This is not an issue related to Jammu and Kashmir alone, but one which is part of the bigger issue of global terrorism. In almost every annual session of the UN General Assembly, we have been tabling a resolution that it is high time there was a Comprehensive Convention to deal with the problem of cross-border terrorism — the greatest menace to world peace and tranquillity in the post-cold war era. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to achieve this yet, but we are trying and will continue to do so.
The most important dimension of this terrorist attack is that for the first time terrorists have targeted foreigners in India. I have talked to my counterparts and informed them of the steps we have taken. Formally, I spoke to the Pakistan’s foreign minister on November 28 around 7-7.30 pm, which was followed up by what is described in the diplomatic language as a ‘speaking note’. Thereafter, on December 1, we lodged a formal demarche. There we urged that they must take action against certain organisations that are indulging in terrorist activities and against fugitives who have committed crimes in India and violated the Indian laws and are taking shelter there. We said please arrest them and hand them over to us.
The Leader of the Opposition wanted to know whether we have taken up the issue of extradition and return of Dawood Ibrahim. This has been done in every meeting with Pakistan at the level of the home secretary, the foreign secretary; and at the four meetings of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism. We have given them a list of 42 persons — not one; not 20, but a list of 42 persons.
We have also pointed out that mere denial is not going to resolve the issue. We said that you may deny their existence, but how are you going to convince your own people when these faces appear on the television screen?
I have been asked or suggestions have been made to me as to why I am not responding when some arrests have taken place in Pakistan. According to newspaper reports, some camps have also been closed. My response is very simple. I was waiting for Parliament to commence its sittings. Please follow it up seriously as exactly the same scene was played after the attack on Parliament in 2001. Therefore, action has to be carried to its logical conclusion by banning the organisations and by complete dismantling of the infrastructural facilities available on that side to facilitate the terrorist infiltration and terrorist attacks in India. Lashkar-e-Toiba is a banned organisation in Pakistan. But by simply changing names and changing signboards, its activities have continued. How does that help us? The headquarters are the same, the ideologies are the same and activities are the same.
I am glad to inform you that the UN Security Council (UNSC) has declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the latest outfit of Lashkar-e-Toiba, as a banned organisation. Four people, including those who we had suggested, are listed as terrorists by the UNSC. We are told that in the names included is that of Hafiz Sayed. We were told by an international interlocutor that there was information that this man was arrested. However, within twenty minutes I heard from our Mission that this man was appearing on the television screen in an interview!
Masood Azhar has been house-arrested. What does ‘house arrest’ mean? The law in Pakistan is the same as the Indian Penal Code. The criminal laws are the same. In criminal cases there are two kinds of custody that could be contemplated —judicial custody and police custody. Is this a convincing step?
I have no quarrel with the democratic Government of Pakistan. We welcome the return of democracy to Pakistan. Perhaps I was amongst the first foreign ministers to visit Pakistan after the new government was installed.
On the question of the non-state actors, are the non-state actors coming from heaven? Are they coming from a different planet? These non-state actors are located in the territory of a particular country. The non-state actors are operating from within a particular country. What we are most respectfully suggesting to the government of Pakistan is that please act. Mere expression of intention is not adequate.
We have been assured by Pakistan in this regard, not once but twice. On January 6, 2004 — LK Advani was the deputy prime minister and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister then — president Musharraf in his joint statement with prime minister Vajpayee gave the solemn assurance that Pakistan’s territory will not be allowed to be used by terrorists. This was reiterated on September 24, 2008, by another President of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari. But, you find that terrorists are still coming from Pakistan.
(Excerpts from Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s speech in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2008, on the debate on the terror attack in Mumbai)
