Intelligence reveals 26/11 mastermind Saeed has the ear of ISI

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Dec 3: An intelligence assessment sent to South Block by the Indian mission in Pakistan, and accessed by Mail Today, says that 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, with the backing of Nawaz Sharif’s government, has intensified his anti-India propaganda and operations to influence Islamabad’s policy towards its larger neighbour.

The memo says that Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), "listens" to Saeed and "follows his diktats".

Since the ISI is the cutting edge of Pakistan’s India policy, and Saeed has thus manoeuvered himself into a position from where he can leave his ideological imprint on it.

 

Influence: According to intelligence sources, 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Muhammed Saeed has the ear of the Pakistani ISI


According to the report, the big change is that Saeed, who was running his propaganda machine from the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) headquarters in Muridke, is now using Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi as the base of his operations.

The JuD is the ’spiritual mentor’ of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had carried out the Mumbai terror attacks, and is opposed to India and the US.

The memo comes days after India mourned the martyrs of the 2008 attacks, whose perpetrators remain at large.

Even the seven low-level LeT operatives being tried in connection with the crime may get away as the Pakistan government is doing little to expedite the trial.

The internal assessment on Saeed’s activities notes that "JuD Amir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has been playing a crucial role in promoting the anti-India agenda smoothly with the assistance and support of the Pakistan government. There seems to be an underlying arrangement between the government and the JuD to provide Saeed some space for promoting his agenda of fanning anti- India sentiment in Pakistanis."

 

Hafiz Saeed (left) has intensified his anti-India propaganda and operations with the blessings of the Nawaz Sharif (right) government

The assessment notes that in Bahawalpur, Saeed warned those declaring Kashmir as an integral part of India, that "India would disintegrate if Kashmiri people were not granted right of self-determination".

Then in Karachi, he alleged that the US was supporting the Indian Army and its intelligence agencies in Afghanistan for imparting training to terrorists for activities in Pakistan.

In Hyderabad, he accused India of constructing dams to stop water flowing to Punjab and Sindh. This only lends credence to reports that Saeed is now directing anti-India operations.

The Pakistan armed forces journal Hilal recently invoked the water issue to ramp up anti-India propaganda.

Saeed’s enlarged vengeance highlights two trends. First, that the Sharif government is playing a double-game, professing peace through diplomatic channels while unleashing Saeed and the LeT against India.

Second, Saeed’s frequent outbursts may weaken the fledgling hopes of peace that the continuation of democracy in Pakistan has raised.