Pakistan Fails to Prosecute Terror Suspect

by Mritunjay | October 13, 2009 at 02:44 am

231 views | 41 Recommendations | 14 comments

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Pakistani-based Militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) was let off scott-free after the Lahore High Court ordered his release in absence of adequate proof by prosecution. Both the Indian and Western officials accuse Saeed of masterminding the terrorist siege of Mumbai in November 2008 which left nearly 200 people dead including many foreign nationals.

His lawyer, A. K. Dogar, said he had argued that the government had not banned Jamat-ud-Dawa and therefore it was legal to solicit donations for it. “The court accepted my contention,” he was quoted by news media as saying outside the court.

Saeed was placed under house arrest after Pakistan was pressured by global community in wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. It was the second time that Saeed was let of similar charges in wake of lack of evidence. JuD is a front organisation of the LeT, blamed by India for carrying out the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.India has named Saeed as the mastermind of the attacks. Days after the attack, it was designated as a terrorist group by the U.N. Security Council.

Pakistani authorities in some cases have turned a blind eye when militant groups have simply renamed themselves and continued operating as before. LeT was an offshoot of Jamaat-ud-Dawa wal-Irshad, which is a preaching, publishing and propaganda network set up by Hafiz Saeed for jihad in Afghanistan in 1985. LeT's rise as a major Pakistani group operating in Kashmir is widely credited to Mr Saeed's close links with the Pakistani military and the intelligence services. The group also had access to huge funds from Middle Eastern mosques and a countrywide network to raise donations locally. In 2002 when the LeT was about to be proscribed by the then Pervez Musharraf regime, Saeed revived the group's parent organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa wal-Irshad, amended its name and was able to carry on the business as usual.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has enjoyed the support of the Pakistani intelligence agencies in the past and is often described in Pakistan as the military’s fifth column.

In the latest case of 2008 Mumbai attacks after being pressurized the Pakistan govt. under Pervez Mussharaf had to take action against the organization and Saeed was placed under house arrest though no charges were pressed till late. The FIRs filed later on also were not apt and this led to the charges being quashed in court. The defense attorney made a case of the JuD not being a baned organization in Pakistan which was the base of the FIRs.

When the two-judge Bench took up the two petitions on Monday morning, the first question that Justices Asif Saeed Khosa and Najamuz Zaman put to the Punjab Additional Advocate-General was whether there was any government order banning the group.
The government lawyer asked the court to give him half-an-hour to find out. He returned to say that he had been instructed by the federal government that there was no such order.

The Bench asked Mr. Dogar if he wanted to make the federal government a party in the case.

When Saeed’s lawyer told him there was no need as the federal government had already accepted there was no ban on the JuD, the Bench immediately ruled the two FIRs illegal and ordered that they should be quashed.

With the terrorist attacks on a rise within Pakistan it's high time Pakistan takes some serious steps against terror organizations not to appease the global community but to ensure internal peace and safety of it's citizens.

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SantoshS (not verified)

at 03:28 on October 13th, 2009

Pakistan must realize that breeding terrorists is not going to help it. Infact as we have seen in past months the same terrorists have ripped apart the life of common people as well as law and order situation in Pakistan.

sara star

at 04:42 on October 13th, 2009

Why are they not dealing with this? Corruption?

This is his second time, it is not going to end. Unless he is being set up.

Mritunjay

at 05:19 on October 13th, 2009

Sara maybe this is the reason:

"Subsequently, Lashkar's rise as a major Pakistani group operating in Kashmir is widely credited to Mr Saeed's close links with the Pakistani military and the intelligence services.The group also had access to huge funds from Middle Eastern mosques and a countrywide network to raise donations locally."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6067694.stm

It's seems an in-bred force rather than one which is self-built.

sara star

at 05:31 on October 13th, 2009

An in-bred force.... do you mean the military itself created it? Then who is protecting the country?

Mritunjay

at 06:49 on October 13th, 2009

Sara,

As the news suggests this "in-bred" force was never at war with the Pakistani army and in fact had it's support. In fact if you recollect what Gen. Musharraf said post the Kargil Operation in 1999 it makes the picture clear and the role of terrorists in Pakistan.

