Islamabad: The trial of the suspected mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the supreme leader of the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi, has been taking twists and turns as the Pakistani government and its judicial system continues to play hide and seek declaring Lakhvi’s bail yet keeping him in detention over other legal charges against him.
Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a 54 year old leader of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and is also the supreme commander of the militant operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Lakhvi has been known to be governing hundreds of training and recruitment camps in Kashmir, whose primary focus has been to carry out terror attacks and operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Origin and operations against India
Born in Okara district of Pakistan largest province Punjab, about 200 kilometers from the provincial capital Lahore, Lakhvi became an active member of the Lashakr-e-Taiba’s General council and made quick progress in initiating, training, recruiting and spreading LeT’s operations across Pakistan.
Lakhvi’s inclusion into LeT gave a broader spread to the organisation as he directed Iraq, Chechnya, Bosnia, Bangladesh and other critical areas in South East Asia.
He gained attention of Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) – led by other main suspect behind the 26/11 mumbai terror attack, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed – during 1999, when he detailed the formation of “Fidayeen†suicide bombers squad mission in an annual congregation at Muridke, the main training and recruiting widespread head office of Jamat-ud-Dawa Pakistan, situated about 30 kilometers from Lahore.
Lakhvi declared the formation of the mission as a necessity after the Kargil War. He blamed the Pakistani armed forces from withdrawing from Kargil on order of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and accused him for succumbing to one phone call from then US President Bill Clinton.
He declared that the mission was important to keep the morals of the mujahideen operating in Kashmir high and to teach India a hard lesson as aftermath of the Kargil War. Lakhvi even declared the prime target of “Fidayeen†to be New Delhi.
It has also been learnt that Lakhvi gave directions to Azam Cheema, the leader behind the 2006 deadly bombings on the railway network that killed over 200. The US treasury department along with four others later froze Lakhvi’s assets and of other LeT members during 2008.
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The Mumbai attacks
Lakhvi’s successful terror attack was the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, in which hundreds lost their lives.
It has been said that Lakhvi used Kasab, the only attacker captured alive by the Indian forces and offered him financial assistance of Rs150,000 to carry out the deadly attack.
Lakhvi was later arrested from the border areas of Pakistan Administered Kashmir by the intelligence agencies on December 7, 2008 during a raid on a LeT training camp.
Pakistani authorities refused to hand over Lakhvi to India and maintained that he will be tried in Pakistan.
Then in 2009, the Anti-Terrorist Court in Pakistan declared Lakhvi as the main suspect, along with 7 others LeT militants. Since then, Lakhvi has been in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
But recently, on December 18th 2014, Lakhvi was granted bail against Rs 500,000 by the courts in the Mumbai terror attack case. But the bail was quickly rejected by the High Court on December 19th 2014 and Lakhvi was sent to detention as per the maintenance of public order for at least 30 days.
However, Lakhvi was granted bail on a separate case of kidnapping on January 9, 2014 on a surety bond of Rs 3,10,000 also.
Though Pakistan government approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan and insured that the bail of Lakhvi is declared illegal; Pakistan is yet to establish the involvement of Lakhvi in the Mumbai terror attack.
India has blamed Pakistan for sheltering Lakhwi in its custody and not considering the evidential dossiers given to Pakistan through the diplomatic channels, proving Lakhvi’s involvement in the terror attack.
Pakistan, on the other hand, maintains that there are still many doubts over the identity of the Mumbai attackers and their linkage to terror groups in Pakistan, which is why it has not been able to punish Lakhvi.
India Pakistan relations have now become based on Lakhvi’s trial and seems that the slow paced movement of the trial case will push ahead any probability of positive in-row movement between the two neighboring countries.