In a move that has stunned observers across the subcontinent, the Pakistan government may end up handing over Rs 14 crore in compensation to none other than Masood Azhar — the UN-designated terrorist and founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) after Operation Sindoor hit terror camps across Pakistan.
According to a press release from the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pledged Rs 1 crore per deceased to the legal heirs of those killed in the recent Indian airstrikes under Operation Sindoor — strikes that targeted JeM terror camps in Bahawalpur, the de facto terror HQ in southern Punjab.
Among the 14 killed were Azhar’s elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, a niece, and five children from his extended family. If Azhar emerges as the sole surviving legal heir, he could be laughing his way to the bank with a 14 crore compensation package—funded by the Pakistani taxpayer.
Masood Azhar — the same man whose organisation masterminded the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot attack, and has long been harboured and protected by the Pakistani deep state — could soon be a multimillionaire thanks to the generosity of his government.
But the farce doesn’t end there. PM Sharif’s package includes not just cash, but also a promise to rebuild structures destroyed in the airstrikes — which, according to Indian defence sources, were precision strikes that exclusively targeted terror infrastructure, sparing civilian zones.
India, understandably, is expected to keep a close watch on how this “relief” unfolds — and whether Bahawalpur’s rebuilt buildings again echo with gunfire, grenades, and jihadi rhetoric.
