Islamabad court allows Hafiz Saeed's party registration
Saeed has now announced to contest this year's eections under the MML banner.
Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Thursday allowed the registration of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s party – the Milli Muslim League (MML).
The Islamabad high court ordered Election Commission of Pakistan to register the MML. Earlier, the ECP had declined to register the MML, citing Saeed’s alleged terror links. India and the United States hold Saeed responsible for the 26/11.
After the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the United Nations Security Council had banned the JuD. Saeed has now announced to contest this year’s eections under the MML banner.
The JuD chief said that the decision to field his party — which had been placed in an anti-terror watch list in February this year — in the political arena was aimed at helping to “highlight the Kashmir cause internationally.”
He alleged India was lobbying internationally to malign the Kashmir cause and Pakistan’s incumbent government had bowed down to appease New Delhi.
The JuD chief believed that India was forcing the Pakistan government to abandon the Kashmir cause “which is not possible.”
“This is the right time to enter the country’s politics to persuade the world community by establishing an independent foreign desk to highlight the Kashmir cause,” he said.
During the September by-election in NA-120, MML had been among the contestants. Even though the party could not secure significant number of votes, it could act as a force of attrition to deprive the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) of significant number of votes in alliance with other rival political groups.