Sharif denies making ‘dehati aurat’ comment regarding Singh

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, upon hearing about the ‘dehati auart’ comment allegedly made by him, in immediate damage-control, sent a message to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that he never used such language against him. According to senior Pakistani officials, Sharif directed his close aides to get in touch with Indian officials as soon as he came to know that a controversy had erupted over impolite comments purportedly made by him.

Sharif is understood to have tasked his Foreign Secretary, Jalil Abbas Jilani to pass on the message to Singh that he never used such language while referring to Singh. Jilani called Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, to offer an explanation. According to the paper, Menon told Jilani that he has already verified the authenticity of the aforementioned statements.

Earlier, a Pakistani journalist who was present at the breakfast hosted by Nawaz Sharif denied that the Prime Minister had used any word like ‘dehati aurat’ for Singh. He, however, said Sharif was not pleased that Singh ‘complained’ against Pakistan when he met US President Barack Obama in Washington. “He never uttered any such word,” said Absar Alam, anchorperson Aaj TV of Pakistan. He said Sharif made his displeasure known by citing an anecdotal story. “The story goes like this – after a party all the attendees sleep in a hall. One of them wakes up the next morning and starts praying. In his prayers he says Allah! Look, I am praying to you while all these others are sleeping. Another person wakes up and hears him, saying “why don’t you concentrate on your prayers instead of complaining against us.”