A Pakistani minister and close aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the office of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political face of Hafiz Saeed’s banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), in Punjab and met its leaders. Minister of State for Interior Senator Talal Chaudhry visited the PMML House, Faisalabad, some 130 km from Lahore, where he was received by PMML leaders. His visit is seen as an “official patronage” of the Shehbaz regime to Saeed’s political outfit. Saeed, the Mumbai attack mastermind, has been in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail since 2019 after he was convicted in multiple terror financing cases. In a statement, the PMML said that during the visit, Chaudhry held a detailed meeting with the party leadership.
