“Pakistan Will Have To Accept Jaish As It Is”: Azhar Releases Audio While Pakistan Army Denies Group Exists There

The day an audio clip has been released by Masood Azhar warning Pakistan authorities to ‘fear God’, Pakistan Army has denied that Jaish-e-Mohammad exists in the country, reports Times of India.

The audio clip was released on encrypted chat platforms a day after the Islamic republic claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief’s brother and son were taken into preventive custody. In the clip, Azhar is heard saying that he is alive and that authorities should ‘fear God’.

The clip was released on Wednesday (6 March 2019), the same day army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor told CNN, “First of all, that (JeM’s) claim has not been made from within Pakistan because JeM does not exist in Pakistan as it has been proscribed by UN and Pakistan also”.

Previously, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had admitted in an interview that their administration was in contact with the terror group. He also said that Masood Azhar was in the country and ‘very unwell’, too unwell to even go out of the house. Soon after, rumours started making rounds that Azhar was dead. The recent audio clip’s one purpose seems to be to quell all such rumours.

While Ghafoor said that JeM doesn’t exist in Pakistan, in the audio clip released on the same day, Azhar is heard saying that Pakistan will have to accept Jaish as it was. He also said that Qureshi was acting under pressure but none of that was working.

Azhar went ahead to warn the Pakistan authorities against any action. “Stop persecuting the mosques, madrassas and mujahideen. Remember when a Muslim flees the battle against the hypocrites, the wrath of Allah is upon him,” he said, adding that Pakistan rooting out “anybody who operates on its soil,” is not in the interest of Pakistan.

Azhar also criticised India, saying that it was getting ‘thrashed’ and screaming so loudly that Pakistan leaders had started quaking. Ironically, while the army chief in Pakistan denied even the existence of the group, Azhar is heard saying in the clip that he is well and actively associated with the day to day functioning of the group.