State-sponsored Terrorism in India

According to Indian media’ in ‘Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case’ an Under Secretary of Interior Ministry has submitted an affidavit in the court stating that a member of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe team, Satish Verma, had told him that the terrorists attacks on Parliament in Delhi, and Mumbai were pre-planned, and were set up ‘with the objective of strengthening the counter-terror legislation.’

In fact, under the pretext of these self-arranged episodes, New Delhi not only suspended the process of dialogue with Islamabad but also Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), bringing both the nuclear countries to the brink of a war.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while repeating old baseless allegations against Islamabad had stated that Pakistan is ‘the epicentre of terrorism,’ and Islamabad should ‘end infrastructure of terrorism.’

Indian top officials and media left no stone unturned in tarnishing the image of Pakistan, and ISI through concocted stories regarding Mumbai carnage and Parliament attack, linking it with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).

As regards the Mumbai mayhem, while fully cooperating with New Delhi, Pakistan took action against the LeT and JuD by lodging FIRs against some suspected persons, and also detained many individuals for investigation. However, the Lahore High Court released Hafiz Saeed on bail, saying that there was no evidence against him on the Mumbai attacks.

However, India couldn’t supply solid proof to Pakistan except providing a self-fabricated story which was full of loopholes. It also strengthens the doubt that the death of Indian Anti-terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare was also pre-planned.

The fact about the Mumbai carnage surfaced last year when a day after the Indian media exposed the name of the terrorist. He was Wazhul Qamar Khan, whose name was included in the list of 50 alleged terrorists that was given to Islamabad in March, 2011. Pakistan’s law-enforcing agencies started desperately looking for Wazhul Khan. But Wazhur Qamar ‘is living in the suburbs of Mumbai with his family’ and ‘is regularly reporting to a court that gave him bail’ as reported by The Times of India. Besides, reports suggest that another most-wanted culprit, Feroz Abdul Khan who was supposed to be hiding in Pakistan has also been found in India.

India has executed Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of the Mumbai attacks, and Afzal Guru. But it is believed that RAW had taken forced statements from them that they had links with ISI and LeT.

 India and Pakistan had resumed the new phase of talks in March, 2009. Every time, prime ministers and foreign ministers of both countries ended their meetings on positive notes, the same failed without producing tangible results due to Indian hidden diplomacy. In this respect, New Delhi has always blackmailed Islamabad to take action against the culprits of Mumbai carnage.

Notably, on November 10, 2011, both Pakistani and Indian premiers met on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Maldives. Both the leaders agreed to improve their bilateral relations especially in trade. Quite contrarily, two days after that meeting, Manmohan Singh stated, ‘I left Gilani in no doubt that if public opinion in India is not satisfied that justice is being done to those responsible to the barbarous attack of Mumbai, it would not be possible to move forward with the peace process.’

Similarly in 2012, President Zardari and PM Singh met on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Tehran during which Singh repeatedly said that expeditious conclusion of the Mumbai terror attack trial in Pakistan would be a major measure in bilateral relations.

Especially, with the support of RAW and US, in November 2010, the six legal heirs of the Mumbai attacks filed a lawsuit in New York about alleged support of two ISI officials, and also asked Pakistan to dismantle LeT.

Besides, by following self-devised scheme, FBI arrested David Headley from Chicago. Under torture by FBI, he maligned the ISI and confessed his involvement in 26/11 attacks. But David Headley changed his testimony, absolving the ISI leadership from planning the Mumbai carnage. India was badly embarrassed when the New York federal court dismissed the case, saying that under the US foreign law, Pakistan’s ISI  ‘enjoyed immunity.’

In January 2013, Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde disclosed that organised training camps run by the fundamentalist parties, RSS and BJP were promoting Hindu Terrorism, and were behind the Samjhauta Express, Meccca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and Malegaon blasts. He added that these parties were involved many times in Hindu Muslim violence in India, especially Gujarat and Babri Masjid incident. India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid also supported his views.

While taking positive steps, Pakistan has already signed a number of trade agreements with New Delhi, which allowed Indian exports of multiple items across the Wagah border. It also granted India Most-Favoured Nation status, which permits trade in almost everything. On the other hand, New Delhi has allowed investments by Pakistanis in India.

Owing to Indian delaying tactics, real issues, especially Kashmir dispute, have still remained unsettled. Nonetheless, Satish Verma’s disclosure about Mumbai and Parliament attacks including admission of other officials regarding various subversive acts have clearly proved state-sponsored terrorism in India.