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Pakistan summons Indian DHC over delay in Samjhauta Express trial
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner to lodge protest for unnecessarily highlighting the issue of release of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi by Pakistani court.
The Indian Deputy High Commissioner was summoned to Foreign Office Friday in retaliation to summoning Pakistan’s High Commission to India Abdul Basit by the Indian External Affairs Ministry for just lodging protest on a Pakistani court’s order to release of Lakhvi, said a government official.
The official said instead of creating hype and projecting the case in the media out of proportion, the India should behave diplomatically and express concern in diplomatic norms.
India on Friday expressed a different attitude when a Pakistani court ordered to release Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi saying that he could not be detained under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) for an unspecified period.
Pakistan also expressed concern with India for summoning Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Ministry of External Affairs to lodge the protest and also highlighted the issue in press.
A government official while giving details of two important incidents, 2008 Mumbai terror attack and 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings urged India to allow the judicial process to be completed before creating any hype and projecting the day to day proceedings at the court in the press without any justification.
The official said Pakistan took the Mumbai attack very seriously and besides arresting a number of persons, crossed examined over 50 witnesses which were examined by the terrorist court and proceedings are still going on.
The official blaming India for not cooperating with Pakistan in Mumbai incident and provided very limited information which had been hampering the judicial process in Pakistani courts.
Pakistani officials provided all the available information which were provided to Pakistan by India to the court in Mumbai incident, said the official.
Pakistan has been cooperating with India but there is very little cooperation from Indian side in the investigation of Mumbai incident and India is not sharing with Pakistan regarding investigation into this incident, said the official.
The government official said India did not allow Pakistani prosecutors to investigate Ajmal Kasab the main accused in Mumbai attack and even denied the right to members of Pakistani Judicial Commission to meet Ajmal as he was executed in 2012 without giving any access to Pakistani prosecutors.
Pakistan was of the view that for an independent trial and investigation there should be access to crime scene, access to evidences and documents which were denied by India as it was the responsibility of India to ensure these things because the incident was happened in India.
Referring to Samjhauta Express incident held in 2007 in which 68 passengers most of the Pakistani were killed, the Pakistani officials said despite admitting involvement by Indians there has been no progress on this case.
Pakistani official said a Hindu extremist leader Swami Assemanand confessed that he was involved in the India-Pakistan Samjhauta Express train bombing in 2007 but Indian government did not make any reasonable progress even he was arrested and then released on bail.
Swami Aseemanand is said to be a leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu group that shares close ties with India’s main political party Bharatiya Janata Party.
Swami had confessed before a judicial magistrate and said he and his fellow RSS activists were involved in blasts on Samjhauta Express.
Pakistani official said Pakistan’s concerns about delay in the investigation process into Samjhauta Express were conveyed to Indian External Affairs Secretary when he visited this month to Islamabad. (APP)
Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk