‘Pakistan bombs its own people’: Islamabad's Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi on ‘war’ with India

In a fiery sermon at Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, Abdul Aziz Ghazi, a controversial cleric, launched a scathing attack on the Pakistani government, claiming that a war with India would not be an Islamic war.

In a video clip, which is being widely shared on social media, he is purportedly heard painting a stark picture of Pakistan's internal turmoil, describing its government as oppressive. Ghazi accused the state of inflicting systemic violence and injustice upon its citizens, pointing to the deepening crisis within the country.

While addressing the congregation during Friday prayers at Lal Masjid, Aziz Ghazi asked, “If a war breaks out between Pakistan and India, how many of you will support Pakistan? Raise your hands.”

Noting the dead silence and lack of response from the crowd, he commented, “Very few hands are visible. That means a good level of awareness has developed. The issue is that the war between Pakistan and India is not an Islamic war.”

He continued, “Today, the system in Pakistan is a system of disbelief (kufr), a tyrannical system, worse than that of India. There isn’t as much oppression in India as there is in Pakistan. Has there been a horrific incident like Lal Masjid in India?”

Referring to incidents in Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he questioned, “Have such atrocities occurred in India as they have in Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Have their fighter jets bombed their own people the way ours have? Are so many people reported missing in India? Here, people are exhausted from staging protests in search of their loved ones. Here, clerics are missing, journalists are missing, Tehreek-e-Insaf members are missing.”

As the video went viral on social media, many are saying that Ghazi, once seen as a poster boy of the establishment, is now openly opposing the PM Shehbaz Sharif-led government in Pakistan.

Why did Lal Masjid challenge Pakistan's government?

Established in 1965, Lal Masjid was built shortly after Pakistan's capital was moved from Karachi to the newly constructed Islamabad. Named for its distinctive red walls and interiors, the mosque quickly became a centre for radicalising people against India. This involvement also brought the mosque’s chief cleric closer to Pakistan’s intelligence and security apparatus.

In 2006, the leadership of Lal Masjid, headed by brothers Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid, began openly challenging the Pakistani government.

The mosque, along with the adjacent Jamia Hafsa madrassa, became a stronghold for many advocating the imposition of Sharia law across Pakistan.

The clerics at Lal Masjid not only sought to establish an alternative governance system based on their interpretation of Islamic law but also called for the overthrow of the Pakistani government, deeming it corrupt and un-Islamic.

Throughout the year, tensions between the mosque's militants and the government continued to rise. The Lal Masjid leadership engaged in provocative actions, including calls for jihad against the state.

As the situation escalated, the Pakistani government, led by then-President Pervez Musharraf, increasingly viewed the mosque as a direct challenge to state authority and security.

This ultimately led to a military operation in July 2007, known as Operation Sunrise, aimed at quelling the growing threat emanating from the mosque.