Terrorists Strike Samjhota Express

Sad. Disappointing. Inhuman.

This will achieve results that are the opposite of what the cold-hearted, brain-dead criminals who murdered these innocent people hoped to achieve - it will bring the two nations together against the murderous religious extremists on both sides. At least I hope it will.

It is extremely unfortunate that some brainless idiots have once again spilt innocent blood solely to vitiate the improving relations between the two countries. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. The peace process must not be derailed.....

This was a ghastly terrorist act and my condolences to all the people who suffered in this attack. I hope India does its best to provide proper treatment to the wounded and provides hassle free facilities for the relatives to come from Pakistan so as to collect the remains of the dead or attend to the wounded. Also it should deliver on the promise of compensation to all the victims.

The real questions are who did it and why did they do it? There are basically 2 suspects - hindu fundamentalists or the jihadis. At first blush, it may appear to be the handiwork of hindu fundamentalists since most of the victims were Pakistanis or Indian muslims. But then we must ask why would they unnecessarily do such a thing? The peace talks between India and Pakistan have been going rather well for India with Pakistan more or less giving up its plebiscite demands on Kashmir, while India has not really given up anything. In fact, India has managed to cool down Kashmir quite a bit. So why would hindus be that much against the peace process to kill innocent people on a train?

The second suspect are the jihadis. They are indeed opposed to the peace process tooth and nail because they view it as a death sentence for their livelihood which is to propagate jihad in Kashmir and elsewhere. With the Kashmiri leaders calling for an end of violence, the jihadis are at the end of their rope with respect to Kashmir. What better way to disrupt the peace process than to sabotage the Samjhauta Express on Indian soil with Pakistani casualties!! The calculation is to provoke Pakistani public back in Pakistan by making it appear as if hindu fundamentalists have attacked and killed Pakistanis. It is a pre-meditated attempt to recreate the 1947 style communal hysteria in Pakistani Punjab by causing mass casualties and attempting to show it to be the work of hindus. The calculation is that such hysteria will lead to retaliatory attacks on Indian visitors to Pakistan during Basant or other occasions. This would lead to a souring of Indo-Pak relations. In addition, there would be local pressure on Pak government to avoid cutting any deals with India for the peace process thus preserving the status quo in Kashmir as much as possible. But what about taking Pakistani casualties? The recent jihadi suicide bombings in Pakistan show that jihadis have no hesitation in taking Pakistani muslim lives for their lunatic causes if need be.

Therefore, it appears that this incident is a very calculated, machiavellian move by the jihadi leadership to communalize Indo-Pak relations back to the 1947 style of killing the opposing community`s civilians and wrecking the nascent peace process that has developed so far. I hope the Indians and Pakistani leadership as well as the masses do not fall into that same communal trap once again.

Re: # 4

I find your arrogance real profound. Either you`ve yet to open your eyes or you have completely declined to do so. This is very interesting.

[The real questions are who did it and why did they do it? There are basically 2 suspects - hindu fundamentalists or the jihadis. At first blush, it may appear to be the handiwork of hindu fundamentalists since most of the victims were Pakistanis or Indian muslims. But then we must ask why would they unnecessarily do such a thing?]

[ The peace talks between India and Pakistan have been going rather well for India with Pakistan more or less giving up its plebiscite demands on Kashmir, while India has not really given up anything. In fact, India has managed to cool down Kashmir quite a bit. So why would hindus be that much against the peace process to kill innocent people on a train? ]

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Re:zahraj#4

[..I find your arrogance real profound. Either you`ve yet to open your eyes or you have completely declined to do so. This is very interesting....]

What was arrogant about my analysis? Several Pakistani leaders, journalists in newspapers like Nation and even our own Manto on chowk have declared this incident to be the work of hindu fundamentalists. This is exactly what the jihadis wanted - provoke communal feelings in Pakistan against hindus all over again to create tit for tat violence and sabotage the peace process. This is a machiavellian conspiracy.

Hindu fundamentalists do not like Pakistan for sure. But I fail to see why they would unnecessarily do this when things are going well on the Indo-Pak front. The Jihadis on the other hand had every reason to do this and try to frame hindus.

The train was travelling at 60 MPH when the blaze occured. Unless someone personally hurled petrol bombs inside from outside, there`s no way roadside timed devices would have caused a blaze inside the two cars. Someone is using this accident for propaganda value ...

