Won't form any Lashkar: Pak leader slams Army, dares leadership to contest polls

Senior Pakistani leader and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has strongly criticised the country's military leadership, rejecting calls for civilians to form armed groups to fight militancy and daring Army leadership to enter electoral politics if he wishes to wield political influence.

In a video widely circulated on social media, Rehman said the responsibility for defending the country rests with state institutions, not ordinary citizens.

"Why do you throw the favour of your blood on me? You are taking your salaries from the taxes earned through our blood and sweat, and then you ask us to mobilise militias and fight armed groups. I have taken no salary. I will not form any Lashkar," he said.

"You will leave, but you are pushing my country toward personal vendettas for generations to come, pushing it forever toward murder and plunder," Rehman added.

Taking a veiled dig at Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, the veteran Pakistani leader dared him to take off his military uniform and contest elections.

"If you want to do politics, then take off the uniform and come; participate in the elections, and it will become clear what votes people give to those in uniform," he said.

"It is your prerogative to give government to whomever you want and snatch it away from whomever you wish," Rehman added, in an apparent reference to the military establishment's alleged influence over Pakistan's political landscape.

Rehman's sharp criticism came days after Asim Munir urged Pakistani civilians to stand alongside the military in its fight against militant groups, saying the armed forces alone could not eliminate terrorism without broader public support.

Rejecting that appeal, Rehman insisted that asking citizens to raise militias would only fuel long-term cycles of violence and personal vendettas, arguing that counterterrorism is the responsibility of the state.

Rehman has repeatedly criticised Pakistan's military establishment and its policies. Earlier, he targeted Munir over what he described as contradictory positions on Pakistan's military operations in Afghanistan and its criticism of India's cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor.

Condemning Pakistan's military actions along its western border with Afghanistan, Rehman questioned the government's rationale for such operations.

"If you justify attacking Afghanistan by claiming you are targeting your enemy there, then why do you object when India targets its enemy in Bahawalpur and Murid (inside Pakistan)?" he had said.

The remarks were made at a public gathering in Lyari, a town in Karachi that recently drew attention in India after serving as a backdrop for the film Dhurandhar.

Rehman's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) holds 10 seats in Pakistan's Assembly, making it the largest opposition party after the bloc of 75 independent lawmakers backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

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