Milli Muslim League | |
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Abbreviation | MML |
President | Saifullah Khalid Kasuri [1] |
Founder | Hafiz Muhammad Saeed |
Founded | 7 August 2017 |
Newspaper | Jarrar |
Ideology | Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Pakistani nationalism Conservatism Kashmir unification with Pakistan |
Political position | Far-right |
Religion | Islam |
Party flag | |
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Website | |
millimuslimleague | |
The Milli Muslim League is an Islamist political party launched by the Jamat-ud-Dawa and its leader Hafiz Saeed. [2] The professed aim of the party is to make Pakistan "a real Islamic and welfare state". [1] The Election Commission of Pakistan does not recognise the party. [3] The United States Department of State regards it as a front for the militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. It has also stated that its president Saifullah Khalid Kasuri has ties with the militant organization. [4]
Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) members announced on 7 August 2017 the creation of the political party. MML President, Saifullah Khalid Kasuri, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), [5] described the aim of the party saying, "We have decided to make a new political party, so that Pakistan is to made a real Islamic and welfare state." Tabish Qayyum, also under SDGT sanctions, acting as the party spokesman, stated they had filed registration papers for a new party with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). [6] [7] Later in August, JuD under the banner of the MML fielded a candidate for the 2017 by-election of the NA-130 Lahore-XIV constituency. Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, sanctioned as an SDGT as well, filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate. Kasuri stated that they would support Sheikh and he was contesting the election as an independent as the MML was still in the process of getting registered. [8] [9]
The ECP in September 2017 however refused to grant recognition to the MML and warned leaders against using the party's name during election campaigns. [3] Yaqoob Sheikh came fourth in the NA-120 by-election, securing 5,822 votes. [10] MML announced support for an independent candidate, Alhaj Liaqat Ali Khan, running for the NA-4 by-election, on 4 October. [11] Liaqat Ali Khan secured 3,557 votes in the election which was won by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. [12] The registration application of the party was meanwhile rejected by ECP on 12 October. [13]
Hafiz Saeed announced in December, a few days after his release from house arrest on 24 November, that his organization would contest the 2018 elections. [14] Since its registration was rejected, it fielded its candidates under another party, the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek. [15] However, the party failed to win any seats. [16]
It re-emerged as the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), to evade the ECP ban, for the 2024 Pakistani general election. [17] Specially Designated Global Terrorists (linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, LeT) Talha Saeed (Hafiz Saeed's son and president of PMML), Hafiz Abdul Rauf, Faisal Nadeem and Muzamil Iqbal Hashmi contested from NA-127 Lahore-XI, NA-119 Lahore-III, NA-235 Karachi East-I and NA-77 Gujranwala-I respectively. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Other LeT-linked designated terrorists serving as PMML party officials include Muhammad Ehsan, general secretary, and Muhammad Fayyaz, finance secretary. [23] [24] [25]
Kasuri, now the secretary general of PMML, publicly denied involvement in the 2025 Pahalgam attack after reports emerged in Indian media of him being behind the planning of the attack. [26] [27]
On 2 April 2018, the U.S. Department of State designated the MML as well as the Tehreek-e-Azaadi Jammu and Kashmir as aliases of the designated terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. The department said that MML was a political front for LeT. [4] Both aliases were included in the Foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) list under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. [28] Facebook removed accounts and pages of the party on 15 July. [29]