'It is odd': Foreign Secretary Misri refutes Pakistan's coffin claim of civilians being buried at Muridke funeral
In a press briefing by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday displayed a picture of Pakistani army personnel at a funeral organised for three terrorists that were killed in India's retaliatory strikes on May 7.
He highlighted the fact that the three people—whom Pakistan had claimed were civilians—were being buried in coffins draped in Pakistani flags, with full state honours accorded to them.
The funeral, held on Wednesday in Muridke—approximately 40km from Lahore—was also attended by members of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), the banned organisation led by terrorist Hafiz Saeed, according to a PTI report.
The three individuals, identified in the report as Qari Abdul Malik, Khalid, and Mudassir, were killed in a targeted strike on terror group’s headquarters in Muridke, one of the nine terrorist camps on which the Indian military launched precision strikes, as a part of 'Operation Sindoor'.
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The funeral was held under tight security and was also attended by members of Pakistan’s civil bureaucracy, the report said, quoting Tabish Qayyum, spokesperson of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, a political wing of the JuD. The funeral prayer was led by Hafiz Abdul Rauf, with prayers offered for the safety and security of the country.
Misri soon refuted Pakistan's claim that the three people being buried were civilians, since no civilian was likely to be buried in such a grand manner, with full state honours accorded to them.
"We have made the point very clearly that all attacks on the morning of May 7 were against carefully selected terrorist infrastructure, terrorist targets. In fact, seeing some of the coverage of the after effects of these strikes, including the funerals for the terrorists that are held yesterday, I think a lot of you have seen the reports and the coverage on media.”
He then used this argument to refute another of pakistan's claims: that India had deliberately attacked religious sites.
“I have made it clear that the targets were terrorist infrastructure, terrorist facilities, and locations connected clearly with incidents of cross-border terrorism into India. And it is, in fact, Pakistan that is misusing religious sites as a cover to, in fact, radicalise, direct and indoctrinate and train terrorists,” Misri added.
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