Jihad as Statecraft: Why Pakistan’s Military Will Never Destroy Terror Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, DC – Bangladesh’s National Citizens Party, which orchestrated the removal of Prime Minister Wajid’s India-friendly secular government, has formed an election coalition with Jamat-e-Islami, an organization often described as the political face of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Bangladesh and Pakistan. This coalition, together with the projected rise of Islamists due to the Pakistan-Turkey-Saudi Arabia strategic alliance, is considered a significant geopolitical shift. Pakistan’s military and religious groups have celebrated these developments as a triumph over Indian diplomacy in the region, viewing them as a strategic breakthrough long awaited by the country.

Thanks to President Trump, the terror-sponsoring pariah state of Pakistan will get a role in the Middle East to carry out the American peace plan, thereby ending its strategic and economic isolation. Improved relations with Trump give Pakistani military generals new life and replenish coffers that dried up with the end of American engagement in Afghanistan. With rekindled confidence and optimism, Pakistani military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir pledges his country’s commitment to uphold the Two-Nation Theory and resume the Islamic struggle to separate Kashmir from India. Some of the money that Pakistan will receive for military services in the Middle East is expected to be spent in Kashmir and Bangladesh in an effort to isolate and hurt India.

This reinforcement is taking place at the same time as the anti-Hindu and anti-India political framework gains strength in Bangladesh. Much to Pakistan’s joy, Bangladesh’s interim administration has released thousands of religious zealots imprisoned by former Prime Minister Wajid. They are now free to organize election campaign rallies and anti-India demonstrations. Many of them have promised to work towards the fragmentation of India’s eastern states in order to create a greater Islamic republic. Analysts fear that the Pakistani military intends to take advantage of the evolving geostrategic partnership to avenge the humiliation suffered during Operation Sindoor.

In recent weeks, the demonstrators in Bangladesh have expressed strong solidarity with Kashmir, calling for its separation from India. The Bangladeshi political groups are using social media to demand UN intervention and self-determination for Kashmiris. The Kashmir Solidarity Council of Bangladesh has also held rallies in Dhaka in support of ending direct Indian rule in Kashmir. In many regions of the world, Khalistanis are openly favoring the rise of Bangladeshi Islamists. All of these initiatives indicate that Pakistan is active in bringing together various anti-India pressure groups on a common platform.

As Bangladesh prepares to become a radical anti-India Islamic republic, Pakistan’s military chief exerts enormous influence through manipulated, contrived constitutional amendments. Pakistani media obediently serve the army and prepare viewers to support the coming events. Hassan Nisar, a well-known pro-army TV anchor, claims Bangladesh and Pakistan sandwich India on both flanks, creating a regional pincer effect.

Jihad in Kashmir during the 1980s and 1990s ravaged the socioeconomic and political fabric of Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan. It defaced the local culture. Within a few years, religious radicalism and sectarianism among people reached hazardous proportions. Pakistan has been anti-Shia since its early years. The Pakistan-sponsored Jihad aggravated the situation and resulted in uncontrollable Shia slaughter and forced relocation. The Shias of Gilgit-Baltistan abandoned their villages for safety in 1988. They still live as refugees in various parts of the region.

While Pakistan’s neighbors are distracted by regional turbulence, Asim Munir’s centralization of power has rejuvenated the Jihadi ecology. Attacks on religious leaders in Gilgit have increased, and some Shia activists are now missing. Terrorist activity is up in the Kashmir valley, and Hindu target killings have restarted in Jammu province.

According to media sources, terrorism resumed quickly after Operation Sindoor, with camps rehabilitated in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POJK), including the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure. It is learned that the terrorist organizations such as Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) have recommenced religious training courses for youth and established women’s wings in POJK. These organizations use digital technological resources to raise funds and recruit members.

During a public lecture last month, LeT leader Sheikh Yaqoob warned Afghanistan of reprisals for any adventurism against the Pakistani army. Sheikh Yaqoob is the head of the Ulema-o-Mashaikh Rabta Pakistan and actively participates in fundraising for Jamat-ud-Dawa charities. Similarly, a few days back, Saifullah Kasuri, the LeT operative allegedly involved in the Pahalgam terror incident, swore in front of hundreds of people to support the military to continue jihad and bleed India in Kashmir.

This demonstrates that despite the ban, Pakistan’s military continues to nurture terrorist organizations in POJK. General Asim Munir has established a new strategic norm in which terrorist groups operate freely and receive special media coverage. A role for Pakistan in managing Hamas in Gaza will enhance collaboration between Hamas and Pakistani terrorist groups. As political turbulence in Iran worsens, a pro-West and pro-Israel Iran will make Saudi Arabia more conservative, benefiting Pakistani political ambitions in the region.

Terrorism is an endlessly profitable industry in Pakistan. It is a tool of statecraft. The military will never destroy terrorist infrastructure. Pakistan lacks the willpower, not the capacity, to regulate and disarm terrorist groups. When terrorists help shape national policy, it shows they are part of the military establishment. The only distinction is who wears the uniform and who does not.

As terrorist involvement grows and their scope broadens, the Pakistani military will deploy zealots to assault seculars, nationalists, and progressives in POJK. These groups advocate basic rights and independence from Pakistan. Many will be branded as Indian agents, tortured, and imprisoned. Hundreds of activists have already been added to an exit control list, limiting their finances, freedom of movement, and expression.

To advance the policy of ethnic demographic engineering, Pakistan has imposed land reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan and handed over native ancestral lands to outsiders. The colonial rulers will enhance efforts to stifle local customs and culture to make room for the Islamists who aim to purify Gilgit and Kashmir from heathens. This new situation calls on both local Shia and Sunnis to band together to effectively expose and reject the Jihad exported by Pakistan. Jihad causes anguish for people in the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, who are also members of our extended community.

We must resist giving in to Pakistani colonial masters who have persisted in fleecing our natural resources, defiling our cultural identity, and clawing and picking on weak residents. The Awami Action Committees of Gilgit and so-called Azad Kashmir must work together to prevent the rebirth of Jihad. The locals should advance a single-point agenda to unify all administrative units under POJK to weaken and delay Pakistani encroachment.

The majority of the locals do not want to become the military’s cannon fodder against India. Pakistan has given POJK nothing but agony and economic deprivation over the last 78 years, and its authorities and military do not deserve local support to promote its wicked anti-India objective. We shall not allow Pakistan to render us irrelevant and disappear.