New Delhi: The Lahore High Court has asked the Pakistan government not to ‘harass’ Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and let him continue his ‘social work’. The court allowed his two organizations Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) to work under the law.
It was the same Lahore Court which emancipated Hafiz Saeed, the head of designated terrorist organization Jamaat-ud-Dawah from house arrest last year. The Islamabad High Court had also passed an order giving a green signal for Saeed’s political wing Milli Muslim League (MML) to contest elections.
Ironically, the recent order of Pakistan’s Lahore High Court has come just a day after United Nations Security Council announced its updated terror list which featured Hafiz Saeed and his organizations. On 3rd April, the US had also added the MML in the list of terror organizations.
Steps taken by Pakistan government and orders by their Courts are giving a very conflict message about country’s stand on terrorism. Pakistan has taken some hard steps after facing international sanctions for its lack of substantial efforts to curb terror havens on its territory. In fact, the decision of house arrest of Hafiz Saeed was taken after all the criticism country faced on world platforms.
The preacher of hatred, Hafiz Saeed, has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan ever since the Mumbai attacks of 2008. Hafiz Saeed has strong terrorist credentials, but over the last five years, he has reinvented his image as a Santa Claus of Pakistan.
Saeed has now become a TV celebrity cum televangelist, openly boasting of his so-called ‘charity’ organization, Jamaat ud Dawa, which is involved in relief work as well as anti-India and conspiracy rhetoric. He does not openly preach jihad on TV, but his anti-India stance appeals to the mind inclined towards radicalism.
His ‘Santa’ image has not solely gained him sympathizer in the country as well as outside Pakistan. China is one of them although; their reason for supporting Hafiz is purely geopolitical and establishing itself as a superpower in the region. And China knows India is the only country which can challenge his self-proclaimed status. They see Pakistan as the effective brake for India’s progress as substantial funds and manpower is used against fighting terrorism.
No matter whether Hafiz Saeed and his charity groups are designated as a terror organization, institutions in Pakistan are so polarized and divided that he will always find a way to encash his image.
