Published : 14 Aug 2026, 07:15 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:32 AM
Former Pakistani interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has sparked controversy after publicly declaring his allegiance to UN-designated global terrorist and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, while issuing open threats against India, according to NDTV World.
Ahmed, founder and leader of Pakistan’s Awami Muslim League, made the remarks at a public gathering where he shared stage with Khalid Masood Sandhu, a senior LeT commander and president of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), and another LeT member Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh.
In a video widely circulated on social media, Ahmed said: “Main Hafiz sahab ka ghulam hu” (I am a slave of Hafiz Saeed).
The former minister claimed he was once deported from the US after authorities discovered Saeed’s phone number on his device, adding: "We are with Pakistan, with Hafiz Saeed."
During his address, Ahmed also directed unprovoked threats towards New Delhi, claiming that Allah would destroy India if it "even looks towards Pakistan”.
"No birds will chirp in India, nor will bells ring in a temple," he said, asserting that no anti-Pakistan activity could take place in India.
Ahmed, who served as interior minister under former Prime Minister Imran Khan between 2020 and 2022, has a history of controversial remarks that undermine Islamabad's stance on terrorism.
In 2022, he publicly claimed that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had informed India of 26/11 Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab's address in Faridkot, Pakistan.
The latest public alignment by a former cabinet minister further dismantles Islamabad's long-standing claims that terror groups operating from its soil are merely "non-state actors" acting without state backing.
