1. Hafiz Saeed co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, and Russia.
Hafiz Saeed is listed on the United States Department of the Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
In July 2019, three months before the scheduled reviewal of Pakistan's action plan by the Financial Action Task Force, Hafiz Saeed was arrested by Pakistani authorities and sentenced to an 11-year prison sentence.
Hafiz Saeed was born on 5 June 1950, in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan to a Punjabi Muslim family.
Hafiz Saeed was named hafiz because he memorized the Qur'an during his childhood, a time during which he was already enthusiastic about the verses on jihad.
Hafiz Saeed then attended the Government College Sargodha before getting a Master's in Islamic Studies at the King Saud University in Riyadh.
Hafiz Saeed held two master's degrees from the University of Punjab and a specialisation in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language from King Saud University.
In 1994, Hafiz Saeed visited the United States and "spoke at Islamic centres in Houston, Chicago and Boston".
Hafiz Saeed was held until 31 March 2002, released, then taken back into custody on 15 May Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest on 31 October 2002 after his wife Maimoona Saeed sued the province of Punjab and the Pakistan federal government for what she claimed was an illegal detention.
Hafiz Saeed was arrested again on the same day by the provincial government and was kept in the Canal Rest House in Sheikhupura.
Hafiz Saeed was finally released after the Lahore High Court order on 17 October 2006.
India has accused the organisation and its leader, Hafiz Saeed, of being virtually interchangeable with Lashkar-e-Taiba.
On 11 December 2008, Hafiz Muhammed Saeed was again placed under house arrest when the United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa to be an LeT front.
Hafiz Saeed was held in house arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows authorities to detain temporarily individuals deemed likely to create disorder, until early June 2009 when the Lahore High Court, deeming the containment to be unconstitutional, ordered Hafiz Saeed to be released.
Hafiz Saeed was again placed under house arrest by the Pakistani authorities in September 2009.
On 12 October 2009, the Lahore High Court quashed all cases against Hafiz Saeed and set him free.
India believes Hafiz Saeed is a fugitive, but the Indian arrest warrant had no influence in Pakistan and presently has no effect on Hafiz Saeed's movements within Pakistan.
For many years, India has demanded that Hafiz Saeed be handed over but there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
The group's leader is Hafiz Saeed, who is listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267.
Lashkar has been keeping focus on India and Hafiz Saeed is among those who are thought to have helped Pakistan in capturing important al-Qaeda members like Abu Zubaydah.
Senior Pakistani officials have said that Hafiz Saeed is helping in de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of former extremists and that security is being provided to him because he could be targeted by militants who disapprove of Hafiz Saeed's co-operation with Islamabad.
Hafiz Saeed stated that he had nothing to do with the Mumbai attacks and condemned them.
Hafiz Saeed identified his leading role in the Difa-e-Pakistan Council and US attempts to placate India as reasons behind the bounty.
On 17 July 2019, Hafiz Saeed was arrested in Gujranwala by the Punjab CTD on the charges of terror financing.
Hafiz Saeed was sent to the prison on judicial remand by a Gujranwala Anti Terrorism Court.
Hafiz Saeed was convicted for five years by a Pakistan court for financing terrorism, in February 2020.
Hafiz Saeed had declared his admiration for the British Conservative Party along with several Tory MPs when he lodged a petition to the Lahore High Court calling for public officials in Pakistan to tone down their privileged lifestyles.
Hafiz Saeed demanded that the United States take serious notice of this statement by the Indian home minister regarding Hindu terrorist camps in India.
Hafiz Saeed has questioned Pakistan's decision to adopt Urdu as its national language in a country where the majority of people speak the Punjabi language.
Hafiz Saeed advocated that Punjabi should be made the national language.
Hafiz Saeed has published the following books and articles, among others:.