Peshawar: A cleric from Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been arrested for slamming the Pakistan Army for its brutality and vowing to back India if the two countries go to war.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is in northwestern Pakistan, boarding Afghanistan. The Pakistani government is facing stiff resistance in that region from outfits like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that is not part of the Afghan Taliban, but shares the same ideology.
In a video that has been widely circulated, the cleric, identified as Maulvi Gulzar of Mardan, says: “Hindus have not treated us as cruelly as Pakistani soldiers have treated us in jail. If India attacks Pakistan, we will support India because of the cruelty of the Pakistani government.”
He goes on to accuse Pakistani soldiers of “inhuman treatment” of prisoners and religious scholars.
He goes on to claim that when he was in jail, “All ulema swore on the Holy Quran that if India attacks Pakistan, we will support India. The cruelty with which the Pakistan Army treats Muslims and madrasa students, never has any Hindu or Indian soldier done. Indian Army is better than Pakistan Army.”
The video has been shared by Afghan media. Reports now say that Maulvi Gulzar has been picked up by Pakistani intelligence agencies after he delivered a speech critical of the Pakistani army and intelligence services. He is currently in detention.
Authorities in Pakistan have not released any statement and there is no way to verify the authenticity of the video. However, it does highlight the growing resentment in some tribal regions towards Pakistan’s military.
