Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Saifullah Kasuri Appears In Rally In Pakistan

Saifullah Kasuri, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and the alleged mastermind behind the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, has reportedly made his public appearance at a rally organised by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) to mark Youm-e-Takbeer.

In a new video doing rounds on social media, Kasuri asserts that India wrongfully implicated him in the April 22 attack. "I was blamed as being the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack, now my name is famous in the entire world," India Today quoted the LeT commander as saying at the rally in Kasoor in Punjab province.

He played the role of a coordinator in the Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 civilians in Kashmir. The Resistance Front had initially claimed responsibility for the attack.

The LeT leader spoke about plans on building centre, road, and hospital in Allahabad after naming it 'Mudassir Shaheed', one of the terrorists killed in India's Operation Sindoor, the report claimed, citing intelligence sources.

Talha Saeed, son of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and a designated terrorist by India, also attended the rally. He delivered anti-India which had jihadist slogans and "Naara-e-Takbeer."

Although Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is proscribed both internationally and within Pakistan, organizations like the PMML have helped the banned outfit to be relevant in Pakistan's politics.

Hafiz Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist and the orchestrator of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, continues to serve as the guiding ideological figure behind the PMML's activities.

The son of Hafiz Saeed had contested in Pakistan's 2024 general elections from the NA-122 seat against Imran Khan's PTI-backed Latif Khosa, garnering only 2024 votes compared to Khosa's 117,109 votes.

On the other hand, the Paigam-e-Pakistan Milli League (PMML) has intensified its anti-India rhetoric, organizing protests in major Pakistani cities like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and Faisalabad. These demonstrations demand the release of Hafiz Saeed and accuse India of "water aggression" following its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.