Military seeks political role for militant-linked groups
lahore — A new Pakistani political party controlled by a militant with a $10 million US bounty on his head is backing a candidate in a by-election on Sunday, in what a former senior army officer says is a key step in a military-proposed plan to mainstream militant groups.
The Milli Muslim League party loyal to Hafiz Saeed — accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks — has little chance of seeing its favoured candidate win the seat vacated when prime minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from office by the Supreme Court in July.
But the foray into politics by Saeed’s charity is following a blueprint that Sharif himself rejected when the military proposed it last year, retired Lieutenant General Amjad Shuaib said.
Three close Sharif confidants with knowledge of the discussions confirmed that Sharif had opposed the “mainstreaming” plan, which senior military figures and some analysts see as a way of steering extremsits groups away from militancy.
“We have to separate those elements who are peaceful from the elements who are picking up weapons,” Shuaib said.
Saeed’s religious charity launched the Milli Muslim League party within two weeks after the court ousted Sharif over corruption allegations.
Yaqoob Sheikh, the Lahore candidate for Milli Muslim League, is standing as an independent after the Electoral Commission said the party was not yet legally registered. But Saeed’s lieutenants, JuD workers and Milli Muslim League offi- cials are running his campaign and portraits of Saeed adorn every poster promoting Sheikh.
Another figure designated a terrorist by the United States, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, has said he too plans to soon form his own party to advocate Shariah.
Saeed’s charity and Khalil’s Ansar ul Umma organisation are both seen by the United States as fronts for militant groups.
Both Saeed and Khalil have a history of supporting violence — each man was reportedly a signatory to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa declaring war on the United States.
The military’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency first began pushing the political mainstreaming plan in April 2016, according to retired general Shuaib, a former director of the army’s military intelligence wing that is separate
We have to separate those elements who are peaceful from the elements who are picking up weapons Lt. Gen (Rtd) Amjad Shuaib, a political analyst
from the ISI. He said the proposal was shared with him in writing by the then-ISI chief, adding that he himself had spoken with Khalil as well as Saeed in an unofficial capacity about the plan. “Fazlur Rehman Khalil was very positive. Hafiz Saeed was very positive,” Shuaib said.
Saeed has been under house arrest since January at his house in Lahore.
Then-prime minister Sharif, however, was strongly against the military’s mainstreaming plan, according to Shuaib and three members of Sharif’s inner circle, including one who was in some of the tense meetings over the issue.
Sharif wanted to completely dismantle groups like JuD.
A representative of the PML-N, which last month replaced him as prime minister with close ally Shahid Khaqi Abbasi, said the party was “not aware” of any mainstreaming plan being brought to the table. Some analysts worry that mainstreaming such controversial groups would be a risky strategy for Pakistan. —