Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto has caused a storm with his recent remarks implying Pakistan would have no problems arresting and extraditing terror commanders such as Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed to India, a remark which evoked scathing criticism in some local quarters.
One of the strongest responses was made by Hafiz Saeed's son, Hafiz Talha Saeed, who put up a sternly worded video on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday. In the video, he criticized Bhutto, claiming that the chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had betrayed Islamic values and demanded an apology.
". how can he present (up) my father in such a way?" Talha demanded in the video, calling for Pakistan's "patriotic media" to call Bhutto out on his comments. He also stated that the PPP leader is not qualified enough to comment on issues of national or foreign policy.
We expect our patriotic media to critically analyze Mr Bhutto's statement. whose party and family have done it in the past toeing Western and Indian accounts against Pakistan and, on occasions, providing them with critical information prejudicial to national security," the younger Saeed said.
Bhutto made the remarks during an Al Jazeera interview last week, in which he rejected the claim that Islamabad is aware of Masood Azhar's whereabouts. Azhar, the chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), is among India's most wanted fugitives and has been accused of being behind several high-profile terror attacks, such as the 2001 Parliament attack, 2011 Mumbai blasts, 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, and 2019 Pulwama suicide blast. He was in Indian custody until 1999 when he was released as a quid pro quo to secure the release of passengers of the hijacked IC-814 Indian Airlines plane.
Hafiz Saeed, on the other hand, is the leader of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit. One of LeT's surrogate fronts is suspected to have executed the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir which killed 26, including mostly foreigners and civilians. While Pakistan maintains that Saeed is under house arrest, Indian officials and international watchers regularly cast doubt on the validity and efficacy of the status.
India has always held that terror groups such as JeM and LeT function freely in Pakistan with the support of its military-intelligence complex. Pakistan, for its part, consistently denies any state-sponsored terrorism role.
In response to Al Jazeera's query on a New York Times report that Hafiz Saeed is practically free in spite of official assertions, Bhutto said, "That's not correct. Hafiz Saeed is in the custody of the Pakistani state. As far as Masood Azhar is concerned, we have been unable to arrest him.
He further added, "If, and when, the Indian government provides us with the information that he (Masood Azhar) is in Pakistani territory, we would be more than glad to arrest him…"
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