Srinagar: In a startling revelation from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Ilyas Kashmiri has confessed that the Pakistani army chief dubbed the military confrontation during India’s Operation Sindoor as ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, a prophetic Islamic battle for India.
Addressing a rally of freshly-recruited JeM militants in Rawalakot on February 5, Kashmiri recounted how the army’s ‘Sipah Salar’ (chief) escalated the conflict into a holy war. “When the battle erupted, weapons were drawn, fighter jets clashed, and tanks stood face-to-face, our leader proclaimed this as Ghazwat-ul-Hind and Bunyan al-Marsus,” he declared, invoking terms symbolising an unyielding fortress and a divine conquest.
The gathering aimed to indoctrinate new terrorists, with Kashmiri openly admitting JeM’s core agenda: “Our name, identity, and purpose is jihad. Whether the government backs us or not, jihad remains our mission. We will wage jihad and liberate Kashmir.”
Kashmiri, notorious for earlier disclosures, was the first to claim that on May 7 last year, during Operation Sindoor, the family of JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar perished in an Indian strike on Bahawalpur.
Pakistan had codenamed its counter-operation ‘Bunyan al-Marsus’, meaning a ‘glass-like strong wall’, to project invincibility globally. This confession underscores the deep ties between Pakistan’s military and terror groups, raising alarms over regional stability.
Security experts warn such rhetoric fuels extremism, as India continues to counter cross-border threats.