Asaduddin Owaisi says Pakistan uses ‘Islam as facade to cover up illegal activities’

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Saturday, "The deep state of Pakistan...only uses Islam as a facade to cover up all illegal activities and their promotion of terrorism." His statement came amid ongoing tension between India and Pakistan in border areas.

Owaisi also said, "Pakistan wants to divide India on the lines of religion" and that “it wants to create more friction between Indian Muslims, Hindus and other communities over here [in India].”

He told news agency ANI, "Pakistan conveniently forgets that there are more than 230 million Muslims living in India and our forefathers rejected the two-country theory. We despise, we rejected the two-nation theory proposed by Jinnah, and we accepted India as our country and will continue to stay here."

Owaisi further questioned Pakistan over the “two-nation theory.”

"When Pakistan talks about the two-nation theory, why are they bombing Afghanistan border posts?...why are they bombing Iranian border posts?...Afghanis and Iranians are Muslims...," Owaisi said.

He added, “It is the deep state of Pakistan, which only uses Islam as a facade to cover up all illegal activities and their promotion of terrorism. This is what they have been doing for the last 75 years against India.”

India-Pakistan tensions

Tensions between the two neighbours soared significantly after the Indian armed forces on Wednesday conducted precision strikes targeting terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that had cross-border linkages.

Pakistan launched a fresh wave of drone attacks targeting 26 locations in India — from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat — for the second night on Friday, with the defence ministry saying the enemy's attempts to hit vital installations, including airports and air bases, were successfully thwarted.

At a press briefing along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said, “Indian armed forces reiterated their commitment to non-escalation, provided the Pakistan side reciprocates.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan said on Saturday it will consider de-escalation if India stops further attacks, as the militaries of the two countries targeted each other's installations, further escalating tensions.

"Pakistan will consider de-escalation if India stops further attacks. However, if India launches any further strikes, our response will follow," Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Geo News after he spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.