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.
The information coming out is confusing, but all indications suggest that there was a relatively high degree of planning and expertise involved in this incident. I cannot visualize organizations like the Shiv Sena or the VHP, as abhorent as I find them, either being able to do this nor can I visualize them risking future political equity by getting involved in a directed criminal activity of this kind. I can certainly see them as being involved in violence (and hence by definition criminal activity), but more of the kind where there is a mob, where individual responsibility is hard to pin down and where pre-planning is hard to prove. In this respect, they are not that different from the league during the pre-independence riots or indeed the Congress from the days of Indira Gandhi onwards.
Thus, it either means a new level of escalation by these organizations, or that somebody else is involved. Perhaps somebody who wants people to assume the involvement of certain organizations and to consequently derail the peace process.
If people in Pakistan are convinced that these organizations are involved, nobody can deny them that right. But there is neither a past history of bombing incidents by these organizations, nor any indication that they have developed such capabilities now or that incentives for escalation have changed. If people cannot see this situation as being different from denial of the involvement of the Al Qaeda in the 911 incidents, where the denial was in spite of all evidence to the contrary and a demonstrated (and self-acknowledged) history of involvement in terrorist attacks, then I don’t really think any logic or any argument will change their mind.
Irrespective of whoever is involved, the culprits must be identified and brought to justice. If indeed the Sangh Parivar organizations are involved, it will only strengthen the hands of the secularist forces in India and allow for more drastic action against the extreme wings of the Parivar. That may be a positive consequence of this horrible incident, just as the assassination of Gandhi by a person linked to the Hindu right wing pushed them out of the political mainstream for about three decades.
Just my thoughts.
Would some one enlighten us please. Who are the people that got killed in these blasts. What was their purpose of visiting India. Why Pakistanis want to visit India. Were they ever briefed about a possibility of such attack. Is it safe for Pak nationals to visit India.
Whoever did it has very low intelligence level as killing innocent poor people never achieve anything. If they did it for any cause they should try to hit it where it hurts.
Taking note of the nationality of the casualties, and the location of the blasts, the attacks were clearly designed to flare up passions in Pakistan. But I was surprised to see the restraint exercised by Pakistani politicians. Apparently, terrorists didn’t achieve their objectives.
I’m pretty sure if a similar incident happened in Pakistan, with Indians as casualties, the behavior of Indian politicians would have been quite the opposite. May be the terrorists would try that next.
[quote post=”579″]Point taken. Sorry to open this Pandora’s box. Apologies to anyone feeling frustrated but choosing not to respond for fear of a degenerative discussion. [/quote]
Mahi, my comment was entirely tongue in cheek. I actually appreciated the honest terms (land grab) with which you stated the conflict.