Samjhauta probe: India refuses to share confession

India says Samjhauta Express probe is still in its preliminary stages, Pakistan's demand is premature.


Kamran Yousaf January 11, 2011
Samjhauta probe: India refuses to share confession

ISLAMABAD:


India on Tuesday refused to hand over the Samjhauta Express bombings suspect’s confession to Pakistan, saying that the probe is still not complete and that Pakistan’s demand is premature.

According to a news report on the site NDTV.com, India refused to share the details because the investigations are at a preliminary stage. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs asked the Ministry of External Affairs to tell Pakistan that India cannot share the information.

Updated from print edition (below)

Samjhauta Express bombings: Pakistan summons Indian diplomat

Pakistan has urged India to share the findings of investigations into the Samjhauta train blasts at the earliest, after latest disclosures that suggest Hindu extremist outfits were behind the February 2007 terrorist incident.

A jailed Hindu extremist leader recently confessed his involvement in several terrorist incidents including Samjhauta train bombings that killed 68 people, most of whom were Pakistani nationals.

A top Indian diplomat was summoned at the Foreign Office on Monday to convey Pakistan’s concerns on the involvement of Hindu extremist organisations in killing Pakistani nationals.

The Acting High Commissioner of India GV Srinivas was conveyed Pakistan’s renewed demand seeking the findings of investigations conducted by the Indian authorities into the Pakistan-India friendship train service.

“His attention was drawn to the recent reports in the media on the investigations into the Samjhauta Express blasts of February 2007,” said a Foreign Office statement.

Media reports say Swami Aseemanand, a leader of Hindu extremist outfit Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), confessed before a judicial magistrate that he and his fellow RSS activists were involved in blasts on Samjhauta Express, at mosques in Malegaon in Maharashtra state and Andhra Pradesh’s state capital, Hyderabad, and a Muslim shrine in Ajmer in Rajasthan.

RSS shares close ties with India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Aseemanand was arrested by authorities in November last year.

In his confession he reportedly said the bombings were in retaliation to Muslim militants attacking Hindu temples. “I told everyone that a bomb must be responded with a bomb,” Aseemanand exhorted.

“Pakistan is awaiting the progress made by the Government of India in the investigations into the Samjhauta Express blasts,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit.

Another official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Pakistan would raise the issue at the foreign-secretary level talks scheduled to take place in the first week of February in Bhutan.

“The foreign secretary will certainly take up this issue with his Indian counterpart, as Pakistan believes the masterminds of the Samjhauta train bombings must be brought to justice,” the official added.

In February 2007, bomb blasts tore through two carriages of the Samjhauta Express as it travelled past Panipat towards Amritsar on its way to the Pakistani border.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.

COMMENTS (59)

Mohsin | 13 years ago | Reply @Anoop: Dear Anoop now in Pakistan the Judiciary is not sparing anyone, the Govt., the military, the Moulvis (recently the Haj Minister who belongs to a religious family) all are grabbed and sent to jail if proven guilty. Now how can Hafiz Saeed remain free under this situation? If anyone brings any proof against him, Insha Allah our Judiciary will send him Jail also and no one in Pakistan will object. Please make sure that justice will take place in Pakistan and same is expected in India also. By the way we did not see Justice from Indian courts in the BABRI MASJID case Bye
Anoop | 13 years ago | Reply @M Bilal, "Yes when it comes to Kashmiri and Indian Muslims, it becomes essential as the bonding is very strong with them." --> So? Uighur Muslims might not have Cultural linkages with people in Lahore or Karachi but they certainly have linkages in border areas,especially FATA. So, ideally you and your Government should take up the matter with China too. So, please dont give me that lame reason. When Pakistani Islamist Terror group LeT attacked Mumbai, 40 Muslims died. If you care about Indian Muslims so much then lock up UNSC blacklisted, Interpol Red Corner Notice target Hafiz Saeed. Terrorist on 26th November couldn't tell the difference between Hindu and Muslim could they. "Religion my dear gives you reason of life." --> The only thing you need is a sense of Humanity. Not having Religion doesn't mean you are an atheist. The important thing here is being Spiritual not Religious. Spirituality has no bounds and helps you acquire wisdom, Religion draws a circle around you and asks you to stay in that Circle. And, some greatest people are Atheists, and they have found reason to live and enjoy life. I daresay, Religion makes no sense if you think about it. How are you and I different? We are from the same species. "Nepal too just recently has switched itself to democratic form of government" --> Come on. You know the flaw in this argument. Hindu Culture doesn't interfere into the the matter of the State. But, not Islam. Hindu Scriptures are mere guidelines not Commandments. A Nepalis have voted in the Maoists who are by Principle- Atheists as all communist inspired groups are. Can that ever happen in Pakistan, whose very Constitution says Islam is the main Religion and all that? "The Islam is full of tolerance and peace, " --> Islam that you know and practice is very different to what the Taliban understand of it. The only justification for this dichotomy is maybe due to the massive scope of misinterpretation and sometimes violent misinterpretation depending on the Individual and Society. I hope we dont discuss Religion anymore. What is the point in discussing something that is so not normal and has given rise to conflict in and among Men?
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