SOURCE: AFI
A retired senior officer of the Pakistan Army, who has received multiple decorations for his service, has confirmed that the Pakistan Army and its intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have been involved in funding and supporting armed Khalistani groups in India. In addition, the ISI has been facilitating the entry of drugs and counterfeit Indian currency notes into India.
On May 6, the chief of the Khalistani Commando Force, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who had been given a new identity under the name of Malik Sardar Singh by the ISI, was gunned down in Lahore. In response to this event, Major (Retired) Aadil Farooq Raja, who has deep connections with the Army going back three generations and has a widely-followed YouTube channel, criticized the Pakistan military and the ISI for failing to protect Panjwar.
According to Raja, the killing of Panjwar in the heart of Lahore was carried out by India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). He argued that the ISI should have done more to prevent this outcome and that the failure to do so exposed the inadequacies of Pakistan’s military and intelligence infrastructure.
Raja’s comments highlight the complex and often tense relationship between Pakistan and India, which has been marked by a long-standing dispute over the territory of Kashmir and occasional outbreaks of violence. They also shed light on the extent to which the ISI has been involved in supporting Khalistani groups, a fact that is likely to further strain relations between the two countries.