Modi visit amid setback to 26/11 trial in Pakistan
Anirban Bhaumik NEW DELHI: Dec 27, 2015, DHNS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday came just weeks after the trial of the seven 26/11 Mumbai attack plotters in the neighbouring country suffered a setback with a key witness turning hostile.
The statement of prosecution witness Abdul Qayyum, the headmaster of the government elementary school at Faridkot in the Okara district of Pakistan, in the court in fact brought into question the identity of Ajmal Kasab – the lone 26/11 terrorist who was caught alive and was executed after being put to trial and sentenced to death by a court in India.
New Delhi had provided Islamabad documents establishing Kasab as a citizen of Pakistan and that he had attended the elementary school headed by Qayyum.
The teacher, however, told the court on December 9 that Kasab, whom he had deposed about previously, was not Ajmal Kasab, but Ajmal Khokhar. He informed that Khokhar was still alive and currently working in Lahore.
Qayyum also said that the documents he had provided to the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan had also been about Khokhar studying in his school and not about Kasab, who had never attended his school.
Indian officials monitoring the 26/11 case in Pakistan are concerned over possible implication of the testimony of Qayyum, as it could weaken the case against the seven LeT plotters, who masterminded and coordinated the terror strikes in Mumbai.
Qayyum, who had deposed before the court as prosecution witness earlier, in fact turned hostile and refused to acknowledge Ajmal Kasab as his student on a day External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was in Islamabad and joined her counterpart Sartaj Aziz to declare resumption of the stalled bilateral dialogue.
India has long been asking Pakistan to speed up the trial, which has been going on at a snail’s pace over the past six years.
During their first meeting in New Delhi on May 27, 2014, Modi requested Sharif to bring the 26/11 plotters to justice expeditiously.
The subsequent months, however, saw repeated adjournments and, finally, one of the seven accused, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT commander and the suspected mastermind of the 26/11 plot, was released on bail on April 10.
DH News Service
The statement of prosecution witness Abdul Qayyum, the headmaster of the government elementary school at Faridkot in the Okara district of Pakistan, in the court in fact brought into question the identity of Ajmal Kasab – the lone 26/11 terrorist who was caught alive and was executed after being put to trial and sentenced to death by a court in India.
New Delhi had provided Islamabad documents establishing Kasab as a citizen of Pakistan and that he had attended the elementary school headed by Qayyum.
The teacher, however, told the court on December 9 that Kasab, whom he had deposed about previously, was not Ajmal Kasab, but Ajmal Khokhar. He informed that Khokhar was still alive and currently working in Lahore.
Qayyum also said that the documents he had provided to the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan had also been about Khokhar studying in his school and not about Kasab, who had never attended his school.
Indian officials monitoring the 26/11 case in Pakistan are concerned over possible implication of the testimony of Qayyum, as it could weaken the case against the seven LeT plotters, who masterminded and coordinated the terror strikes in Mumbai.
Qayyum, who had deposed before the court as prosecution witness earlier, in fact turned hostile and refused to acknowledge Ajmal Kasab as his student on a day External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was in Islamabad and joined her counterpart Sartaj Aziz to declare resumption of the stalled bilateral dialogue.
India has long been asking Pakistan to speed up the trial, which has been going on at a snail’s pace over the past six years.
During their first meeting in New Delhi on May 27, 2014, Modi requested Sharif to bring the 26/11 plotters to justice expeditiously.
The subsequent months, however, saw repeated adjournments and, finally, one of the seven accused, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT commander and the suspected mastermind of the 26/11 plot, was released on bail on April 10.
DH News Service
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