A New Political Party Associated with the Banned Outfit of Mumbai Attacks Mastermind Hafiz Saeed Enters Pakistani Elections
Amid controversy, the Hafiz Saeed-affiliated Pakistan Markazi Muslim League is set to contest in the February elections. According to BBC reports, there may be connections to prohibited organizations.
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A new political party called Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (MML), thought to be a new face of the outlawed groups of the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Hafiz Saeed, would run in the general elections on 8 February.
Several of the candidates this organization has nominated from various towns in Pakistan are either Hafiz Saeed's relatives or have previously been affiliated with the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, or Milli Muslim League. Saeed has been detained in a Lahore jail and has been found guilty of financing terrorism multiple times. Pakistan's anti-terrorism courts have sentenced him to a total of 31 years in prison. On December 10, 2008, the UN added him to its list of "global terrorists."
The list of prohibited organizations also included LeT, JuD, and its affiliated parties and institutions, such as Falah Insaniyat Foundation, Al-Anfal Trust, Khamtab Khalq Institution, Al-Dawwat Al-Arshad, Al-Hamad Trust, Al-Madinah Foundation, and Mu'az bin Jabal Educational Trust. The report published on Saturday cited analysts who keep an eye on Pakistani religious parties and asserted that Saeed's JuD's "new political face" is the Markazi Muslim League.
MIL TICKET CONTESTING SON AND SON-IN-LAW:
However, a party official denied having any connection to Saeed's organizations. According to the report, Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed is standing for office in the Markazi Muslim League party's National Assembly Constituency NA-122 in Lahore. Khawaja Saad Rafique, a former federal minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, is also running for office from this same constituency.
Similar to this, Saeed's son-in-law Hafiz Nek Gujjar is running for office on the Markazi Muslim League ticket from the Provincial Assembly constituency PP-162. A small number of Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters attempted to run for office in the 2018 elections on behalf of the "Milli Muslim League" party; however, the Election Commission of Pakistan prohibited the organization and denied its registration request due to resistance from the ruling administration.
Similar to this, Saeed's son-in-law Hafiz Nek Gujjar is running for office on the Markazi Muslim League ticket from the Provincial Assembly constituency PP-162. A small number of Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters attempted to run for office in the 2018 elections on behalf of the "Milli Muslim League" party; however, the Election Commission of Pakistan prohibited the organization and denied its registration request due to resistance from the ruling administration.
TERRORISTS INTERNATIONAL SETS:
The US designated Saifullah Khalid, Muzamil Iqbal Hashmi, Muhammad Haris Dar, Tabish Qayyum, Fayyaz Ahmed, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan as "international terrorists." They were charged with belonging to the banned LeT. Four of the seven Milli Muslim League members that the United States banned are the Makazi Muslim League's nominees for seats in Punjab and Sindh.
While Muhammad Haris Dar and Muzmal Iqbal Hashmi are running from the National Assembly constituencies NA-129 and NA-77 in Punjab province, Muhammad Fayyaz Ahmed and Faisal Nadeem Shaikh are running from Sindh province for the provincial assembly seats PS-43 and PS-64. On the same list, Tabish Qayyum is the Markazi Muslim League's chief spokesperson at the moment. Saifullah Khalid is a member of the party as well, but he has no official role. "None of our candidates is involved in any illegal activity and is not a part of any banned party," stated Hanzala Imad, another Markazi Muslim League official. Regarding the United States' previous designation of certain Jamaat members as terrorists, he stated: "No nation has the authority to designate individuals as terrorists in the absence of evidence or due process."
In response to a question from the BBC regarding the involvement of former JuD members in parliamentary politics, Pakistan's acting minister of information, Murtaza Solangi, stated that the caretaker government was not authorized to make significant policy decisions, particularly those pertaining to general elections. In addition, he stated that the caretaker government had no influence over whether registered parties may run for office or not, and that the Election Commission of Pakistan permitted such contests. The Election Commission's representative was contacted by the BBC, but he did not respond. Candidate for a Karachi provincial assembly seat, Nadeem Ahmad Awan, told the BBC that while his party had no affiliation with Hafiz Saeed, he had supported numerous charitable causes in Pakistan since 2003 and was a part of several political organizations, such as Saeed's JuD and Falah-i-Insaniya Foundation.
He said to the BBC that the Pakistan Markazi Central Muslim League is running in the country's general elections for the first time and that they have published their manifesto in advance of the polls. The Press Secretary of the Markazi Muslim League, Hanzala Imad, responded to questioning from the BBC by saying that there was no validity to the claims that Saeed was supporting the party.According to Khalid Masood Sindhu, the leader of the Pakistan Markazi Central Muslim League, the party is registered with the Pakistani electoral Commission and uses a chair as its electoral symbol. Imad added that his party had more than 500 candidates, including women and young people from various political ideologies around the nation, and that it had no ties to any banned parties or individuals.
JUD'S "NEW POLITICAL FACE":
According to Majid Nizami, a journalist and analyst for the BBC who closely monitors Pakistani political and religious groups, the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League is the JuD's "new political face," replacing Hafiz Saeed. He claimed that the state made the decision a few years ago to utilize jihadist groups in the political and welfare sectors and to integrate them into the national mainstream. Nizami stated in response to a query that he didn't think the party would be well-received in legislative politics.
Nizami was echoed by author and senior scholar at King's College London Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, who asserted that the army had previously implemented a policy of integrating these groups into the national mainstream. She remarked that it was essential to take these actions in order to demonstrate to the world that we are not targeting these individuals because they are becoming more and more mainstream.
She stated, "The JuD people were brought into politics to justify their presence, but historically, they have been ideological opponents of the democratic system." On November 26, 2008, ten terrorists from Pakistan who were part of Lashkar-e-Taiba landed in Mumbai, India's financial center, by boat. During a 60-hour siege, they killed 166 people—18 of them security personnel—and injured numerous more in an indiscriminate barrage.
