Pakistan's Punjab speaker backs Pahalgam attacker at rally

NEW DELHI: The line, ever so thin, between the Pakistani state and terrorists, is fast disappearing post-Operation Sindoor. Speaker of Pakistan's Punjab assembly, Malik Ahmed Khan, has now come out in defence of Lashkar-e-Taiba deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri, by attending a rally alongside the US-designated terrorist, and Talha Saeed, son of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed.

Asked by reporters, the speaker of the assembly of Pakistan's biggest province brazened it out by saying Kasuri, one of the masterminds of the Pahalgam terror attack, should not be seen as an accused without an investigation. He also cited a personal connection to Kasur, the town where the May 28 rally was organised.

The presence of Talha alongside Kasuri came to light when foreign policy circles were already discussing Kasuri and his jihadi comrades gloating over what they called their success in avenging the partition of Pakistan after its loss to India in the 1971 war.


LeT ultras boast about revenge for 1971, mock 'Modi's missiles & bullets'
Video footage from the rally showed Lashkar-e-Taiba deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri arriving with a posse of guards carrying American M4 carbines and being serenaded as the "conqueror" of India. Flower petals were showered on him.

While addressing the gathering, the Lashkar terrorists boasted about their involvement in protests against former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, which forced her to flee and take shelter in India. Kasuri and Muzammil Hashmi, both designated as terrorists by the US, claimed credit for their role in the coup during rallies organised last week. "We emerged victorious against you in Bangladesh last year," they said.

Expectedly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the target of hateful vitriol that marks proceedings of jihadi congregations. "Tum hamein apni goli se darate ho, Modi hum tujhe paigham dete hain, humare bachche teri missailon se nahi dare, hum teri goli se kya darenge (Modi, you scare us with your bullets, our children were not scared of your missiles, you think we are worried about your bullets)," Hashmi said during a rally by Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, the political front of Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Gujranwala on May 28.

At another rally the same week, Kasuri drew parallels between the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and recent events, stating that his group had avenged the past defeat.

"I was four years old when Pakistan was dismembered in 1971. The then Indian PM Indira Gandhi had declared that she had drowned the two-nation theory in the khaleej (Bay of Bengal). On May 10, we took the revenge of 1971," Kasuri said while addressing his supporters in Rahim Yar Khan.

He also referenced the brutal Indian air strikes on Muridke, which resulted in the death of fellow terrorist Mudassar, and expressed anguish over being barred from attending the funeral. "I was not allowed to attend his funeral. On the day of his funeral, I cried a lot," Kasuri said.

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