'India does not bomb its citizens': Islamabad cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi calls Pakistan government 'tyrannical'

In a surprise remark, Abdul Aziz Ghazi, a cleric of Pakistan's Lal Masjid, often known for courting controversies, has claimed that war with India would not be an Islamic act and slammed the government in Islamabad "cruel and useless". 

In a May 2 video circulating on social media, Ghazi says India does not kills its citizens like Pakistan does. "Did the Lal Masjid tragedy happen in India?" he said, referring to the siege of Lal Masjid in 2007, and continued, "Does India bomb its own citizens? Are people disappearing in India like they are in Pakistan?"

The Lal Masjid saw strong resistance against the Pervez Musharaf government in 2006. In 2007, the military launched Operation Sunrise that saw 154 people getting killed at Lal Masjid.

In one part of the video, Ghazi asks the spectators whether they will back Pakistan if and when a war breaks out with India. With the audience remaining quiet and only a few raising their hands, Ghazi said, "There are only a few", referring to the raised hands. "This means many are enlightened now. War between Pakistan and India is not Islamic."

He said the Pakistani government is worse than that of India, accusing Islamabad of killing its own people in Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"Have such atrocities occurred in India? Have their fighter jets bombed their people the way ours have? Are so many people reported missing in India? Here, people are exhausted from staging protests in search of their loved ones," adding that clerics, journalists and members of Tehreek-e-Insaf have gone missing.

The cleric's remarks comes as India and Pakistan have hit a low in their diplomatic ties over the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. Holding Pakistan responsible for supporting cross-border terrorism, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and blocked all trade with the neighbour.

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