What is Hafiz Saeed to Nawaz Sharif?

Farooq Ganderbali
On the face, there is no marked similarity or affinity between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and terrorist mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Sharif is committed to root out terrorism from his country. At least that is what he says. It means that he is against terrorist groups and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed. So what is that makes Prime Minister Sharif tolerate, and often indulge, LeT chief Saeed?
Take for instance the recent events following the Pathankot attack and the international outcry over the role of Pakistan-based terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the attack. The Pathankot attack came a few days after the two Prime Ministers of the country decided to forget the past recriminations and seek a new path of reconciliation and progress. The attack was meant to throw a spanner in the dialogue. It did. But it also gave Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to turn around the clock.
His statements after the Pathankot showed him to be a serious leader, determined to tackle terrorism which is affecting his country as much as the neighbouring countries like India. The only difference is that the terrorists who are damaging Pakistan and other countries come from within, and have the direct or indirect patronage of security agencies, specifically Pakistan Army. This is not a secret and Prime Minister Sharif, an old hand at politics, is acutely aware of that the umbilical cord of most of the terrorist groups could be traced to Rawalpindi. So while knowing the organic link between terrorists and the army, when the Prime Minister made it known that he was determined to go after terrorists, it was difficult not to give him another chance.
But events since then hardly evoke any confidence in Prime Minister Shairf. In fact, some of them raise serious doubts about his sincerity. There is even a growing belief that Sharif could be allowing persons like Hafiz Saeed to rake up the heat to prove a point to India. This is borne out by Pakistan’s insistence about placing Kashmir ahead of other contentious issues on the negotiating table. This is certainly a turnabout.
It is difficult to dismiss such feelings when his government allowed Hafiz Saeed, who should have been standing trial for terrorism, to lead a major rally in Islamabad the other day (the so-called Kashmir Day) where he freely spewed venom on India and called for jihad. He called for  “more intensity in the freedom struggle (read terrorism). Every child in Pakistan is ready to sacrifice his life for Kashmir’s freedom.(read: create more jihadis)” . Not only Islamabad, Saeed’s terrorist group, banned by the UN and several countries, held rallies in different parts of Pakistan, all with the patronage and support of the state agencies.  In all these meetings, the terrorists called for intensifying jihad and creating an army of young jihadis to attack Kashmir and India.
In any civilised country, such rallies would not have been permitted and if the groups had defied the government directives, they would have faced the police wrath and their leaders should have been thrown into prison and not allowed to walk into the streets and call for the mass murder of people in other countries. Such acts have no place in a democracy, at least that is what Pakistan calls itself. The rallies are a loud reminder of Nawaz Sharif’s failure as a political leader and Prime Minister.
Saeed’s public rallies raise serious questions about Prime Minister Sharif’s sincerity and capability. The rallies were allowed to be held a day after the Indian government had requested that Hafiz Saeed should be reined in. The Indian reaction came after Saeed hailed the Pathankot  attack and threatened to launch similar attacks in India in the near future.
India said if Pakistan wanted a friendly relationship , it cannot allow terrorists like Saeed to make such statements in public and remain scot free. But the fact that Sharif did allow Saeed to take over the streets of capital city proves, with little doubt, his sympathy towards the terrorist leader and his group. Here he need not have sought the army’s nod to stop the rallies from happening; they could have been prevented by simple police action. Prime Minister Sharif’s refusal to even do this much undermines his avowed utterances about taking on terrorist groups and build a good relationship with India.
His continuous sympathetic treatment of Hafiz Saeed (and other terrorist leaders) expose his real face.
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