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.
Very tragic incident indeed. However, apart from this my worry is that there should be correct pronunciation and spellings of Urdu when written in Roman. Samjhota is wrong, it should be Samjhauta. This is a great blog and that is why I pointed out because lately transliteration mistakes are occurring regularly here.
Pakistan and India…In Peace or at war…a cold war or Kargil…Peace talks or no peace talks…i believe that our politicians in so long did not think of one very simple idea…If we could simply coordinate our efforts and combine our economic resources in order to pool together a much bigger skill we could probably handle every disaster much more efficiently…instead of always end up blaming each other and quickly coming to arms over anything if we could simply sign economic and trade treaties that would at least combine us as one subcontinet=nt when it came to economic concerns we could be so much more stronger…i also know that not everyone will agree to what i just wrote but here’s the thing if everyone has an economic interest involved than it would definitely be less cause for bomb blasts and lives lost…we should be concentrating on how make ourselves into developed nations and come out of the rut of the third world, developing nations….
Sridhar: Thanks for the explanations. So other than the few Indian Officials, most of the victims were Pak nationals returning home after visiting their relatives in India. Also, I understand that the visitors, as a practice, are not briefed about the security concerns or about the possibilities of such terrorist attacks. One hopes that both individuals and officials learn from this incidence and take future precautions accordingly.
Its sad that indian government is yet again trying to blame it on Pakistan, despite most people died were Pakistanis and Muslim. The people of india,particularly non muslims, should demand an unbiased investigations. The traditional attitude of India to blame everything on Pakistan need to be stoped. A rejection of joint investigation offer from Pakistan gives a hint to evil intentions and corrupt mindset of Indian investigation agencies.
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@Adnan — I believe you misinterpreted my comment. I focused on ‘fear’, but it was “fear of a degenerative discussion”. If anything, its [/quote]
CORRECTION: read ‘You focused on…’ instead of ‘I focused on..’.