Jammu, May 8 : Former Jammu & Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) S.P. Vaid said that terrorist attacks mastermind Masood Azhar should not die an easy death.

'We don't want him dead just yet,' Vaid told IANS in an exclusive interview. 'He should live to feel the pain and consequences of the terror he unleashed across India.'

The remark came in the wake of Azhar's own statement, in which he said it would have been better had he died in the Indian airstrikes that killed several of his family members.

Vaid responded sharply, saying, 'Let him suffer. He should live long enough to understand the pain he has caused to thousands of Indian families.'

Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), is one of India's most wanted terrorists, responsible for several high-profile terror attacks, including the 2019 Pulwama bombing that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

The recent Operation Sindoor, executed by the Indian armed forces, targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including facilities linked to JeM.

Vaid, who has decades of experience tackling insurgency and cross-border terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir, stated that eliminating terror camps was a strong message, but not a permanent solution.

'This is a long fight. Until the Pakistani Army and ISI are directly weakened, terrorism won't go away. These strikes may create fear, but to truly end the threat, we have to dismantle the system that breeds and protects terrorists like Masood Azhar,' he said.

He also noted that Pakistan is now trying to portray the operation as an attack on civilians. 'Pakistan never admits its casualties and builds a narrative of victimhood to shield itself from international pressure. But we know what we targeted, terror bases.'

Refuting the narrative that the strike was religiously charged, Vaid said: 'This was not about religion. It was about justice. Terrorism has no faith. Masood Azhar's ideology is one of hate and destruction, and he deserves to live with the consequences of his actions.'

With India's message loud and clear, Vaid believes more such actions may be necessary in the future unless structural changes are made within Pakistan's security and intelligence establishments.

/IANS