The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) party — set up by the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed — has fielded candidates for most of the national and provincial assembly constituencies across Pakistan for the upcoming 8 February general elections. PMML has also declared its intention to make the country an Islamic welfare state.
Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been incarcerated since 2019, after being convicted for several years in multiple terror finance cases along with other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
The electoral symbol for PMML is a chair. In a video message, its president, Khalid Masood Sindhu, said that his party is contesting on most of the national and provincial assembly seats.
“We want to come to power not for corruption but to serve the people and make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state,” he said.
Sindhu is a candidate for NA-130 Lahore, from where former PM Nawaz Sharif is also contesting. Meanwhile, Saeed’s son Talha Saeed is contesting from Lahore’s NA-127.
Breaking: Party backed by 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) to contest in upcoming elections in Pakistan, Pakistan Media reports. Saeed 's son, Talha Saeed, will also contest from a constituency in Lahore.https://t.co/1JZjeQ4NwU
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) December 25, 2023
Who is Hafiz Saeed?
Saeed is the chief of the banned Jama’at-ud-Da’wah and the founder of LeT.
He orchestrated the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008, during which 12 police officers, 122 Indian civilians, and 26 foreign nationals died, and a further 291 people were injured. The US Department of Justice has already designated him as a terrorist and imposed a $10 million bounty on his head.
Pakistani authorities arrested him in 2019, following which he was convicted for several crimes related to terrorist activities and terror financing and given a 31-year prison term.
In October 2021, China blocked proposals by India and the US in the UNSC to designate the LeT leader as a global terrorist under the UNSC 167 sanctions list.
India retorted that China’s move was motivated by “petty geopolitical interests.”