New Delhi : External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Saturday asked Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to “speedy justice” on the third anniversary of the Mumbai carnage and underlined that India has provided enough evidence to prosecute the terrorists.
“We call upon Pakistan to bring perpetrators and conspirators of 26/11 to speedy justice,” Krishna said on the third anniversary of the audacious attacks by Pakistani terrorists in 2008 in which 166 people were killed.
In a tough message to Islamabad, he said the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy can be self-destructive but stressed that issues with Pakistan “have to be resolved through dialogue”.
Krishna reminded Islamabad that the fight against terrorism could not be selective and stressed that the “evidence which has been provided by (Ministry of) Home Affairs would be sufficient for normal civil court”.
Krishna’s comments come a day after Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said India hadn’t provided sufficient evidence against Hafiz Saeed, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and the suspected 26/11 mastermind.
“As far as Hafiz Saeed is concerned, there is no evidence against him. We had initially arrested him, then he got relief from both the High Court and the Supreme Court,” Rehman said Friday night.
“We couldn’t keep him in jail. Three FIRs were registered against him for making fiery speeches, but the cases collapsed in court. He is still under observation. If he makes any additional statement against the establishment, we will register a case against him,” he said.
Ajmal Amir Kasab was the only one of the 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai Nov 26, 2008 to be caught alive. They attacked at prominent locations in the city.
Kasab has been found guilty of killing at least 59 people in the carnage. He has been charged with murder and waging war against the Indian state amongst other crimes.
He was sentenced to death May 6, 2010 by special judge M.L. Tahaliyani. He then appealed to the Bombay High Court, which Feb 21, 2011 upheld the death penalty following which he appealed in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court Oct 10 this year stayed the execution of the death sentence. It directed completion of pleading by Nov 30 and that the appeal be listed for final hearing Jan 31, 2012.
IANS
