| General Headquarters has asked the Council of Islamic Ideology to issue a decree, or fatwa, stating whether a soldier killed in Pakistan while fighting terrorists or pre-empting sectarianism is a martyr. GHQ sent a list of eight questions to the council about the various circumstances in which a soldier who dies on duty can be considered a martyr. The council responded to GHQ that it was not within its ambit to issue decrees, but it was forwarding the questions to muftis. The replies of the muftis were sent back to GHQ, but not published in the CIIÂ’s report. GHQ asked the CIIÂ’s opinion on the status of soldiers killed in accidents during military exercises or on the way to war zones, or who die of mountain sickness on Siachen; soldiers killed in a border area or along the Line of Control in a stove blast, or a landmine explosion; and about Pakistani soldiers killed while serving abroad under the United Nations. |