Any responsible govt would have probed Saeed: PC

NEW DELHI: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for allowing LeT founder and Jamaat ud Dawah chairman Hafiz Saeed to make “provocative and incendiary” speeches against India when it should be “probing his role” in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

“We are very clear about the role of Hafiz Saeed. It is a role that deserved to be investigated. Based on the evidence we have submitted, any responsible government would have investigated his role. Far from investigating the role, Pakistan is allowing him to make these provocative, incendiary speeches...this is regrettable,” Mr Chidambaram said at a press conference here.

“We expect Pakistan to take action on the three dossiers submitted by us,” he underlined. It be recalled that Hafiz Saeed’s name figures prominently in the list of five 26/11 accused whose arrest and custody were sought in a terror dossier presented to Pakistan foreign secretary on February 25. The other accused listed as wanted are Abu Qahafa, Abu Hamza, Usman and Muzammil Butt. Access to three suspects, including David Coleman Headley’s handlers Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal, was also sought for questioning.
However, the Pakistani foreign secretary, soon after the talks, termed the Indian evidence against Saeed as “literature”.

Of the three dossiers submitted to Pakistan on February 25, one related to the Mumbai attacks, the second dealt exclusively with terror handler and Al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri, and the third sought custody of 24 other fugitives, including Indian Mujahideen brass hiding in Pakistan and 7 Khalistanis.

Even though a separate dossier on Hafiz Saeed’s role in the 26/11 attacks was submitted earlier, Pakistan has shown no inclination to act against him. It has repeatedly dismissed the evidence against the JuD boss as flimsy and inadequate to justify his arrest or questioning in the Mumbai attacks case. Saeed, incidentally, has also been absolved of terror charges by the Pakistani courts. He has since been freely attending public meetings, often spewing venom against India in his speeches.

In a recent interview, Saeed declared that Pakistan would have to fight a war against India at all costs if the latter was not prepared to hold talks. He even pledged his and JuD’s support for Pakistan in the war against India. A few days earlier, he had threatened that “one Mumbai (attack) was not enough.”