As India solemnly marks the 13th anniversary of the dastardly terror strikes by 10-heavily armed Pakistani mercenaries on Nov. 26, 2008, full justice eludes the victims of attacks even today.
Despite its own public acknowledgment as well as the availability of all necessary evidence, including that shared by India, Pakistan is yet to show sincerity in delivering justice to the families of 166 victims from 15 countries across the globe.
The lone terrorist caught alive has been hanged after trial. However the kingpins of the operation based in Pakistan have still not been brought to justice, as the trial drags on through shady labyrinths of the Pakistani system.
Ajmal Kasab, who was the sole surviving attacker captured by the security forces, later confirmed the assault was planned, coordinated, and conducted by the LeT and other Pakistan-based terror modules. In testimonies acquired by the intelligence agencies in the country, Kasab was quoted as saying all the attackers came from Pakistan and their controllers, too, were all operating from that country.
When the Pakistani links emerged, Islamabad promised to cooperate in the investigations. After initial denials, Pakistan admitted that the terrorists were Pakistanis and registered cases. Indian authorities said the level of sophistication in the attacks pointed to involvement of Pakistani authorities- a charge Islamabad denied.
Under international pressure, Pakistan arrested Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and other masterminds of the attacks. However the case made little period, with several judges recusing themselves from the trial, and Pakistan’s lack of will to bring the case to a conclusion.
In the US, David Coleman Headley was convicted of involvement in the attacks, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Ajmal Kasab was hanged on November 21, 2021 at Pune’s Yerawada jail, after a fair trial.
Earlier, in April this year, a New York-based Artificial Intelligence start-up revealed that Pakistan has silently removed the names of almost 4,000 terrorists from its terror watch list. The removed names include LeT leader and Mumbai attack mastermind Zakir ur Rehman Lakhvi and many others.
It is a shame that the real masterminds of the attack roam around freely while the families of the victims await justice. It’s a high timr that peaceful countries should come together to boycott diplomatically and financially the synonym for terrorism ‘Pakistan’ and all those countries that support terrorism.