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Pakistan must rein in Hafiz Saeed: NSA Ajit Doval
Pakistan must convict 26/11 attacks plotter Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and rein in Hafiz Saeed, chief of banned terror outfit LeT and head of JuD, national security adviser AK Doval said.
Pakistan must convict 26/11 attacks plotter Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and rein in Hafiz Saeed, chief of banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), national security adviser AK Doval said.
Speaking to HT, he added that steps being taken against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the aftermath of the Peshawar attack must also be taken against the LeT.
"Hafiz Saeed should be restrained from spewing anti-India venom openly," Doval said. Saeed's calls for jihad in Kashmir have added to India's anger after Lakhvi was granted bail, barely two days after TTP militants butchered 132 children in Peshawar.
Following the outrage, Pakistan decided to hold Lakhvi behind bars for three more months. "His detention is positive but not adequate. Ample evidence is available. Pakistan should press charges and convict Lakhvi for Mumbai attacks," Doval said.
India has been closely monitoring counter-terror measures being taken in Pakistan in the aftermath of the carnage in Peshawar. A day after the attack, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to intensify the war on terror.
"We announce that there will be no differentiation between good and bad Taliban…," Sharif had said after an all-party meeting, in which steps were discussed to crack down on funding of terror organisations. "All restrictions being put on terror groups like the Taliban should also apply to the LeT," said Doval.
According to an official in the ministry of external affairs, India is "deeply concerned about how the Pakistani state deals with the Lashkar which is used against us".
Bail to Lakhvi was a big shock, especially after India stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Pakistan in the aftermath of Tuesday's massacre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called his Pakistani counterpart and offered condolence and help in fighting terror. Doval too visited the Pakistan High Commission here and met High Commissioner Abdul Basit.
"I have never seen or heard in my life that people can be so inhuman and brutal that they can descend to such low levels of beastly behavior and target innocent children in a school. This is something which really shocked and stunned the entire nation," Doval told Basit.
