WATCH: Pakistani politician admits Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and other terrorists got military funerals after Op Sindoor

Ahead of the first anniversary of India’s Operation Sindoor, a senior Pakistani political figure has publicly alleged that the country’s military extended formal honours to individuals designated as terrorists, including Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.

Shaheer Sialvi, head of the Pakistan Nazriyati Party, claimed in a video that those killed during the operation were accorded military funerals with full state honours. According to Sialvi, uniformed personnel carried the bodies, and the rites were led not by clerics but by religious officials associated with the Pakistan Army.

Speaking at an event organised by Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sialvi said the manner of the funerals was intended to portray the deceased not as terrorists but as “freedom fighters” who had died for a cause. His remarks were captured on video, which has since circulated widely on social media.

The comments appear to challenge Pakistan’s long-standing position that such groups operate as “non-state actors”. Sialvi also referenced locations such as Muridke and Bahawalpur, widely identified as strongholds of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

“For the first time, it happened that attacks took place on Muridke and Bahawalpur ... The attacks took place on those two places that India had already declared as terrorist hubs internationally and had convinced the world of its narrative. This is the first time it has happened that if we have fought this war, it has been under the leadership of Hafiz Saeed and Maulana Masood Azhar,” Sialvi said in the circulated video. He further stated that he had personally met Hafiz Saeed. Sialvi is the son of Pakistani Army Brigadier Haider Malik.

Pahalgam terrorist attack and Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead. The operation targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled areas, focusing on sites linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.x