One passenger was saying ... yeh bomb shomb ka to koi chakar nahin hai ... ``

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007 02 20 story_20-2-2007_pg7_9

Survivors recount train inferno

PANIPAT: Survivors told on Monday how a ball of fire incinerated dozens of passengers and reduced two carriages of the India-Pakistan “Friendship Express” to charred wrecks. Kamaruddin, 60, from Multan in Pakistan, said chaos spread quickly through the train after a deadly cocktail of kerosene and explosives went off.

“I was sitting towards the end of one of the two coaches when I heard a deafening sound within few feet away from me,” said Kamaruddin. “The whole place was full of smoke and I could hear a lot of people screaming for help but I could not move.” He was taken unconscious from the scene at Deewana and awoke at a nearby hospital in Panipat.

A crowd of other injured survivors and frantic relatives struggled at the hospital to make sense of the attack. “There was a huge fire and I saw smoke coming out,” said Usman Ali, who hails from Lahore. “When I came out of the coach, I saw that the doors of one (carriage) were closed and people could not escape,” he told AFP. A man who identified himself only as Anwar said four of his Pakistani relatives from a family of six, including two children, were among the 66 dead. He held out hope that two boys had survived but was unable to enter Panipat’s Phim Sensachar Civil Hospital to check. “The doctors are not allowing me to go in. The doctors say the post-mortem has to be completed first.” A doctor said that verification could take time because of the severity of the inferno that burnt out two coaches of the train. “It’s very difficult to say who the victims were,” said Dr Ved Gupta, head of post-mortem operations at the hospital in Panipat. “Most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition,” he said. “It is difficult to say who is who, whether they are Indians or Pakistanis.” Outside the hospital more than a dozen wooden coffins lined the boundary wall of the mortuary as trucks brought slabs of ice for other bodies that were placed in bags. Sayed Ahmed, 64, from a small village in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state, said he had two relatives from Pakistan who were on the train but could not identify the burnt remains.

“They’re all in body bags. I can’t recognise anybody,” he said. A dozen injured people were moved to New Delhi from the hospital. Other survivors were spread inside the hospital grounds. afp

#9

The televised eyewitness accounts do not support this report. Noone heard any blast at all.

Any large blast would have derailed the train first.

In any case, it is agreed that the exolosives, if any, were low-intensity and petrol based. If so, these would have to be on the inside and not the outside to completely gut the cars from the inside. If that was the case, then it`s a major security lapse by India.

#10 by zeemax

After preliminary investigations, officials have concluded that the explosives were low-intensity and were probably placed inside the train at Delhi. Reports also indicate that two men got off the train just as it started from Delhi and another two got off just a few minutes before the blast when the train slowed down after an argument with a Railway Protection Force officer.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007 02 20 story_20-2-2007_pg7_10

Bomber’s deadly work on show beside tracks

DEEWANA: By the side of a railway track just outside the Indian capital, a grey suitcase lies split open, revealing a bomber’s deadly work. More than a dozen plastic bottles are packed inside, carrying a highly inflammable cocktail of fuel oils and chemicals, mixed with pieces of cloth to prolong the fire. Covering them, a foam pad embedded with a small electronic circuit board in a transparent plastic box. Coloured wires, now snipped, connect to a metal timer the size of a pencil and a thin, black torch-like detonator. Alongside, a plastic bag with a yellowish powder – thought to be sulphur – is packed in cotton wool.

Two bombs like this detonated around midnight on Sunday on a train bound from India to Pakistan, sparking fires that killed at 66 people, most of them Pakistanis. This was one of two bombs that was found later on other carriages and defused. Who planted the deadly bombs, no one yet knows. But they clearly knew what they were doing. “These were made by experts,” a police officer told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. “There was a light blinking on the outside of the suitcases probably to indicate that the timer had been set,” he said, as trains crawled by on the track alongside. Hours after the carnage, explosive experts from India’s elite National Security Guard sat beside the tracks, surrounded by lush green wheat fields, examining the defused bomb. “This seems like the act of local groups who used local materials and locally available technology,” a senior forensic scientist told Reuters. Less than a mile away, skeletons of the ill-fated coaches stand on a side track near the Deewana railway station, their blue paint peeled off by the heat to reveal a collage of black, grey and rust. Window railings, seats and luggage racks have become a mass of burnt metal. The floor is strewn with someone’s half-burned red shawl, remnants of bags, water bottles and kettles. A hint of burned flesh lingers in the air. Investigators search the coaches for clues, stamping out cinders and raising wisps of smoke as they went. Every time a train passes on the parallel track, ash and pieces of broken, burned paint from the coaches are thrown into the air. “Many, many more would have died if the other two (bombs) had also gone off,” said AS Ahlawat, a police officer in Deewana town, about 80 km north of the Indian capital. reuters

