Mumbai terror attacks: Pakistan must face uncomfortable truths

Meeting for talks in Ufa, Russia on July 10, the prime ministers of Pakistan and India were “prepared to discuss all outstanding issues”, and both the leaders “condemned terrorism in all its forms” and agreed to cooperate with each other “to eliminate this menace from South Asia”. 

We in Pakistan should welcome this development wholeheartedly.

Didn’t we suffer the pain and agony of our own 9/11 on December 16 last year, when Pakistani Taleban militants slaughtered 141 schoolchildren and teachers, and aren’t we as a nation determined to root out terrorism in all its forms from our soil? 

I have no doubt that Pakistan’s political and security leadership have resolved to eliminate the scourge of terrorism, militancy and extremism through the counter-terrorism National Action Plan. The distinction between “good” and “bad” Taleban, including all militants and terrorists, should be eradicated across all of Pakistan.

 

Halting undercover operations

Against this backdrop, the move by Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Ufa to approve the meeting of their national security advisers to “discuss all issues related to terrorism” was a welcome development. Pakistan’s concerns over India’s botched investigation into the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing and Delhi’s alleged covert support to the Baloch insurgency as well as reported “terror financing” both in Karachi and Fata by Indian and other foreign agencies should be backed up with concrete evidence so as to put a stop to such means of non-kinetic warfare fought by undercover agents from both sides to further their so-called national interests.

There are very knowledgeable and competent professionals with investigation and intelligence background in Pakistan who can meet the Indian security officials and talk as professionals. They too have many skeletons in their cupboards. So why fight shy? Let both India and Pakistan admit their mistakes and follies and learn to co-exist while trying to find solutions to their thorny issues through peaceful means.

Pakistan must deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil. This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes. The entire state security apparatus must ensure that the perpetrators and masterminds of the ghastly terror attacks are brought to justice. The case has lingered on far too long. Delaying tactics by the defendants, frequent changes of trial judges, the assassination of a prosecutor, as well as retraction of testimony by some key witnesses have been serious setbacks for the prosecution. The Islamabad High Court directed that the trial must be concluded within two months, but that deadline passed in June.

The following facts in the ongoing case are clear. First, Ajmal Kasab, the only Mumbai attacker captured alive by the police, was a Pakistani national whose membership of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant organisation was established by investigators. Second, the terrorists trained near Thatta in Pakistan’s Sindh province before travelling by sea to India. Casings for the explosive devices they used in Mumbai were recovered from this training camp and duly matched. Third, the fishing trawler used by the terrorists to hijack an Indian trawler in which they sailed to Mumbai was brought back to harbour, then painted and concealed. It was recovered by the investigators and connected to the accused. Fourth, the engine of the dinghy abandoned by the terrorists near Mumbai harbour contained a patent number through which the investigators traced its import from Japan to Lahore and then to a Karachi sports shop from where an LeT-linked militant purchased it along with the dinghy. The money trail was followed and linked to the accused who was arrested. Fifth, the ops room in Karachi, from where the operation was directed, was also identified and secured by the investigators. The communications through Voice over Internet Protocol were unearthed. Sixth, the alleged commander and his deputies were identified and arrested. Seventh, a pair of overseas-based financiers and facilitators were arrested and brought to face trial.

After an exchange of investigation dossiers with the Indian police, the judges were asked to give approval to obtain voice samples of the alleged commander and his deputies for comparison with the voices recorded during the attack. The court ruled that the consent of the accused should first be obtained. Obviously, the suspects refused. Investigators are now appealing to obtain the voice samples without their consent. 

The Mumbai case is quite unique: one incident with two jurisdictions and two trials. While the Indians managed to nab Ajmal Kasab and were able to obtain his confession to close the trial, proving conspiracy in a different jurisdiction is more complex and requires a far superior quality of evidence. Therefore, the legal experts from both sides need to sit together rather than sulk and point fingers.

Indian officials conceded in 2009 that the Pakistani investigators had done a professional job in indicting seven of the Mumbai attack’s perpetrators. However, Pakistani authorities should not forget that their Federal Investigation Agency declared various other facilitators and operatives remain fugitives in the case. The trial will not end with verdicts for those under arrest or on bail. The fugitives still need to be arrested and other missing links uncovered.

This case will not be over soon.

Are we as a nation prepared to muster the courage to face uncomfortable truths and combat the demons of militancy that haunt our land? That is the question at issue. 

 

Tariq Khosa is a former director general of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency.