Pak releases JuD chief; ups ante over Kashmir

Reverts to its oft-repeated stance of seeking ‘a just and peaceful resolution’ of the Kashmir dispute

After rejecting India’s “preconditions” for resumption of the Composite Dialogue, Pakistan on Tuesday came up with its own precondition by reverting to its oft-repeated stance of seeking “a just and peaceful resolution” of the Kashmir dispute, according to UN Security Council resolutions.

While Pakistan has sought a “constructive and purposeful” dialogue, India has little cause for cheer since, on Tuesday, the Lahore High Court released Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the head of an Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, who is labelled by India as the prime accused in the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, which claimed more than 180 lives.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “These actions by Pakistan raise questions about sincerity of Pakistan’s investigations into the conspiracy that planned, launched and executed the terrorist attack on Mumbai in which hundreds of innocent Indian and foreign nationals lost their lives. Pakistan has yet to report the progress of the investigations that it had committed to undertake into that conspiracy.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Saeed was released in Lahore, where he was under house arrest since December 11, 2008, following the UN Security Council banning the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. While India suspended the Composite Dialogue after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has pressed for early resumption of the dialogue.

Speaking in Islamabad on Tuesday, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said the Kashmir dispute “holds the key to durable peace in the region” and must be resolved through “sincere dialogue”. In an indication of Pakistan once again making Kashmir central to any future talks, Gilani said Islamabad would give “political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination”.

Responding to Gilani’s remarks. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said today: “It (terrorism) has nothing to do with Kashmir. Terror whether it is in Kashmir, in Mumbai or elsewhere, it is abominable.” Pointing out that the composite dialogue includes Kashmir, he said: “Now it is in Pakistan’s court to create conditions for the dialogue to be resumed.”

Soon after assuming office as external affairs minister, Krishna had said the presence of “terror infrastructure” in Pakistan is a “stumbling block” in improvement of ties, and this statement has been read as India setting preconditions for the resumption of dialogue.