A day after the great India, Pakistan bonhomie, when the two nations stood together in grief over massacre of children by Taliban in Peshwar, on Thursday the feel good factor dissipated. A Pakistan anti-terror court on Thursday released Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the masterminds behind 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, on bail “in the absence of evidence.”
Reacting strongly, New Delhi asked Pakistan to immediately take steps to reverse the decision.
The court order came just a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said there is no “good and bad” Taliban. He made the statement after the Pakistani Taliban carried out the massacre in a Peshawar school leading to the death of 131 school children and 9 teachers. The court granted bail to Lakhvi on a bond of Pakistani Rs 500,000.
Terming the bail order unfortunate, Home minister Rajnath Singh said, “I hope there is an appeal filed in a higher court by the Pakistani government so that his bail is cancelled,” Singh said, adding, “After the Peshawar attack, allowing bail to one of the main accused in the 26/11 attacks is unfortunate. I will speak to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj about this.” External affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin asserted that there can be no selective approach to terrorism.
Reacting strongly, New Delhi asked Pakistan to immediately take steps to reverse the decision.
The court order came just a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said there is no “good and bad” Taliban. He made the statement after the Pakistani Taliban carried out the massacre in a Peshawar school leading to the death of 131 school children and 9 teachers. The court granted bail to Lakhvi on a bond of Pakistani Rs 500,000.
Terming the bail order unfortunate, Home minister Rajnath Singh said, “I hope there is an appeal filed in a higher court by the Pakistani government so that his bail is cancelled,” Singh said, adding, “After the Peshawar attack, allowing bail to one of the main accused in the 26/11 attacks is unfortunate. I will speak to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj about this.” External affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin asserted that there can be no selective approach to terrorism.