MUMBAI: Pakistani investigators due to visit India next month to probe the 2008 Mumbai attacks will not be allowed to interrogate Ajmal Kasab, The Associated Press news agency reported on Monday.
Disagreements over access to the lone surviving gunman, who has been sentenced to death in India for his role in the rampage that killed 166, have spilled into public view.
Interior minister Rehman Malik told India’s NDTV last week that Pakistani officials would like to speak with Kasab directly to verify his confession. “It can be verified either by bringing Kasab to Pakistan or the judicial commission goes and personally interviews witnesses, including Kasab,” he said. “That’s what we have requested.”
But on Monday, Ira Joshi, a spokeswoman for India's Ministry of Home Affairs, said that such access was not part of the memorandum of understanding governing the visit.
In his confession before the court — which he later tried to retract — Kasab described in detail a network of training camps and safe houses across Pakistan, revealing the names of four men he said were his handlers.
The Pakistani delegation will visit Mumbai in the first week of February and speak to doctors who conducted post-mortems on the nine gunmen killed during the attack, as well as to the magistrate who recorded Kasab’s confession and the chief investigating officer of the attacks, an official at Mumbai’s high court said on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the visit.
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@Maoist: if 26/11 you say is an overstated drama then , the mistaken killing of 24 of your soldiers by NATO is also an overstated drama, ditto for Abbotabad and mehran. Why make a mountain out of a molehill?
If Ajmal is in Indian hands then what does India have to lose by letting the Pakistanis interrogate him? Frankly, I think it would do a world of good for the Pakistanis (and perhaps the Indians) if Ajmal, assuming he is guilty, blatantly makes it clear to the Paki delegation what his exact role was in the whole affair and who was behind it.
By not trusting the Pakistani delegation, you're admitting that you have zero trust in them which, given the past relations, is understandable to a certain degree. However, that defeats the purpose of holding an investigation in the first place. Allowing the probe to continue without any restrictions will at least present certain "facts" while putting Pakistan in a corner, forcing it to do more from it's end.
I'm also curious as to why India chose to not allow access to Kasab. They might have had a very valid reason for doing so but it would helped build explain their decision better if they had revealed it.
To all those who believe Kasab and company were not Pakistani, from Wikipedia under the search item "26/11" (leads to 2008 Mumbai attacks)! "On 9 December, the ten attackers were identified by Mumbai police, along with their home towns in Pakistan: Ajmal Amir from Faridkot, Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan from Dera Ismail Khan, Hafiz Arshad and Babr Imran from Multan, Javed from Okara, Shoaib from Narowal, Nazih and Nasr from Faisalabad, Abdul Rahman from Arifwalla, and Fahad Ullah from Dipalpur Taluka. Dera Ismail Khan is in the North-West Frontier Province; the rest of the towns are in Pakistani Punjab."
I think Kasab should be made humiliated before he is executed to the point of absolute shame and his family should be punished too. This is the only way to send a message to Pakistan that if it sends more of its citizens with ak 47s to kill our countrymen, we will not just exceute them, we will humiliate them and then go after their families all the way. I am sorry it has come down to this but there is no better way to terrorize a terrorist than targetting what he fears the most.
ET is not doing a good job. In the article it should state India's reason for not allowing access to Kasab. And no, the reason is not because "Kasab is an Indian" or because "26/11 was staged by India".
I think, Indians need to calm down.
Pakistan is exposed to the world. We don't need to shout.
We have nothing to prove. On the contrary Pakistan has not proved a single thing it shouted.
Just wait and enjoy the show!
BS detector : I am afraid you are not doing any justice to your name, Your govt officially acknowledged kasab's origin ie being a pakistani, officially acknowledged that plot was hatched in pakistan, officially launched the criminal procedures to prosecute, kept lakvi etc under prison etc. You dont believe all that , well good or bad for you, you cannot and should not believe the commission coming from pakistan as well as that is also sent by your interior/law ministry etc. They are here not to prove or disprove kasab is a pakistani. They are here to complete the legal proceedings so that the accused can be brought under trial and justice delivered.
@ashok sai: DAWN is just like ET, catering to the demands of liberal, I wouldn't be surprised if they did said that.
Another important thing to note is his accent, I can almost say with certainty that such Urdu accent and style isn't really found in Pakistan. at-least among the masses particularly in Punjab
@Maoist:
World knows how Pakistan will investigate, glaring example being the Benazir murder case which was taken to the UN.
@ Aarvey, India
Likewise Pakistanis don't trust Indians. So you could well be lying and could have orchestrated this drama. If you have nothing to hide and want Pakistan to nab the 'accused', you need to give access to our investigators. We have also seen the indian '(in)justice system, so you dont have any record to be proud of. And by the way, its innocent until proven guilty and the the other way round. Maybe in India you hang the accused before finding him guilty, not in Pakistan.
@vasan: What his prove that he is Pakistani? moreover, why was he pleading to bhagwan in the investigation video?
Got any nothing hide? Give full access to him for investigation
This is ridiculous, All the CCTV pictures in VT station and Taj, hundreds of witnesses including Headly do not make the Pak people believe what kasab did, then how is that the access to kasab to the visiting commission make pak believe.
@Aarvey, what a lame excuse, if you don't trust Pakistanis why ask them to investigate in the first place?
Go to Wikipedia and do a search for "26/11" to read a detailed account of the Mumbai attack, along with details of Kasab's involvement!
@Nadir:
what explains? dont close your eyes and make assumptions!
@Maoist: It's simple we just don't trust the pakistanis. What purpose would it serve for the commission to be given access to the murderer kasab. Look at the way the main accused in the attack on th Sri lankan team was released yesterday. Lack of evidence is the reason quoted even after being accused in over 70 killings?
Why should India permit them to interview Kasab if such an access is not a part of the agreement for the prposed visit?
lol India knows questions will be raised when Kasab says he was doing Jihad for "bhagwaan".
If the Indian Authorities dont have anything to hide, why arent they allowing the Pakistani investigators to interview Kasab?
And then India has the nerve to say that Pakistan is not doing enough. What does India have to loose by giving access to Kasab? Do they have something to hide? India will fail the test of transparency in this case.
Why no one is highlighting Samjhota Express incident in which more than 60 Pakistanis where killed.
Explains All.