Which egg is Hafiz Saeed laying for us: Pakistan politician asks government

Islamabad: Taking a dig at government for failing to take action against terror groups in Pakistan, a Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker has called for action against Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

According to a report, Rana Muhammad Afzal questioned the government over its inability to act against Saeed. "Which egg is Hafiz Saeed laying for us that we are nurturing him," asked Afzal during a parliamentary meeting on foreign affairs.

Afzal, who was a member of the panel, said, "We have not been able to get rid of Hafiz Saeed so far". He also said that such incidents "led the world to start isolating us and trying to declare (Pakistan) a terrorist state".

In what could be seen as an unprecedented warning for the Pakistan military, the Nawaz Sharif-led government had on Thursday informed the former about growing international isolation of Islamabad and has sought consensus on several key actions by the state.

It is reported that the message that has been sent by the government is that military-led intelligence agencies are not to interfere if law enforcement acts against militant groups that are banned or until now considered off-limits for civilian action.

Sharif had also directed that fresh attempts should be made to conclude the investigation in the Pathankot terror attack and restart the stalled 26/11 Mumbai attacks-related trials in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court.

Recently, in a move to clamp down on terror financing in the country, Pakistan froze bank accounts of individuals listed on the Fourth Schedule of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. However, the accounts of Hafiz Saeed were excluded from the list.

Saeed, who masterminded the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, has been blamed for most of the terror attacks in India, including the recent attack on Indian Army base in Uri which killed 19 soldiers. Saeed had envisioned that Kashmir would be part of Pakistan, and said that the world will witness India splitting into pieces one day.

He had also warned India of a "befitting response" for its military operation in PoK. "We will tell you what a real surgical strike is and you will get the deserved response soon," Saeed said in a public address in Faisalabad.

Saeed had also expressed anger over visa denial to a group of Pakistani doctors who wanted to visit Kashmir.