India-Palestine Solidarity Front demands sacking of Palestinian envoy for sharing dais with Hafiz Saeed

Mumbai: The India-Palestine Solidarity Front (IPSF) on Saturday strongly condemned the Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan, Waleed Abu Ali, for sharing the dais with JuD chief and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed. “We demand that the government of President Mahmoud Abbas condemn and sack the envoy (Waleed Abu Ali) for sharing a platform with Hafiz Saeed, an internationally reviled and known hardcore terrorist,” the IPSF said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4267093” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed. Reuters[/caption] The statement is released by the IPSF National Committee members Suresh Khairnar, Kishor Jagtap, Jatin Desai, Feroze Mithiborwala. “The fact that this reprehensible act comes soon after the historic UNGA vote where the Government of India stood by Palestine and negated President Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem is even more shocking,” the IPSF said. It pointed out that “India has consistently voted in favour of Palestine and stood by all UN Resolutions and the overwhelming international consensus favouring an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital.” “On the other hand the global solidarity movement for the cause of Palestine continues to gather momentum. Thus any such unprincipled actions on the part of the Palestinian representatives, will only damage the cause of the liberation of Palestine in their courageous struggle against the colonial occupation by apartheid Israel,” the signatories said. On Friday, Waleed Abu Ali courted controversy by sharing a stage with the terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Saeed at a gathering organized by Difa-e-Pakistan Council, an umbrella organization of hardline right-wing groups. India on Saturday reacted strongly to the development and plans to take up the matter with the Palestinian Ambassador to India and the Palestine authorities, according to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.