New Delhi: Hafiz Saeed, chief of Pakistan’s top terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), has re-entered mainstream Pakistani politics in an avatar that may have serious security implications for India, the US and even Pakistan.
Saeed’s new quasi-political outfit, Difa-i-Pakistan Council (Pakistan Defence Council), an umbrella organization for more than 40 religious, political, sectarian, jihadi outfits and former intelligence officials, has started out with a with a strongly aggressive narrative against India and the US.
Does he have a political future and what would that mean for India? Could it be that somewhere down the line, India might have to engage him? Saeed and LeT has been responsible for numerous terror strikes against India, including the biggest of them all — the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Indian officials tracking Pakistan closely believe engaging Saeed is not going to be possible for New Delhi, despite Congress party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar sharing aTV discussion with him.
Saeed remains very close to the Pakistan army, and in all his years of being Pakistan’s chief jihadi leader, his group has never attacked the interests of the defence establishment. “He continues to live in army guesthouses,” said sources. Even while Tehreek-e-Taliban and al-Qaida organizations were attacking the Pakistan state, LeT persistently focused its attentions on India and the US.
Saeed’s rhetoric, said sources, must be persuasive to a country that now regards the US as a top enemy. "The killing of Osama bin Laden is against the sovereignty of Pakistan," he has said. "America has started a war against Pakistan and also attacked our army checkpoints. That’s why all the political parties are here and we are united until America leaves the region," he had reasoned. Saeed has opposed the grant of MFN status to India as well, committing to jihad against India.
Saeed lay low for a while after the 26/11 attacks, but no amount of dossiers from India could get him prosecuted in Pakistan, though he is under an international travel ban and an assets freeze. But he can operate freely within Pakistan, which shows the kind of support he can command from the military-security establishment. Recent media reports said about seven banned outfits like Jaishe-Mohammad, Tehreek-i-Islami, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Ghazi Force, Hizbut Tahrir, Jamiatul Furqan, and Khairunissa International Trust have all started reopening bank accounts.
Saeed’s new quasi-political outfit, Difa-i-Pakistan Council (Pakistan Defence Council), an umbrella organization for more than 40 religious, political, sectarian, jihadi outfits and former intelligence officials, has started out with a with a strongly aggressive narrative against India and the US.
Does he have a political future and what would that mean for India? Could it be that somewhere down the line, India might have to engage him? Saeed and LeT has been responsible for numerous terror strikes against India, including the biggest of them all — the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Indian officials tracking Pakistan closely believe engaging Saeed is not going to be possible for New Delhi, despite Congress party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar sharing aTV discussion with him.
Saeed remains very close to the Pakistan army, and in all his years of being Pakistan’s chief jihadi leader, his group has never attacked the interests of the defence establishment. “He continues to live in army guesthouses,” said sources. Even while Tehreek-e-Taliban and al-Qaida organizations were attacking the Pakistan state, LeT persistently focused its attentions on India and the US.
Saeed’s rhetoric, said sources, must be persuasive to a country that now regards the US as a top enemy. "The killing of Osama bin Laden is against the sovereignty of Pakistan," he has said. "America has started a war against Pakistan and also attacked our army checkpoints. That’s why all the political parties are here and we are united until America leaves the region," he had reasoned. Saeed has opposed the grant of MFN status to India as well, committing to jihad against India.
Saeed lay low for a while after the 26/11 attacks, but no amount of dossiers from India could get him prosecuted in Pakistan, though he is under an international travel ban and an assets freeze. But he can operate freely within Pakistan, which shows the kind of support he can command from the military-security establishment. Recent media reports said about seven banned outfits like Jaishe-Mohammad, Tehreek-i-Islami, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Ghazi Force, Hizbut Tahrir, Jamiatul Furqan, and Khairunissa International Trust have all started reopening bank accounts.
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