BJP to int'l community: Force Pak to hand over Lakhvi, Dawood to India

New Delhi, Jan 21: BJP on Wednesday said it is time the international community exerts pressure on Pakistan for handing over to India terror accused Zia-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim for trying them on Indian soil for perpetrating crimes against humanity.

BJP also welcomed reports about the US and the UK asking Pakistan to hand over Lakhvi to India, and termed it as a "good beginning".

"We think this is a very good beginning. We certainly welcome this initiative to put this kind of pressure on Pakistan... BJP would urge the international community to build pressure on Pakistan," BJP spokesperson G V L Narsimha Rao said.

He said India had hoped that Pakistan would reform from within over the years, but has not seen any such change of heart or policy from the Pakistani side in supporting terror in their country.

Rao said BJP has always demanded that even people like Hafiz Saeed, who has been reportedly using Pakistani soil to target India and make all kinds of provocative statements, besides being the main brain behind the 26/11 attacks, should be handed over.

"We think the international pressure would be mounted on Pakistan even to hand over Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts so that they can be tried in India for perpetrating crimes against humanity and on Indian people.

"It is time the international community should exert pressure on Pakistan so that they hand over these three top terrorists so that they can be tried in India," he said.

The BJP leader said it is only due to Indian pressure led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that people like Lakhvi are still under detention.

PTI