Islamabad: Controversial Pakistan cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi slammed the government of his own country amid rising tensions with India. During a sermon at Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, Ghazi said that the war with India is not Islamic. A video clip of the cleric's speech is going viral on social media.
In the clip, Ghazi could be heard pointing towards an internal turmoil in Pakistan. He described the Pakistani government as oppressive. He even accused the Pakistani government of using violence against citizens of the country.
Notably, when Ghazi asked his followers whether they would fight for Pakistan in case war broke out with India, there was a pin-drop silence and not a single hand was raised.
Video of Abdul Aziz Ghazi's Sermons:
"If a war breaks out between Pakistan and India, how many of you will support Pakistan? Raise your hands.” Ghazi said. In response, nobody raised their hands. He then said, "Very few hands are visible this means that all of you are sensible. The war with India is not Islamic."
The cleric also highlighted the 2007 attack on Lal masjid by Pakistani security forces to slam the government. "Nowadays, the system in Pakistan is a system of disbelief (kufr), worse than that of India. In India, there is not much oppression as is in Pakistan. Is there any incident like Lal Masjid happened in India?" Ghazi said.
He also slammed the Pakistani forces for atrocities in Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said, "Have you seen such a type of atrocities in India as there in Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Have their (India's) fighter jets bombed their own people?" Ghazi stated.
Once seen as a poster boy of the Pakistan establishment, Ghazi is now turned into a critic of Shehbaz Sharif-led government.
The cleric's statement came amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
