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| Nation for boycotting Pak, NC for talks | | Confidence Building Measures? | | Rustam
JAMMU, Apr 5: The US on April 3 announced a USD 10 million bounty on the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) chief, Hafiz Saeed. Saeed was the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai carnage. The 26/11 terror attacks in the financial capital of India had left 166 persons, including 6 Americans, dead, and scores of other wounded, some very seriously. Announcing the award for information leading to arrest and conviction of Saeed, the US said the JUD chief was the brain behind the Mumbai carnage. Saeed is being backed to the hilt by a powerful section of the Pakistani Army as well as the Pakistan spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence and certain persons in the civil administration.
The US announcement was welcomed by India. "India welcomes the notification under the Rewards for Justice Programme. It reflects the commitment of India and the United States to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice and continuing efforts to combat terrorism. It also sends a strong signal to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as also its members and patrons (read Pakistani civil and military establishments) that the international community remains united in combating terrorism," said External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. He also said: "I have always been insisting that he was the brain behind the terror attack on Mumbai. These terrorists and conspirators cannot be spared and they will have to be brought to justice and that is what we have been demanding from Pakistan". As for the Ministry of External Affairs, it said "India and the US agree that all terrorist organizations, including LeT, should be defeated and have called for elimination of terrorist safe heavens and infrastructure inside Pakistan and Afghanistan".
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also welcomed the announcement and said that "there is enough material to detain and interrogate Saeed and that Pakistan is not doing its duty". "The US decision should prod Pakistan in taking action against him (Saeed). Pakistan can't go through with this farce of a trial. India had shared enough information with Pakistan on how JuD founder had masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks, but Pakistan is yet to take action against Saeed. Pakistan is not doing its duty and is avoiding giving voice sample of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed," he also said.
Significantly, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had outraged the nation by de-linking terrorism from the dialogue process and resuming talks with Islamabad, was quite candid while reacting to the US announcement. He on Wednesday said that "those unleasing terrorism against India should be punished". When asked if he was likely to take up the matter with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit to India on April 8, the Prime Minister said: "All those who are engaged in terrorist acts against our country should be brought to book".
As for the main opposition party BJP, it - apart from welcoming the US announcement - strongly urged the Government of India to tell Pakistan in unambiguous terms that terrorism and talks could not go on hand-in-hand. The Prime Minister must ask the Pakistani President to help India bring Saeed to justice. As a matter of fact, the BJP asked the Government of India not to talk to Pakistan and, instead, adopt a pro-active policy to make Pakistan destroy the terror-related infrastructure inside Pakistan.
In other words, there is near unanimity between the ruling Congress and the main opposition BJP as far as their stand on Hafiz Saeed is concerned. It is indeed good.
Mercifully, the attitude of the NC, which is ruling Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with the Congress, is altogether different. Instead of appreciating the stand of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Foreign Minister and the BJP, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah talked of confidence building measures. Intervening yesterday during the Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly, he, among other things, said: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take-up the 'important issue' (cross-LoC trade and travel) with visiting Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari next week. We have been repeatedly asking Government of India to take up this important issue during talks with Pakistan because this CBM should not be just for namesake but should be a workable CBM on the ground… The cross-LoC Trade has not flourished for non-application of normal trading practices…Unless telephone, banking, financial and other normal trade related facilities are created for the traders of the two sides, the cross-LoC trade would not accrue the benefits…He would like the House (Assembly) to support him in requesting the Prime Minister of India to discuss this important CBM with the President of Pakistan in the proposed meeting between the two leaders". The House unanimously supported the Chief Minister's point of view when the Speaker asked the members about the same. " |
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