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.
Ylh,its your old habbit to pretend like an innocent and continue personal attack on others. Don’t curse others for your own mental infertility. I don’t think so I have to respond you further as someone rightly said:
Never argue with a fool, he will lower you to his level and then beat you with experience.
Thanks
The government seem ready to build real confidence and stop the blame game. But are the people ready. Looking here, maybe not.
Omar: I have never posted on Chowk.com in my life.
sridhar — r you the same sridhar who baits pakistanis on chowk — i hope not for the sake of this forum
incidentally, this is the editorial we (The News) have written on the blast
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=4355 6
Samjhota explosion
The loss of as many as 65 precious lives on the Samjhota Express linking Pakistan and India is tragic and must be the work of the elements opposed to the ongoing peace process between the two countries. It is worth noting that the deadly explosion took place a day before Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri’s three-day trip to India, where according to various reports, there may well be a breakthrough agreement signed on liberalising the stringent visa regime currently existing between the two countries. The Samjhota Express was on its way to Attari and eventually Lahore from Delhi when, according to eyewitnesses, it was rocked by two explosions as it was traveling through Panipat district in the Indian state of Haryana. At least 65 people are reported to have been killed and the Indian authorities believe that some of these may well be Pakistani nationals returning to Pakistan after visiting relatives in India. In fact, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Foreign Office said on Monday morning that “preliminary investigations” showed that most of the victims were Pakistani.
According to India’s railways minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, the blasts were caused by crude explosives and struck two coaches of the train. Pakistan has rightly condemned the blasts and has asked India to conduct a thorough investigation into the act of terrorism. One would have to unequivocally agree with Mr Yadav’s remarks to the press that the blasts were “aimed at derailing peace talks” between the two countries. One hopes that both sides will swiftly and publicly express their determination to carry on with the peace process. Also, both countries- and India particularly- should understand that dilly-dallying or perceived lack of progress only serves to strengthen the hawks and opponents of peace on both sides. As far as motive is concerned, the attackers could be from an array of opponents to the peace process; from the militants in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir who have opposed the ongoing dialogue and taken a hard line on the four-point plan put forward by President Pervez Musharraf to the Shiv Sena/VHP/Bajrang Dal combine which has time and again expressed opposition to the peace talks. (Incidentally, the bombing comes almost a week before the fifth anniversary of the infamous Godhra train incident that ignited the Gujarat communal riots of 2002.)
The latter in fact has an explicit agenda of ridding India of its Muslims so that their ideal of a true (read pure) Hindu nation can be realised — and they make no effort really to even hide it. In that context, attacking a train carrying Pakistani passengers, and which is a symbolic link between the two countries, serves many purposes and drives home a message to the Indian government that there are some people who oppose the peace talks. Of course, these aren’t the only opponents to peace between the two countries. Several statements made in recent months by the top Indian military brass — particularly with regard to the settling of the Siachen dispute — have shown that institution to be bitterly opposed to peace — at least for now. One hopes that in this case there will at least be no finger-pointing by the Indian authorities without a thorough investigation into the causes of the blasts.
prayers for the deceased. Some sanity seems to prevail at Govt level where both countries have expressed to continue the peace process. i hope the culprits are caught.