PROFESSOR OF TERROR: HAFIZ MOHAMMAD SAEED

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, amir of Jamat ud Dawa (JuD) and the ex-amir of Lashkar e Tayeba (LET) let off despite Pakistan’s own admission that the JuD had links with the Al Qaeda and suspected JuD’s involvement in the recent spate of terror attacks in Lahore.

Pakistan has a history of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. First lets take a look at what all is the Professor of Terror wanted in India for.

26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed is an absconder and Ujjwal Nikam, special public prosecutor in the case has sought a non bailable warrant against him.
December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. He is the co-planner along with Maulana Masood Azhar and their ISI masters. Detained by the Pakistan government under international pressure but released after three month as soon as pressure eased.
July 11, 2006 attack on the Mumbai local trains. 200 people were killed. He was the mastermind. Detained by the Lahore police but released on the orders of the Lahore High Court within 17 days. Detained again the same day but then released on court orders in less than two months.
December 28, 2005 attack on Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Lashkar-e-Tayeba’s effort to strike at India’s centre for science, technology and economy. One professor was killed. According to police investigations, the plan to strike at India’s centre for scientific excellence was Saeed’s idea.
October 29, 2005 serial explosions in New Delhi that killed 62 people. Saeed’s game plan to strike terror in the heart of the capital on the biggest religious festival Diwali.
March 7, 2006 attack at Sankatmochan temple Varanasi – 21 people died in the Lashkar attack. The target was the Hanuman temple chosen to create communal tension in India.
LeT’s Fidayeen squad in J&K was Saeed’s brainchild. After the Kargil conflict of May-July 1999, the LeT reorganized itself into smaller attack squads and launched suicide attacks on army and security forces camps in J&K. LeT terrorists dressed as security personnel also attacked Hindu and Sikh villages in the remote areas of J&K. Minorities would be rounded up in villages and gunned down.

These are just a few examples of the evil designs of the Professor of Terror Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. A co founder of the LeT Saeed’s jihad is not limited to Jammu and Kashmir alone. Junagarh and Hyderabad are also on his terror radar.

There is a pattern to Saeed’s detention and release. That Pakistan is the terror epicenter of the world is now an acknowledged fact. That Pakistan does not have the will to fight terror (especially that targets India) is also as clear as day. After every major terror strike in India under intense international pressure Pakistan does detain Sayeed but releases him as soon as pressure eases.

PAKISTAN’S DOUBLESPEAK

In fact Pakistan’s doublespeak became apparent yet again when Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab Province went on record to say Hafiz Saeed is a respectable citizen but the government will appeal against the court orders to release him. If the Law Minister of the Province feels the Professor of Terror is a respectable man how will they make a strong case against him in a superior court. This is a perfect example of Pakistan’s hypocrisy on combating terror.

Neither the police nor the ISI will ever investigate Saeed’s role since he is a part of their game plan to bleed India with a thousand cuts. Since they will not investigate him there will be no evidence against him and courts in Pakistan will be forced to release him for lack of evidence. India and the international community will be taken for a ride again and again.

Not once has he been formally arrested and put behind bars to face trial under any sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. Pakistan has no intentions of proceeding against one of their Generals of Terror. He heads their terror army that has been waging a war against India in Jammu and Kashmir since 1993 when 12 LeT terrorists infiltrated into Poonch south of Pir Panjal.

Now a terror ideologue like Hafiz Saeed will never be arrested with a smoking gun. Is it not a fact he is one of the founders of the LeT and was the amir of the group till it was banned by the US and the UN. LeT then became the JuD. He then became the amir of the JuD.

EVIDENCE AGAINST THE JAMAT UD DAWA

Pakistan’s Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa told the Lahore High Court on the 30th of May that Hafiz Saeed and the JuD had links with the Al Qaeda. He said the government had classified information that ``prima facie’’ JuD had links with the Al Qaeda.

Now here is a man who headed an international terrorist organization LeT. Here is a man who heads a so-called charitable organization JuD. An organization that has links with the biggest terror network in the world Al Qaeda.

And yet, Punjab Province Law Minister says Saeed is a respectable man. His government is probing the role of LeT and JuD in the repeated terror attacks in Lahore – whether it was the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team or the Manawan police camp attack or the most recent terror attack at the Rescue 15 HQ in Lahore.

MORE BOOTS ON GROUND

Releasing Hafiz Mohammad Saeed is a myopic step. It will further embolden the terrorists. Under intense US pressure Pakistan army did start an operation against the Taliban in the north west frontier province. And immediately there was a backlash.

But this is just the beginning. The Battle in Swat is only half won. Pakistan will need more boots on the ground to uproot the Taliban from the NWFP and then the real battle will begin. After decades of training with the Pakistan army, the Taliban are now well versed with Pakistan’s military tactics. They have fought in trenches together and know the weaknesses of the Pakistan army. The Taliban are sure to exploit it in their `jihad’ against the Pakistani security forces.

And that’s the time Pakistan will realize it made a terrible mistake by letting its territory become the terror epicentre of the world. And by then it might just be too late.