``#10 by zeemax on February 19, 2007 11:52pm PT
Any large blast would have derailed the train first. ``

i don`t think that it is necessary for the train to be derailed. the bombay bomb blasts that took place in local trains in bombay were fairly powerful bombs. but i don`t think that any of the trains were derailed.

from tv reports, these bombs were more meant for starting a fire which would have automatically killed people because the doors are closed. the unexploded bombs that have been recovred show a small explovise device linked to a timer with 6 to 8 bottles of kerosene packed in a suitcase. so its obvious that the aim is to start a big fire and the flames will do the rest.

a very sad thing has happened. i hope the people who committed this crime are caught and publicly shot.

rgds,

devkant.

#13 by devkant

from tv reports, these bombs were more meant for starting a fire which would have automatically killed people because the doors are closed.

The plan seems to have been well thought out and executed. For a start, the devices were timed to explode at around midnight when most passengers were asleep and the doors were locked to prevent unauthorized people from entering the train. The intent seems to have been to create maximum casualties with minimum effort (evidenced by the use of low-intensity explosive and the timing). Also, help cannot be summoned as easily it can be during day time. Thirdly, Deewana is not an urban center where one can reasonably avail of fire tender services quickly. The compartments caught fire at around 11:55 PM when the bombs went off, but the first fire tenders arrived only at 12:30 AM, by which time, the compartments were already completely charred and the damage done.

#11 by harish_hyd

Reports also indicate that two men got off the train just as it started from Delhi and another two got off just a few minutes before the blast when the train slowed down..

How come people were getting on and off? Wasn`t the train sealed after departure?

#13 by devkant

Devkant, the bombay train bombs were `inside` the carriages, and not outside along the tracks as is being claimed in this case.

Harish, zeemax....the report also says that before the two chaps got off the train minutes before the blasts, they had had a heated 20 min arguement with the security personel on the train.

all in all, train security in india leave a lot to be desired.

rgds,

devkant.

#15 by zeemax

How come people were getting on and off? Wasn`t the train sealed after departure?

Apparently, the two men who got off just before the blasts argued with the RPF officer about wanting to go to Ahmedabad. The RPF officer is said to have asked them to get off because it wasn`t going anywhere near Ahmedabad, and the men got off when the train slowed down just before Deewana, where the blasts occurred.

Whatever the outcome of the investigations, one thing is clear. That it is a massive failure on the part of the India to provide adequate security to the travelers.

#16 by zeemax

Devkant, the bombay train bombs were `inside` the carriages, and not outside along the tracks as is being claimed in this case.

Nope..AFAIK, what is being claimed is that there were two blasts inside the train, while one suitcase containing explosives was thrown out by a Pakistani passenger on suspicion that it could be a bomb, and it landed along the tracks. Fortunately, it didn`t explode and was later defused by the bomb-disposal squad.

2 got off train when it started, 2 before blast

Excerpt:

``Officials said they will question Rana Shaukat Ali, one of the injured admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi (see his story below), who told authorities he saw two men in his coach get into an altercation with an RPF constable near the Samalkha railway station. Kashmir Singh, the constable, died in the explosion later.

Sources quoted Ali as having told officials he overheard two “suspicious-looking” men as telling the constable that they wanted to go to Ahmedabad. “When they were told the train does not go to Ahmedabad, they said they would get off when it slows down,” sources said, quoting Ali.

Ali apparently saw the two men — they had mufflers on — jump off the train as it slowed before Diwana railway station.

Within minutes, the bombs went off, sources quoted Ali as having said.``

2 got off train when it started, 2 before blast

devkant/harish,

Still doesn`t add up. So the fire source was indeed inside the train. But then did the bomber set-off the timers, then argued with the guard for twenty minutes? And the bomb went off as soon as the guard relented and let him off?

Doesn`t add up at all. Do read Vereesh`s article for a possible explanation. Chemicals being smuggled which accidently caught fire.

#22 by zeemax on February 20, 2007 2:20am PT

vereesh`s article could have been credible had 2 suitcases of unexploded bombs not been found. but the fact that 2 unexploded bombs have been found means that it was a terrorist strike.

now what happened a few minutes before the blast can be only guess work which i find most media channela indulging in currently.

note one more thing....according to the daily time pakistan, 64 of the 68 victims are pakistanis. this could have very well been some hindu fanatic who committed the crime. given that its a fashion (many time true also) to blame pakistan for terrorist attacks in india, i wouldn`t be surprised to find that some hindu fanatic committed this crime and hoped that all attention would be diverted to pakistanis and muslims.

rgds,

devkant.

