Lakhvi innocent? India hits out at Hafiz Saeed

After Jamaat-ud-Dawa Chief Hafiz Saeed called Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi an innocent man, India lashed out at Saeed and underlined that his remarks showed the pervasive network of terrorists, prevalent in Pakistan.

“Hafiz Saeed is himself among the dreaded terrorist that the world has already notified. And his clean certificate to Lakhvi, who was the real mastermind behind the 26/11 terror attacks, I think shows the connection and the extensive network of terrorist that pervades Pakistan as a country,” said G. V. L. Narasimha Rao, spokesperson of Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP).

He called his comments rather amateurish and intriguing and said that Hafiz Saeed had absolutely no locus standi, and his recent comments only vindicated that Lakhvi was the mastermind behind that attack.

Airing anger and disbelief over Saeed’s statement, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, vice president of the BJP, said, “If Saeed doesn’t give him a certificate to Lakhvi, then who will. Thieves become brothers.”

Earlier, Saeed had said that India was trying to put pressure on Pakistan through the United Nations and United States to punish him for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which, according to him, Lakhvi had no role to play.

“India has no evidence against Lakhvi. Out of desperation it has contacted the United Nations and the US to pressure the Pakistani government to give punishment to Lakhvi. India and the UN have no right to intervene in the judicial system of Pakistan. India had never accepted the decisions of the Pakistani courts in the past,” Saeed said.

His comments came against the backdrop of India’s letter to the United Nations (UN), in which India had expressed concerns over Lakhvi’s release order issued by Islamabad Court. India said his release had violated the provisions of the global body. In response, the UN had assured India that that it will take up Lakhvi’s matter in its next meeting later this month.

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