Islamabad, Pakistan-
I have nothing left when I hear things like this, but sardonic amusement.
Lashkar-e-Taiba ( LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed has said he will continue his jihad against India until the disputed Kashmir area is completely in Pakistan’s grasp.
As dusk fell, more than 10,000 people gathered in Islamabad in a show of defiance certain to enrage India further following weeks of tensions over the disputed Kashmir border.
“The United States and India are very angry with us. This means God is happy with us,” Saeed told the crowd as supporters chanted “Jihad!” (“Holy war”) and “War will continue until the liberation of Kashmir”.
“Jihad against India”? I thought Islam expert Tsarnaev said jihad is an internal struggle, nothing more?
But of course the story gets better.
According to the report, the speakers at the rally openly declared their sympathy for the Taliban group fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.
Hamid Gul, a former chief of the ISI intelligence service, during the rally threatened that there are lot of people in Pakistan who were waiting to conquer India.
It seems humanity has a nuclear confrontation to look forward to. Here is the backdrop story:
India has accused Hafiz Saeed of masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai where gunmen killed 166 people over three days. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
So how is it that this man is roaming free?
Pakistan has not detained Saeed as yet and has allowed him to live freely in the city of Lahore with police stationed outside his villa.
So it is not that they cannot find the guy. Or stop him from heading mass rallies (in their capital, of all places), for that matter. It is that they are not willing to do so. And former director of the powerful ISI is not only willing to associate with him, but openly calls for jihad himself.
I have a challenge to opponent of the drone war. If drone attacks are to stop, how can men like Hafiz Saeed be stopped from killing even more people? Do their rights trump the rights of their victims? And how many are going to die if a nuclear war breaks out between India and Pakistan as a result of this man’s incitement of violence? Do they have any rights?
