A cleric in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been detained after issuing unusually blunt criticism of the Pakistani Army and declaring that he would back India in the event of a conflict between the two countries. Maulvi Gulzar of Mardan reportedly said, “Hindus have not treated us as cruelly as Pakistani soldiers have treated us in jail. If India attacks Pakistan, we will support India because of the cruelty of the Pakistani government.” He added that during his incarceration “All ulema swore on the Holy Quran that if India attacks Pakistan, we will support India. The cruelty with which the Pakistan Army treats Muslims and madrasa students, never has any Hindu or Indian soldier done. Indian Army is better than Pakistani army.”
According to local reports, Pakistani intelligence agencies picked up Maulvi Gulzar after a speech in which he criticised the army and intelligence services. He remains in detention and authorities have neither confirmed the arrest nor commented on the authenticity of the video in which the statements were made.
🔸Stop the internetPakistani Maulvi says:
-Was detained by the Pakistani Army/ISI
-Many other Mullas imprisoned as well
-We were tortured everyday
-Hence we prayed to Allah, bring Hindu rule to Pakistan to free us from Paki Army
— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) October 21, 2025
The episode underscores deepening disaffection in tribal and frontier regions of Pakistan where the state’s writ has long been contested. In neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated militant groups are reported to have turned large sections of the province into no-go zones for the army, with checkpoints, vehicle inspections and forced “jihad taxes”. Moneycontrol+1 At the same time, activists from Pashtun, Baloch, Sindhi and Kashmiri communities have demanded independence from Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of systematic repression and ideological manipulation via religious seminaries. Moneycontrol+1
Gulzar’s statements represent a rare and vivid instance of a cleric openly challenging the military’s authority while aligning himself with Pakistan’s arch-rival India. For Islamabad, such dissent is intolerable, especially given the army’s dominance in national politics and security affairs. Analysts see the incident as symptomatic of a broader erosion of state control and growing popular alienation in Pakistan’s marginalised regions.
For India and observers of the region this raises further questions about Pakistan’s internal fractures and the limits of its security apparatus. If religious figures feel so aggrieved that they publicly support a rival country in a hypothetical war, it signals a profound breakdown of national solidarity. This episode may well highlight the army’s loss of legitimacy among its own base of clerics and students and underscore Pakistan’s deepening vulnerabilities on multiple fronts.
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