Flanked by ISI men at Lahore rally, Pahalgam attack plotter says he is ‘more famous now'
NEW DELHI: Top
Lashkar-e-Taiba
commander and one of the plotters of the April 22
Pahalgam terror attack
Saifullah Kasuri made inflammatory remarks against India at a rally in Lahore on Wednesday. Surrounded by Pakistani security forces, fellow terrorist commanders and officials of Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, Kasuri seemed to relish the infamy he had attracted for the massacre of innocent civilians marked out on the basis of their faith.
"I have become more famous since being accused of the attack," he gloated, as per information reaching here.
Kasuri, who had earlier disclaimed responsibility for the slaughter in Pahalgam, was sharing the stage with US-designated terrorist Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar chief
Hafiz Saeed
, along with Malik Ahmad Khan, speaker of the Punjab assembly - something that once again laid bare Pakistan's claim of having taken action against terrorists.
Talha publicly lauded Pakistan's so called Bunyan al-Marsoos operation, in retaliation to India's Operation Sindoor. "Allah loves those who engage in jihad," he said while Kasuri and others cheered.
The speeches appeared to be meant to rally members of the jihadi outfit after India's successful precision strikes on the Lashkar headquarters in Muridke which killed several terrorists.
In an apparent reference to PM Narendra Modi's remarks a few days ago, Kasuri said they were not afraid of bullets.
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"Narendra Modi samajhta hai hum goliyon se darne wale hain? Ye uski bhool hai (Modi is mistaken if he thinks we are scared of bullets)," he said. Addressing at a rally at Bhuj earlier this week, the PM had said Pakistan should be ready to face India's bullets if it did not stop using terror as a weapon.
Kasuri had earlier claimed that he had no role to play in the Pahalgam carnage. On Wednesday, he was all fire and brimstone.
While claiming that Pakistan had avenged the 1971 war and the vivisection of Pakistan by the then PM Indira Gandhi, Kasuri went on to praise Pakistan's cyber team for 'targeting' India's critical infrastructure pertaining to communications and railways.
During the rally, he also referenced the upcoming elections and asked the people of Kasur (his hometown) if they'd support him running against Modi in the next election. He styled himself as a thorn in India's side. "Main rehta hun Hindustan ke dil me kaante ki tarah. Apne rab ka shukr karta hu. Agla election Modi ke muqable mai na lad lun," he said.
He also said that India had tried a lot to isolate Pakistan and specific individuals, but now it was they who stood isolated.
Kasuri was spotted in Kanganpur army base in Punjab in the run-up to the Pahalgam attack where he exhorted Pakistani soldiers and spewed venom against India.
On Hafiz Saeed's instructions, Kasuri, Talha and Sheikh Sajjad Gul of The Resistance Front are learned to have sent in highly trained terrorists for a "spectacular attack' in Pahalgam.
Kasuri, who was earlier president of Milli Muslim League, was also part of Jamaat-ud-Dawa's coordination committee, the 'charity' wing of Lashkar. Since the Pahalgam attack, the outfits have intensified public rallies to gather funds in the name of supporting the jihad in Kashmir.
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