Islamabad, Aug 15 — Pakistan's history of state-backed terrorism and religious radicalisation has contributed significantly to reinforcing the perception of terrorism and violent extremism being associated with Islam in the minds of many people around the world. Holding the Islamic flag in one hand and a weapon in the other presents a stark contradiction, one that has repeatedly surfaced in Pakistan’s political and security discourse, a report has stated.
Pakistan’s growing unease over the deepening India–Afghanistan relationship was evident in a recent provocative statement by its Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who said Afghanistan should not engage with India because it is a Hindu country.
When Afghan Agriculture Minister Mawlawi Ataullah Omari remarked that India and Afghanistan “share the same DNA”, Chaudhry went on to question how Afghans could be considered Muslims if they shared ancestry with Indians, a report in ‘Strat News Global’ stated this week.
Describing the selective invocation of religion by Pakistan as “profoundly hypocritical”, the report said, “ Carrying out airstrikes inside Afghanistan and killing innocent civilians, including women and children, apparently does not become un-Islamic in their calculation. Nor does striking Kabul’s Omid Drug Rehabilitation Centre, reportedly killing and injuring civilians, become a religious transgression merely because the victims are Muslims.”
“Amnesty International has called for the incident to be investigated as a possible war crime. Yet when Afghanistan engages with India, it suddenly becomes ‘un-Islamic’. This blatant hypocrisy clearly exposes that Pakistan invokes religious decrees as instruments of political convenience whenever things cease to go its way,” it added.
According to the report, the systematic use of religion as a political instrument has become increasingly pronounced under Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir who has repeatedly invoked Islamic references, scriptural ideas and religious themes in his public statements, including while addressing national security, the Kashmir issue and Pakistan’s ideological identity.
“Consequently, when Pakistan’s military leadership issues such sermons and proclamations, they act as if they are the thekedars (sole contractors) of Islam in South Asia and beyond, claiming a fabricated moral authority to lecture others. Pakistan, which consistently behaves in ways contrary to Islamic principles, shamelessly lectures others on faith,” the report mentioned.
Citing independent data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), it highlighted a sharp escalation in internal violence, with 2,786 terrorism-related fatalities recorded across Pakistan during the first seven months of 2026. July emerged as the deadliest month, with 606 people killed amid intensifying clashes in the country.
“Pakistan’s attempts to claim exclusive religious authority while selectively invoking faith for strategic purposes have increasingly exposed the contradictions at the heart of its statecraft. The international community must recognise and challenge the political instrumentalisation of religion, as it fuels extremism, undermines regional stability and threatens peaceful coexistence,” the report noted.