• From the sectionIndia

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThe defeat is seen as a setback for Narendra Modi

Pakistani fundamentalists and liberals have both cheered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election defeat in Bihar, though for very different reasons, writes the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.

Mr Modi has emerged as possibly the "most hated" Indian leader in Pakistan to date.

Islamists here see him in a negative light due to his image as a Hindu revivalist. Pakistani liberals, on the other hand, dislike him because they feel his nationalist rhetoric only helps strengthen the fundamentalist lobby in the country.

Therefore, both camps saw plenty of reason to celebrate Mr Modi's election loss in Bihar.

Television channels laced their news of the BJP defeat with poetic narratives of political irony and Bollywood songs of heroes taunting villains.

Pakistan's most reputed newspaper, Dawn, in a front-page headline noted that "Bihar Steals Modi's Crackers" - a reference to BJP president Amit Shah's pre-election warning to voters that "if BJP loses in Bihar, crackers will go off in Pakistan".

A previous report on the Dawn website on Sunday evening was headlined "Bihar Voters Put Modi Out to Pasture", a reference to what many Pakistanis call "cow politics" after a Muslim man in India was recently lynched by a Hindu mob for allegedly consuming beef.

Pakistan's official PTV in a tweet reckoned that Bihar election results were indicative of Mr Modi's waning appeal in India.

Image copyrightTwitter

Another journalist tweeted that he hoped the defeat would teach Mr Modi to drop jingoism and improve relations with Pakistan

In short, there is an overall sense of vindication across Pakistan, with some predicting that this election defeat will throw water on Mr Modi's religious revivalism. Others are hoping it will cool temperatures on the India-Pakistan border.

Yet others are enjoying the moment while it lasts, like Gen Raheel Sharif - an anonymous tweeter who impersonates the Pakistani army chief - who tweeted: "Mr Modi called, said 'my party lost Bihar election, what do I do??' [I] replied, macho men never accept defeat, simply call it rigged."