The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, a political front with alleged links to Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has announced its decision to contest the 2023 general elections across constituencies in Pakistan.
Notable candidates fielded by the PMML include Saeed’s son Talha Saeed who will be running from Lahore’s NA-127 seat. The party’s President Khalid Masood Sindhu will also take on former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in a direct electoral face-off.
In a video message, Sindhu claimed the PMML aims to come to power to serve people and build an “Islamic welfare state” rather than indulge in corruption. However, critics have raised concerns over the party’s hardline religious ideology and apparent links with banned terror outfits.
The PMML’s electoral symbol is ‘chair’ and the party has pitched candidates for nearly all national and provincial assembly seats in the upcoming polls slated for February 2023. Earlier attempts to enter mainstream politics by Saeed’s supporters under the banner of the Milli Muslim League had failed to make any impact.
Hafiz Saeed, chief of the UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been in jail since 2019 serving multiple sentences related to terror financing cases. However, experts fear that the political legitimization of his ideological followers could still enhance radicalization in Pakistan.
Rising to prominence after the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, Saeed still carries a US bounty of $10 million on his head. India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to bring him and other perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice. But critics say the Pakistani state’s enduring links with such groups remain an obstacle.
While the PMML currently insists it has no backing from Saeed, the entry of his son Talha Saeed into electoral politics points to attempts to keep his radical legacy alive. With a history of terror-tainted groups like LeT regaining strength after periods of dormancy, the latest political maneuvering merits scrutiny according to analysts.
