In a viral video from Sunday, the imam of Lal Masjid in Islamabad—Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi—asks his congregation a startling question, “If India and Pakistan go to war, how many of you will support Pakistan?”
No hands go up.
A symbol of defiance against the State of Pakistan for a long time, Abdul Aziz pauses before delivering his verdict. “There are very few [hands],” Abdul Aziz says after looking at his audience. “It means many are enlightened now.”
The video, widely circulated on social media, shows Abdul Aziz denouncing the Pakistan military, accusing authorities of widespread repression, and claiming governance in Pakistan had grown more oppressive than that in India—a bold and controversial claim.
“Did the Lal Masjid tragedy happen in India?” Abdul Aziz asks, referencing the 2007 siege of the mosque, and subsequently, scores of deaths. “Does India bomb its own citizens? Are people disappearing in India like they are in Pakistan?”