"If one terrorist will not give a certificate to another, then who will," asks Samajwadi Party

The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday said it was not at all surprised over Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed's defence of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and questioned the NDA Government's silence on the matter.

"If one terrorist will not give a certificate to the other, then who will. Hafiz Saaed is the foe of India and the world of terrorism is developing under him. Hafiz Saeed will obviously take the side of Lakhvi, who is also an enemy of India," Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal told ANI.

"But the Government of India should tell as to why it is keeping silent even after knowing that Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists. The government must answer all these questions," he added.

The JuD chief on Monday said that India was trying to put pressure on Pakistan through the U.N. and the U.S. to punish Lakhvi for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

According to reports, Saeed said that Lakhvi is innocent as there has been no evidence against him for his involvement in the case. The JuD chief's comments came after New Delhi took up Lakhvi's matter with the UN.

India had earlier requested the UN to raise this matter with Pakistan and said that Lakhvi's release was in violation of the norms of the global body.