#23 by devkant

Yes ... well ... it can be both possibilities. It is still not known who bombed the bombay trains. Noone claimed responsibility. And it is not unknown to plant evidence either.

I guess further details will emerge. Or perhaps not.

#23 by devkant

At the very best, all we can do is speculate. Hindu extremists could have done it, but I doubt if they have the wherewithal and the expertise, but most importantly the motivation to pull it off. Kashmiri/Pakistani terrorists could have done it, they`re capable of it and they`ve demonstrated it time and again. But again, unless there is some concrete proof, how can we say anything for sure?

#22 by zeemax

But then did the bomber set-off the timers, then argued with the guard for twenty minutes? And the bomb went off as soon as the guard relented and let him off?

It is a distinct possibility..think about it. There also have been reports that one guy (a possible suspect) who couldn`t alight in time was caught in the blaze and is in hospital right now and the police is waiting to interrogate him.

I looked at a couple of Pakistani newspapers and at a couple of Indian newspapers yesterday. Pakistani newspapers (e.g. Dawn, News) were reporting on the human aspect of the tragedy without speculating on who did it. Indian papers were tilted towards the speculation - the Times of India having a headline assuring readers that it was - of course!! - the LeT that did it.

I hope Pakistanis continue to treat this tragedy with the dignity it deserves and dont behave like the Times of India.

One wishes Dawn will ask the same question that Times of India asked: WHO DID IT?

platitudes for the killed passengers are dime a dozen -- they are not going to bring back the dead or heal the wounded -- the toughest question is to ask did one of ours did it -- or one of theirs did it -- and then go and get the bastards where ever they are.

Looking at the fate of the Samjhauta train -- there is not much hope for any `samjhauta` over Kashmir any time soon in the future.

What a mess!

From the reliable Praveen Swami -

Behind the bombing of the train of love

http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/20/stories/2007022002571100.htm

``MOHABBAT DI gaddi,`` Allah Ditta, a locomotive driver on the Samjhauta Express called it in a February 2000 interview: ``the train of love.`` Only when counter-terrorism investigators in India succeed in arresting the perpetrators of the Samjhauta Express bombing will a full account of their motives emerge. But Pakistan`s jihadi press, little monitored in India, provides not a little insight into the hearts and minds of the terrorists who most likely carried out the attack.

Islamists have, in recent weeks, repeatedly argued that the peace process poses a threat to both Pakistan`s economic survival and its ideological raison d`etre. Growing interaction at the level of ordinary people, Islamists have claimed, is working to soften the hatred they believe is necessary to protect their nation. In their imagination, Allah Ditta`s train of love is a Trojan Horse, a vehicle for the destruction of the project of Pakistan.

On January 15, the Lashkar`s parent body, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, had organised a National Consultative Conference to formulate an Islamist response to the peace process. Attended among others by the President of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Raja Zulqarnain Khan, the Conference ``completely rejected President Pervez Musharraf`s current suggestions regarding the resolution of the Kashmir issue.``

``Indo-Pak negotiations on the Kashmir have never borne any fruit,`` the January 31 issue of the Lashkar house journal Ghazwa explained. ``Up until now,`` it stated, ``only India has enjoyed the benefits of the Islamabad Declaration. All Pakistan got from that agreement is an exchange of cultural troupes. And as if that wasn`t enough, Indian politicians have taken the exchange of such cultural troupes a step forward by suggesting eradication of borders between India and Pakistan.``

``On the other hand,`` Ghazwa went on, ``our own rulers are trying to weaken our ideological borders, instead of strengthening them. Efforts are under way by the Pakistani government to remove facts and material from the curriculum which educates our youth about the designs of the Hindus, and exposes their real mindset about Muslims in general and Pakistan in particular.``

Islamists have long claimed that the India-Pakistan people-to-people détente, of which the Samjhauta Express is a key medium, is a plot to undermine these ``ideological borders.`` In April 2004, for example, the Lashkar-linked magazine Zarb-e-Taiba had called on its readers to ``throw the bat, seize the sword.`` According to Zarb-e-Taiba, the ``sports of a mujahid are archery, horse-riding and swimming. Apart from these three sports, every other hobby is un-Islamic. The above are not just sports but exercises for jihad. Cricket is an evil and sinful sport.`` ``It is so sad,`` the magazine concluded, ``that Pakistanis are committing suicides after losing cricket matches to India. But they are not sacrificing their lives to protect the honour of the raped Kashmiri women. To watch a cricket match, we would take a day off from work. But for jihad, we have no time!``

