SOURCE: AFI
Former Pakistani Senator Faisal Raza Abidi has once again stirred controversy with a provocative appearance on national television, where he urged Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels to expand their missile and drone attacks beyond Israel to include India. Abidi, known for his fiery rhetoric and unfiltered commentary, claimed that India is among the “biggest supporters of the Jews” and accused the country of supplying Israel with weapons to sustain the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
His remarks, delivered with characteristic intensity, have reignited debates about his political stance, the role of inflammatory rhetoric in Pakistan’s public discourse, and the broader implications of involving external militant groups in regional rivalries.
During his televised address, Abidi asserted that India’s alleged support for Israel places it firmly in opposition to the Islamic world. “India and Israel are enemies of Islam globally,” he declared, framing the two nations as complicit in a concerted effort to undermine Muslim interests. He specifically pointed to India’s growing defense ties with Israel, alleging that New Delhi is providing weaponry to bolster Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where hostilities have escalated since the war broke out. While Abidi offered no concrete evidence to substantiate his claims, his statements align with a narrative often propagated by fringe voices in Pakistan that seek to vilify India on religious and geopolitical grounds.
Abidi’s appeal was directed at the Houthi rebels, a Shia militia group that has gained international notoriety for its missile and drone attacks on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Since the Gaza conflict intensified, the Houthis have positioned themselves as part of an Iran-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the United States, and their allies. Abidi urged the group to leverage its military capabilities—missiles with a claimed range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and drones purportedly capable of striking targets up to 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) away—to target Indian interests as well.
The Houthi rebels, formally known as Ansar Allah, have significantly expanded their military reach since seizing control of large swathes of Yemen in 2014. Backed by Iran, the group has developed a sophisticated arsenal, including ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Experts note that while some components are supplied by Iran, the Houthis have also demonstrated an ability to manufacture drones locally using a mix of commercially available parts and materials. This hybrid approach has enabled them to conduct long-range strikes, such as those targeting Israel, which lies approximately 1,800 kilometers from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.
The group’s arsenal includes systems like the Quds cruise missile and Samad-series drones, which they claim can evade advanced air defenses. Since the Gaza war began, the Houthis have fired salvos of missiles and drones toward Israel, most of which have been intercepted by Israeli or U.S.-led coalition forces. Their actions have also disrupted global trade by targeting vessels in the Red Sea, drawing retaliatory strikes from Western powers. Abidi’s call for the Houthis to redirect their firepower toward India—a nation roughly 2,500 kilometers from Yemen at its closest point—falls within the theoretical range of their weaponry, though such an escalation remains speculative and logistically complex.
Faisal Raza Abidi, a former senator from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) who served from 2009 to 2013, has long been a polarizing figure. Renowned for his outspoken criticism of Pakistan’s political establishment, judiciary, and extremist groups like the Taliban, Abidi has often courted controversy with his blunt and confrontational style. His tenure in the Senate ended with his resignation amid disputes with party leadership, and subsequent years saw him embroiled in legal battles over hate speech and defamation, including a high-profile arrest in 2018 for insulting Pakistan’s judiciary.
Abidi’s latest remarks reflect a recurring theme in his rhetoric: framing geopolitical conflicts in stark religious terms. By invoking the Houthis—an Iran-aligned group with a clear anti-Israel agenda—and linking them to India, he appears to be tapping into broader anti-India sentiment in Pakistan while amplifying his image as a defiant voice against perceived enemies of Islam. However, his claims about India’s role in the Gaza conflict lack substantiation. While India has indeed strengthened defense cooperation with Israel in recent years, including joint missile defense projects and drone technology exchanges, there is no public evidence to suggest New Delhi is directly arming Israel in the current Gaza war.
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