India has deceitfully put 26/11 blame on me: Hafiz
In an ironic twist apparently aimed at deflecting attention from the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and mastermind of the attacks Hafiz Saeed has perversely denied any involvement saying he was “extremely saddened by the loss of innoce...
By Omer Farooq Khan, TNN |
ISLAMABAD: In an ironic twist apparently aimed at deflecting attention from the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and mastermind of the attacks Hafiz Saeed has perversely denied any involvement saying he was “extremely saddened by the loss of innocent lives’’.
The statement coincided with the first anniversary of the attacks , when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists carrying automatic rifles and heavy backpacks stuffed with bullets, grenades, sophisticated communication equipment and almonds for energy began a three-day assault on Mumbai that left 166 people dead. Saeed, who heads the charity considered a thinly-veiled front for the LeT, accused India of pursuing a “personal vendetta’ ’ against him.
The terror mastermind, in a letter to a Pakistani TV channel, claimed that he empathises with the affected families.
“India has deceitfully put the entire blame on me and JuD,’’ he said. “The objective of writing the letter is to call for an end to a negative propaganda against JuD and allow it to resume its humanitarian work.’’
India has repeatedly demanded Pakistan to take action against the terror mastermind. New Delhi maintains that it has concrete proof against Saeed and the dossiers handed over to Pakistan have blow-by-blow account of his role including his meetings with the terrorists unleashed on Mumbai.
The terror mastermind is also believed to have seen the terrorists off and briefed them on their “Mumbai mission’’. Saeed said the rules of jihad don’t include indiscriminate killing. “India has deceitfully blamed me. My crime is that I expose India’s two-faced policy of overtly appearing all smiles and geniality while it conceals a dagger in its sleeve,’’ he said.
Analysts aren’t surprised that Saeed was denying a role in Mumbai ; killing civilians but denying doing so has been their default position . Saeed’s letter ironically came a day after Islamabad appeared to make a concession to Indian demands, when an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi chargesheeted LeT’s operational commander, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi and six other terrorists for their role in the attacks.
A judge adjourned proceedings until December 5, when prosecutors will present their opening arguments .The men, who could face the death penalty if convicted, pleaded not guilty to charges of planning and helping to execute the attack. But Saeed, the group’s spiritual leader, remains at large as Pakistan has refused to act against him, saying it can’t prosecute him “merely because Delhi wants us to do so’’ . Saeed is one of the 38 people named in an 11,000-page chargesheet filed before a Mumbai court in February.
The statement coincided with the first anniversary of the attacks , when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists carrying automatic rifles and heavy backpacks stuffed with bullets, grenades, sophisticated communication equipment and almonds for energy began a three-day assault on Mumbai that left 166 people dead. Saeed, who heads the charity considered a thinly-veiled front for the LeT, accused India of pursuing a “personal vendetta’ ’ against him.
The terror mastermind, in a letter to a Pakistani TV channel, claimed that he empathises with the affected families.
“India has deceitfully put the entire blame on me and JuD,’’ he said. “The objective of writing the letter is to call for an end to a negative propaganda against JuD and allow it to resume its humanitarian work.’’
India has repeatedly demanded Pakistan to take action against the terror mastermind. New Delhi maintains that it has concrete proof against Saeed and the dossiers handed over to Pakistan have blow-by-blow account of his role including his meetings with the terrorists unleashed on Mumbai.
The terror mastermind is also believed to have seen the terrorists off and briefed them on their “Mumbai mission’’. Saeed said the rules of jihad don’t include indiscriminate killing. “India has deceitfully blamed me. My crime is that I expose India’s two-faced policy of overtly appearing all smiles and geniality while it conceals a dagger in its sleeve,’’ he said.
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He claimed that restrictions on his “charity’ ’ meant that “if a few hundred families were affected (by the Mumbai attacks) in India, at least 5,000 families in Pakistan have had to endure momentous suffering’’ . JuD, which was designated by the UN security council as a terrorist organisation last December, has extensive charity operations including schools and hospitals, which act as a front for recruiting terrorists for the LeT.Analysts aren’t surprised that Saeed was denying a role in Mumbai ; killing civilians but denying doing so has been their default position . Saeed’s letter ironically came a day after Islamabad appeared to make a concession to Indian demands, when an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi chargesheeted LeT’s operational commander, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi and six other terrorists for their role in the attacks.
A judge adjourned proceedings until December 5, when prosecutors will present their opening arguments .The men, who could face the death penalty if convicted, pleaded not guilty to charges of planning and helping to execute the attack. But Saeed, the group’s spiritual leader, remains at large as Pakistan has refused to act against him, saying it can’t prosecute him “merely because Delhi wants us to do so’’ . Saeed is one of the 38 people named in an 11,000-page chargesheet filed before a Mumbai court in February.
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