Islamabad: JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad
Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, has said Pakistan
will have no option but to fight a war "at all costs" with
India if the neighbouring country does not agree to hold talks
on issues like Kashmir and sharing of river waters.
"Look at India`s attitude, especially after the 9/11
attacks. It has taken advantage of Pakistan`s weaknesses and
made dams and stopped our water. Pakistan, for its defence,
will have to fight a war at all costs with India if it is not
prepared for talks on Kashmir and water," Saeed said.
He pledged that the JuD would back the Pakistan Army
in any war with India.
"If there is a war between Pakistan and India, the
Pakistan Army, people and the JuD will stand united and fight
with India.
If there is a war, India should understand that things
will not be limited to Kashmir," he said.
In an interview on the Frontline programme of Express
News channel, his first interaction with the media since he
was briefly put under house arrest in the wake of the Mumbai
attacks, Saeed claimed India "wants war".
"India wants war. Why don`t they hold talks? Whenever
there is dialogue, they want to talk only about Hafiz Saeed
and the Mumbai attacks. There are no talks on issues. We want
talks and have never rejected talks but India is not serious,"
he claimed.
"If India doesn`t hold talks, and is not willing to
accept the problems over waters, what other option is left?"
Saeed asked.
If the Pakistani state cannot declare a jehad, clerics
should be allowed to have a large gathering to decide on the
steps to be adopted for a holy war according to Shariah or
Islamic law, he suggested.
Saeed also backed the jehad for the "independence" of
Jammu and Kashmir, describing it as a "freedom movement".
"We believe the movement for the independence of
Kashmir and jehad is permissible and right. We have contacts
with and cooperate with all groups working within Kashmir for
independence. The Lashker-e-Taiba is one of those groups," he
said.
"I have no doubt that jehad is a religious duty for
Muslims, and it is a religious duty first of all for the
Kashmiri people. It is not just my view but the view of all
scholars. Kashmir is a basic issue, India has occupied it with
its forces and the people have no rights," he said.
Saeed, who also founded the LeT, said the JuD had
sympathy for and contacts with the group till the Pakistan
government banned it in 2002.
Asked about India`s accusations about his involvement
in planning and carrying out the Mumbai attacks and other
terrorist incidents in India, Saeed dismissed the charges as
propaganda floated by the government in New Delhi.
"Let India prove in any court of the world that our
group was involved in the attack on the parliament or any of
our members was involved in that, and I will be willing to
accept everything they say. This is my challenge," Saeed said,
adding that he had issued a similar dare in the wake of the
Mumbai attacks.
The dossiers and proof handed over by India in the
wake of the Mumbai incident had not proved his involvement in
the attacks, he claimed.
He added that even Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman
Bashir had described the dossiers as "literature but not
proof" He also said he had no doubt that the Pakistan
government is "cowardly" and formulated its policies under
pressure from the West.
Saeed`s comments came days after the Foreign
Secretaries of India and Pakistan held talks in New Delhi on
February 25 the first official parleys between the two sides
since the Mumbai attacks.
Though there was no breakthrough in the talks, the
world community welcomed the development in the hope that it
would lead to normalisation of ties between the two countries.
The JuD chief`s face is not shown during the interview
and he was filmed over his shoulder from the back.
He said he did not want his face to be shown as it was
not allowed by Shariah.
Saeed was placed under house arrest in Lahore in
Decmeber 2008 after the JuD was declared a terrorist group by
the UN Security Council in the wake of the Mumbai terror
attacks. He was freed after about six months on the orders of
the Lahore High Court.
PTI
