Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed can pose a “serious threat” to the country. Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Sunday, Asif said Saeed – who India has accused of being the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks – was arrested by Pakistani authorities in the “larger interest of the country”, PTI reported.

“Terrorism is not synonymous to any religion...terrorists are not Muslims or Christians or Buddhists or Hindus...they are criminals,” Asif said at the conference, The Express Tribune reported. Noting that recent militant attacks across Pakistan had heightened the need for greater security, Asif said Islamabad would “counter this threat with full might of our state”.

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However, political and religious leaders in Pakistan condemned Asif’s remarks on Saeed, with some calling him “India’s mouthpiece”, The News International reported. Defence of Pakistan Council Chairman Maulana Samiul Haq asked why Asif had not raised the issue of alleged atrocities by the Indian Army in Kashmir.

Another leader said Saeed’s house arrest had weakened the Kashmiri freedom struggle. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Mahmoodur Rasheed said the defence minister’s remarks showed that the Pakistani government had adopted a “defensive policy” on India and the United States.

The JuD and its supporters have threatened to launch countrywide protests on February 5 unless the government releases Saeed. Since his house arrest on January 30, rallies have been held in a number of regions in Pakistan, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lower Dir and Mansehra. JuD members have held demonstrations, holding up placards and chanting anti-India and anti-US slogans. Islamabad has added Saeed and his aide Qazi Kashif to its Anti-Terrorism Act, which curtails their movement within the country.