India hits back at JuD chief, says Hafiz trying to hide behind ballot

India said that JuD chief joining politics is both disconcerting and ironical that a person who only talks about bullets is trying his hands in ballots.

New Delhi, August 5: After reports that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Hafiz Saeed is planning to enter politics, India said that it is both disconcerting and ironical that a person who only talks about bullets is trying to hide behind ballots.

"It is both ironical and disconcerting to notice that such an individual is perhaps wanting to hide his blood-stained hands behind the ballot ink or the person who has traded in bullets to take human lives is trying to hide behind ballots," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in his media briefing in New Delhi.

According to reports, Saeed, who is reportedly under house arrest, has changed the name of his organisation Jamat-ud-Dawah, claimed to be the charitable wing of the Lashkar, to Milli Muslim League Pakistan and is planning to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan to register his party.

Baglay said that Saeed is an internationally designated terrorist under the UN Resolution 1267 provisions and his organisation, whether it is called Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jamat-ud-Dawah, is one and the same.

"They have been carrying out terrorist activities not only against India but against others in the region and it has been a matter of concern not only for us but for the entire region and beyond," he said.

He said that though media reports suggest that Saeed is under house arrest in Pakistan, "it is very well known that his organisation and his other colleagues have enjoyed freedom in Pakistan to conduct terrorist activities against India and others".

Oneindia News