The unsettling truth behind the Samjhauta Express bombing

Abdul Qadir

In 1994, to foster reconciliation between India and Pakistan, the Samjhota Express, known as the Friendship Express, was initiated. Its purpose was to reconnect individuals from both nations who had been divided during the turbulent era of partition in the late 1940s. As a tool of bringing the two nations together, people on both sides of the border had hinged hopes of expedited reconciliation and increased cooperation to ameliorate the pain and misgivings of the past. However, eighteen years ago, on the fateful day of 19 February 2007, the terrorists bombed the Delhi-Lahore Express train, killing 68 passengers onboard including 44 Pakistanis.

India, without due process, pointed fingers at Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, but was unable to substantiate its claim by failing to provide credible evidence at the first Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism meeting. Interestingly, it was a dedicated investigative team of the Haryana police that unearthed horrifying details about the terrorist act that claimed dozens of lives. The investigation implicated Indian right-wing extremist organizations, notably Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Abhinav Bharat, in the case. Unsurprisingly, the investigative team was stopped from further pursuing the case, creating doubts as the bereaved families sought justice.

It wasn’t until June 2008 when the newly arrived Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, Hemant Karkare, opened the case and made promising progress. As he apprehended Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit, the masterminds of Malegaon blasts, shocking revelations regarding the Samjhauta Express bombing came to the surface. Prasad, in a narco analysis test, admitted to providing Research Department Explosive for the Samjhauta Express bombing. Contrary to the Indian position of blaming Inter Service Intelligence, the revelation shifted the blame, implicating Indian extremist groups in the blast. Thereby, the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) coerced Karkare not to proceed further, as it would impair New Delhi’s credibility internationally as the Indian govt had already blamed ISI for the terror strike.

It is also pertinent to note that Swami Aseemanand, linked to the Mecca Masjid bomb blast, in a taped interview, accused the RSS leadership of involvement in various attacks in the country. He further revealed that the Samjhauta Express bombing was carried out on the explicit directions of Mohan Bhagwat, then general secretary of RSS. He went on to say that Bhagwat wanted to go ahead with the plan as he believed it was the right path and in line with the purported ideology of the RSS to cleanse the holy land of Muslims. Aseemanand not only confessed to his crimes but also shed light on the involvement of RSS in attacks that shook the world. In 2007 alone, the RSS masterminded the bombing of Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif, and Mecca Masjid; followed by the Malegaon blast in 2008.

Even though Aseemanand had confessed to the Samjhauta Express bombing and subsequently even wrote a letter to the President claiming responsibility for the blasts, he was acquitted in 2019 as promised by Bhagwat before. However, the judge remarked that evidence of crucial importance was withheld by the prosecution, seemingly to the advantage of the accused. Furthermore, the judge asserted that inadmissible evidence was put forward before the court, as the prosecution failed to provide the CCTV footage when the accused boarded the train at Old Delhi Railway Station. Similarly, the call detail records of the mobile phones were also not furnished before the court which had the details of frequent communication taking place among the accused around the time of the blasts.

Ironically, the judge who acquitted Aseemanand, soon after premature retirement, met Amit Shah and wished to join Bharatiya Janata Party. The complicity of the state was evident when then Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared that the National Investigation Agency, which had already withheld evidence of critical importance, would not appeal the court’s decision of acquittal even before it was announced.

To tie up the loose ends, Sunil Joshi who was the mastermind of the Ajmer Sharif blast was killed by the RSS while Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who had provided the RDX for the Samjhauta Express bombing, were neutralized by the International Bureau. On the night of the Mumbai attacks, ‘Operation Kill K’ was initiated to eliminate Hemant Karkare who had arrested the masterminds of the Malegaon blasts and who were also associated with the Samjhauta Express blasts. He was issued a sub-standard bulletproof jacket which reportedly went missing from the hospital. His wife had to write an application for its recovery. The RSS went as far as bribing Karkare’s wife to stop her from exposing RSS’s complicity in her husband’s death.

The RSS has become the largest neo-Nazi group with a huge six hundred thousand dedicated militia and participants of more than 1.5 million individuals. It has a presence in about 39 countries. The BJP serves as a political front for the RSS since around 75 percent of membership of the Modi cabinet has direct links with the RSS. Shockingly, Indian PM Narendra Modi and Bhagwat are old acquaintances as latter’s father used to mentor Modi in 1967.

The victims of the Samjhauta Express are still awaiting justice while the perpetrators are roaming freely enjoying state protection. It is time the world must stop entertaining the neo-Nazi regime of Modi as the largest democracy in the world, instead, it should be asked to punish the accused responsible for the bombing.

The author is an independent researcher and can be reached at abdulniner09@gmail.com

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