Mumbai terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed writes column for Pakistani newspaper on Kashmir issue

‘Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan… Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people’ written by “Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed” appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday. The article carries a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later. His outfit the JuD later also contested the general elections in Pakistan and lost.

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeed’s pictures. In his article, “Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan”, lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan. He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League (MML) party in August 2017 to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution. In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeed’s Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD), which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including some Americans.

(Inputs from PTI)