Islamabad:Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has said his organisation will back any move by the Pakistan Army to help the people of Kashmir as it will be akin to a jihad.
Saeed, accused by India of being the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, made the remarks during a recent interview with a Pakistani TV channel. The JuD and its affiliate Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was founded by Saeed, are considered to be close to the security establishment.
“We say that whatever stance our military adopts and moves forward for the rights of Kashmiris, that is jihad; and we will help Kashmiris along with Pakistan, the Pakistan Army and the Pakistani administration,” he said.
“If India is not prepared to give Kashmiris their rights, and lakhs of them have died, we believe now that if they (India) fire bullets, then the only answer is jihad, it is very clear,” he claimed.
Saeed noted that Pakistan had always taken the stand that “Kashmiris have the right to get independence”.
The JuD chief, for whom the US has offered a $10 million bounty, has called for jihad in Jammu and Kashmir several times in the past. LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a close aide of Saeed who was recently freed from jail, has for long guided militant activities in Kashmir.
Saeed also referred to the arrest of separatist leader Masarat Alam in Srinagar on Friday.
“Is it justified to arrest Masarat Alam the way he was yesterday? He had hoisted a Pakistan flag in Kashmir, not in Delhi. Kashmir is disputed area, so nothing is wrong,” he claimed.
Alam was arrested amidst mounting outrage over the waving of Pakistani flags at a rally attended by him on Wednesday.
In a related development, Pakistan’s Foreign Office criticised what it claimed was the “brutal use of force” in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Foreign Office spokesperson said Pakistan regarded the “Kashmiris’ struggle for their right to self-determination legitimate as sanctified by the UN Security Council resolutions”.
“Pakistan has consistently extended diplomatic, moral and political support to Kashmiris struggle for self-determination. Pakistan deplores the brutal use of force by Indian security forces against peaceful and unarmed Kashmiris,” the statement said.