Indian silence on bail of Samjhota Express

KARACHI: Presenting his analysis in the programme on the bail of the main accused of the Samjhota Express tragedy, Shahzeb Khanzada pointed out that the Indian government had refused to challenge or hinder the decision of the Supreme Court regarding bail of Swami Aseem Anand.
It may be recalled that 88 people were burnt alive in the incident of burning the Samjhota Express. Most of the dead were Pakistanis.
The notorious terrorist, Swami Aseem Anand, was not only involved in the attack on Samjhota Express but had also murdered 119 persons, Shahzeb Khanzada remarked.
He said that the so-called secular Indian government of the BJP was avoiding action against Anand’s bail and was supporting the terrorist.
In his analysis in ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’ on Thursday, Shahzeh Khanzada said Aseem Anand was also involved in the blasts in Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad Deccan in the year 2007. Eleven people were killed in those blasts.
The terrorist was also involved in the bomb blast at Dargah Ajmer Sharif in Rajhasthan in October same year. Three people had lost their lives in that incident. Similarly, Anand was also responsible for attacks on Muslim community in Malay Gaon with explosives, where the explosions left 37 people dead.
“So extremely horrible are Aseem Anand’s crimes that a responsible newspaper of India determined him as the ugliest face of terrorism,” Shahzeb Khanzada said.
He also mentioned that Swami Aseem Anand had also remained a zealous activist of the extremist Hindu organisation RSS and was the main character in its anti-Muslim activities of the outfit.
Shahzeb Khanzada said it was very important that Aseem Anand had twice admitted in the court that he was involved in Samjhota Express incident. Once he did so in December 2010 and then again in January 2011.
The court had given him 48 hours and had asked the investigation teams to keep away from him so that it could be determined that

he was not accepting the responsibility under duress.
But Aseem Anand did not change his confessional statement even after remaining in judicial custody for 48 hours and reiterated that he had carried
out that terrorist activity. Anand had repeated the same statement in an interview with a manual ‘Karwan’ last year.
Even after confessions of involvement in terrorist incidents, the BJP government of India was not taking any action against him, Khanzada noted.
Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said there would be no compromise on Karachi operation. He said the MQM did not ask him to stop the operation but demanded formation of monitoring committee. He said the call for the committee was justified and the government would definitely consider it.
Ishaq Dar said the Muttahida did not talk to him about Altaf Hussain’s speeches. He said Muttahida’s reservations should be resolved and a monitoring committee could be formed. He said the prime minister would also talk to the army leadership regarding resignations of the MQM.
Senior MQM leader Nadeem Nusrat said that the political decisions were not carvings on stone. The reasons for the resignations of the MQM were nothing hidden. Taking the resignations back required certain assurances and also abiding by the commitments. He said it was a positive step of the government to be of the same mind that the demand for making a monitoring committee was justified. Those who were part of the government and others, who held the position to give relief to the MQM, would clearly understand the reasons for tendering resignation if they studied the 19 points.
Senior journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai said a number of others in the Afghan government also started criticising Pakistan after President Ashraf Ghani issued anti-Pakistan statements.
The Afghan delegation, which recently visited Pakistan, had brought along the proof of the allegations that President Ashraf Ghani had mentioned.
Rahimullah Yusufzai held the opinion that pressure on Pakistan would mount if the Afghan government had solid evidence of the use of Pakistani soil for terror activities in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan also had evidence that Pakistani Taliban were carrying out terror activities in Pakistani from the Afghan soil. Senior Assistant Editor of Indian newspaper, The Hindustan Times, Rajesh Ahuja, while referring to Aseem Anand said the court allowed him bail but he had to submit a bond for the purpose, which he had not furnished as yet. It was for that reasons that he was still in the jail.