Two of the suspected terrorists — David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, both 49 — behind the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack and on a Danish newspaper for publishing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad — have been indicted by a Chicago federal jury on Thursday. Sentencing is awaited.
Coleman and Hussain are of Pakistani origin and they have been arrested in October, 2009. It took less than three months to complete the case. There are two other Pakistanis as well, Ilyas Kashmiri, a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist and Abdur Rehman, a former Pakistan army officer, who have been indicted as well. They are still absconding.
There are some salutary lessons to be drawn from this quick disposal of this terror case by an American court. One of them is this: When you get hold of terror suspects, the matter should be dealt with promptitude. While the trial of Kasab, the arrested terror suspect involved in the November. 2008 attack is yet to be concluded in Mumbai, Headley and Rana, who were not directly involved in it, have been brought to book.
The terror acts for which they have been charged have been committed outside the territory of the United States — one in Denmark and the other in India. While six Americans were killed in the Mumbai attack, there were no American casualties in Denmark. What the Americans seem to have felt is the need to pursue and convict American residents and citizens involved in terrorism in other parts of the world.
India and Pakistan both need to take note here. The courts in the two countries should hold guilty all those citizens involved in terror acts, whether they are living in their respective countries or not. It will send out the firm and clear message that terrorists cannot get away.
It follows that Pakistan should pursue the case against Ajmal Kasab and his collaborators irrespective of what happens to Kasab in the Mumbai special court. Similarly, if Indian investigation agencies feel that they have a case against Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists including Masood Azhar (the man who secured his release in the Kandahar hijack episode in 1999), they should pursue the cases and secure indictments.
This does not necessarily require an agreement or a memorandum of understanding between the two governments and a political initiative among leaders in the two countries. It is a matter of jurisprudence and could in fact be a positive precedent and build trust between the two countries.
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