Send troops to Kashmir to teach India ‘lesson’, Hafiz Saeed tells Pakistan

Islamabad, August 16

Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed has called on Pakistan to send troops to Kashmir to “teach” India “a lesson”, as the death toll in the violence in Jammu and Kashmir climbed on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s media reported Saeed’s latest statement, which he addressed to Pakistan military chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

Saeed, who has been accused of having engineered the November 26, 2008, terrorist attack in Mumbai, had warned India in July that he would avenge killings in the ongoing protest.

Saeed had said at a gathering last month: “This time, the people in Kashmir are on the streets. This protest has become a mass movement. All groups in Kashmir have united. All 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."

He also organised a ‘Kashmir Caravan’ from Lahore to Islamabad. His rallies were attended by federal ministers and religious leaders of various organisations.

Saeed's latest statements came as new clashes were reported in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, taking up the death toll to 65.

Thousands have been wounded in violent protests that began with the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces on July 8.

The killing and the subsequent protests have made the relations between India and Pakistan turn frigid.

India accuses Pakistan of stoking the violence. — Agencies