World is witness to India’s hate speech against Muslims: ISPR

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army on Wednesday took a strong exception to a baseless statement of the Indian Army chief in which he called Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism and said such politically motivated and fallacious statements reflect the extreme politicisation of Indian Army.

“Insinuating Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism by the Indian Army chief is not only contrary to facts, but also an exercise in futility to beat the dead horse of India’s default position — blaming Pakistan for indigenous reaction to state-sponsored brutality. It is a classic case of extreme duplicity,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in strong words.

The media wing of Pakistan Army observed such a statement is an attempt to deflect world’s attention from India’s brutality in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), repression of minorities internally and India’s trans-national repression.

“The General Officer, in his earlier stint in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, personally oversaw the most brutal repression of Kashmiris,” the ISPR recalled.

“Empathizing with the victims of Indian Army’s brutality, it is hoped that civility, professionalism, and norms of state-to-state behaviour would guide the conduct of Indian Army’s leadership, rather than pandering to political exigencies.

“Pakistan takes strong exception to such baseless and unfounded statements,” the ISPR statement said.

It said that the world is witness to India’s hate-speech conclaves that provoke genocide against Muslims and the international community is not oblivious to India’s trans-national assassinations, and Indian Security Forces’ oppressive use of force against innocent civilians and gross human rights violations against unarmed Kashmiris.

“Such oppression has only served to strengthen the resolve of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination, enshrined in the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSC),” the ISPR said.

Instead of trying to conjure up a non-existent terror infrastructure in Pakistan, the military leadership of India was advised that it would be wise not to indulge in self-delusion and appreciate the ground reality. “The sobering fact that a senior serving Indian military officer is in Pakistan’s custody, caught red-handed while orchestrating acts of terror against innocent civilians inside Pakistan, seems to have been conveniently ignored by the General,” the ISPR emphatically said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office, in a statement, said that Pakistan strongly rejects the baseless accusations and unfounded assertions made by India’s defence minister and Chief of Army Staff on 13 and 14 January 2025.

Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally recognised disputed territory, whose final status is to be determined in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. In this context, India has no legal or moral grounds to assert fictitious claims over the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the statement said. Such rhetoric from Indian leadership cannot divert international attention from the grave human rights violations and oppressive measures being carried out in the IIOJK. These actions suppress the legitimate and just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination.

Pakistan also underscores that provocative statements of this nature are counterproductive to regional peace and stability, the FO said. Instead of leveling baseless allegations against others, India must introspect and address its own documented involvement in orchestrating targeted assassinations, acts of subversion and state-sponsored terrorism in foreign territories.