India has declared Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, as a terrorist under the anti terror law. Talha, 46, lives in Lahore and is accused of being a senior leader of the globally banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
He is also the head of the cleric wing of LeT and the future chief of the Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, parent organisation of Lashkar, which has been spitting venom against India and radicalising the minority population.
According to intelligence sources, Talha is said to be next in line to take over the entire functions of the Jamaat-Ud-Dawa from his ageing father. Interestingly, the move to put Talha on the list of terrorists has come shortly after Saeed was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment in Pakistan in terror financing cases. Though it is being seen as a token move by Pakistan against the leader who faces sanctions by the UN and the US state department, the focus of global counter terror agencies have restricted Saeed 's movements and activities in the last few years. Talha’s rise is the result of the several crackdowns on Saeed.
The latest notification said, “Hafiz Talha Saeed has been actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, planning and executing attacks by LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.” Talha has been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan, delivering sermons and propagating jihad against India, Israel, United States of America and Indian interests in other western countries.
70-year-old Saeed has enjoyed state support in Pakistan and he would like his son to have the same influence, said an official . “Saeed’s age as well as multiple cases against him have made it difficult for him to travel and make speeches holding sway like before. So Talha was gradually groomed to quietly run the Lashkar’s activities as well as use the JuD platform to collect funds and recruit more cadres in the last few years,” said the official.
On Saturday , the Union home ministry issued a notification declaring Talha as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act . The law has a provision for declaring individuals as terrorists , apart from organisations and groups indulging in terror activities in the country.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, has been enacted to provide for more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of associations and individuals and for dealing with terrorist . The Act empowers the central government to notify the name of an individual in the Fourth Schedule , if it believes that he is involved in terrorism.
The notification said that the LeT is already listed as a terrorist organisation under the First Schedule to the Act . The central government believes that Talha is involved in terrorism and therefore it made the amendment in the Fourth Schedule adding him to the proscribed list of terrorists.
So far there are 32 designated terrorists in the country. Saeed is accused of involvement in several attacks such as Mumbai 26/11 , Udhampur attack on BSF convoy in 2015, Uri attack in 2016 besides others .
