Terror head hafiz Saeed turnS politician
Hafiz Saeed is attempting an image makeover through ‘charity work’.
The Border Roads Organisation has completed merely 20% of the strategic roads project on the India China border assigned to it by the Ministry of Defence. The agency has now had to resort to outsource much of the work to finish work on the projects that are critical to movement of the Indian armed forces along strategic locations on the IndiaChina border.
BRO sources said that the delay was caused by late environmental clearances earlier and land acquisition hurdles. Officials in the BRO said that due to limited resources available with the BRO, it is feasible to outsource the work to finish it on time. The India China Border Roads (ICBR) project cuts across many states and issues like delays in acquisition and limited resources has, according to a senior engineer in BRO overseeing the ICBR project, delayed the project.
The India China Border Roads project that was approved by the UPA-I government in 2006-07 and commissioned in 2012 by UPA-II was a project of 73 roads. Out of 73, 61 roads of a length stretching 3,471 km along the India-China border were given to the BRO for construction. Till date, only about 707 km of the roads have been completed by the BRO. The BRO claims 22 roads have been completed and the remaining 39 will be gradually delivered till a deadline of 2020.
China has, over the years, increased its presence along the border with an extensive road network which facilitates easy access to its Armed forces. ICBR is considered crucial to counter any land based threats from China, especially when tensions have again started to increase between the two neighbours on the strategic and diplomatic fronts viz. south China Sea militarisation and NSG and UN Security Council blockade orchestrated by India’s northeastern neighbour to maintain regional supremacy. Reports of heavy Chinese military deployment in Tibet have also done little to dissipate the tension.
The central government had taken up the project as priority and the Ministry of Environment and Forests had given necessary clearances under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 to fast track the work. This move essentially removed the need to put the project through hearings overseen by district collectors. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar informed the Lok Sabha that the government had allowed the BRO to outsource some of the work. The minister also said that empowered committees have been set up in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura that will work to solve issues related to land acquisition, forest and environment clearances and other hurdles.
Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Muhammad Hafiz Saeed, who carries a reward of $10 million on his head for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, is attempting an image makeover through “charity work” done by Jamat-ud-Dawah ( JuD), an organisation he heads. Indian security officials are of the view Hafiz Saeed is using the platform to gain acceptance as a social worker and political leader in Pakistan and worldwide.
Last week, Saeed along with the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, caught people’s attention in Pakistan with his anti-India march named “Kashmir Caravan” that travelled from Lahore to Islamabad. The march held under the banner of JuD coincided with the “Black Day” that had been announced by the Pakistan government to express “solidarity” with Kashmiris.
Abdul Rehman, the social media head of JuD, told The Sunday Guardian that more than 2,000 buses and 4,000 four-wheelers were seen in the rally. “More than 20 buses carrying those who were supporting the Kashmiri cause came from Karachi, which is 1,500 km away, 20 came from Quetta, 300 from Lahore, 200 each from Faisalabad and Gujranwala,” he said.
Officials in India’s security establishment, who have been following Hafiz Saeed, said that the latter is now trying to promote himself as a “political representative” of the “oppressed Kashmiris” in Pakistan, as this is one issue which gets a lot of traction among the fundamentalists in Pakistan.
“The march happened in the middle of Islamabad in full public view with advance information. Can a terrorist carrying a million dollar bounty on his head do this without the patronage of government officials in Pakistan itself? There is a clear message that a certain section in the Pakistani government is propping him up as a popular voice to continue the disturbance in Kashmir. If you look at the statements that he has been making, it clearly means that he is standing up against the government of Pakistan. He cannot do that without the support of the Pakistan army. He also needs public support and the support of the traditional Islamic parties of Pakistan to stay out of prison in case Pakistan suddenly realises that he is a terrorist,” an official said.
While speaking in front a huge crowd, Saeed asked the Pakistani government to take a “strong decision” and to “reverse policies” concerning India. “He is speaking on behalf of the hardliners who do not want peace with India. His objective is to assume a voice to decide the internal policies of Pakistan,” the official added.