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26/11 mastermind set free Pakistan’s sincerity under cloud |
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When Pakistan detained the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, now morphed as Jamaat-ud-Dawa [JuD], Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, and others named in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, India hoped that Islamabad was finally taking its concerns seriously. But the release of Saeed by the Lahore High Court, facilitated by the clumsy presentation of the case against him by the prosecution has raised the question mark on the sincerity and the commitment of Pakistan to rein in those conspiring against India from its soil. As remarked by External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, “Pakistan’s seriousness to fight against terror has now come under cloud.”
The lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai terror squad, Kasab, in his testimony before the court, named Hafiz Saeed who, he said, was present during their training session and ordered them to steal an Indian boat to go to Mumbai and attack India’s financial capital, carefully choosing those places which were frequented by foreigners. Islamabad was seeking the resumption of dialogue with the new Government in New Delhi on the ground that it had taken quick action to detain those named by India and that New Delhi should respond by resuming the talks. But, as has always been the case, just when the two countries are near a breakthrough either on holding dialogue or reaching any agreement, the prospect was sabotaged by an unseen hand in the Pakistani establishment. the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, was Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf. After his restoration was restored by the Zardari Government following a stir in Lahore by PML chief Nawaz Sharif, some kind of political influence on the judiciary to set Saeed free could not be ruled out. The judiciary in Pakistan is known for submitting to its political bosses for long. The two prominent instances of this aspect are since the judgement to hang Z.A. Bhutto, on the basis of an unproven murder charge against him and Gen. Musharraf twisting the hand of the judiciary to have the cases decided in favour of his holding the Presidency even while serving as the Army Chief of Pakistan.
The Lahore High Court judgement should be seen in this background. India had given sufficient proof of the JuD founder being the key plotter of the terrorist attack on Mumbai, but Islamabad did not present the required facts before the court because this did not fit in with its deceptive scheme of things. The prosecution left big loopholes that helped the court decide the case in his favour. Saeed was not shown the grounds of detention within the stipulated 15 days, and when the grounds were provided after three months, no specific charges were made against him under a preventive law. They merely cited the UN resolution against him. This technicality was seized by a full Bench of the Lahore High Court to set free a figure whose activities have conspicuously inspired international terrorism for two decades.
His release could have been dismissed as a result of official clumsiness. This is the fourth time since 2002 that the LeT founder and JuD chief has been released on technical grounds. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman has cautioned against interfering in the country’s legal process, but the question is whether the Government in Islamabad is serious enough about legally dealing with a terror mastermind who has been designated terrorist even by the United Nations. Coming under Indian pressure, the Pakistan Government has said it would file an appeal against Saeed’s release. This move is unlikely to please New Delhi as it would be seen only as an attempt to buy time.
Islamabad tacitly worked for Saeed’s release perhaps in the realization that the US was so deeply dependent on it because of its military operations in the Swat Valley that it would not like to do anything at this stage which would weaken the resolve of Pakistan to finish the operations and eliminate the Taliban from its soil. India’s apprehensions were proved right when US President Obama’s envoy on Afghanistan-Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, who was on a three-day visit to Islamabad when the release of Hafiz Saeed was ordered, said, though America was disturbed by the Lahore High Court Judgement it treated this strictly as an internal matter of Pakistan. In fact, whatever little cooperation Pakistan offered post-26/11 was because of pressure by the Bush Administration. The new Obama Administration has different views on the Af-Pak region.
To compound matters for India, Pakistan has used its offensive in Swat and Waziristan to indicate to the Americans that having delivered on its western front, it must be given leeway on its east. Saeed’s release and a fiery speech by Prime Minister Gilani while addressing the so-called Azad Kashmir Council on Monday when he chastised India’s record on J&K are seen as Pakistan’s attempts to test what it perceives as new waters.
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, had made serious attempts to resolve the Kashmir dispute when Musharraf was in power in Pakistan. In the heat of the election campaign, the Mumbai terror attack had taken a back seat. It was mostly forgotten. India has a new External Affairs Minister who may have proposed to move away from the legacy of his predecessor. But the Pakistani action has made him repeat the well-known Indian position that there can be no dialogue unless Islamabad dismantles terrorist infrastructure.
There were, in fact, feelers that New Delhi may respond positively to the demand for the resumption of composite dialogue stalled since the Mumbai attacks in spite of Pakistan’s strong reservations. Obama’s pressure to reopen the talks because of its belief that free from its worries on the border with India, Islamabad would fight with full force against jihadis in Swat and Waziristan, was yet another reason for New Delhi to rethink its hardline policy on resuming talks. But, by its two foolish actions – allowing Hafiz Saeed to be released, and spitting fire against India on the Kashmir issue- the Government in Islamabad has lost whatever chances there were for India to agree to open the doors for the dialogue again.
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