18th anniversary of Samjhauta Express blasts tragedy; victims still await justice
Pakistan
The families of the deceased Pakistanis have been waiting for more than a decade to see the terrorists brought to justice.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The 18th anniversary of Samjhauta Express bombing is marked today (Wednesday), commemorating the 2007 terrorist attack on the India-Pakistan "friendship train" near Panipat, India. The incident resulted in the deaths of 68 people, predominantly Pakistani nationals. Pakistan continues to call for justice for the victims.
The victims of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack continue to await justice. Eighteen years ago, on 18 February, the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express train blasts resulted in the death of 68 passengers, including 43 Pakistani nationals. Despite the availability of clear evidence, India’s continuing failure to provide justice to the victims of this horrible incident is a reconfirmation of the culture of impunity that the perpetrators of terrorist attacks enjoy in India.
The inordinate delay in justice for the victims of this tragedy, despite the availability of evidence, illustrates the unwillingness of the Indian government to hold the perpetrators to account for their barbaric action.
The acquittal of the self-confessed mastermind of the attack, Swami Aseemanand, and some others, only reconfirmed the culture of impunity that the perpetrators of terrorist attacks enjoy under the RSS/BJP-led, Hindutva-driven, political dispensation in India.
The Indian media reported extensively about the connection between the Samjhauta Express terrorist attack and Hindu extremists, including Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who were subsequently arrested in October 2008 for providing explosives to the attackers.
On 18 December 2010, Swami Aseemanand, the mastermind of the attack, publicly confessed before the New Delhi court that Hindu terrorist outfits were behind the blasts.
Despite repeated requests by Pakistan for a fair trial and expeditiously bringing the perpetrators to justice, the Indian courts exonerated the accused over a decade later.
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 43 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.
