It is a travesty of justice, says India

India on Thursday termed the freeing of dreaded terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh by the Pakistani Supreme Court as a “travesty of justice”, adding that “this case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front”. Sheikh was earlier convicted in Pakistan for the beheading of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “I had mentioned earlier about the very low conviction rate in Pakistan when it comes to sentencing of terror accused. This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar Saeed guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror. Our position on Pakistan taking sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action against terrorism and terrorist funding emanating from all territory under its control remain unchanged.”

Sheikh was among the terrorists freed by India in December, 1999, to secure the release of passengers on board the aircraft of erstwhile Indian Airlines that was hijacked by Pakistan-backed terrorists from the Nepalese Capital Kathmandu and finally taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan that was then ruled by the Pakistansupported Taliban.

According to media reports, the Pakistani Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of Sheikh while dismissing an appeal against the overturning of his conviction for the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl.