India to Give Pakistan Mumbai Bomb Evidence

India claims that the Mumbai bombings that killed 186 people on its commuter trains in July had the backing of elements of the Pakistani security forces. Naturally, the Pakistani government called this claim “baseless” and demanded proof that the ISI was involved. India has said the evidence was on its way. Given that both nations have nuclear weapons and have fought a few wars with each other in the last half century or so, this is a damn sight more dangerous than Iran’s atomic tinkering.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said, “We will take the issue up with Pakistan in view of new evidence. We will judge them not by their immediate reaction of verbal statements, but by what they actually do about terrorism.” His was the more diplomatic statement over the week-end.

A.N. Roy, police commissioner of what used to be called Bombay, said in a Saturday news conference that his guys had solved the case. He said, “the whole attack was planned by Pakistan’s ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and their operatives in India." He added the Students’ Islamic Movement of India was also involved

Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, may be a big western ally in the fight against Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, but there is a significant portion of the nation backing the other side. The ISI is almost certainly infiltrated by Fasislamic elements, and it is not beyond belief that a rogue agent, cell or department could have committed this atrocity. However, India’s evidence is going to have to be airtight to get any action out of the Pakistani government.

The Musharraf government is in a pickle here. If it fails to act, it could well face an angry Indian reaction. If it does act against the operatives who allegedly did this, it risks violent resistance by its own security personnel. As President Musharraf said, he’s getting pretty good at walking a tightrope. He'd better be.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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