Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed on Monday dared Pakistan to arrest him and vowed to continue fighting for Kashmiris, PTI reported.
“If the Pakistani government wants to arrest me...come and go for it, but I will not stop dedicating 2018 for Kashmiris,” Saeed said at a rally in Pakistan’s Lahore. “We will emerge more strongly if you try to suppress us.”
Saeed also accused India of seeking help from Israelis to “suppress the freedom struggle” of Kashmiris, according to local daily Pakistan Today. “India has made dangerous plans with the help of Israel, against Pakistan’s security,” he said.
Claiming the Modi government has “failed in Kashmir”, Saeed alleged that secret agreements were signed regarding Balochistan. He also urged Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to protest for Kashmiris, and criticised ouster premier Nawaz Sharif for not doing enough for the Kashmiri cause.
India has consistently said that Saeed was the mastermind of the terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008. The US, which backs India on this, has a $10-million bounty for him. Saeed, a United Nations-designated terrorist, was freed from a 297-day-long house arrest on November 24, 2017 after an order from the Lahore High Court. The US and India had reacted sharply against his release.
On January 24, Pakistan Prime Minister Abbasi said that his government will push ahead with plans to seize control of charities run by Hafiz Saeed, days after the United States reiterated its demand to Pakistan to prosecute the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief. Abbasi on January 16 claimed that there was no case against Saeed. In the interview with a local television channel, the prime minister had also referred to Saeed as “sahib” or “sir”.
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