A Pakistani court has issued a notice to the federal government on two petitions asking it to stop Yousuf Raza Gilani from holding the post of prime minister after his conviction while another court has dismissed a similar petition.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawah has stepped up its use of the internet and social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to raise funds for its activities and to spread propaganda aimed at fomenting unrest in India.
Saeed has pledged to tour the country to mobilise the people against any decision by the government to reopen the supply routes, which were closed after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
The case of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed is an "internal issue" and any evidence against him should be provided to Pakistan so that the courts can take action, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawah on Tuesday beefed up security at the residence of its chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed in the Pakistani city of Lahore after the US announced a 10-million dollar bounty for the man accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Punjab government on Tuesday warned that those found providing donations or aid to the banned organisations will be charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
An alliance of religious and extremist groups on Saturday said Pakistan should settle the Kashmir issue and differences over sharing river water before it normalises trade relations with India and gives it Most Favoured Nation-status. The Defence of Pakistan Council, which includes the Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, made the demand in a joint declaration adopted at a meeting of the top leaders of the various groups.
A constitutional petition has been filed in a Pakistani court seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for allegedly committing "high treason" by defying orders of the Supreme Court and attempting to subvert the Constitution.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed may face fresh detention after British diplomats met senior Pakistani officials to convince them to crack down on the organisation, a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Diplomats from the British missions in Islamabad and New Delhi had a "successful rounds of talks with Pakistani leaders in the last week of July".These talks "might lead to the detention of JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
After his release, Saeed said he would gather people across Pakistan for the "cause of Kashmir" and try to help Kashmiris get their "destination of freedom".
India has been seeking global action against Pakistan for allowing terror safe havens in its territories, and has been pressing for punishing Pakistan-based terrorists involved in a series of attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attack.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on Thursday rubbished Pakistan governments efforts to improve relations with India, alleging that country had engaged in dialogue only to 'cause harm' to Pakistan and to sideline the Kashmir issue.
Spewing venom, leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a banned group blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, have vowed to convert Pakistan into a "Taliban state" and to train youths to wage jihad against the United States and India.
The Barack Obama administration's Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State Daniel Benjamin, in an interaction with rediff.com on Wednesday, has admitted that the social services the Lashkar-e-Tayiba delivers through its front organisations like Jamat-ud-Dawah make the terror outfit even more insidious and dangerous.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed claimed that India wants to "weaken the freedom movement" in Jammu and Kashmir under the pretext of talks with Pakistan.
Outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed demanded "stern punishment" according to Pakistan's constitution for US official Raymond Davis, arrested for shooting and killing two men.
Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawah, declared by the United Nations Security Council as a front for Lashkar-e-Tayiba, on Friday claimed it is not a banned group and its offices across this country are operating normally as authorities have found "no evidence" linking it to terror or anti-state activities.
Pakistan in a letter to UN Security Council 1267 Committee has contended that Hafiz Saeed supports a family of four members, as a sole supporter, he is responsible for food, drink and clothes expenses for all family members.
The annual military operations budget of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba is a whopping $5.2 million, according to a secret United States document, which gives details about the outfit's fund raising activities, some of which comes through Jamaat-ud-Dawah's charitable networks.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba's operations commander Zaki-ur- Rahman Lakhvi were running their terror groups while still in custody in Pakistan following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
Pakistan on Friday freed Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder, who immediately launched his anti-India rhetoric and vowed to mobilise people for the "cause of Kashmir".
The NIA, which has been on the trail of American terror operative David Coleman Headley, had been hoping to piece together the terror jig-saw by gaining independent access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who are alleged to have masterminded the Mumbai carnage.
The Pakistan government honours the Supreme Court's decision upholding the release from house arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Indian authorities should accord 'similar respect to the verdicts of Pakistani courts,' Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.
Deputy Attorney General Naseem Kashmiri, in a written reply submitted on behalf of Foreign Ministry to Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court, said: "The government is defending the ISI before the US court being an institute of the government while the JuD or its chief are not part of the government."
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday regretted that Home Secretary G K Pillai was not 'defended' by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna when he was 'openly castigated' by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for his remarks that the Inter Services Intelligence had coordinated the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah on Monday described Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah as an 'Indian agent' after he dismissed the widespread impression that India is 'stealing' Pakistan's share of river waters. Senior JuD leader Abdul Rehman Makki chided Shah and said his statement had weakened the case of 180 million Pakistanis. "He (Shah) is trying to bail out India over the water issue and the people of Pakistan are not convinced," he said.
Jamaat-u-Dawah chief Hazif Muhammad Saeed on Saturday warned India to "quit" Jammu and Kashmir or be prepared for a "war" even as the extremist group organized protests at several places in Pakistan to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day.
Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League and hard-line religious parties joined a rally in Islamabad organised by a front of the outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah, during which speakers called for a jihad to resolve the Kashmir issue. PML-N spokesman Siddique-ul-Farooq, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Samiul Haq and representatives of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference joined the rally organised by the Tehrik Azadi-e-Kashmir.
Hafiz Saeed on Tuesday led a 'Kashmir Caravan' from Lahore to Islamabad
The Jamaat-ud-Dawah has established an extensive network in Punjab province to collect funds and relief materials in the name of flood victims despite Pakistan government's contention that hardline groups will not be allowed to operate in garb of charitable organisations.
Conflicting claims were made on Wednesday about the visit of United States Agency for International Development's Indian-origin chief Rajiv Shah to a relief camp, run by a front organisation of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, in Pakistan's flood-hit Sindh province and his handing over of aid to it.
Continuing his anti-India rant, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, has now said that 'jihad' is the only way to free Jammu and Kashmir from the "Indian yoke". Saeed, who India blames for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, made the remarks while addressing a meeting of JuD workers at the Jamia Masjid Mukarram at Daska in Punjab province on Monday.
"We believe Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the LeT chief, is a khawarij (rebel) and needs to be punished under the law," secretary general of the Markazi Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadees, Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi Salfi, said.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, has asked Pakistanis to seek "forgiveness" from God for their sins in the wake of the devastating floods across the country.
Saeed said Pakistan government has added insult to the wounds of Kashmiris by welcoming Singh.
A Pakistani court has freed outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and his close aide Nazir Ahmed nearly six months after they were detained following the Mumbai terror attacks.
Saeed, the leader of the Jaamat-ud-Dawah, also called for more violence against India.
Pakistani authorities have decided not to arrest Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed on the basis of new dossiers from India claiming that they do not contain "actionable intelligence", according to a media report.
India on Thursday handed over three dossiers to Pakistan, dealing with three different aspects of terrorism being bred in Pakistan.
"In a democracy, there is freedom of expression in Pakistan as in India. There are all sorts of people making all kinds of speeches. There are people with extremist views in both India and Pakistan... and there is nothing you can do about it. There are views being expressed in Pakistan that I can do nothing about," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media persons in Islamabad on Saturday night.
