The Pakistan Army has called out its Indian counterpart for becoming “communalised” in recent years under the Narendra Modi government. Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Babar Iftikhar has said: “India is promoting the ideology of Hindutva and the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) has broken all laws".
The Pakistani military spokesperson in a special briefing on Friday said that the RSS – the parent organisation of the country's governing party BJP – is spreading Hindutva terror and is communalising the Indian military.
“Saffronisation of Indian military and polity is a sad spectre that the world can ill afford it in present situation”, Major General Babar Iftikhar said after the special conference, chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in Rawalpindi. Babar maintained that the conference participants took notice of Indian aggression along the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir between the two South Asian arch-rivals.
Pakistan's military accused its Indian counterpart of targeting civilians on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, where at least 31 people were injured while one was killed in the past few days. Babar also accused India of violating the ceasefire at least 805 times this year.
“Indian troops deliberately targeted civilian population in Jammu Kashmir”, Babar stated. On Friday, troops of the two countries have been engaged in massive artillery fire since the morning.
The Pakistan Army chief has also ordered military commanders to keep strict vigilance on the situation along the borders and the country's security.
Earlier this week, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan accused India's Narendra Modi-led government of “the deliberate and violent targeting of Muslims” to divert the backlash over its COVID-19 policy. Imran Khan called the policy adopted by the Indian government “akin to what Nazis did to Jews in Germany”.
The two South Asian nations have been at loggerheads since August 2019, when India stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status. Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of mistreating Muslims and Kashmiris, something which New Delhi has consistently denied.
