Author:
Publication: News International
Date: May 12, 2001
The Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Jihadi outfit
active in Indian-occupied Kashmir, on Friday asked Pakistan Army to take
action in Kashmir to pre-empt alleged Indian designs of engaging Pakistan
in a war over the border alongside the Chenab River.
"Jihad in Kashmir has reached a
crucial juncture, where army action in Kashmir is inevitable after strengthening
our own borders in Sindh," Prof Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the Lashkar chieftain,
told reporters at a press conference at Karachi Press Club. "Indian cease-fire
in the held valley is going to expire on May 30," he pointed out.
Sensing what he called possible
Indian designs to console its humiliation in Kashmir, Prof Saeed believed
that India, being the eternal foe of Pakistan, would attempt imposing war
on Pakistan to establish it defence alongside the Chenab border. "India
wants swapping of turmoil in Kashmir with war on Pakistani borders."
The Lashkar-e-Taiba once again declared
open war against India vowing never to flinch from its position rather
strive for the offensive strikes. "The US can declare us terrorists, but
even then, we will continue waging war in India," he pledged. Asked whether
he would support the idea of dropping nuclear bomb over India, Prof Saeed
said since the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki no country ever dared
to rush for such a fatal move. "Nukes are used as deterrent and we have
yet to get our nuclear system further mature."
Prof Saeed, who walked with the
help of a walking stick, asked the Pakistan Army to be prepared for military
action in Kashmir after taking strict security measures on the borders
of Sindh. He ridiculed all assurances extended by Indian and the US governments
with regard to Pakistan's security concerns in the backdrop of all-time
hoax of similar promises since the Indo-Pak war in 1965.
"The military government's biggest
mistake is that it is not wising up its own people on the crucial juncture
in the freedom movement in Kashmir," he complained. "Pakistan must complete
its nuclear programme and strengthen its defence missile system to apply
pressure on India besides taking its own people into confidence."
Prof Saeed said India, with its
latest nuclear military exercises, exposed to the world its bigotry, when
no opposition abounded neither from the East nor the West. "We must not
toe the US line in Afghanistan as it would be our greatest support in case
of war with India," he warned and held: "Support from China and the Islamic
world should also be sought in this regard."
Prof Saeed believed that the separatist
movements in other parts of India would get acceleration, with the success
of Jihad in the Indian-held Kashmir. He alleged that the Indian forces
had used chemical and nuclear weapons to curb the popular uprising. "We
are well-prepared for attempting suicidal ambushes targeting Indian army
personnel and installations."
