New Delhi: Pakistan Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir’s actions in Afghanistan have been questioned by an Islamist in his country.
Prominent Pakistani cleric and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman Monday criticised the Pakistani military strikes in Afghanistan, warning that Asim Munir’s rationale for cross-border strikes justify India’s strikes on Pakistan as well.
Rehman was speaking at a religious roundtable in Lyari, Karachi, where he said, “Regional tensions should be resolved through dialogue and restraint”.
“If you justify attacking Afghanistan by claiming you are targeting your enemy there, then why do you object when India targets its enemy in Bahawalpur and Muridke (inside Pakistan)?” he asked.
Rehman also said Afghanistan was seeking strong relations with Pakistan, something he claimed no previous Afghan government had pursued. He criticised the policies and approach of Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies towards the Taliban-led government, saying they were “unacceptable”.
Rehman then said it was the Pakistan military that was responsible for the deterioration in ties with Afghanistan.
He added that Pakistan’s conduct had also strained relations with Iran and India, but diplomatic engagement continued with those countries despite cross-border incidents. “If ties can continue with them, why not with Afghanistan?” he asked.
His statements come a day after Pakistani newspapers reported that Munir in a meeting with Ulemas in Islamabad on 10 December had said that Afghan Taliban must choose between Pakistan and TTP.
He then described the TTP as a direct threat to the Pakistani state. He further added that formations of TTP infiltrating into Pakistan are “mostly Afghans”.
“No one can issue a fatwa for jihad without the order and permission and will of those vested with the authority,” Munir said during the conference.
Rehman Monday convened the meeting under Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Ummat Pakistan, and it included representatives of religious organisations from across ideological lines. The group also condemned attacks by the Afghan Taliban.
Rehman, the chief of the JUI-F, has been a critic of Islamabad’s Afghanistan policy. In October, as relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban deteriorated sharply, he offered to mediate between the two sides, telling reporters in Islamabad that he had previously played a role in easing tensions between the neighbours.
Relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban worsened after Pakistan carried out strikes in October on targets in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan, triggering deadly border clashes. Pakistani authorities, on their part, accuse the Taliban of sheltering militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out a series of attacks inside Pakistan.
The Afghan Taliban deny this allegation but according to local Afghan reports, many Afghan Taliban fighters had joined a faction of Pakistan Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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