Congress backs fatwa against Hafiz Saeed

On 19 August, the Congress party welcomed the fatwa issued against Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed.

Congress leader Tom Vadakkan told ANI that the fatwa would serve as a warning to terroritst.

"I think it is a deserving case and for the first time a fatwa has been issued. The message came from the minority Muslim section of the society that this kind of violent terrorist who is sitting in Pakistan and creating havoc in India is not acceptable. And that's a good message that is going down from the muslims to the country at large," he told ANI.

A fatwa was issued against Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed on 18 August by Mufti Mohammed Saleem Barelvi of the Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran.

It dubbed Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba - who carries a US$10 million bounty on his head - as an "outcast" from Islam and declared those following him or considering as Muslim as "illegal".

The move comes close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to "obey" the pending order of Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.

A 'fatwa' is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law.

--With Agency inputs