'Nalayak aur nikamme ho tum': Shahid Afridi blames Indian army for security lapse in Pahalgam terror attack

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi pointed his fingers at the Indian army, blaming their security lapse behind the deadly terror attack in south Kashmir's Pahalgam, which saw 26 civilians lose their lives on Tuesday.

Speaking to Samaa TV, Afridi said: "Patakha phat jaata hai wahaan par, Pakistan ne kiya (Even if a firecracker bursts there, they will blame it on Pakistan)."

"Tum logon ki 8 lakh hi fauj hai Kashmir mein aur yeh ho gaya. Iska matlab nalayak ho, nikamme ho na tum log security de nahi sake logon ko (You have an 800,000-strong army in Kashmir and this still happened. It means you are inefficient and useless if you can't provide security to the people)."

On Tuesday, at the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, terrorists carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the Kashmir Valley since the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. Terrorists opened fire on civilians, killing at least 26 people and injuring several others. The Resistance Front (TRF), which is a part of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack has drawn strong condemnation from across the world.

Afridi also took at dig at the way Indian media covered the incident.

"Hairat hoti hai ki hamle ke ek ghante ke baad hi unka media Bollywood ban gaya. Khuda ke liye har kuch ko Bollywood mat banao (It's surprising that within an hour of the attack, their media turned into Bollywood. For God's sake, don't make everything Bollywood)."

"Main hairaan ho gaya, balki main enjoy kar raha tha jis tarah ki woh baatein kar rahe they (I was astonished, in fact, I was enjoying the way they were talking)."

"Main keh raha tha dekho inki soch, yeh apne aap ko padhe likhe log kehte hain (I was saying, look at their thinking, and they call themselves educated people)."

Although he did not take name, Afridi lashed out at the Indian cricket fraternity for blaming Pakistan for the terror attack.

"Do cricketers jo India se itni cricket khele hue hain. Ambassadors reh chuke hain, top cricketers reh chuke hain unki taraf se direct Pakistan (There are two cricketers who have played so much cricket for India. They have been ambassadors and top cricketers, yet they directly blame Pakistan)."