US ignored death of 166 Indians: BJP

The BJP on Friday said that 35-year jail term for Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist David Headley appears to be only meant for those five American victims and not for others who were killed in the 26/11 terror strike.

The 52-year-old Pakistani-American Lashkar terrorist was sentenced by a Chicago court for the 26/11 Mumbai but escaped death penalty as he turned approver to assist the investigating agency in the case.

Reiterating that he should be handed over to India which is possible under the extradition treaty signed between the two countries, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: “It seems that conviction has come only on behalf of six American killed in 26/11. The court must have taken a considered view. But 166 people were killed in Mumbai from all over the world, apart from the US.”

The government and the Congress too agreed that Headley should be extradited.
Other than that they wanted that he should have been awarded capital punishment. “Had we tried him we would have sought much more,” stated External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

“We want death sentence for Headley and those who were involved in killing of 166 people in Mumbai. We will keep asking for his death sentence,” Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters.