Who is Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan? Pakistani Senator’s Ayodhya remarks spark outrage

As India and Pakistan grapple with renewed tensions after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, a video of Pakistani Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan making provocative remarks in Pakistan parliament has gone viral, fuelling diplomatic ire and social media outrage.
In a fiery speech delivered in Pakistan’s Upper House on April 29, the senator declared, “The first brick of the new Babri mosque in Ayodhya will be laid by Pakistan Army soldiers, and the first azaan will be given by Army Chief Asim Munir himself.”
The comments, invoking the Babri mosque demolished in 1992, came as part of a broader tirade laced with religious and militaristic rhetoric. Palwasha Khan, a member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and deputy information secretary, suggested that the path was being laid for a “Muslim government, specifically a Pakistani Muslim government, in the Indian subcontinent.”
“There is no doubt, this enmity is not with Pakistan or Pakistanis; this is enmity against Muslims and against Islam,” she said.
Watch video-

Issuing a direct threat to India, she warned, “The Senate of Pakistan must send a message, if any hand reaches toward us, then the symbol of their power, the Red Fort of Delhi, will witness a bloodshed that its walls have never seen, and its ramparts will testify to it for centuries to come.”
Khan, who represents Sindh in the Senate and previously served in the National Assembly from 2008 to 2013, emphasized that Pakistanis were not weak. “We are not wearing bangles,” she said.
Quoting late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, she added, “We have guns, we have arms, we have trees—and if the enemy tries anything, we will hang their corpses from our trees.”
Despite the hostile language, she claimed to have no quarrel with Indian citizens. “But let me be clear: we have no enmity with the people of India.”
Khan also attempted to draw religious divides within the Indian armed forces, asserting, “The Sikh army will not attack Pakistan because it’s the land of Guru Nanak for them.”
She went on to praise Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who is a designated terrorist under Indian law. “I want to salute Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who courageously declared that no Indian soldier will be allowed to cross into Pakistan from Indian Punjab.”
Ending her speech with a call to arms, the senator proclaimed, “Our army is not just six or seven lakh soldiers, we have 250 million people who, when the time comes, will stand shoulder to shoulder with our armed forces and become soldiers themselves, God willing.”
The speech has since circulated widely on social media platforms, drawing sharp reactions amid the already strained ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.