Pak must appeal against 26/11 accused Lakhvi’s ‘unacceptable’ bail, says outraged India
New Delhi: An outraged India on Thursday told Pakistan that release of LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the key conspirators of the Mumbai terror attacks, on bail was unacceptable to it and demanded immediate steps for reversal of the decision.
In a sharp reaction to the bail granted to 54-year-old UN-designated terrorist by a Rawalpindi court, New Delhi told Islamabad that there could be no selective approach to terrorism, emphasising that it should realise that no compromise can ever be made with terrorists.
Read: Lack of evidence? Pakistan court grants bail to 26/11-accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
"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 spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
Noting that the release comes just two days after the dastardly terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar, where over a hundred children were purposefully and systematically butchered in the name of revenge, he said the grant of bail to Lakhvi will serve as a reassurance to terrorists who perpetrate heinous crimes.
Read: India fumes after Pakistan court grants bail to 26/11-accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
"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," the official spokesman said.
We call upon Pak to reverse this decision, there can be no selective approach towards terrorism: MEA on Lakhvi pic.twitter.com/H6roD1n256
— ANI (@ANI_news) December 18, 201499% evidence for 26/11 is in Pak, the 1% we have has been handed to Pak: MEA Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin
— ANI (@ANI_news) December 18, 2014Sources have already indicated that government was working with its mission in Pakistan to prepare a strong response to the antiterrorism court's verdict.
Lakhvi and six others had filed bail applications yesterday even as lawyers were observing a strike to condemn the terrorist attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that left 148 people, mostly children, dead.
Read: Twitteratis show solidarity with Pakistan, while protesting against Lakhvi’s bail
Pakistan's FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) prosecutor disagreed with the bail request, however, advocate Rizwan Abbasi, the lawyer representing Lakhvi stood before the court as the bail was approved, Dawn reported.
The seven accused — Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum — are facing trial at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
Read: Faces of terror: The men behind horrific attacks
Lakhvi, who was the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba, was one of the key planners of the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
His release from jail also comes a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to announce a "national plan" to tackle terrorism within a week, saying "this entire region" should be cleansed of terrorism.
