Pakistan used Samjautha to block pressure on Lakhvi's release

There was high drama in both India and Pakistan following a court order which directed the release of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. In less than 24 hours of the release Pakistan decided that it would not let the 26/11 mastermind get out of jail and re-ordered his detention which mandated that he stay in jail for another month. [Pak detains Lakhvi before release]

There was not just pressure from India, but even the United States of America raised concerns over Lakhvi's release. Pakistan at first had no intention of re-ordering a detention. In fact when India raised the issue, it did try its own set of tactics to ensure that India did not protest further.

Pakistan raised the Samjautha issue:

Just when India summoned the Pakistan high commissioner and protested the release of Lakhvi, Pakistan too was quick to call the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Pakistan.

Pakistan tried telling the Indian diplomat that the issues that were being raised in India were hyped and unwanted. Just because he is being released it does not mean that the trial in the 26/11 case would come to an end.

Further the Indian diplomat was also told that the demands that are being made by India are irrational in nature and the law needs to be set in motion. He was also told that it was not a decision of the Pakistan government, but a court ordered decision.

However the Indian diplomat continued to convey how upset New Delhi was over this release and it was sending a very poor message. Pakistan then went a step ahead and broached the Samjautha Express blast case and said that even India must hand over the accused as the incident resulted in the loss of Pakistani nationals.

The Samjautha express blast investigations have seen many twists and turns.

The pressure got to Pakistan:

While Pakistan did try its share of tactics to ensure that the issue of Lakhvi died down and there would be no pressure in releasing him, it however did not work.

Even as Pakistan spoke tough against India at first, there was an added pressure from the United States of America which told Pakistan in clear terms that he cannot be released.

The US in particular was very vocal about the release of Lakhvi. Pakistan has in the past ignored requests by the US where Lakhvi is concerned. When Hillary Clinton had pointed out that Lakhvi used a cell phone in jail, the same was ignored.

Even recently Pakistan ignored a ban issued by the US on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. It made it look as though the outfit was banned, but the fact of the matter is that the name of the group never made to the list of banned organizations in Pakistan.