New Delhi, Aug 4 (Inditop.com) Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha Tuesday on the issue of the Pakistani Supreme Court indefinitely adjourning the case against the release from house arrest of Jamaat-ud Daawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, who India says masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
As the house assembled at 1 p.m. after a 45-minute adjournment caused by the same issue, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on what he termed their contradictory statements on Pakistan.
Advani cited Krishna’s interview in a leading newspaper in which he said “all talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries are futile” till Pakistan takes credible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
“The prime minister had earlier stated that foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan would meet any number of times till it is necessary,” Advani then pointed out.
Demanding an explanation on the statements, Advani said: “Either the prime minister or the foreign minister should explain this contradiction.”
After Advani, Congress MP from Maharashtra Sanjay Nirupam spoke on the issue, demanding that Saeed “must be brought to book and punished. He must be arrested again.”
On Monday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court indefinitely adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging Saeed’s release from house arrest in June, effectively setting him free.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Sharad Yadav said: “Terrorism and dialogue can not go together. Talks are meaningless if Saeed is not brought to book”.
According to former railways minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad,”everyone in the country knows that he is the mastermind. Pakistan had also admitted this, but it seems that the (Indian) government is getting trapped in the mess of the (Sharm el-Sheikh) joint statement.
“We have been beaten diplomatically. Unless action is taken against Saeed, people will not be satisfied,” Lalu Prasad maintained
Thereafter, MPs of the Samajwadi Party and RJD walked out, prompting Advani to lead the National Democratic Alliance members out.
Earlier, the opposition created a ruckus on the issue during zero hour, leading to a 45-minute adjournment.
Raising the issue, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said “we had trusted Pakistan, but the country has betrayed India”.
Demanding a one-hour discussion in the house as well as a statement from Manmohan Singh on the matter, he said India had the opportunity to corner Pakistan, already isolated in the international community, but the country had lost this opportunity and now Pakistan had changed its stand.
Backing him, BJP leader and former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha said despite India having given a dossier to Pakistan with full evidence about Saeed’s involvement, Pakistan had released him because of his links with the country’s intelligence agency.
“He is the mastermind, but Pakistan is finding one way or the other to let him off because he has links with ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence),” Sinha said.
The moment Sinha said this, BJP members started shouting “shame… shame”.
Despite repeated efforts of Speaker Meira Kumar to control the situation, the protesting MPs kept shouting slogans. Finally, the house was adjourned at 12.15 p.m.
