Pakistan’s banned organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa launched the Milli Muslim League party on Monday, Dawn reported. Its president will be Saifullah Khalid, who is linked to Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind behind the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which killed 160 people.

Khalid said the party has no direct links with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa but that they are only connected ideologically. The new party aims to make Pakistan a “real Islamic and welfare state” and has already approached the Election Commission of Pakistan for registration so that it can participate in the 2018 general elections, he said.

Khalid announced that women will play an important role in the party and also demanded the immediate release of Hafiz Saeed, who has been under house arrest since January.