JuD chief Hafiz Saeed's Twitter account suspended

Published December 8, 2014
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. — Reuters/File
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. — Reuters/File

Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed's Twitter account was suspended by the micro-blogging website on Monday.

While there is no official explanation from Twitter on the suspension of the account, according to the policy of the social networking site, accounts are suspended in violation of rules which include impersonation, copyright infringement as well as violence and threats.

"We may also suspend accounts for investigation if we suspect an account has been hacked or compromised," says the website's 'Terms of Service' page.

Saeed's Twitter account @HafizSaeedJUD now reads "account suspended" instead of displaying the JuD chief's profile page.

The JuD chief is known to propogate anti-India sentiment in his sermons and on social media. Last week, Saeed made a statement regarding helping Kashmiris, saying that militants have a right to enter Indian-held Kashmir to liberate Kashmiris from Indian yoke.

More on this: JuD call to arms to help Kashmiris

He also counseled ‘Daish’ and other militant outfits to target Israel instead of pitching Muslims against Muslims.

JuD, which was previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was banned in 2002 after an attack on the Indian parliament allegedly carried out by its henchmen. JuD emerged from LeT, who claim to have since been confined to Kashmir.

After a break of almost 12 years, the party held their a large two-day congregation last week for the first time in Lahore, since the inception of the outfit in the mid-1980s.

Read more: Footprints: JuD's show of strength

Notwithstanding its welfare activities, the group is banned by the US, the EU, India and Russia as a terrorist organisation. In June 2014, Washington declared JuD an LeT affiliate and announced head money for Hafiz Saeed and Abdur Rahman Makki, JuD’s political wing chief and Saeed’s brother-in-law.

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