All the religious outfits which were banned by retired General Pervez Musharraf during his military rule would approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan and seek restoration, former head of a banned organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba said on Monday. "The ban was a step that the retired General took only to please America and now it is abundantly clear that people have rejected his policies," Hafiz Saeed who was chief of the Lashkar and who now heads Jamatud Dawa Islami told The News.He criticised President Musharraf's Kashmir policy and alleged that the 'U-turn' taken by the Musharraf government on Kashmir had badly damaged the cause of the Kashmiris' freedom struggle.
The Jihadi leader said Pakistan's detained nuclear scientist, Dr AQ Khan was a victim who has already suffered a great deal and should immediately be released and his honour restored. Saeed demanded that Dr Khan be made the next president of the country, a position he deserved.
Answering a question he said he would urge President Pervez Musharraf to step down because the mandate given by the masses in the general elections is against him and America and he should accept the verdict given by the masses.
The Kashmiri leadership and the Kashmiri people are disappointed because of the previous government's Kashmir policy and they have lost their trust and support, he said. All the options that General Musharraf had been offering on the Kashmir issue have not been responded to by India, he said. "It is necessary now that the newly-elected Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, should review the country's Kashmir policy, immediately change the stance and talk openly to resolve this issue," Saeed said.
When asked whether he was still in contact with the Pakistan Army, as in the past, he said he had no contact with Army at any level now. "In the past we were in touch with the (Pakistan) Army but now we have no contact. However, we have our own viewpoint on all the important national and regional issues and we want to cooperate with them," he added. About the law and order situation in the country and the suicide bombings and attacks on the security forces the Jihadi leader said it was the result of bad policies followed by the previous government which were aimed at pleasing the US.
"The new government needs to change all those wrong policies of the Musharraf government, and these suicide bombings and attacks would stop. We have to understand that if we are interested in bringing about peace and stability in Pakistan, something which is linked to the situation in Afghanistan, we must contact Mullah Umar and the Taliban leadership and enter into a dialogue with them," Saeed said.
"The new government should revert to the Afghan policy of 2001, approach the Taliban, hold talks with them. It would lead to stability, not only in Pakistan but in Afghanistan as well. If (Afghan President) Hamid Karzai can offer amnesty to the Taliban in Afghanistan why the Pakistan government cannot do that," he asked.