Pakistani Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan sparked controversy after a video of her went viral in which she claimed that the Pakistan Army would lay the first brick of a new Babri mosque in Ayodhya and that Army Chief Asim Munir would give the first azaan.
Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, a video of Pakistani Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan has gone viral in which she makes a controversial statement regarding the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. In a fiery speech delivered in Pakistan’s Upper House on April 29, Senator Khan declared that “the first brick of the new Babri mosque in Ayodhya will be laid by Pakistan Army soldiers” and that “the first azaan will be given by Army Chief Asim Munir himself.” She added defiantly, “We are not wearing bangles,” implying a call to assertiveness from the Pakistani side.
The senator also suggested that Sikh personnel in the Indian Army would refrain from attacking Pakistan, citing religious sentiments: “If they are threatening Pakistan, then let them know that the Sikh army will not attack Pakistan because it’s the land of Guru Nanak for them,” she claimed.
Who is Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan?
Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan is a senator representing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), where she serves as the deputy information secretary. She has been a member of the Upper House of Parliament since March 2021, elected on a women’s reserved seat from Sindh province.
Previously, she served as a Member of the National Assembly from 2008 to 2013. She is also the niece of Fozia Behram, a politician and businesswoman who was the only woman elected to the Punjab Assembly in the 1988–90 general elections.
Escalating India-Pakistan tensions
Her remarks come amid rapidly deteriorating relations between New Delhi and Islamabad. On April 23, militants attacked tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing 26 people — 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen. Following the attack, India has taken a series of punitive actions against Pakistan, including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, closing its airspace to Pakistani flights, downgrading diplomatic relations, and shutting the Attari land border crossing.
Pakistan has responded by closing its airspace to Indian carriers and threatening to withdraw from the Shimla Agreement, among other bilateral accords. Cross-border ceasefire violations have also intensified along the Line of Control and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.
