India’s chance to nail ISI down

The New Indian Express Last Updated : 30 May 2011 12:44:03 AM IST
The lawsuit filed by the relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, victims of 26/11, in a New York court to demand declaration of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI as a terrorist group provides India an opportunity to nail it down. They have provided documentary evidences to prove that the 2008 Mumbai attack was planned, coordinated and executed by the ISI in collaboration with the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). During the on-going trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana in a Chicago court, LeT operative David Headley has made several revelatory statements which prove the complicity of the ISI. He has provided several proofs like e-mail messages that show Major Iqbal of the ISI and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed were the masterminds of 26/11 in which 164 innocent people were killed.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said, few in India are surprised by Headley’s revelations. However, the disclosure about his attempt to foment greater trouble by planning an attack on the Shiv Sena headquarters has certainly shocked most people in the country. Even those who initially gave the Pakistan government the benefit of the doubt are amazed that a government agency could use mass murder as its policy. Understanding the ISI and its diabolic operations is not the same as fixing responsibility for the Mumbai attack on the agency and its LeT collaborator. A state which could bluff the US about Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts for years while sheltering him all the while cannot be expected to take action against any of those whose names India has given to Pakistan.
By impleading itself in the lawsuit filed by the Rabbi’s relatives, India can provide proof about the involvement of the ISI in several other terrorist attacks. If the federal court in New York is convinced about the ISI’s involvement and declares it a terrorist organisation, it will be a validation of India’s stand. Such a declaration will force not only the US government but also international agencies like the UN to demand disbanding of the ISI. It is an opportunity India should not miss under any circumstances.