India slams Pakistan’s decision to free Mumbai attack mastermind suspect

The man accused of being the mastermind of the 2008 attacks on Mumbai has been released on bail by a Pakistan court. The assault on India’s financial capital resulted in the deaths of 166 people and seriously increased tensions between the two nuclear powers. Lakhvi’s release comes despite furious earlier protests from New Delhi which complained bitterly when a judge first granted him bail in December. The Pakistan government subsequently issued a series of detention orders which judges then cancelled. India has branded the decision as an “insult” to the victims.

Lakhvi has been released and he is out of the jail now. I don’t know where he will go now.

The lawyer for Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

India blames the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attack in which 10 gunmen crept into the city by boat and took part in a terror and killing spree over a three-day period. India says Lakhvi - who was arrested in 2009 over the tragedy - was the organisation’s boss and has accused Pakistan of prevaricating over trials in connection with Lakhvi and six other suspects. The suspects were charged in Pakistan but no-one has been brought to trial in more than five years. India, which has urged Pakistan to either hand the suspects over or put them on trial, accuses its neighbour of playing a “double game” over terrorism, suggesting the country is supporting groups that may be useful for its own political gains.

The global community should take serious note of Pakistan’s double-speak on terrorism.

Indian Government spokesman

Politics Mumbai attack