Prosecution of Saeed won’t come cheap, says ex-spy chief 

— Draws parallel with Modi getting clean chit despite inquiry report not absolving him of guilt

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) former chief General (R) Asad Durrani in the newly released book “The Spy Chronicles” said that the cost of prosecuting Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) head Hafiz Saeed is ‘too great’.

“If you prosecute Saeed, the first reaction will be: it’s on India’s behalf, you are hounding him, he is innocent, etc. The political cost is big,” he wrote in the book that he co-authored with the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) ex-chief General (R) A S Dulat.

“He was taken to the courts though they had nothing (new) against him. It is still possible that he was detained to let the storm blow over. In six months, he could come out,” said Durrani about Saeed’s detention.

However, he went on to draw comparison of Saeed with Indian Prime Minister’s involvement in attack on Babri Masjid in 1992 in Gujarat and Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair’s involvement in the Iraq war of 2004.

“Is it not that what happens most of the times? Modiji in Gujarat- the inquiry report does not absolve him. But the court lets him go, so no one wants to talk about it. A bigger example is Tony Blair. The Chilcot [report] blames him, yet he still has not been hauled up, with legal opinion split on charging him. The 9/11 report has 28 pages missing because of sensitive information, or because of the possible complicity; some persons have been released as they had business connections or links to Bush family. It helps the US avoid unpleasant action,” he said in the book.

On Friday, the Pakistan Army had expressed reservations on Durrani’s book. The retired general was asked to appear before it on Monday (today) to explain his position for violating the military’s code of conduct. The military says many facts stated in the book contradict the reality.