Pak admits Hafiz Saeed is fanning terror

The Pakistan government which has been consistently defending Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamatud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, claiming that he is doing philanthropy, has done a clear volte face by telling the judicial review board that he and his four aides have been detained for " spreading terrorism in the name of jihad.” Saeed appeared before the board on Saturday and claimed that he had been detained by the Pakistani government to stop him for raising his voice for Kashmiris. However, the Pakistan interior ministry rejected his arguments and told the threemember board that he is spreading terror. The proverbial cat is indeed out of the bag.The board comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court (head), Justice Ayesha A Malik of Lahore High Court and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of Balochistan High Court directed the ministry to submit a complete record regarding the detention of Saeed and his aides.

Enigmatically, an official representing the federal interior ministry told the court that the government had detained the JuD leaders on pressure of United Nations and other international organisations. It is unusual for such admissions to be made in open court. The Punjab government had on January 30 put these five under house arrest in Lahore for their involvement in activities which can be prejudicial to peace and security. The government had placed JuD under second schedule of the anti-terrorism Act after the US clearly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed it may face sanctions. JuD is said to be the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The organisation had been declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. It would indeed be interesting to see if China would continue to stonewall Indian attempts to get Hafiz Saeed declared an international terrorist by the UN or it would change its stance. Pakistan too needs to be watched on the consistency of its deposition that Saeed has been spreading terror in the name of jihad.

If Saeed is indeed a terrorist, he needs to be brought to justice. Would Pakistan then agree to hand him over to India as this country has long been demanding, which appears very unlikely, or would it replace the sham of a trial in the Mumbai terror attack case with a more genuine one? These possibilities are remote considering Pakistan’s track record but nothing short of either would restore Pakistan’s credibility which is currently of a country that abets terror.