ALI SUKHANVER

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Burdened with the burnt dead bodies of innocent children and helpless men and women, the unlucky Samjhauta Express still seems moving towards Lahore. Across the Wahga border, somewhere into the Indian lands one can feel Swami Aseemanand sinisterly smiling at the pathetic fate of the departed train; he is enjoying the pain and agony which the passengers of this train had experienced before handing over their lives to the heartless flames surrounding them. He is very happy that he succeeded in acting upon the “bomb-for-bomb” strategy. Under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code a Panchkula magistrate recorded Aseemanand’s statement on 15 January 2010, regarding the Samjhauta blast case. His earlier confession was recorded in the Mecca Masjid case, which was being probe by the CBI. Aseemanand confessed that the bomb attacks on the Samjhota Express in 2007 were plotted by the Hindutva militants Ramji Kaisangra and Sandeep Dange under the benevolent guidance of some military and intelligence officers.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Before the confession statement of Swami Aseemanand on 15 January, 2010 the Indian media was trying its best to paint the Samjhauta scenario in a very different colour. It was dragging into the scene the so-called Jehadi groups banned by the UNO and USA. It also even named a rich Pakistani Arif Qasmani alleging him as the plotter having very strong links with Islamist terror groups. But the confession of Swami Aseemanand put a full stop to all that rubbish investigations. According to the details presented in the court of the Panchkula magistrate, the bomb used in the train was kept in a suitcase which was bought from a shop in Indore’s Kothari Market .The suitcase had cloth covers stitched by a local tailor. The persons who bought the suitcases and covers are still out of reach.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India Dr J C Batra told Mr. Mian Abdul Sattar, a renowned Pakistani parliamentarian in a meeting that the Indian Army is involved in this case and there are efforts to shield it from getting exposed.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The weekly Tehelka had also earlier pointed out the possible involvement of more than ten Military Intelligence officers in the Samjhauta blasts, including a serving Major, six Colonels, two Brigadiers and a General officer.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is something very positive and healthy that the Indian government has expressed her willingness to share information with Pakistan on the investigation into the Samjhota Express blast once the probe was completed. In a recent statement the Indian Home Secretary G.K Pillai said that India understands the concerns of Pakistan as several Pakistani citizens were brutally murdered in the blasts. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-When the investigation is completed and the charge sheet is filed, we would definitely share the information with Pakistan. Irrespective of religion or anything else, we are willing to be fair as far as possible “, he said.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He further said that government considered people who committed terror nothing but ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”criminalsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Unfortunately at the end of his exemplary friendly statement instinctively or unconsciously he had to add a few more words to the statement.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He said that he hoped the message would go across to Pakistan which was yet to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack to justice. In other words, he killed two birds with one stone. In fact, India is doing nothing but exploiting the Mumbai attacks as well as the Samjhauta blasts for its particular notorious intentions; to defame Pakistan and to brandƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Pakistan as a terrorist country.

The government of India is trying uselessly to explore the involvement of PakistanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in these two incidents portraying them as a story bearing moral lesson ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tit for TatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ or ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”As you sow, so shall you reapƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. But the actual situation is altogether different. There is no Pakistan in either of these two incidents As far as the Mumbai mystery is concerned, the statement of the Indian naval chief, just after the attacks, had solved this mystery. He had very boldly stated that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai Blasts could not have entered the Indian soil if the Indian marines were vigilant and alert. His statement was inwardly pointing towards the well wishers of the terrorists who were there to help out the terrorists in the garb of mariners. Whereas Samjhauta Express blasts are concerned, Swami Aseemanand helped out the government of India in exposing the anonymity of the matter. It is very much obvious that there is no one behind these terrorist activities but the Indian intelligence agencies and the Indian security forces.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The basic responsibility of the security forces as well as of the intelligence agencies of every country is to keep a vigilant eye on the activities of the criminals, terrorists and anti-state actors but sometimes it happens that such elements succeed in sneaking into the law enforcing machinery. In such a deplorable situation the law-enforcing agencies become a hub of the law-breaking forces. Recent revelations made by Swami Aseemanand with reference to the Samjhauta Express Blasts indicate that the induction system of the Indian security forces needs complete overhauling and the situation calls for a very serious and grave attention from the political strata of the society.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the present scenario India needs people like Hemant Karkare, the former ATS chief, who was one of the few honest and diligent officers in the Indian security forces. According to the reports, Karkare was well aware of the forces which were eager to destabilize India. He did a lot of research in this context and exposed a number of retired and serving army and intelligence officers involved in the conspiracy against the democratic secular India. It would not be an exaggeration if we take the Mumbai Attacks as an attempt of getting rid of Karkare, the unforgettable patriot. If he were alive, the faces behind the Samjhauta Express incident would not have remained in the fog of ambiguity for such a long time.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The writer is Pakistan based bilingual analyst on defence and strategic affairs