After release, 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed vows to fight for 'Kashmir cause'

Hafiz Saeed, Mumbai attack mastermind and banned Jamaad Ud Dawa (JuD) chief, walked free from house arrest on Friday. He said he would gather people across Pakistan for the "cause of Kashmir" and try to help Kashmiris get their "destination of freedom".

The JuD head was freed after the government decided against detaining him further in any case. He was under house arrest since January.

"I was detained for 10 months only to stop my voice for Kashmir," Saeed told his supporters gathered outside his residence to celebrate his release.

"I fight for the case of Kashmiris. I will gather the people from across the country for the cause of Kashmir and we will try to help Kashmiris get their destination of freedom," he said upon his release.

The Judicial Review Board of Punjab province, comprising judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC), unanimously ordered Saeed's release on Wednesday on the completion of his 30-day house arrest on Thursday.

Saeed said that he was detained when he announced a month of solidarity for Kashmiris in January.

Saeed said: "I am very happy that none of the allegations against me proved as three judges of the LHC ordered my release... India had levelled baseless allegations against me. The LHC's review board decision has proved that I am innocent".

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The JuD chief said that the US, on India's request, pressured Pakistan to detain him.

"I was detained on the pressure of the US on the Pakistani government. The US did so on the request of India," he claimed.

Several JuD supporters, gathered outside Saeed's house in Lahore's Jauhar town to celebrate his release, shouted anti-India slogans and described their leader as "a hope for the Kashmiri people".

On January 31, Saeed and his four aides Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti- Terrorism Act 1997. The last two extensions were made on the 'public safety law'.

Also Read: India reacts strongly to Hafiz Saeed's release; says Pakistan wants to mainstream terrorists

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed. Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the Mumbai attack.