Nazia Nazar
According to Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the Samjhota Express sent to Attari station Amritsar for Sikh pilgrims returned empty as Indian authorities stopped them from coming to Pakistan for the ‘Jor Mela’. The plea taken by Indian authorities while returning the train was frivolous, which sated that Pakistan had agreed to send a special one for the pilgrims not the Samjhota Express. The Indian authorities intercepted the pilgrims at the Attari border in Amritsar who were coming to Pakistan for the ‘Jor Mela’ to observe the death anniversary of Guru Arjun Das for which around 100 pilgrims were issued visas by the High Commission for Pakistan in India. Foreign Office Spokesperson stated Pakistan had made all the arrangements, keeping in consideration the religious rites and values of Sikhs.
In fact, India continues violation of ceasefire at Line of Control and Working Boundary to discourage interaction between the people of both the countries. Of course, Samjhota Express tragedy haunts Indian leaders, as it brought ignominy due to inordinate delay in dispensation of justice to the families of the victims of the tragedy. In fact, the case appears to be ending and all those involved in preparing the plan and executing it would ultimately be released. After ten years, only last week New Delhi reportedly handed over to Islamabad summons issued by a special NIA court to 13 Pakistanis for deposing as witnesses in connection with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case in which 68 people killed. Indian official sources said the summons, issued by a trial court at Panchkula in Haryana, were recently handed over to Pakistani authorities through diplomatic channels.
Initially, investigators believed activists of SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) were behind the blast, but they later came to the conclusion that the attack had been planned by a group of Hindu extremists with right-wing leanings. The NIA filed a charge sheet against several people, including Swami Aseemanand, who walked free in the Ajmer Dargah blast case earlier this year after prosecution witnesses turned hostile. The NIA on June 20, 2011 had filed the charge sheet before the special court at Panchkula under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against five people – Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Sunil Joshi (now dead), Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalasangra alias Ramji. The case pertains to the criminal conspiracy which resulted in bomb blasts in the Samjhauta Express train near Panipat.
The NIA, in investigations over a period of almost one year, held that the entire conspiracy was hatched between 2005 and 2007 by Aseemanand, Joshi and their associates at different places including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Ten witnesses turning hostile, the Punjab and Haryana high court granting bail to mastermind Aseemanand and the Centre not challenging it before the Supreme Court is all that has been happening in the Samjhauta blasts trial. Most of the killed commuters on the train on February 18, 2007 were from Pakistan returning home. According to the experts, explosives were used to ignite bottles of kerosene oil in the train, and the security should not have allowed the kerosene oil bottles in the passenger bogies. There was incontrovertible evidence that Indian intelligence personnel were involved.
The High Court in its order granting bail to Aseemanand had ruled: “By adopting the balancing process as regards the individual liberty of the appellant and the right of the community and the nation to safety and protection from terrorism and disruptive activities, the scales would tilt in favour of the appellant (Aseemanand) in view of his long incarceration, the role attributed to him, his conduct subsequent to his arrest, his age of 77, his being an M Sc in physics and the fact that the trial in the case would be delayed, it would be just and expedient to grant him the concession of bail.” The trial against Aseemanand and three others started on February 24, 2014, at the NIA special court, Panchkula.
NIA prosecutor R.K. Handa said: “Talking about whether conviction will take place in this case is a premature thing. There is no eyewitness in this case and it is based on circumstantial evidence. Witnesses have turned hostile regarding establishing associations and conspiracy. There is other evidence which supports the case. A lot of witnesses are yet to be examined.” Defence lawyer Mukesh Garg says, “It is a totally false case. Our clients are innocent. Aseemanand was framed as he was stopping conversions among tribals. Sonia Gandhi and Digvijay Singh are behind it. It is a case of acquittal. Witnesses have told the court that they didn’t even meet NIA people.” It appears that nothing will happen in Samjhota Express tragedy case, and all those involved would go scot-free.
