India’s tough talk, US proof force Pak rethink on Lakhvi

NEW DELHI: A stern “diplomatic communication'' from India asking Pakistan to reverse the bail to Mumbai attacks accused Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi coupled with the fact that the evidence against Lakhvi had been corroborated by US authorities convinced the Pakistan establishment to detain the top Lashkar commander on Friday. NSA Ajit Doval described the detention of Lakhvi as a "positive" development.
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US authorities, in fact, had ferreted out evidence, including audio records of Lakhvi's conversations with terrorists while they went around creating mayhem on Mumbai streets.
While confirming that Lakhvi had been detained under a preventive detention law, Pakistan sources told this paper that Islamabad was already looking ahead. Sources said Pakistan foreign ministry had proposed that India allow 200 Pakistanis to go ahead with their Sirhind Sharif pilgrimage next week under the 1974 protocol on visits to religious shrines.|
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The pilgrimage to Sirhind in Punjab normally takes place from December 18 to 25 but, according to Pakistan, the Indian authorities are yet to provide visas to pilgrims. Islamabad has just proposed that the visit be allowed to take place from Monday next week.

Indian government sources said Pakistan authorities realised that the timing of Lakhvi's bail was bad and that they couldn't afford it. As foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said in a statement in Lok Sabha, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, TCA Raghavan, had conveyed India's sentiments in "clear and unambiguous" terms.
Describing bail to Lakhvi as shocking, and as a development which had traumatised all Indians, Modi said in Lok Sabha on Friday that the outrage expressed by Parliament had been strongly conveyed to Pakistan. The government said that the bail to Lakhvi was going to make a mockery of Pakistan's professed commitment to fight terror without making any exception.
Pakistan also diplomatically conveyed to India that the government was going to challenge Lakhvi's bail in court. Public prosecutor Chaudhary Azhar was quoted as saying that the anti-terrorism court bail order would be challenged in the Islamabad high court.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said India had also expressed strong concern over the glacial pace at which the Mumbai trial was moving.
"Despite repeated assurances that have been received, we have seen both the prosecution of the seven accused in the Anti-Terror Court in Islamabad, as also the investigation by the authorities into the larger conspiracy surrounding the Mumbai attack case, proceeding at a glacial pace,” he said.

"The story of repeated postponements, adjournments and unavailability of concerned law officers or witnesses is well documented and does not require repetition. The move to grant bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi yesterday (Thursday) has taken this saga to another level,” he added.
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