Survivors, and families of those killed in the audacious 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, have questioned Pakistan’s commitment, if any, to combating terrorism in the backdrop of the decision of a Pakistan court to release Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
Lakhvi, along with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, engineered the 2008 attacks in which 10 terrorists sneaked into Mumbai using a sea route and killed over 160 people.
“Running a trial for 26/11 attack conspirators was just to show the world that the Pakistan government was serious about its crackdown on terrorism. But the bail to Lakhvi has revealed Pakistan’s real face,” says Manasi Shinde, who lost her husband, inspector Shashank Shinde, in the assault on South Mumbai’s busy CST station.
Shinde said that the Pakistan government’s claims that it would appeal against Lakhvi’s bail was hollow. “It clearly does not want to crack down on terrorism. How else are terrorist camps running in Pakistan? To prove that Pakistan is against terrorism, they have to first shut all these terror camps, which they will never do,” she added. “Why are they are not handing over the culprits to us?”
Praveen Sawant, 49, was injured when the militants sprayed bullets on a popular tourist hangout, Leopold Café. He has no faith in Pakistan’s legal system. “What can we say? They killed many and succeeded in doing what they wanted to do. Now, the main perpetrator is out on bail. Our comments have not changed things in the past, and nothing is going to change now,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Praveen Sawant, 49, was injured when the militants sprayed bullets on a popular tourist hangout, Leopold Café. He has no faith in Pakistan’s legal system. “What can we say? They killed many and succeeded in doing what they wanted to do. Now, the main perpetrator is out on bail. Our comments have not changed things in the past, and nothing is going to change now,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sanjay Kathar, who was outside Nariman House at the time of the attack, suffered shrapnel injuries in his stomach. “The terrorists evidently do what they do because strict action is not taken against them in Pakistan. This has motivated them to go against the local government and spread terror not only in their hometown but in other countries too. India should protest against the bail provided to Lakhvi. It’s time Pakistan acted strongly against terrorism and proved to the world that they can wipe out these monsters,” he added.