Pakistan Deep State At Play? Fire At US Home Of Asim Munir Critic Sparks Questions
Pirzada, an ardent critic of politically influential Field Marshall Asim Munir, was the third in a pattern which saw two other critics of Pakistan's military report dangerous incidents happen to them.
Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada's US-based home suffered from a "mysterious blaze" last week, garnering theories from social media users on the possibility of it being a deliberate attack.
Pirzada, an ardent critic of politically influential Field Marshall Asim Munir, was the third in a pattern which saw two other critics of Pakistan's military, Adil Raja and Shehzad Akbar report dangerous incidents happen to them in the past few days.
Radha, a former Pakistani major turned whistleblower reported via a post on social media platform 'X' that his property in London was broken into and raided by unknown suspects.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser Shahzad Akbar saw a more severe and malicious case where unidentified assailants invaded his home and physically assaulted him in a critical manner.
"I was physically assaulted in a targeted attack on Dec. 24 leaving me with substantial injuries," Akbar said in an 'X' post.
Akbar also reported that criminals damaged and tried to set fire to his property in Cambridgeshire residence in what he described as a "deliberate and targeted criminal attack with the intent to cause serious harm."
Pirzada himself reported in an 'X' post that no such incident had taken place in the locality in the three years that him and his family had stayed there, and that he would focus on finding out what happened instead of speculating.
"Not clear what exactly happened, living in this locality for three years plus, nothing like that happened before, but I won’t speculate, we will find out," Pirzada said.
Users on social media speculated whether Asim Munir and the wider Pakistani deep state were involved in these attacks.
"Pirzada is a vocal critic of Asim Munir. This follows a troubling pattern cited by activists: Shehzad Akbar, Adil Raja, Now Moeed Pirzada. Three incidents involving overseas critics in ~10 days raise serious questions about transnational intimidation by Pakistan under Asim Munir," a user wrote on 'X'.
"Dissent and criticism is a crime, Asim Munir doesn't tolerate, he crushes brutally," they added.
Some users called into question Pakistan's democratic integrity, linking it to the attacks
"Pakistan claims to be a democratic state—yet it spares no critics, even abroad. Anti‑terror courts gave life sentences to journalists like Moeed Pirzada, and now his house in USA was mysteriously set on fire," another user wrote.
Pirzada was noted for his role for challenging the Pakistani military's claims of victory during its standoff with India in May, when the latter launched Operation Sindoor to avenge the terror attack in Pahalgam.
"India used BrahMos, and they precisely hit wherever they wanted," Pirzada said in a video message that quoted a New York Times article.
