Editorial

A futile blame game

One would hope that after having registered its protest, India would get on with the dialogue process

Editorial March 14, 2015

It is only tragic that soon after hopes were raised for the resumption of bilateral dialogue following the visit of the Indian foreign secretary to Pakistan under the cover of the Saarc yatra, things should have taken such a dip. PHOTO: AFP

It is only normal for Pakistan and India to cross diplomatic swords at the slightest provocation. Indeed, one would have been really surprised if India had not acted the way it did when on March 13, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the release of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a top commander of the banned terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who, along with seven people, is on trial in Pakistan over the attacks in Mumbai which claimed the lives of 166 people. By the same token, one would have been equally surprised if Pakistan had not acted the way it did in response to the Indian reaction to Lakhvi’s release. As expected, the Pakistan Foreign Office chose the opportunity to once again mention the Mumbai bloodbath of November 2008 in the same breath as the Samjhauta Express carnage of February 2007, reminding its Indian counterpart that the main accused in the latter case, Swami Aseemanand, was already on bail since August last year.

Lakhvi, on the other hand, was released on bail by an anti-terrorism court in December last year but had remained incarcerated under the Maintenance of Public Order until his release was ordered by the IHC. However, the Punjab home ministry restored his detention for a one-month period a day later. Aseemanand continues to remain behind bars as he is accused of being involved in two other equally heinous incidents besides the Samjhauta Express tragedy.

Being a relatively more developed democracy and endowed with, it is presumed, a relatively more mature judiciary, one would have expected India to have brought the Samjhauta Express case to its logical conclusion a long time ago. Still, one does not understand what Pakistan expects to gain out of equating the two cases — Samjhauta and Mumbai — every time it is confronted with probing questions about the latter. Of course, both are equally heinous in character and gruesome in human tragedy. Still, it would be irresponsible on our part to create the impression that our judiciary is dragging its feet on the Mumbai case just because the Indian judiciary is taking its own time to punish the culprits involved in the Samjhauta slaughter.

There is another dimension, a serious one too at that, to the Mumbai case which it would be advisable to keep in mind while making official public excuses on why the case continues to drag. In a US-India joint statement issued on September 30, 2014 in Washington, following a meeting between US President Barack Obama and the visiting Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the two reiterated their call for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice. And in an interview to India Today in January this year, President Obama who was visiting India said: “I’ve made it clear (to Pakistan) that even as the United States works with Pakistan to meet the threat of terrorism, safe havens within Pakistan are not acceptable and that those behind the Mumbai terrorist attack must face justice.” And many in and out of Pakistan believe that it is not for want of evidence that the Mumbai case is dragging but because the evidence is yet to be produced in full by the prosecution.

It is only tragic that soon after hopes were raised for the resumption of bilateral dialogue following the visit of the Indian foreign secretary to Pakistan under the cover of the Saarc yatra, things should have taken such a dip. One would hope that after having registered its protest, India would get on with the dialogue process and Pakistan on its part would make sincere efforts to reassure all stakeholders that it would do its utmost to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai to justice. In fact, it would be just in keeping with the objectives of the 20-point National Action Plan developed following the Army Public School massacre of December last year to go hammer and tongs against all terrorists, both the so-called good and the bad terrorists, including the LeT and all such groups which have been holding the country to ransom all these years.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2015.

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COMMENTS (6)

Anis | 9 years ago | Reply Both Pakistan and India dont want to sort out things on diplomatic front and this is the least pertenant issue chosen by the diplomatic vetrans on both sides.

woody | 9 years ago | Reply If Pakistan were dealing with China over a similar massacre I suspect the suspects would have been tried and executed by now. It's worth noting that during the American trial one of the perpetrators implicated the ISI - that makes one wonder whether like the OBL debacle we are seeing Pakistan failure to confront those who have assisted terrorism.

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Anjaan | 9 years ago | Reply It should have been absolutely clear by now to the Pakistani leadership and intelligentsia that Lakhvi's conviction is the bottom line for any further movement in India Pakistan relations ... no further arguments ... period.

BlackJack | 9 years ago | Reply Mumbai attacks and Samjhauta Express attacks cannot be equated. The Samjhauta Express accused were charged after investigation by Indian agencies, with no help or pushing and prodding by states like Pak or the US. The attack took place on Indian soil and Indians did not go to Pakistan to kill people there. Pakistanis can treat Samjhauta Express on the same lines as any unfortunate event on foreign soil where Pak citizens have got killed, and now expect closure. Mumbai attack was conceived in Pakistan and carried out by Pakistanis on Indian soil and is thus an attack on a sovereign state, not just its citizens; most of the evidence of the plot along with its prime movers are all in Pakistan, while the international community including India have the testimony from Raza, Headley and Kasab, along with wire taps, and your own news organizations that interviewed Kasab's family before they mysteriously disappeared.

Feroz | 9 years ago | Reply If Pakistan thinks it can strike some kind of a favorable bargain with India over taking the Mumbai Terror attack case forward, that notion needs to be dispelled very quickly. What you overlooked in the pow pow between Obama and Modi was their joint resolve and promise to go after Terror groups like LET and its backers wherever they may be. I think Pakistan should value its sovereignty and take steps to protect it, rather than show false bravado. Such intellectual bankruptcy arising out of ideological moorings is not just disturbing, it can prove to be very damaging.

Toticallling | 9 years ago | Reply I do not know the full details but a conviction of accused Lakhvi will go a long way to improving relations with India and will create a much better image of Pakistan worldwide. As it is many think that it was more than the terrorists who attacked Bombay.

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