Adil Najam
In a tragic development – and what is clearly the most serious threat to recent headways in the India-Pakistan peace process – a train bound from India to Pakistan (Samjhota Express) caught fire, reportedly because of two crude home-made bombs which exploded. Over 60 people are reported dead, most of them Pakistanis returning home, but the death toll also includes many Indians, including some Indian officials.
Here are some details, according to the BBC:
At least 64 people have been killed in a series of explosions and a fire on a Pakistan-bound train in the northern Indian state of Haryana, officials say. Passengers reported hearing two blasts as the train passed near Panipat, about 80km (50 miles) north of Delhi. The train – the Samjhauta Express – was part of a service taking passengers from Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan. A spokesman for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the explosions were probably an “act of terror”. A number of other passengers were injured, and officials say the death toll may rise. The Samjhauta Express is one of two train services connecting India and Pakistan. After a two-year gap, it was reopened in 2004 as part of the peace process between the two countries.
Bloomberg adds the following information:
The blasts, which occurred after 11 p.m. last evening, were caused by crude explosives and struck two coaches of the train, India’s Railways Minister Lalu Prasad told reporters today in a televised interview in New Delhi. Pakistan condemned the blasts, saying India must conduct a thorough investigation into the act of terrorism. The train service between Indian and Pakistan is used by people who can’t afford air travel between the nuclear-armed neighbors that fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947 and started talks to improve relations in 2003. The divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir is at the center of a dispute between the two countries that claim the region in full….
“Preliminary investigations show most of the victims are Pakistanis,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in a phone interview from capital Islamabad today. “We expect India to conduct a thorough inquiry to find out the reasons behind this act.” The Pakistan High Commission in the Indian capital is being informed about possible casualties, zonal railways official B.N. Mathur said. A railway guard manning a signal cabin on the route between Delhi and Attari heard two explosions when the train crossed the station near Panipat, a refinery town, Mathur told reporters from the blast site….
India had the responsibility of providing security to the train in its part of the country, Aslam said, refusing to comment on the impact of the blasts on peace talks between the two countries. “We don’t know the motive behind the blasts.”
Pakistan has recently seen a spate of bombings in its major cities, and even before this some in government were pointing towards a ‘foreign hand’ in these bombings. Both countries have long played this game of ‘blame the foreign hand’, including in the recent tragic train bombings in Mumbai. The impulse to do so at the first sign of trouble is a natural one in the sub-continent. Given the deep distrust that exists between the two, it may even be understandable. But irrespective of the short-term political gains such finger-pointing might gain, it is not a very useful way to deal with deep tensions. One certainly hopes that this will not slide to that level and if, indeed, the purpose of those who did this terrible act was to hurt the peace process, then both countries will work together to make sure that this does not happen.
It is a good sign that Pakistan has announced that the visit by the Pakistan Foreign Minister to India will not be canceled. The signals from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry are sober but reasonable. According to The News:
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri Monday condemned a train blast in India which killed at least 66 people as a “horrendous act of terrorism” and said most of the victims were Pakistanis. Kasuri said he had asked the Indian government to investigate the incident overnight on a Samjhota Express. “It is a horrendous act of terrorism,” Kasuri told reporters during a function at the foreign office. “I would like the Indian government to investigate this incident. We are waiting for the results of the investigation,” he said. The minister said he had instructed the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi to send staff to the site to help Pakistan nationals caught up in the blast.
The main leaders in India, including the Prime Minister and President, have also sent the right signals, including condolences to those who have died. The overtures from both sides are to focus on finding the terrorists who committed this atrocity. One hopes that their attentions will remain focussed on this purpose rather than succumbing to the impulse of scoring political points through the unwarranted politics of incrimination. Most of all, one hopes that neither country will allow the peace process to be derailed by this blast.
@Akif – well said. I’ll hang my head in shame (as I did in the Gujarat progrom) if its some kind of a 5 year revenge carried out by the “guardians” of Hinduism or India. Screw them.
@Eidee – agree this is not about PR. In any case, ordinary citizens cannot do that. What remains is the key question no one picked up on: why is Pakistan linked to the terror stories and how do you change that. Thats the biggie. W/o resolving that, its always hard to fight the PR battle in the long run.
I believe this is where Pakistan suffers from not having some kind of a public space for effective dissent. Democracy tends to provide that, however imperfect it may be. For ex, even if you disagree with policies like nurturing the Taleban (for stategic depth) what could you do? The army is too strong. Who’s going to dismantle the institutional set up and usher in change, which, per you would reflect the majority choice of Pakistan.
[quote comment=”34852″]There is more to it than just the origin of terror stories in Pakistan. Pakistan has also become a convenient whipping boy for everyone involved in the region to blame their glaring misdeeds on.
India: blame Pakistan by raising the bogie of cross-bordor terrorism instead of resolving Kashmir and mustering the moral courage to admit that India had no right to be in Kashmir in the first place.
[/quote]
My point was that you become a whipping boy for a reason – maybe out of proportion, but can’t be without a good bit of reality.
Kashmir: this is the crux, as far as I see it. Pakistanis tend to see it as a case still to be resolved (implicit in ur comment above). For most Indians, its already resolved. LoC was the resolution. Not because they wouldn’t want ALL of Kashmir, but just acknowledging that its a big mess trying to get everything. So lets move on kind of logic. In this scenario, groups like LeT and Jaish et al… are seen by Indians as having no legitimacy whatsoever. And when these outfits seem to be function quite openly inside Pakistan, Indians assume they have some credibility there. Which to them means cross-border terrorism is no bogie. Which brings us back to the ‘resolution’ issue. And we can argue till the cows come home.
Those who keep trying to convince us that terrorists have no religion can read this and see if they can identify the religion taught in these madrassas;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/02/0 70220_sucidebomber_arrest_sz.shtml
If what these madrassas teach is not religion or not correct interpretation of religion then these should be closed? Why are they not closed? … and when something does go wrong some of us start crying “terrorists have no religion”. How long do you think this can go on before someone suspects your intentions or intellect?
[quote comment=”34883″]The participants on this forum have already started playing the blame game…We are all guilty of it. I agree with Naveed…
The question we should be asking ourselves is whether it matters who was behind the blast? Who cares whether it was a Hundu or a Muslim? Innocent lives were lost in a cold calculated manner. Whoever did this has no religion and no respect for nationality, and if anything, we should make sure we say that out loud and clear.[/quote]
Yes, and if you would have taken the time to read carefully, everyone said that…someone even posted verses from the Quran to make that abundantly clear.
I completely disagree with your statement about making it ‘loud and clear.’ Why should we have to do that? ORDINARY Pakistanis like myself are VICTIMS of this massacre…why the hell should people like us worry about making political statements to make sure our Public Relations are in order?
“if anything, we should make sure we say that out loud and clear.”
No. If anything, we should be participating in the effort to root out and dismantle terrorist organizations that are carrying out mass killings …recently of an innocent minister.
Maybe the PR strategy comes naturally to a filmmaker like you who sees this as another opportunity to gain some fame..make a few bucks.
Aqil, you did a good job of beating about the bush. How does institutionalised imperialism or anything else exonerate Islamic terrorisms? And should Islamists not have a higher moral standard than the rest?….. otherwise why are they so deserving of our support? At least imperialist are not fooling anyone in the name of religion something many would consider holy.
Every time there is blame on Islamists, which is often, we start talking about everything else except them. Why is that? Why do we keep subconsciously or consciously supporting them? Does it indicate a problem with our own morality and values? I am beginning to suspect answer is probably…’yes’.