India declares 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s son a terrorist
India has declared Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s son Hafiz Talha Saeed a “designated terrorist” today. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 added Talha Saeed’s name to the list of terrorists.
Talha Saeed’s father was the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Talha Saeed was a senior leader of LeT and head of the cleric wing of the terror outfit. The central government believe that Talha Saeed is involved in terrorism.
According to the MHA notification, Talha Saeed was involved in the recruitment, fund collection, planning, and execution of attacks in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan. The MHA notification further said that Talha Saeed also visited various LeT centres across Pakistan.
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On 8 April, Talha`s father and the chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed were sentenced to 31 years in prison by a Pakistan anti-terrorism court. However, he continued to avoid punishment for involvement in the 26/11 terror strikes.
LeT was also involved in a 2001 attack on the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s legislature. Reportedly, in 2020, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on multiple charges of involvement with terrorism acts.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
The government amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019. Ever since the amendment of the act, the Ministry stamped nine individuals as designated terrorists under provisions of the UAPA Act in July 2020. India declared Wadhwa Singh Babbar, Pakistan based Chief of “Babbar Khalsa International” and Lakhbir Singh, Pakistan based Chief of “International Sikh Youth Federation” as terrorists in 2020.
Earlier, India declared Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Riyaz Bhatkal, lqbal Bhatkal, Chhota Shakeel and Tiger Memon as terrorists.
