Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has been declared a designated terrorist by the Home Ministry. According to the notification issued by the ministry, Talha was a senior leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba and head of the cleric wing. The special thing is that this action against Talha was taken on a day when Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Court has also sentenced the chief of banned organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa Hafiz Saeed to 31 years imprisonment.
The Home Ministry has declared Talha a terrorist under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. According to the notification, Talha Saeed was “actively involved in recruiting, raising funds, planning and planning attacks on India’s interests in India and Afghanistan.”
The notification further states that Talha Saeed used to visit LeT centers in Pakistan and preach jihad against Indian interests in India, Israel, the US and other western countries during the sermons. According to the notification, “The Central Government is of the view that Hafiz Talha Laeed was involved in terrorism and Hafiz Talha Saeed should be notified as a terrorist under the law.”
The special thing is that the Central Government had made amendments in UAPA in August 2019. After this a provision was added to the law, under which a person could be designated a terrorist. Earlier only organizations could be designated as terrorist organisations. After the amendment, the ministry had declared 9 people as designated terrorists under the provisions of the UAPA Act.
At the same time, in September 2019, the government had declared Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as designated terrorists.