'More famous now': Pahalgam attack plotter addresses Lahore rally, ISI officials in attendance

Saifullah Kasuri addresses a rally in Lahore on Wednesday. (Screenshot: X)

In a development that flies in the face of Pakistan's claims of having acted against terror groups operating from its soil, Lashkar-e-Taiba commander and one of the plotters of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 Saifullah Kasuri was seen addressing a rally in Lahore on Wednesday.

He was sharing stage with US-designated terrorist Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed and Malik Ahmad Khan, speaker of Pakistan's Punjab Assembly, in the presence of other terrorist commanders, security forces and officials of the Inter Services Intelligence, reports Times Of India.

"I have become more famous since being accused of the attack," Kasuri reportedly said at the gathering. "Narendra Modi samajhta hai hum goliyon se darne wale hain? Yeh uski bhool hai (Modi thinks he can scare us with bullets. He is mistaken)," TOI quoted Kasuri as saying, an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that terrorists should be ready to face bullets if they cast an evil eye on India.

Ironically, Kasuri has said a few days ago that he had no role to play in the Pahalgam attack. On Wednesday though, his tone and tenor had changed dramatically, as he positioned himself as a thorn in India's eye and even fancied running elections against PM Modi.

"Main rehta hun Hindustan ke dil me kaante ki tarah. Apne rab ka shukra karta hoon. Agla election Modi ke muqable main na lad loon," he said at the rally, according to TOI.

Kasuri, Talha and Sheikh Sajjad Gul of The Resistance Front (TRF) are believed to have sent in highly trained terrorists to carry out the Pahalgam attack at the instructions of Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed. Kasuri was spotted in Kanganpur army base in Punjab in the run-up to the Pahalgam attack where he exhorted Pakistani soldiers and spewed venom against India.

The speeches and rallies are being seen as an attempt by terror organisations in Pakistan to garner support and raise funds for waging jihad in Kashmir following India's precision strikes that destroyed the Lashkar headquarters in Muridke.

Kasuri also praised Pakistan's "cyber team" for carrying out attacks on India's critical communication and railways infrastructure. He also said that Pakistan had avenged the 1971 war and the dissection of Pakistan by then PM Indira Gandhi.

Kasuri, the former president of Milli Muslim League, and part of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa's coordination committee, claimed India's attempts to isolate Pakistan had failed and that the country had been isolated itself in the process.

Hafiz Saeed's son, who was also present at the event, hailed Pakistan's 'Bunyan al-Marsoos' operation to counter India's retaliatory strikes against Pakistan-based terror groups. "Allah loves those who engage in jihad," he said amid applause and cheers by all present on stage.