Contrary to the earlier claims by Pakistan that the Kargil operation was carried out by independent 'freedom fighters' and that the Pakistan army had no role in it, the then military chief , for the first time, admitted that Pakistani Army's Rawalpindi Corps and Force Command Northern Areas were involved in the operation.

Referring to his book "In the Line of Fire" in which he has said that the Pakistan military was "second line forces", Musharraf said: "What I have written is final. I am not going to get into the details at all."

Hope this clarifies a bit.

albertacowpoke

at 04:55 on October 13th, 2009

A good story Mirtunjay. Pakistan must get this under control.

djermano

at 05:09 on October 13th, 2009

Is it any different when they closed the investigation to the terrorist attack on 911, because evidence began to prove that 911 was an inside job? America is unable to prosecute the terrorists of 911, because the Bush Government did it. No different I think, except that the US government was behind it, not so called foreign terrorists.

Rev. Jermano

rng

at 06:31 on October 13th, 2009

Pakistan is sending the US a veiled message in all this about their displeasure with the US siding with India on Kashmir. Unless they get, they feel, equal treatment they will not clamp down and more NATO troops die in Afghanistan. It is the Southern Asian equvalent of Palestine as far as the ISI and the military are concerned

israeli.agent

at 09:22 on October 13th, 2009

"It is the Southern Asian equvalent of Palestine...."

I am sorry, but I failed to understand this statemt. Could you clarify, please..?

.Agent.

rng

at 09:41 on October 13th, 2009

I am sorry, but I failed to understand this statemt. Could you clarify, please..?

I am using it as an analogy. It is a highly emotional and combustible issue (Kashmir) with two powers claiming some sovereignty over the same territory. It is not an apples for apples issue, but one that often produces sparks and anger as Palestine does in the Middle East.

israeli.agent

at 10:20 on October 13th, 2009

Thank you.

Apart from the anger part, Kashmir issue is not really comparable to the Palestine problem. Apart from China (because of it's proximity to the region ) and some terrorists, in reality not much countries are interested in Kashmir, not more than a little cosmetic way.

.Agent.

rng

at 10:51 on October 13th, 2009

It is a little more complex. You have a jointly administered region, an independence movement and we just celebrated the 60 year anniversary of the inability to implement the UN self-determination rule. Nobody seems to be giving up any claims in the short-term

israeli.agent

at 11:46 on October 13th, 2009

There is a seperate secion of Indian constitution called Article 370. This article gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status in Indian union. This is agreed upon in 1947 when the then ruler of Kashmie King Hari Singh agreed to join Kashmir to Indian union. This special status includes certain ridiculous laws like "Indian citizens from other states and Kashmiri women who marry men from other states can not purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir."

But this Article could not prevent the eviction of about 3 lakh Kashmiris from the state - only because they are Hindus - leaving their land and property for the fear of their life. This happend not in last 60 years, but in recent past (10-15 years). This happened because of the "freedom" movement inspired by some "non-state actors™".

Is it not amazing when the emergence of "freedom" movement that was non-existant for 45 years suddenly mushroomed in last 15 years, along with the raise of other terrorists organizations like Al Quaida and stuff?

Even if we admit the "freedom fight" theory for arguement's sake, what is the justification for bombing and terror attack on other Indian cities and ordinary people?

Now deadly attacks are happening in Pakistan by the same/similar "freedom fighters", the ordinary Pakistanis would be feeling what it is like at the receiving end. But like everywhere else it is only the common man who is suffering and dying in these horrible incidents. Not the ones who control and manupulate them.

We must analyze the significance of the release of a wanted terror suspect by Pakistani authorities in the light of these facts.

.Agent.

Ninja Mayhem

at 10:23 on October 13th, 2009

The Palestine situation is clear from the prespect of parties. Here the picture is much murkier. Pakistan never claims it's support to these terrorists openly though every investigation till date has linked almost every terrorist group to Pakistan. Also the US support to Pakistan makes the picture more complex. This area is also the hub of some powers who have lately acquired nuke weapons. Further the instability within Pakistan and the threat of the nukes sliping away to terrorist organizations makes the situation super-complex.