- Envoy to India says Pakistan will move against JuD chief if it’s provided credible evidence of his involvement in terrorism in India
- Says meeting between Saeed and Indian journalist was a ‘private affair’ and both countries were unaware of the meeting
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Friday said that Pakistan did not have any evidence against Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, who is wanted by India for allegedly masterminding the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, adding that “we cannot put our citizens in jail only to please the world”, Indian newspaper The Hindu reported.
Addressing Indian media, Basit said although Saeed had been detained by the Pakistani government, no evidence was found against him. Clarifying that no citizen can be put behind bars without any evidence, Basit urged those with hard evidence to come forth.
“We had detained him but we didn’t have any evidence on the basis of which we could try him … even if today someone has hard evidence…it should be shared,” he said, adding that “we cannot put our citizens in jail only to please the world. We have a judicial process; so kindly try to look at things objectively,” said Basit.
Basit, however, refused to comment on the alleged judicial delays in the ongoing 26/11 trials in Pakistan saying that Pakistan is committed to bring justice in this case but proceedings take time. He pointed out that he would not mention the Samjhota trials in India either.
He also assured the Indian journalists that the governments of both countries did not have any prior knowledge of the meeting between Hafiz Saeed and Indian journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik, terming it “a private affair”.
“This was a meeting between two private citizens … it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment … our government was not aware and nor was the government of India,” he said.
Reports that Vaidik met the JuD leader in Lahore on July 2 sparked controversy in India and caused an uproar in the Lok Sabha.
“He was part of a 14-member delegation headed by Mani Shankar Aiyyar that went to attend a conference arranged by the Regional Peace Institute … he was given visa for that … he stayed back … along with a couple of others,” the high commissioner said.
basit, no worries there, no need to put this terrorist in jail- he will die a natural death by courtesy of american drones you will be left wringing your hands just like OBL
whatever basit says, coward murderer hafiz will have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life .There is no honour among thieves, they say , and the money on offer for his head , will be very tempting.
Remember Pak kept claiming till US war against Soviets was over that she was not involved in training and arming/financing the so-called Mujahideen!
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