India has expressed outrage about the release of Hafiz Saeed, who is alleged to have planned the Mumbai attack.
A Pakistani court on Wednesday refused the government’s request to extend the house arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed for another 60 days.
The decision comes days before the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai attack on Nov. 26, 2008, popularly known as 26/11.
Hafiz Saeed is scheduled to be released from house arrest as the deadline expires on Nov. 24.
“India and indeed all the international community is outraged that a self-confessed and UN-proscribed terrorist is allowed to walk free,” said Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
India sees this as “an attempt by the Pakistani system to mainstream proscribed terrorists,” Kumar said.
Hafiz Saeed denied his role in the Mumbai attack in which 10 gunmen attacked India’s financial capital and targeted two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a train station, killing 166 people and injuring hundreds.
Vinay Jadhav, whose uncle was killed while waiting at Chhatrapati Shivaji Station (CST) for a local train, said: “I really feel that Pakistan should respect the sentiments of the people who lost their near and dear ones in the tragedy and punish the culprit.”
Hafiz Saeed’s detainment extension was rejected by a three-member panel after senior officials at Pakistan’s Finance Ministry failed to convince the court that Saeed’s release would affect Pakistan’s diplomatic relations and place the country at financial risk.
The review board in the previous hearing had asked the government to present its arguments that Pakistan might face monetary sanctions if Saeed was set free.
Saeed’s followers hailed the decision and distributed sweets.
No official response was issued by Pakistan. The Foreign Ministry directed any queries to the Interior Ministry, which declined to comment, as did the Punjab Advocate General’s office.
Pakistan’s former president and ex-Army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf has called for Hafiz Saeed’s release in interviews with local media.
“Hafiz Saeed should definitely be freed," he said. They (JuD) are not terrorists, they run a very fine NGO, they contribute to relief activities in post-earthquake and post-flood periods in Pakistan. They run great welfare organizations.”
Musharraf said that Saeed’s charity organization, Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), encouraged religious youth to engage in welfare activities.
“In my opinion, they are against the Taliban (in Pakistan), they did not commit any terrorism in Pakistan or anywhere in the world,” he said.
The US has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief’s arrest and conviction.
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