Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem has been seen in a viral video with a man designated as a terrorist by the United States, sparking a massive online debate. In the widely shared video, Nadeem — who is receiving global acclaim for his Paris performance — could be seen chatting with Mohammad Harris Dhar. According to Indian security grid sources, Dhar is a joint secretary of the Mili Muslim league (MML), a political front of the proscribed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
While a section of social media users has claimed that the meeting between the two took place after Nadeem returned to Pakistan, security grid sources have yet to confirm the timing of the meeting. According to them, it is not confirmed if the interaction captured on camera happened after Arshad won gold at the Paris Olympics or before.
Pak Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem seen openly with UN Designated Lashkar terrorist in Pakistanpic.twitter.com/PtIegLQLGx— Data Statistica (@Data_Statistica) August 13, 2024
The MML is an outfit floated by Hafiz Saeed, believed to be the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. In 2018, the US Department of Treasury named seven “specially designated global terrorists” — MML president Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Sashimi, Harris Dhar, Tabish Qayyum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan. They were suspected of acting on behalf of the LeT.
The MML was formed in 2017 by Saeed. He had said that the MML would contest the 2018 elections, but it was never registered as a political party after the US sanctions.
Nadeem, on the other hand, created history on August 8 by becoming the first Pakistani to win a gold medal in the Olympics. The 27-year-old touched a distance of 92.97 metres in his second attempt to win the yellow metal in the men’s javelin throw competition. In the final, Nadeem crossed the 90-meter mark twice to become the first athlete in Olympic history to achieve the feat. India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra bagged the silver medal in that event.
After ending a 32-year-long medal wait for Pakistan in the Olympics, Nadeem returned to his village in Mian Chunnu in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Sunday morning (August 11) to a hero’s welcome.
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