DNA Edit: Pak must hand over 26/11 plotters after Durrani’s comments

The admission by former Pakistan National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani that the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai in 2008 was a “classic trans-border terror event” carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan serves once again to highlight Pakistan’s position as the world’s major terror exporter. Durrani was quick to clarify that the Pakistan government or its powerful intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had nothing to do with 26/11. It is important to note that Durrani, a retired Major-General, was sacked as Pakistan NSA in 2009 when he admitted that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national. In that regard, Durrani is an outsider and his views do not represent those of the current establishment. But the fact that Durrani was NSA when the 26/11 attacks occurred make the admission particularly damning. Further, he said that Hafiz Mohammed Saeed “has no utility” and Pakistan should act against him. 

What comes out clearly in these statements is the wide berth given by the Pakistan government to the Lashkar-e-Taiba to stage attacks against India from its soil. This is nothing new considering that investigations in India, United States and Pakistan have revealed the role of several Pakistan-based operators. Of these, India’s National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet pointing to the role of two ISI handlers  and key leaders of the LeT who directed the attacks against India. The testimony of LeT operative David Headley before a Chicago federal court revealed that the Mumbai Chabad House was one of the list of targets for surveillance given by his Inter Services Intelligence handler Major Iqbal. Major Iqbal was also named as an accused in the NIA chargesheet and it cannot be a coincidence that the Chabad House was one of the sites attacked by the terrorists during the 2008 attacks.

Even the Pakistan investigations reached up to LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, with a trial court charging him in 2009. But his release on bail in 2015 put paid to hopes of a fair trial.

After a rash of terror attacks targeting Indian military bases in 2016 and a worsening of relations, Pakistan has again begun making conciliatory gestures. It has released 219 Indian fishermen languishing in jails and put Hafeez Saeed under house arrest again. Like Durrani, if this is an indication that the Pakistan establishment has lost its utility for Saeed then it must go the whole hog. Saeed and Lakhvi are wanted by India in the 26/11 terror attacks and the trial against him cannot proceed unless he is produced in an Indian court. It is unlikely that Pakistan will ever accept the role of the ISI in the 26/11 attacks. But the  immunity accorded to non-state actors like Saeed diminishes the possibility of a thaw in Indo-Pak relations. Now that Pakistan is facing the heat from terrorists based across the border in Afghanistan, it would do well to put itself in India’s shoes. India has done a painstaking investigation and shared evidence with Pakistan about the role of the two ISI handlers and the LeT top leadership. If Durrani’s statement that the Pakistan government or the ISI was not aware of the 26/11 plot is taken at face value, then it demands that Pakistan hand over these rogue elements to India for a fair trial.