Union Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that terror accused Hafiz Saeed’s release from house arrest in Pakistan had left Islamabad with “no place” in the global community.
Saeed, who is seen as being responsible for the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 in which 165 people died, was placed under house arrest in Pakistan in January. He was released on Friday, two days before the ninth anniversary of the attacks.
“If they have released [alleged 26/11 attacks mastermind] Saeed two days before the attacks’ anniversary, then the entire world is united in saying that a country that supports terror has no place in the global community,” Jaitley was quoted as saying by ANI. He was speaking in Surat in the poll-bound Gujarat.
Hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Union ministers and party President Amit Shah, had gone to constituencies in the state to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Mann Ki Baat” with voters over tea. Modi had also brought up the attacks in his monthly radio address, and had called terrorism a “threat to humanity”.
Elections in Gujarat are due on December 9 and 14.
India has reacted strongly to the decision to release Saeed and earlier said it “confirms Pakistan’s lack of seriousness in bringing terrorists to justice”. “Saeed’s release appears to be an attempt by the Pakistani system to mainstream proscribed terrorists,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. “It is evident that Pakistan has not changed its policy of shielding and supporting non-state actors, and its true face is visible for all to see.”
The United States has also told Pakistan to take Saeed, a terrorist leader with a $10-million bounty on him, into custody.
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