Pakistan calls India's anger over Lakhvi release 'irrational'
Pakistan has called India "irrational" for its strong reaction to a court ruling ordering the release of 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, but hoped that the issue will not affect the proposed bilateral talks.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz made the remarks while talking to reporters. He rejected Indian allegations that Pakistan was not doing enough to ensure Lakhvi remains behind bars.
Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs
“India’s reaction to IHC’s (Islamabad High Court) ruling over Lakhvi’s detention was irrational,” Aziz was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.
He said Pakistan’s judiciary is free and works independently, and hoped that the court’s decision would not affect the peace talks.
Lakhvi and six others — Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum — have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in November 2008 that left 166 people dead.
Lakhvi, believed to be a close relative of LeT founder and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, was arrested in December 2008 and was indicted along with the six others on November 25, 2009, in connection with the 26/11 attack case.
An outraged India last week summoned the Pakistan high commissioner in Delhi to lodge a strong protest against the Islamabad high court’s order to release Lakhvi, and said freeing him will pose a threat which cannot be ignored.
Lakhvi was detained again for one month before his release from jail.
