JuD’s Hafiz Saeed threatens stir if Pak hosts Rajnath

ISLAMABAD: Leaders of religious and extremist groups, including Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, have warned of protests against Indian home minister Rajnath Singh’s

ISLAMABAD: Leaders of religious and extremist groups, including Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, have warned of protests against Indian home minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Pakistan on August 3, putting the Nawaz Sharif government in an embarrassing position.

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India on Monday said Singh would go ahead with the visit to attend a meeting of interior ministers of SAARC nations in Islamabad though officials ruled out the possibility of bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart.

Saeed on Monday threatened the JuD will organise demonstrations and rallies across Pakistan if Singh went ahead with the visit, alleging the minister was behind the “killings of innocent Kashmiris”.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, which too is protesting against the visit, said it will organise processions and block roads in Islamabad “so that the Indian minister gets the message over the violence against innocent people” in Kashmir. Sources in Islamabad said the government was in a bind as there is considerable public support for the stand adopted by groups such as the JuD in view of the unrest in Kashmir which has claimed nearly 50 lives. The state has witnessed widespread violence since Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces last month.

MoS for home Kiren Rijiju played down the threats by Saeed and told reporters Singh would attend the SAARC meet as scheduled. “The SAARC meeting is a multilateral meeting. There are some commitments. He is not going to give some message or having a separate meeting with (the) Pakistani home minister,” he said.

The external affairs ministry had last week ruled out bilateral meetings during the visit by Singh, who will be the first Indian leader to visit Pakistan since a sharp downturn in ties following the terror attack on Pathankot airbase in January. The assault was blamed on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed.

In a statement issued in Lahore on Monday, Hafiz Saeed accused Singh of being responsible for the killings in Jammu and Kashmir. “I want to ask the Pakistani government – will it add insult to injury to the wounds of Kashmiris by welcoming Rajnath who is responsible for the killings of innocent Kashmiris?” he said.

“It will be ironic, as on the one hand, the whole Pakistani nation is protesting against the Indian atrocities in Kashmir and on the other hand, the Pakistani rulers will be garlanding Singh,” he added.

He said the Pakistan government“might have compulsions to receive the Kashmiris’ killers” but the people are “siding with oppressed Kashmiris”.

Saeed, accused by India of master minding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, said protests and rallies will be organised in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad, Muzaffarabad and other cities on August 3.

“The people of Kashmir had refused to meet Singh during his Srinagar visit. The PML-N government must also refuse to receive the BJP leader on the excuse that it may hurt and incite feelings of Kashmiris and Pakistanis,” he said.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately recall Pakistan’s envoy from New Delhi and suspend trade and diplomatic ties with India because of the unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

“Ailing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should at least recall Pakistan’s high commissioner from New Delhi and suspend trade and diplomatic ties with India. The rulers should give up hypocrisy and the Pakistan government should either plead the case of Kashmiris or make friends with India,” Salahuddin said while addressing the “Azadi Kashmir March” in Lahore on Sunday.

The organisers of the march originally intended to go up to the Wagah border with India but security forces stopped the protesters on the outskirts of Lahore.

(With inputs from HTC in New Delhi)