'India miserably failed to provide any evidence against Hafiz Saeed'

ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Rehman Malik on Saturday said that after 2008 Mumbai attacks, then PPP government cooperated with India and demanded concrete evidence against Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) Chief  Hafiz Saeed but the neighbouring country could not provide concrete evidence, ARY News reported on Saturday.

“India miserably failed, I am repeating my words, India miserably failed to provide any evidence against Hafiz Saeed,” said Rehman.

In an exclusive interview with ARY News, the former interior minister maintained that when India could not provide any concrete evidence against the JuD chief, he personally shared and discussed RAW, David Headley and Ansari Brothers’ involvement with  Chidambaram (then India’s home minister) he did not agree with him,

“Then I met Chidambaram in Kathmandu and he told me that you (Rehman Malik) were right and David Headly was involved (in Mumbai attacks),” said Rehman Malik, adding that India is trying to suppress Kashmiris’ freedom movement by terming it terrorism.

‘Deradicalization cannot be done with entry in politics’

Answering a question about the “mainstreaming plan” to deradicalize members of banned organisations by allowing them to enter politics, Rehman Malik said that allowing such organisations to do politics is not deradicalisation and this plan cannot work.

“National Action Plan clearly states that a banned organisation cannot work with a different name. Whoever has allowed them (to participate in polls) should be questioned,” said Malik.

When asked if he is demanding action against those who allowed two such organisations to participate in NA-120 by-polls in Lahore, the former interior minister said that yes, he demands action against all those who allowed them to participate in polls, the ECP, the police and the FIA.

“When they were not registered, how did ECP allow them, the police was there, the FIA was there, why they did not take action against them,” said the PPP senator.

He opposed this mainstreaming plan and maintained that allowing them to do politics as deradicalization is a science and if militants will be allowed to make organisations with different names and their leaders be allowed to do provocative speeches then “what’s the use” of this process.

‘Our house is in order’

Criticizing Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent speech at Asia Society and his “put own house in order” statement, Rehman Malik maintained that our house is in order, we have fought a consistent “unwanted” war and have rendered sacrifices.

Malik was of the view that those who could not keep their house in order will not be able to defend it abroad.

“There are objections but if the past rulers would not have participated in a foreign war, things would have been different and we would not have been fighting heroine, gun culture and we did it twice as after 9/11 incident we again volunteered to fight American war,” said Rehman Malik.

HERE IS THE VIDEO OF THE FULL INTERVIEW