Pakistan-occupied Kashmir based United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salahuddin has thrown his weight behind beleaguered Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, who faces a bounty of Rs $10 million on him by the United States.
“The announcement of bounty for Saeed by the US is a calculated move to appease India. It is also aimed at hurting the sentiments of Muslims of the subcontinent,” Salahuddin was quoted by a Srinagar-based local daily on Thursday.
Salahuddin, who heads the conglomerate of 13 militant outfits including the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba fighting in Kashmir, addressed an extraordinary session of the UJC on Wednesday in the backdrop of the US announcing bounty on Saeed, according to the newspaper.
Salahuddin, who heads Kashmir’s largest indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, warned that the “disdainful act would further deepen the gap between the Muslim world and the West”.
Describing Saeed a social worker, Salahuddin said, “The US welfare organizations too admitted and acknowledged the role of the JuD during the earthquake of 2005 and the flash-floods of 2011 in Sindh”.
Reiterating almost Saeed’s statement, the Hizb chief said that Saeed was being targeted “because his organization was against the US drone attacks and re-opening of NATO supplies routes through Pakistan”.
{{/usCountry}}Reiterating almost Saeed’s statement, the Hizb chief said that Saeed was being targeted “because his organization was against the US drone attacks and re-opening of NATO supplies routes through Pakistan”.
{{/usCountry}}He asked the Pakistan government to discharge its legal and constitutional duties “to ensure full protection to its citizens”.
“Pakistan needs to take concrete measures both at political and diplomatic level (on this issue),” he said.