Hafiz Saeed: India, US turn up heat on Pak

The Central government said on Friday that any adventure by the released mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed, will find an appropriate and resounding response from India.

Addressing a sermon at Lahore’s Jamia Masjid Al Qadsia a day after walking free, the JuD chief said that he is “fighting for the freedom of Pakistan and Kashmir.”

He also said that he would gather people across Pakistan for the “cause of Kashmir” and try to help Kashmiris get their “destination of freedom”.

Home Ministry officials said here that Saeed will get an appropriate and resounding response on the ground from the people and law enforcement agencies, if he carries out any adventure.  

Meanwhile, the United States also asked Pakistan to re-arrest and charge Saeed for his crimes. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Saeed’s terror organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including American citizens, who were killed in the Mumbai attacks. “The Pakistani government should make sure that he is arrested and charged for his crimes,” she said in a statement.

A day after a Lahore High Court judicial review board Saeed’s release from house arrest, India expressed “outrage” on Thursday, saying Pakistan has exposed its true face to the world by attempting to “mainstream” UN-proscribed terrorists. His release came as a setback to India’s efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 attacks in which 166 people had been killed.