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| India irked: 26/11 plotter walks free | | | AGENCIES
New Delhi, June 02: India on Tuesday raised doubts over Pakistan’s seriousness in fighting terrorism, in the wake of a court there freeing Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is believed to have masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks, from house arrest.
Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah – a front of the Lashkar-e-Toiba – was placed under detention by the Pakistani authorities on December 11 last year after the UN Security Council designated the JuD as a terrorist organisation.
However, a full bench of the Lahore High Court today ordered Saeed’s release, saying there was insufficient evidence to keep the JuD chief under house arrest. Apart from Saeed, Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmed – another top JuD leader – was also released by the court.
Both Home Minister P Chidambaram and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna separately slammed the Pak court’s decision, saying the move only showed Islamabad’s lack of seriousness about tackling terrorism.
The development again showed Pakistan was not serious about its “commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks”, Chidambaram said.
"We are unhappy," he quipped, but added that Saeed’s release would not affect the Mumbai terror probe being conducted by Indian investigation agencies.
“Terrorism has to be fought, it has to be contained. It is regrettable that Pakistan has resorted to this,” Krishna told reporters here.
Earlier, an MEA spokesman had described Saeed’s release as regrettable and stated that the move raised questions on Pakistan’s sincerity into the Mumbai terror attacks probe.
Commenting on Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s move to link the resolution of the Kashmir issue with peace and stability in South Asia, the Indian foreign minister said, “Kashmir has nothing to do with this; terror anywhere is abominable.”
In a televised press conference held just after the JuD chief’s release today, Gilani had said, “Kashmir holds the key to durable peace in the region. Pakistan remains committed to finding a just resolution to the dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”
Pakistan wants to engage India in a constructive and purposeful dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue, Gilani had stated further.
However, Krishna put the ball back in Islamabad’s court, saying Pakistan need to create conditions for the Composite Dialogue of which the Kashmir issue was a part.
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