Lashkar charge against Vajpayee

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 25. The Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant outfit that refuses to endorse the Summit meeting between Mr. A.B. Vajpayee and Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has accused the Prime Minister of putting pressure on the Pakistan President and Chief Executive to ban the Lashkar before he travels to New Delhi.

In his regular Friday discourse at a mosque in Lahore the Lashkar chief, Mr. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, has indirectly warned Gen. Musharraf that if he were to submit to the `outside pressure', he would have to pay the price. He has asserted that a jehad (holy war) once started cannot be stopped.

Mr. Saeed has declared that the need of the hour was to gather the ``nation on the jehad platform'' to defeat all world conspiracies. ``We are fighting to defend Islam and Pakistan'', he has said.

``Whenever efforts are made to establish the supremacy of Islam, the Pharaohs and Namruds (anti-Islamic powers) are coming to the forefront to oppose this struggle. It is time to remain firm against such agencies'', he told the gathering.

Referring to the alleged demand by Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Saeed said that ``we never bothered when Britain declared us as a terrorist outfit. We have upheld jehad in the way of Allah and after his commandant, it will continue until monotheism dominates the world''.

The web site maintained by Lashkar has reported that Mr. Saeed has called on the mujahideen (fighters) to intensify their attacks against ``non-believers and oppressors. Jehad will continue till the last Indian troop is dragged out of Kashmir''.

Addressing another gathering, the details of which are posed on the site, the Lashkar chief has said that Kashmir would be `emancipated from Indian oppression' only through jehad. ``Talks with India are a mere waste of time''.

He has said that no force on earth can stop the mujahideen from raising jehad against the anti-Islamic forces. ``Jehad never bothers about the Government slogans of talks with India. By degrading jehad organisations, our Government cannot restrict the strict way of jehad or produce any negative effects on it. We would never forsake jehad in the wake of any anti-jehad activities''.

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Section  : International
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