'Teach India a lesson,' Hafiz Saeed asks Pak military to send troops to J&K

Recounting his association with Wani, he said the Hizbul Mujahideen commander was prepared to die after talking to him.

Islamabad: Taking a dig at India over Kashmir unrest and clashes between protesters and security forces, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed has asked Pakistan military to send its troops to Kashmir to teach India a lesson.

Kashmir has witnessed 60 deaths, including two cops and several thousands injured in the clashes that began on July 9 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Read: Narendra Modi’s Baloch missile rattles Pakistan on Independence Day

According to Pakistan media, the 26/11 mastermind Saeed has asked Army chief General Raheel Sharif to send his troops to India.

Last month Saeed had said that the ongoing protests on the Indian side of Kashmir would be intensified and warned that the deaths in the region would not be in vain.

Addressing a meet in Lahore on Tuesday, Saeed said, “This time the people in Kashmir are on streets. This protest has become a mass movement. All groups in Kashmir have united. All the wings of the Hurriyat have become one. The Muttahida Jihad Council and all other groups have come on to the same platform. Those who have died in Kashmir, their deaths will not be in vain.”

Read: Need to eradicate 'cancer' called Pakistan, says Baloch activist At least 60 people were killed and several others injured, with both people and security forces turning hostile in protest-related violence in the Kashmir Valley, after Kashmiris took to the streets to condemn the killing of Wani.

Saeed had also organised an event to express solidarity with Wani. Recounting his association with Wani, he said the Hizbul Mujahideen commander was prepared to die after talking to him.

Saeed had also revealed that he had received a phone call from Asiya Andrabi, the founder of separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat, seeking his help to resolve what she called ‘the crisis on the Indian side of Kashmir’.

Warning India, he said that it could either accept separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s four-point formula on Kashmir and withdraw security forces from the Valley, or face the decision in battlefield.

He also organised a “Kashmir Caravan” from Lahore to Islamabad. The caravan, comprising of trucks and buses, stretched for several kilometers, and passed through many cities, including Gujaranwala, Jhelum and Gujarat.

His rallies were attended by federal ministers and religious leaders of various organisations.

Pakistan government direct links with Hafiz Saeed has been further exposed by Islamabad allowing him to lead an anti- India rally on the Kashmir issue.

(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)