Former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday demanded Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed's release and said that he has been placed under house arrest owing to India's pressure on the neighbouring country.
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Musharraf, in an interview, said that India was against Saeed and the JuD because "their supporters go voluntarily to India-held-Kashmir to fight with the Indian Army" according to Dawn reports. The JUD chief was placed on house arrest on January 30, which triggered demonstrations and rallies in various regions in Pakistan, where protesters were seen carrying anti-India and anti-US placards.
Musharraf also accused India's armed forces of terrorism in Kashmir and added that the JuD was banned by the United Nations only because of India's insistence. "In my opinion, they [the JuD] are against Taliban, they did not commit terrorism in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. So they should be dealt separately. They were banned through United Nations by India and we are following the same line," he said.
Musharraf said that Pakistan should not call the JuD a terrorist organisation as it is contributing to social and relief activities in the country and called the organisation a "very fine" NGO. The JuD has also requested Pak's Interior Ministry to remove Saeed and 37 others from the nation's Exit Control List on the grounds that the JuD chief's outfit has not been involved in any terrorist activities, according to The Express Tribune reports.
The JuD sent an application to the Pak ministry stating that Saeed's organisation was dedicated to the welfare of citizens of the country". "It has set up 142 schools and four universities in the country and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation [a sister outfit] is sufficient proof to this effect."
JuD and its supporters, earlier this month, had threatened to launch a countrywide protest if Saeed was not released from the house arrest.
