NEW DELHI: The already-blurring lines between the Pakistani establishment and terrorist factions appear to be vanishing altogether in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. In a striking display of defiance, Malik Ahmed Khan, Speaker of Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly, publicly backed Saifullah Kasuri—deputy chief of the U.S.-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—by sharing a stage with him at a rally in Kasur on May 28. Also present was Talha Saeed, son of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.
When questioned by reporters, the speaker defended his appearance alongside Kasuri—one of the alleged masterminds of the Pahalgam terror attack—by insisting that no accusations should be made without due investigation. He also noted his personal ties to the town of Kasur, where the rally took place.
Kasuri’s appearance alongside Talha Saeed comes amid growing chatter in diplomatic and intelligence circles about LeT operatives celebrating what they describe as “revenge for the 1971 war,” which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
LeT Militants Claim Revenge for 1971, Ridicule Indian Leadership
Video footage from the Kasur rally shows Kasuri arriving with heavily armed guards wielding American-made M4 carbines. He was received with flower petals and hailed as the “conqueror of India.”
Addressing the crowd, Kasuri and fellow U.S.-designated terrorist Muzammil Hashmi gloated about their role in anti-government protests in Bangladesh that they claim forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to seek refuge in India. “We were victorious against you in Bangladesh last year,” the pair declared at the rally.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a key target of their fiery rhetoric. At a separate event organized by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League—LeT’s political wing—in Gujranwala on May 28, Hashmi taunted:
“Modi, you threaten us with bullets. But our children did not fear your missiles—why would we fear your guns?”
In yet another gathering that week, Kasuri drew a direct link between the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and recent violence. “I was four years old when Pakistan was broken in 1971. Indira Gandhi said she drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal. On May 10, we avenged that humiliation,” he told supporters in Rahim Yar Khan.
Kasuri also lamented the loss of fellow terrorist Mudassar, killed in an Indian airstrike on Muridke. “I cried a lot that day. I was not allowed to attend his funeral,” he said, referring to Indian efforts to disrupt terrorist infrastructure within Pakistan.
