‘Pakistan is disintegrating’: Fazlur Rehman dares Field Marshal Gen Asim Munir to contest polls
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Pakistan is disintegrating’: Fazlur Rehman dares Field Marshal Gen Asim Munir to contest polls")
‘Pakistan is disintegrating’: Fazlur Rehman dares Field Marshal Asim Munir to contest polls Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman heavily criticised Army Chief Gen Asim Munir, daring him to ditch the uniform and contest elections as Pakistan faces instability.
From the killing of security personnel to raging protests, Pakistan has been rocked by internal chaos. In a major embarrassment for Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, a leading politician in the country has criticised the military's approach and conceded that his country is falling apart. Addressing a public gathering in Pakistan's Punjab province, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Fazlur Rehman asserted that the responsibility for defending the country rests with the military and not ordinary citizens.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said," The entire area of Balochistan had gone outside the authority of Pakistan. Even today, there is no writ of the Pakistan government there. We were crying over the Baloch area. Now, even the Pashtun area is bathing in blood. We have got over 50 dead bodies in the Pashtun areas over the last two to three days."
On this occasion, Rehman also accused the military of pushing future generations towards violence. Taking a veiled dig at Munir's political meddling, the veteran member of parliament dared military personnel to retire and contest elections. To test the army's popularity on the ground.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said, “If you want to do politics, then take off your uniform and come. Take part in the election. You will get to know how many votes people in uniform receive. It is your right to put anyone in government and to snatch it away from whomever you wish.”
The public criticism of the Pakistan Army comes at a juncture when Balochistan is on the boil, even as Pakistan continues to jail human rights activists like Dr Mahrang Baloch. The unrest on the ground cannot be understated. Last week, the Pakistani military revealed that insurgents had abducted and executed 18 police officers. After attacking a police post. This is not all; eleven soldiers were killed when their vehicle was ambushed on a highway.
As per Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, at least 114 militants have been killed,
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Across Balochistan, several operations were conducted thereafter. Meanwhile, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif sought to deflect the blame by chairing a meeting attended by Munir and Balochistan CM Sarfraz Bugti last week. He accused militants of using Afghanistan's territory to launch attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Balochistan. Pakistan's deteriorating security situation is also evident from hard data.
According to the South Asia Terrorism portal, Pakistan has already witnessed 650 incidents of killing in 2026 so far. 487 civilians and 730 security personnel have lost their lives. On the other hand, close to 1,200 militants have been killed. Apart from its own backyard, the unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is almost at the point of no return. A new slogan emphasising that PoJK won't become another province of Pakistan is reverberating throughout. In the illegally occupied Indian territory, thousands of supporters of the civil society group Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) have been on a sit-in at Rawalakot's Eidgah ground. Since June 9, the protests were originally ignited by a ban on JAAC, which put forth 38 demands, including the abolition of 12 seats in the so-called legislative assembly, which are dominated by Pakistanis.
Over the weekend, fresh violence was reported in PoJK's Baagh Arja Jandala area. As per reports, security personnel opened fire on peaceful protesters as demonstrations continued over demands for basic rights, economic relief, and political freedoms. In another challenge for the Munir-led forces, JAAC has now declared that it would stage a,
long march towards Muzaffarabad on July 15. And has further appealed to the general public to participate in full force. With the ongoing conflict with Afghanistan and Munir's disdain for any dialogue with the opposition and civil society forces within Pakistan, as well as PoJK. It is amply clear that the internal turmoil in Pakistan is unlikely to settle down anytime soon.
