Hafiz Saeed’s political party is fooling no one

India must pressure Pakistan to ensure that he is brought to justice

Reports of Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s plans to form a political party first emerged in the run-up to Pakistan’s last general election in 2013. Therefore, his efforts to move the Jamaat-ud-Dawah into the mainstream aren’t entirely unexpected. The Milli Muslim League, the new political party floated by Saeed, is clearly an offshoot of the terrorist empire run by him. It is led by Saifullah Khalid, a close aide of Saeed. Though the new party’s spokesperson said Saeed and other JuD leaders would not be involved in the new initiative, he acknowledged in the same breath the party would adhere to JuD’s ideology and even demanded Saeed’s release from house arrest.

Saeed’s original organisation – the Markaz Dawat ul-Irsah – has followed a similar plot in the past. When the squeeze was put on the LeT, it re-emerged as the JuD. After the UN banned the JuD in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, it transformed into the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation. When the international spotlight fell on the FIF, Saeed sought to launch the Tehreek-e-Azadi Jammu Kashmir earlier this year. Even though Pakistan’s religion-based parties have not performed well in recent elections, Saeed’s impressive welfare network, which includes ambulance services, madrassas and welfare activities for victims of natural disasters, could help him bag a handful of parliamentary or provincial assembly seats in the heartland of Punjab. Such a performance would also help Pakistan’s security establishment to sell the myth that Saeed has “reformed”.

The truth is Saeed remains the head of a potent organisation, flush with funds and with no shortage of dedicated fighters, that is already active in Jammu and Kashmir and could be mobilised into launching another attack on the lines of the 2008 assault on Mumbai. India must continue to use all resources available to it, including the FATF and UN resolutions, to ensure that Saeed is brought to justice.