Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has termed the acquittal of four accused in the Samjhota Express bombing case a “historic injustice”, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. A day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in India’s Haryana state acquitted the quartet, Janjua “briefed the diplomatic corps in Islamabad on the injustice done to the 44 Pakistani victims of the 2007 Samjhota Express terrorist attack”.
As per the FO press release, the foreign secretary questioned how the Indian court could acquit the suspects, including Swami Aseemanand, whom the FO branded the “mastermind of the heinous attacks and an activist of the Hindu terrorist organisation, RSS who had publicly confessed his involvement”.
In February 2007, alleged Hindu extremists had bombed the Samjhota Express, killing 68 people, at least 42 of whom were Pakistanis.
“The Indian decision to gradually exonerate and finally acquit the perpetrators despite the presence of clear evidence against them, is a reflection of India’s callous insensitivity to the plight of the 44 families of the deceased Pakistanis, who have been waiting for more than a decade to see these terrorists brought to justice. It also demonstrates how India protects terrorists who publicly confessed their odious crimes,” the press release stated. It added that the acquittal was also reflective of the Indian state policy of “promoting and protecting terrorists”.
“This state patronage of extremist Hindutva ideology is not only detrimental to the lives and liberty of all minorities in India, but is also dangerous for peace and security in the region.”
Published in Daily Times, March 22nd 2019.
