South Asia
26-11 accused LeT commander bail: India calls move unacceptable
Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec 18: After a Pakistan court granted bail to top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, an accused in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai in 2008, India on Thursday reacted strongly and said the move by the neighbouring country is "unacceptable."
"We cannot accept that LeT\'s chief operation commander Zakiur Lakhvi, one of the key conspirators of the Mumbai terror attacks in which so many innocent people were slaughtered, a person designated as an international terrorist by the UNSC, is being released on bail," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
On behalf of the Indian government, he appealed to the Pakistan government to reverse the decision.
"We call upon the government of Pakistan to immediately take steps to reverse this decision. There can be no selective approaches to terrorism. Given the scale of the tragedy that Pakistan itself has faced in recent days, it is incumbent on it to realise that no compromise can ever be made with terrorists," he said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also called the move unfortunate and hoped that the Pakistan government appeals against it in higher court so that Lakhvi\'s bail is cancelled.
“It is unfortunate that the person involved in 26/11 attacks has got bail. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier announced a crackdown on terror,” Singh said.
“I hope the Pakistan government will appeal in a higher court so that Lakhvi\'s bail is cancelled," he added.
Singh informed the media that India had provided all relevant evidence to Pakistan.
He demanded that India’s most wanted terrorists including Hafiz Saeed should be handed over to India.
Replying to a question on threat from Hafiz Saeed, the Home Minister said that India is not scared of any threats.
Singh said that not only the people of Pakistan, but Indians are equally hurt over the killings of so many innocent children in Peshawar.
Lakhvi was given bail by a court in Islamabad earlier in the day which said the prosecution could not proved enough against him.
Lakhvi was in Aadiyala jail in Rawalpindi since his arrest in 2009.
This comes a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday sent out a strong message to terrorists and said his country will like to see a complete elimination of terrorism from the nation.
Sharif made the remarks after the country witnessed one of the deadliest militant attacks in recent time when a Taliban attack at a school in Peshawar city claimed 132 lives of children besides others on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in May met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and expressed India\'s concern over the slow progress of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trial in that country.
A series of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Nov 2008 across Mumbai in hotels, religious place, railway station carried out by Pakistani members of Lashkar-e-Taiba.had killed 164 people and wounded at least 308.
