David Headley's Half-Brother Danyal Gilani Was Part of Pakistani Delegation Which Attended Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Funeral
Headley and Gilani share the same father - Sayed Salim Gilani, the former chief of Pakistan Broadcast Corporation.
New Delhi, Aug 19: Danyal Gilani, half-brother of convicted 26/11 attack plotter David Headley, was part of the Pakistani delegation which arrived in Delhi on Friday to attend former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's funeral, reports said on Sunday.
Gilani, a bureaucrat, holds the position of director in Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He had accompanied the outgoing I&B Minister, Syed Ali Zafar, who led the delegation at Vajpayee's funeral.
The Opposition has questioned the government on why they granted visa to the brother of a convicted terrorist.
The Centre, through its sources, have clarified that though Gilani was part of the delegation, he neither attended the cremation of Vajpayee nor the meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
"Danyal Gilani did not attend Atal Bihari Vajpayee's funeral or courtesy meeting of Pakistan acting law minister (Syed Ali Zafar) with EAM Sushma Swaraj," a top source told news agency ANI.
On the issuance of visa to Gilani, reports said he was not blacklisted due to his clean record. He has been serving in the Pakistani civil service for more than a decade and has publicly distanced himself from the actions and ideology of his half-brother David Headley.
Headley and Gilani share the same father - Sayed Salim Gilani, the former chief of Pakistan Broadcast Corporation. Headley's mother was a US national, with wom Syed Salim divorced and married another woman in Pakistan. He had three children from his second marriage, one of whom is Danyal Gilani.
As director in the Pakistan I&B Ministry, Gilani was also heading the censor board which banned the release of recent Bollywood movie Veere Di Wedding, on grounds of being "immoral".
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2018 08:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).