Truth about Samjhota Express

Four years on, the truth about tragic incineration of the Samjhota Express causing deaths of some 47 Pakistani passengers is catching up. Swami Aseemanand, an activist of the Hindutva terror, has confessed to have masterminded bombing and burning up of this so-called 'friendship train' near Indian city of Panipat as it journeyed to Pakistan on a fateful night of February 2007.
His lengthy confession presents a graphic account of the terror network that he headed under the overall patronage of the notorious anti-Muslim outfit Rashtriya Swamysevak Sangh (RSS), as well as involvement of a number of other communal organisations.
Obviously, Pakistan would like to know more about his confession, made last month during police investigation and made public by the Indian media now. Acting Deputy High Commissioner of India G V Sirinavas was summoned to the Foreign Office on Sunday and asked for official update on the probe - without further loss of time. Even more revealing is the Swami's disclosure that his network also carried out blasts in the Muslim-majority town of Malegaon in December 2008 killing 31 persons, Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, and Ajmer Sharif Dargah. How the Indian government would respond to Pakistan's request it is difficult to predict. But one thing is certain - it would not be possible anymore for the Indian authorities to keep incarcerated the Muslim youth falsely implicated in the Malegaon blasts.
If Pakistan is beset with the grave challenge of extremism India is no exception either. Scores of Hindu communal organisations including Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Abhinav Bharat, Jai Bande Matram and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram are actively engaged in subduing if not cleansing India of its religious and ethnic minorities. How these outfits operate - some under the guidance of Indian intelligence outfits - the Swami's confession gives out plentifully.
Others are involved too: Lieutenant Colonel Purohit is presently in jail for his alleged role in fomenting the Malegaon blasts. And the Abhinav Bharat, a traders' group which is believed to be the principal financier of communal terrorism in India, is also part of this mindset. All of them are said to be functioning under the overarching protection of India's main parliamentary opposition and proud ideological parent of Hindu extremism, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
But somehow the communal outfits' growing involvement in fomenting terrorism conveniently escapes the attention of the Indian media. As soon as an incident of terrorism takes place in India it tends to look beyond India's western border, pointing fingers at Pakistan. How wrong it is, the Swami Assemanand's comprehensive confessional account should be an eye-opener for the Indian media. However, there seems to be some method to this madness.
With hindsight and in light of past experience one would like to say that quite often the finger-pointing in the direction of Pakistan is part of Indian media's deliberate policy aimed at subverting moves the governments of Pakistan and India would occasionally undertake to normalise their bilateral relationship. Almost invariably, as the media builds up pressure the government of India caves in and imposes pre-conditions to talks with Pakistan, and thus lets the extremist fringe of its polity succeed in its obstructionist role. Now that truth about the Samjhota Express tragedy has been uncovered the Indian government should be able to see through the saffron brigade's game and not oblige it.
Pakistan looks forward to hearing from India officially on its ongoing probe into the Samjhota Express tragedy. The issue is older than the Mumbai carnage, and to hunt down the criminals involved in it and to punish them is no lesser important for the Pak-India relations to normalise. It is our hope New Delhi would promptly update Islamabad on the progress made in the train bombing which in turn would help improve climate for productive foreign secretary-level talks at Thimpu, Bhutan, next month.
With more evidence now available that Indian government is quite susceptible to pressures of extremists we expect the interlocutors from across our eastern border to refrain from hiding behind any preconditions for resumption of the Composite Dialogue. Without this it would be unrealistic to think that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be able to undertake a visit to India in near future.