ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday rebuked India for ‘unnecessary delay’ in the investigation of the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing case.
The development came amid Pak-India tensions over the Kashmir issue as the occupant forces unleashed a wave of terror in the held valley – killing more than 50 civilians.
And the Independence Day speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi further heightened the temperature where the Indian leader accused Pakistan of being a supporter of ‘terrorism.’ He claimed the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Kashmir had thanked him a lot in past few days and he was grateful to them.
For the past few weeks Pakistan has been in touch with the international powers to stop India’s atrocities in held Kashmir. There have been protests against Modi’s tirade.
On the Samjhauta Express bombing case, Pakistan has been pushing India to conduct fair investigations but the response from the other side has been marginal.
Yesterday, the foreign ministry said Pakistan had conveyed “its grave concern” to India over the “unnecessary delay” in the free and fair investigation of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack.
“We also call upon the Indian government to share information about the investigation proceedings of the terrorist attack,” a statement issued by the ministry said.
More than 42 Pakistani nationals lost their lives in the bombings, the statement said.
It said that the “Indian attempts to exonerate some of the individuals” involved in the attacks had raised serious questions over the due process of law and dispensation of justice.
Powerful bombs ripped through two compartments of the Samjhauta train, the rail link between Pakistan and India, during the intervening night of February 18 and 19, 2007 killing 68 people.
India’s National Investigation Agency filed charge sheet against eight people including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Asimanand, Sunil Joshi (deceased), Ram Chandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit (absconding), Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajender Choudhry in the case which is under trial. But Pakistan believes the investigations were exceptionally slow paced.
The attack came just a day before then Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri was to arrive in New Delhi to resume peace talks with Indian leaders.
There have been a number of breaks in the investigation of the bombing. It had been linked to Abhinav Bharat, a Hindu fundamentalist group in India.
Since their formation resulting from the Partition of India in 1947, Pakistan and India have had a conflict-ridden relationship. In their plan for the partition, the British allowed all 565 princely states to decide which country they wanted to join.
Most Muslim-majority princely states joined Pakistan while most Hindu-majority princely states acceded to India. The decision made by the leaders of some of these princely states has been a source of conflict and tension between the two countries.
Kashmir is one of these princely states—its population was mostly Muslim, but the Hindu ruler Hari Singh controversially decided to join India.
The countries have fought four wars over this disputed region: the Pak-India war of 1947, the Pak-India war of 1965, the Pak-India war of 1971, and the Kargil war in 1999.
ALWAYS BLAMING PAK MILITARY NOT GOOD: ANTONY
Monitoring Desk adds: Stressing that Kashmir needs a “political” solution, former Indian defence minister AK Antony on Tuesday said always blaming the Pakistani military and not taking proper action is not good, and thus, the government must start a political dialogue to find a political solution to the Kashmir crisis.
“Kashmir needs a political solution. As a first step, the government must send an all-party delegation, and then start a political dialogue to find a political solution. We can’t delay it anymore. The government must start acting on war footing. At any cost we must win hearts of the people, especially the youth, of the Kashmir Valley,” Antony told reporters in New Delhi.
The former defence minister said, “I know there are problems. Pakistani military is creating more and more problems.
They will continue to do so, nobody can stop that. But, always blaming the Pakistani military and not taking proper action is not good.”
He appealed to everybody not issue provocative statements in this regard.
Pressure is mounting on the Centre to send an all-party delegation to the restive Kashmir Valley to mitigate the present crisis situation triggered after security forces neutralised Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.