Recent reports have drawn attention to a public event in Pakistan’s Punjab province where a senior representative from terror group Hamas was seen sharing a stage with figures linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistani terrorist organisation. According to reports, the Hamas figure has been identified as Naji Zaheer, who is described as a senior Hamas official or representative, while the event itself was reportedly organised by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political outfit widely viewed by security analysts as a front for LeT.
The appearance has raised concerns among counter-terrorism experts about possible convergence between terrorist groups operating in South Asia and the Middle East. There has been no public confirmation or denial from the Pakistani government or military regarding the event so far. Photographs and videos circulated online show the Hamas and LeT-linked figures addressing a crowd together. Analysts note that such associations have implications for regional and global security realities.
In addition to formal speeches, social media clips circulating online appear to show crowds raising religious slogans during the event. These include chants of “Nara-e-Takbeer… Allahu Akbar” (translated as “The slogan of greatness… God is the Greatest”) and “Filistiniyon se rishta kya… La ilaha illallah” (translated as “What is our relationship with the Palestinians? There is no God but Allah”).
While the authenticity, timing, and location of these clips cannot be independently verified, such slogans are not uncommon amongst Islamist terrorists. A common slogan used by terrorists in India during the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the Kashmir valley around 1990 used to be “Pakistaniyon se rishta kya… La ilaha illallah” (translated as “What is our relationship with the Pakistanis? There is no God but Allah”).
Many internationally listed terrorist organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are based in Pakistan. Even the mastermind of 9/11 terror attacks and leader of Al-Qaeda Osama Bin Laden, who was killed in an American raid in 2012, was found living within a kilometre of a Pakistani military cantonment area in Abbottabad.
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