Khawaja Asif backs Haris Rauf’s provocative ‘6-0’ gesture, says India will remember ‘until judgement day’

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stirred controversy by publicly backing cricketer Haris Rauf over the provocative ‘6-0’ gesture he made during Sunday’s Asia Cup match against India.

The gesture, widely interpreted as a reference to Islamabad’s unverified claim of having shot down six Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, sparked outrage. Fast bowler Rauf had a brief spat with Indian opening batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill before making the gesture.

Resharing a post by Ayab Ahmed, a columnist for Pakistani publication Daily Times, Asif said in Urdu, "Haris Rauf is treating them right. Keep it up. Cricket matches keep happening... but 6-0 will not be forgotten by India until the Judgement Day, and the world will remember it too."

Ahmed also shared a second video showing Rauf mimicking planes being shot down, adding, "Haris Rauf bringing Bharat back to its senses!" along with the Pakistani flag and a grinning emoji.

The episode highlights Pakistan’s continued tendency to glorify military aggression even in civilian settings such as sports. Islamabad’s claims of shooting down six Indian fighter jets remain unverified. India’s Air Force chief, AP Singh, stated in August that Pakistan lost six military aircraft, including five fighter jets and a large surveillance plane, during the May conflict. Singh added that some US-made F-16 fighters stationed at Pakistani bases were also destroyed. India caused such significant losses that Pakistan was forced to seek a ceasefire, the Air Chief Marshal said.

Asif has doubled down on Pakistan’s narrative, accusing India of dishonesty. "If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification - though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure," he said. "Such comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment."

The spat comes against the backdrop of the nearly 100-hour military confrontation in May, the first since the 1971 war. The conflict followed Indian airstrikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people, mostly civilians. India has maintained that these terrorists were sponsored and backed by Pakistan, including groups such as The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Asif’s public praise of Rauf’s gesture underscores a disturbing pattern of using nationalistic bravado to distract from Pakistan’s mounting military and political failures.