New Delhi: India has taken legal action against the founder of a militant group based in Pakistan, linking him to a tragic attack on tourists in Kashmir last year.
In April 2025, near the popular tourist destination of Pahalgam, an attack resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals, primarily Hindu visitors. This incident escalated tensions, leading to a four-day confrontation between India and Pakistan, both of which possess nuclear weapons.
India blames Pakistan for supporting the attack, a claim that Pakistan has consistently denied. The National Investigation Agency of India announced that Hafiz Saeed is being charged not only in his personal capacity but also as the leader of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliate, The Resistance Front.
According to the agency, Saeed faces accusations of “waging war against India and plotting actions from across the border.” While Pakistan’s foreign ministry has not yet responded, they have previously expressed the need for an independent investigation, asserting that there was no involvement from their side in the incident.
Lashkar-e-Taiba has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations since 2005 due to its connections to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The United States added Hafiz Saeed to its terrorism list in 2008. The group is infamously recognized for its role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where ten gunmen carried out a devastating siege, leading to the loss of at least 166 lives.
In addition to the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been implicated in several other violent incidents, including a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and multiple attacks in major cities like New Delhi and Bengaluru.
Hafiz Saeed, aged 76, was convicted in Pakistan in 2020 for financing terrorism after being detained the year before.
The attack last year in Pahalgam set off a chain reaction of provocative diplomatic actions, intensifying missile, drone, and artillery exchanges between the two nations, resulting in over 70 fatalities on both sides.
Kashmir, which has a Muslim majority, has been a contentious point between India and Pakistan since their separation from British colonial rule in 1947. Both nations claim the area in its entirety and have engaged in two wars over its status. Since 1989, several rebel groups demanding either independence or merger with Pakistan have been engaged in an ongoing insurgency in the region.
