‘Samjhota' panel advertisements in Pak. papers give twist to train blasts

An action committee demands explanation from India

Three weeks ahead of the Home Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, an attempt is being made to give an entirely different narrative to the Samjhauta Express blasts of February 2007 in which, according to the Foreign Office, 42 Pakistani nationals were killed.

Several Pakistani newspapers on Monday carried quarter-page advertisements placed by an organisation called ‘Samjhota Affectees Action Committee' demanding justice and an explanation from India.

‘Massacre'

The advertisement calls the blast ‘Samjhota Massacre' and refers to all the 68 passengers killed instead of just the 42 Pakistani nationals.

Stating that “justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere,” the advertisement asserts that “secular India owes an explanation to the world” for the “massacre” in which “68 passengers of the Lahore-bound Samjhota Express were torched and burnt to ashes on the Indian soil.”

For pictorial support, the advertisement had a burning compartment in the background with wailing survivors, a man in what was made to look like battle fatigues complete with an Indian flag pinned on his chest pocket, and the Tricolour in the foreground. The antecedents of the Samjhota Affectees Action Committee are unknown and no contact details were provided in the advertisement.

Of late, Pakistan has been using the Samjhauta Express blast investigations to counter criticism of delay on Islamabad's front in the Mumbai terror attack case. Peeved at India making the dialogue process hostage to the Mumbai terror case, Islamabad has time and again accused New Delhi of raising a hue and cry on terrorism while ignoring its own responsibilities.

Criticism about the pace of the investigation into the train blast got sharper since January after a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist, Aseemanand, reportedly confessed to his involvement in this terror attack.

Issue may figure in talks

Pakistan formally sought a report on the investigation from India and the issue is expected to be raised at the Home Secretary-level talks in New Delhi later this month.

Though the Samjhauta Express blast did not find mention in the outcome document issued by the two countries after last month's engagement in Thimphu, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said its non-inclusion did not prevent Islamabad from raising issues of concern to it. Also, he saw no harm in the mention of the Mumbai terror attack in the document; stating that if its inclusion provided a degree of comfort to the Indians, then so be it. “We have nothing to hide. We want to expose the reality behind terrorism.”