Oct 03, 2023
Oct 03, 2023
Speaking to the media at the SAARC summit Pakistan ’s Interior Minister Mr. Rehman Malik made three points. He said that Kasab should be hanged for his role as a non-state actor in the 26/11 terror. In the same manner guilty Hindu terrorists should be hanged for their role in the Samjhauta Express blast. And Hafiz Saeed the mastermind of Lashkar-e-Toibah cannot be convicted for lack of evidence. Both Congress and BJP leaders expressed anger over Mr. Malik equating 26/11 with the Samjhauta terror. Are leaders of both parties moronic zombies unaware of the world around them? Or are they prize hypocrites acting out a charade for public consumption? Going by the foundation laid by the Indian establishment regarding terror Mr. Malik was being consistent.
In early January 2011, I wrote in these columns:
“Now India and Pakistan have been put on the same page regarding terror. Therefore both governments can cooperate to fight terror on an equal footing. Is that what the scandalous charade about the purported Swami Aseemanand confession (related to the Samjhauta blast) was all about? Was his confession a crude device to set the foundation for a joint fight against terror? If so, nothing more stupid, self-destructive and demeaning could have been attempted by the Indian government.”
It might be recalled that on more than three occasions earlier I had pointed out that US intelligence and a UN resolution had nailed Lashkar-e-Toibah for having perpetrated the Samjhauta Express blast. The names of four Lashkar terrorists and their financier were given. Lashkar was put on the terror list on account of the Samjhauta blast. Hafiz Saeed as the leader of the Lashkar outfit was also individually put on the terror list. His application for being released from the terror list was summarily rejected by the UN.
The UN resolution to impose sanctions against Hafiz Saeed was blocked by China on the technical ground that India had failed to provide sufficient evidence. All efforts by the US to make China relent were rebuffed. It is in this context that India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA) nailing Swami Aseemanand for engineering the Samjhauta blast must be viewed. How can the NIA’s findings be squared with the US and UN findings? My repeatedly drawing attention to this glaring contradiction was met with a deafening silence by the government, the opposition and the rest of the media. If the UN resolution on Lashkar’s responsibility for the Samjhauta terror has been disproved by the NIA probe, do not the allegations against Hafiz Saeed also fall by the wayside?
Hindu terror has indubitably erupted in Malegaon and other spots. But there was crucial need to also rope in the Samjhauta case to indict Hindu terrorists. In all other cases of Hindu terror the victims were Indians. Only in the Samjhauta Express blast were the victims Pakistanis. To equate Hindu terror with Pakistan’s cross border terror there was need therefore to rightly or wrongly involve Hindus in the Samjhauta case. It was necessary to put India and Pakistan on the same page to facilitate peace talks. That seems to be the only credible explanation for the deafening silence over the glaring contradiction between the findings of the UN and NIA.
Therefore the objections voiced by the Congress and BJP over the Samjhauta terror being equated with 26/11 by Pakistan should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. To this day neither the government nor the opposition nor media has cared to explain how the US and UN findings can be reconciled with the findings of NIA. There is great need to further peace talks with Pakistan. There is need also for both governments to be generous about the past. But it will prove to be stupid and self defeating if a future settlement is based upon false premises. If the NIA probe about Hindu terror being responsible for the Samjhauta Express blast is valid, then the government should be honest enough to contradict the findings of the UN and absolve Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Toibah of being responsible for the Samjhauta Express bomb blast. To be hypocritical and two-faced does not signify wisdom.
11-Nov-2011
More by : Dr. Rajinder Puri
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Samjhauta case: This case has remained most disturbing. Some stray information regarding the ATS filtered in recently: plenty of vacancies with no one willing to join.Why? Are they being forced to do things which normal decent human beings never do? The treatment meted out to Sadvi Pragya is unforgiveable. Around 363 govt. advertisements have recently been given to TOI, Hindustan Times and Indian Express. The 1st two are always the first to leak information about Sadhvi Pragya, Swami Aseemanand and Col. Purohit, generally in the backpages. I am not aware as to what the change of govt. in West Bengal has achieved with regard to gross excesses of the communists with the police in over 32 years, but something must happen to expose nefarious govt. activities in the Samjhauta case. |
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Yes, "THE QUESTION IS WHY ?" This is a serious issue, why has BJP not raised this issue in public with loud noise again & again ?? That any opposition or even govt ally in a democracy would do ! ------------------------------------------------------------------- as I wrote in the last comment too: "But what one does not understand is why BJP and other rivals of DMK, Congress and UPA do not harp with loud noise at important occasions. One such occasion is live telecast of news/interview on a hot topic being viewed by millions simultaneously" -------------------------------------------------------------------- And where is the fourth pillar of demecracy - the media ? It is IMPOSSIBLE that media sources are unaware of this contradiction. What business or profit will be lost if media highlights this contradiction loudly in public ? |
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Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani is not a BJP spokesperson but a practising lawyer. One statement over TV by a lawyer does not amount to anything politically substantial. I have already taken up the issue with Mr. Aman Lekhi, the lawyer representing Swami Aseemanand. He too will take up the argument in court. He was already alive to the glaring contradiction. But arguments in law courts far from public attention do not absolve the BJP of its unforgivable silence on the issue. It is a very big issue going by default. Question is, why? |
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If I remember correctly it was on Times Now between April and June. Chidambaram made a statement about BJP "They are targeting me because I have arrested their workers involved in Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta blasts". The BJP representative on TV was Mahesh Jethmalani, I am not sure if he is a spokesperson. |
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Dear Sir & Krish, One can understand that Mr. Chidambaram, DMK and Congress at large are playing cheap vote politics to harp on Hindu terrorism on Samjjhauta exp. blast. The public anger will naturally be focused on BJP with such news ( although BJP leaders may have nothing to do with those terrorists, but currently it works in that way in India) One can also understand that those private TV channels have joined hands with the above politicians, after all, swiss money is a big buffer that can be used to change public opinion. But what one does not understand is why BJP and other rivals of DMK, Congress and UPA do not harp with loud noise at important occasions. One such occasion is live telecast of news/interview on a hot topic being viewed by millions simultaneously. One has not seen this, neither on video nor on print media. (Krish may point out when and on which occasion it was raised - for one's learning) Either BJP top leadership has decided not to fight battle on this topic, and there must be something gained in return OR the leadership is dumb enough not to take up this matter in public. A remote possibility - they may be looking for 'opportunistic moment’ to raise this issue in order to gain max in politics - and that opportunistic moment will be closer to next Loksabha elections. For an Indian, this is too serious matter to be ignored, unfortunately those politicians and media, who are supposed to serve the Indians, are betraying than serving their duty. |
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If BJP spokespersons raised same arguments as I have, then I stand corrected. I don't recall any such assertion by the BJP. I have often spoken to some of their leaders and complained about their silence. Even if some spokesperson did refute Chidambaram, should not there have been a continuous barrage of criticism given how the government has persisted with the case and continues to ignore the UN resolution? I find the silence most strange. Considering the glaring contradiction this is a major issue. |
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I remember seeing BJP spokespersons contesting the claim of Chidambaram on involvement of Hindus in Samjhauta Express blasts and giving the same arguments as you give Mr Puri. So either I am mistaken or you are. |