Bhuj: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday warned on the Pakistan Government’s plan to give Rs 24 crore to Masood Azhar from the money collected as tax from Pakistani citizens. Azhar is the head of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group in Pakistan responsible for the 2019 Pulwama and 2016 Uri attacks. He is also designated as an ‘international terrorist’ by the United Nations.
The defence minister also cautioned that India’s neigbouring country has also started building terror infrastructures again which were destroyed by Indian armed forces on May 7 under Operation Sindoor, days after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed and several others were injured.
Pak will use tax collected from citizens for Masood Azhar: Rajnath Singh
Addressing the personnel at a military base in Gujarat’s Bhuj, Singh said as per news agency ANI, “Pakistan will spend the tax collected from its citizens to give around Rs 14 crore to Masood Azhar, the head of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist organisation, even though he is a UN-designated terrorist. The Pakistan government has also announced financial assistance to rebuild the terror infrastructure of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed located in Muridke and Bahawalpur.”
The defence minister’s comments amid India raised concerns over IMF granting a bailout package to the country, which is accused of sponsoring terrorism. “Certainly, a large part of IMF’s one billion dollar assistance will be used to fund the terror infrastructure. Will this not be considered indirect funding by IMF, an international organisation? Any financial assistance to Pakistan is no less than terror funding. The funds India gives to IMF should not be used, directly or indirectly, to create terror infrastructure in Pakistan or any other country,” he added further.
The minister noted that Bhuj witnessed India’s victory over Pakistan in 1965, 1971, and now. Singh also termed Bhuj as a land of patriotism where soldiers stand tall to protect national interests.
