Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 22, 2006
Introduction: India seeks deportation of Dawood
Ibrahim and Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin
Sharpening its attack on Pakistan and Pakistan-sponsored
terrorism, India on Friday upped the ante by asking Pakistan to arrest and
deport top criminal-terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief
Syed Salahuddin.
The Indian approach is also likely to harden
in the coming days as the government heads into a parliament session where
terrorism is expected to dominate the agenda.
On Friday, the MEA spokesperson said, "The
self-styled chief of the Hizbul-Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, who is freely
roaming in Pakistan and in PoK and has appeared on the same stage as many
ministers of the federal government of Pakistan, should be arrested and handed
over to India." India also asked Musharraf to ban the Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
the political wing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and arrest its leaders. Hafiz Saeed,
the leader of the JuD, is believed to be moving around openly in Pakistan.
"Instead of saying the Jamaat-ul-Dawa
is being kept under close watch, the organisation should be banned and its
leaders should be arrested," he said.
Dawood Ibrahim, who has been listed by the
UN Security Council's 1267 committee as an individual associated with Al Qaida,
should be arrested and deported to India," the spokesperson said. Pakistan
has consistently denied that Dawood lives in Pakistan, though there is ample
information to prove that he does. On Thursday Musharraf had said, "If
you give us proof, we will be with you... I want to assure the government
of India that Pakistan will cooperate with it to identify the terrorists,
if you give us proof. We will remain with you on this issue."
If the gloves are now slowly coming off in
the India-Pakistan terror imbroglio, it is largely a result of the fact that
despite Musharraf's "offer" to help in the investigations, India
derived no comfort from the speech.
For India, Thursday's speech was particularly
galling, because it came soon after the PM indicated he was willing to show
some flexibility to Pakistan. It was a branch Musharraf failed to grasp, instead
only focusing on the resumption of dialogue. Responding to Manmohan's statements,
Musharraf said, "To start this blame game, I feel this is the first sign
of defeat. We must think and behave carefully and with patience and give comments
thoughtfully "It's this air of injured innocence that the Indian government
is objecting to.
The larger point New Delhi is trying to make
is that terrorism in India is mostly inspired and financed by Pakistani terror
groups, while jehadis are even trained there to act in India. Underlying all
this are two fundamental issues-first, that Pakistan itself uses these terror
groups to further its own policies against India; and second, the pan-Islamist
jehad that is planned by groups like LeT is given fertile ground in Pakistan.
Sources said there was little in common with the 7/7 London bombings and the
Mumbai bombings.
