Islamabad

Advertisment

A new political party floated by Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is set to contest the upcoming general elections in Pakistan. The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) party, set up by Saeed, with the electoral symbol 'chair' has fielded candidates for most of the national and provincial assembly constituencies. 

According to reports, Hafiz Saeed's son Talha Saeed is also expected to contest polls from the National Assembly constituency NA-127, Lahore. Meanwhile, PMML's central president Khalid Masood Sindhu is contesting from NA-130, against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

“We have left no seat uncontested,” Tabish Qayyum, a spokesperson for the PMML was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

Advertisment

Sindhu, meanwhile, in a video message said his party wanted to create an Islamic welfare state. 

"We want to come to power not for corruption but to serve the people and make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state."

Akin to his father, Talha has also been heavily involved in terror operations. According to India's home ministry, Talha has been actively involved in recruiting, fund-raising, planning and carrying out operations by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in India and against Indian interests in Afghanistan. 

Advertisment

Watch | 26/11 Mumbai attacks' youngest eyewitness: 'I wanted to shoot Kasab' | WION Exclusive

PMML's previous iteration

Notably, PMML had contested in the 2018 general election as well but under the guise of Milli Muslim League, the political face of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) which is the front organisation for the LeT. 

Hafiz Saeed's son-in-law Hafiz Khalid Waleed contested the election from NA-133 (Lahore-XI) while Talha filed nomination papers for the NA-91 (Sargodha-IV) seat at the time. 

The party received a drubbing in the elections and the Milli League was later banned by the Pakistani government. PMML emerged from Milli League's ashes as Hafiz Saeed once again attempts to make political headways.

Also read | China puts hold on proposal by India, US at UNSC to designate son of Hafiz Saeed as global terrorist

Hafiz Saeed, alongside Sajid Mir, planned the Mumbai attacks which led to the death of 175 people including Americans and other foreigners. He is a UN-designated terrorist with the US placing a $10 million bounty on his head. 

The Pakistan establishment has had him locked up in prison since 2019 after being convicted in multiple terror finance cases. However, experts argue that it is a ploy by Islamabad and ISI to ensure that Saeed survives any attempt at his life. 

(With inputs from agencies)