Pak politician accuses military of ‘double standards’ on India, Af

In a sharp attack on Pakistan’s security establishment, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman accused the military leadership of employing a “double standard” regarding cross-border military operations. Speaking at a recent gathering in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the influential Deobandi cleric questioned the logical consistency of Pakistan’s defence policy, specifically contrasting Islamabad’s recent strikes in Afghanistan with its diplomatic outrage over Indian activities within Pakistani borders.He asked Pakistan’s military brass why India’s actions inside Pakistan should be condemned when Islamabad justifies strikes in Afghanistan by calling them attacks on its enemies. Rehman argued that if Pakistan claimed a sovereign right to launch pre-emptive or retaliatory strikes against perceived enemies on Afghan soil, it weakened its moral and legal standing when protesting similar actions by India. “We sent militants to Afghanistan for 20 years... from giving them Kalashnikovs to Cruise missiles... we empowered them in every way. When you bombed Kabul, it was as if someone had bombed your Islamabad. This is the limit, isn’t it? If you had bombed the remote areas, you might have been able to tolerate it. So, you took some action there as well...”“...If you say, and I have questions, that we have attacked the enemy’s headquarters and you call this a legitimate statement, India says to you that it has attacked Bahawalpur, it has attacked Muridke, it has attacked the headquarters of those who are operating against us in Kashmir. Why are you objecting to this? And if you object to this, and if you have the same claims against Afghanistan, how will you justify it..?” Rehman’s criticism comes at a time when Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir continues his anti-India rhetoric and claims that Pakistan received “divine help” during the military confrontation with India in May which was felt during the days of intense fighting that followed Indian strikes on terror targets.Rehman’s comments touch upon a sensitive nerve in geopolitics, specifically referring to locations like Bahawalpur and Muridke — areas long identified as hubs for terrorist groups like JeM and LeT — which were decimated during Operation Sindoor. By asking, “Why different rules for India?” Rehman highlighted the strategic hypocrisy: justification of “counterterrorism strikes” in the west, while demanding absolute territorial sanctity in the east.