Inter-Services Public Relations Director General (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that only the state can declare jihad, stressing that “no individual or group has this authority”.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said this while interacting with members of various religious and social circles during an event in Karachi on Sunday. The statement has come over a month following a days-long military engagement between Pakistan and India. Since the military conflict, officers of Pakistan’s armed forces have held a spree of meetings with people belonging to different walks of life.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said that followers of all religions are equal citizens who enjoy full constitutional rights in Pakistan. “National unity is maintained only through equality and harmony.”
Furthermore, ethnic or linguistic hatred emerges through ignorance, he said, adding that “all Pakistanis are equal”. “If we remain united, no force can defeat us.”
To a query, the top army’s spox said that India is backing terrorism in Pakistan, and the Pakistan Army is responding to the enemy with modern warfare strategies.