India must take a close look at the ongoing political developments in Pakistan as the neighbouring country gears up for its parliamentary and provincial assembly elections. The much-awaited polls, which are scheduled to be held on July 25, are witnessing an unprecedented number of extremists and militant sectarian groups campaigning vigorously. Among them is Hafiz Saeed, the main accused of 26/11 Mumbai blast. (AP Photo)
People shower rose petals on a vehicle of Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. This is the scene as he arrived to inaugurate an election office of the newly formed political party, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, in Lahore. Saeed carries $10 million US bouty. The Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek has more than 260 candidates contesting the polls. In Lahore and elsewhere across Punjab province, where 60 per cent of the country's 200 million people live, its campaign posters prominently feature Saeed. (AP Photo)
Workers from the Pakistani radical political party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, hang election posters for their candidate on a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan. Apart from Saeed's party, previously unknown radical group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is also in the fray. Its rallies shut down parts of Islamabad earlier this year after the party accused Sharif's government of blasphemy for accidentally dropping a reference to the Prophet Muhammad from a draft law.
These outfits had started their preparations last year. People raise their hands to express their support for Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of the radical political party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, during the anti-government protest in Islamabad late last year.
A poster for the Pakistani radical political party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, center, are displayed alongside a banner for the Pakistan Peoples Party, in Islamabad. Winning even a small number of seats would be huge for Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and could set back lawmakers' efforts to curb the use of a controversial blasphemy law, which carries an automatic death penalty, to settle disputes, frighten or intimidate opponents simply by levelling accusations of insulting Islam's prophet.
Supporters of Pakistani radical, religious and sectarian groups protest outside the office of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, demanding that their election campaigns to be aired by media channels, in Islamabad.
Saeed, accused of a chain of attacks in Mumbai in 2008 attacks that killed 166 people, was declared a terrorist by the United Nations and the United States has offered a $10 million bounty for him. When Pakistan's election commission refused to register the MML for the July 25 elections, Saeed fielded his candidates under the banner of the already-registered Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek party.
Earlier Hafiz Saeed was seen addressing his supporters during a rally marking Pakistan's red-letter days.
Saeed had also taken part in rallies against India and in support of Kashmir in a city like Karachi
The participation of these groups assume significance and any favourable results for them will global diplomatic impact. "The election is highly significant, not because of their ability to sweep into power, which won't happen, but because of how they can use the political process to legitimize themselves and their extremist ideologies,'' said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center.
