India reacted with anger to Monday’s Islamabad High Court order suspending the Pakistan government’s detention of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar-e-Toiba’s operations commander and key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. Earlier, it had emphatically protested the December 18 anti-terrorism court’s order releasing Lakhvi.
Subsequently, Lakhvi has been detained again on Tuesday. But as the case continues to twist and turn, New Delhi must rethink the wisdom of investing it with the power and potential to derail attempts to revive engagement between the two countries. It must ask itself whether by focusing overly on the issue of Lakhvi’s bail, it may not be allowing the larger questions in the India-Pakistan bilateral relationship to be held hostage to Lakhvi’s day in court.
A fortnight after the Peshawar school attack, the Lakhvi case provides yet more evidence of the persistent contradictions and deep faultlines in Pakistan. These formidable internal challenges that convulse Pakistan make it all the more necessary for India to multiply, not reduce, the points of communication and exchange between the two countries.
