Islamabad, July 22: A radical Islamic group today accused a top Pakistani Muslim cleric of doing politics on the "blood of martyrs" to gain popularity during a trip to India. The cleric, Maulana Fazl-ur Rahman, who was candidate for prime minister last year and is a key figure in a pro-Taliban alliance in Pakistan's Parliament, has been meeting with Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He has stirred some controversy at home by saying that Pakistan's Islamic clerics want a peaceful, political solution to the Kashmir dispute. "Maulana Fazl-ur Rahman has tried to give the impression that the freedom movement in Kashmir is not jihad," said Hafiz Khalid Walid, spokesman for Jamaat al-Dawat group, which supports the long-running insurgency in Kashmir.

Jamaat al-Dawat is the successor organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was banned by the Pakistani government after India accused it of being behind the Dec. 13, 2001, attack by militants on the Indian Parliament that killed 14 people.

Hafiz Saifullah Mansoor, the group's leader, said some Pakistani newspapers reported that Rahman has criticized Kashmiri "freedom fighters" during his speeches in India. Rahman's party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, maintains that he was misquoted.
"Rahman and his party are doing politics on the blood of martyrs," said Mansoor. "They are using the language of (Indian Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee."

Bureau Report