Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz may find lyricist Javed Akhtar's poetry "blended in music very soothing" but Akhtar put the Pakistani leader on the mat Friday with a question on Islamabad's human rights record.

Akhtar, who was among the distinguished participants at the India Today Conclave as Aziz addressed them via satellite television from Islamabad, asked him why Pakistan, which expressed concern about alleged rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir "almost on a daily basis", has shown no such concern about the rights of its own citizens.

He was referring to the thousands of Pakistani citizens in Bangladesh, known as Biharis, whom Pakistan has refused to take back after the erstwhile East Pakistan became independent Bangladesh in 1971.

Noting that Pakistan always talked about the "core issue of Kashmir", Akhtar pointedly asked Aziz whether Islamabad realises that it is also the "core issue of 150 million Indian Muslims" - a reference to possible backlash by the Hindu majority against Pakistan's support for Kashmiri separatists.

"Do you want them to live as second class citizens in India or migrate to Pakistan?" Akhtar asked.

Somwhat evasive and digressing in his replies, Aziz said "several million" Biharis from Bangladesh were already in Pakistan while many had settled in Bangladesh itself.

"There are a few who would want to come ... and we are engaged in discussion with them."

About the Muslims in India, Aziz said they were getting all their rights.

"We in Pakistan naturally watch how they are doing and they are always watching how Pakistan is doing. Unlike Kashmir, which is a disputed territory, those living in India, I am sure, are given all rights and citizenship," he added.

Aziz started his reply by complimenting Akhtar and said he and many Pakistanis enjoyed his poetry and found it "very soothing" when blended with music.