Ghazwa approvingly quoted a participant in the Conference, retired Pakistan Army General Faiz Ali Chishti, as asserting that ``jihad remains the only solution of this conflict.`` However, General Chishti noted, pursuit of this strategy had been undermined by changing attitudes to India within Pakistan. According to Ghazwa, ``he vociferously lamented, we have neglected to educate our younger generations about the Hindu mindset. He said Hindus have never accepted Pakistan`s independence and are continually scheming to destroy it, one way or another.``

Magazines like Ghazwa and Zarb-e-Taiba are required reading for Lashkar cadre — a fact that makes it possible that the perpetrators of the bombing intended to ``educate`` audiences in Pakistan. Another possibility is that the Samjhauta Express bombers hoped to retaliate against the construction of dams in Jammu and Kashmir — an action the jihadi press has marketed as an existential threat to Pakistan. Last week, a World Bank-appointed arbitrator ruled on the construction of the Baghliar Dam. In a February 15 press release, Lashkar political chief Abdul Rahman Makki claimed ``India cannot build any dams at all on the Chenab River according to the stipulations of the Sindh-Taas Agreement.`` Mr. Makki claimed that the Baghliar Dam was being built because Pakistan`s ``timid rulers are so terrified of India.``

``Pakistan`s vast agricultural lands,`` Ghazwa had explained to its readers last month, ``are extremely dependent upon the large amount of river water which originates in Kashmir. India, on the other hand, is making all out efforts to construct dams and barrages on these rivers so that it can gain another edge over Pakistan by choking its essential water resources.`` ``In such a scenario,`` Ghazwa argued, ``to say that Kashmir is Pakistan`s `jugular vein` is an understatement. If India succeeds in depriving Pakistan of these vital water resources, nothing can stop Pakistan`s agricultural lands from turning into a desert.``

Such ideas have long constituted part of the strategic consensus in Pakistan — and were a major reason for its 1947 attack on Jammu and Kashmir. In his memoirs, Major-General Akbar Khan, the commander-in-chief of Pakistan`s assault forces, observed that Pakistan`s ``agricultural economy was dependent particularly upon the rivers coming out of Kashmir.`` ``The Mangla Headworks,`` General Khan wrote, ``were actually in Kashmir and the Marala Headworks were within a mile or so of the border. What then would be our position if Kashmir was in Indian hands?`` Lashkar leaders have long argued that only jihad can prevent this apocalyptic outcome. In an April 2003 interview to The Friday Times, Lashkar`s spiritual head Hafiz Mohammad Saeed asserted that Pakistan ought not to ``bow before India and beg for dialogue.``

Taking on the General


Significantly, though, groups like the Lashkar have turned their fire to General Musharraf — and not just because of his policies on Jammu and Kashmir. In the January 2006 issue of the Lashkar magazine Voice of Islam, Mr. Makki charged General Musharraf with ``inviting God`s wrath`` by repealing Pakistan`s controversial Hudoodullah laws, which prescribed among other things that rape victims` allegations must be supported by the testimony of male witnesses. He added that the Pakistan Government was spreading ``evil, obscenity and rebellion against Allah`s way.``

Similarly, Mr. Saeed last month told a prayer congregation in Lahore that General Musharraf`s policies would ``advance vulgarity and lewdness in our society.`` In particular, Mr. Saeed singled out ``the foolish and stupid encouragement of men and women to run together in marathon races, and efforts to give legal sanction to the killer sport of kite-flying.`` Islamists in Pakistan oppose kite-flying during Basant, a Punjab-wide peasant festival.

Despite its invective against General Musharraf, though, the Lashkar continues to operate with impunity in Pakistan. On January 3, for example, Jamaat-ud-Dawa volunteers delivered meat from animals sacrificed during Eid to prisoners at Lahore`s Central Jail and Camp Jail. Noting that many prisoners ``had been locked up for petty crimes,`` a Jamaat press release stated that the organisation had ``decided to pay the fines of these poor inmates so that they can go home and begin their lives anew and become productive citizens.``

For reasons that analysts are divided on, General Musharraf has proved either unwilling or unable to confront his Islamist opponents. In recent hearings of the United States` House Armed Service Committee, Congressman Hank Johnson publicly aired what anyone following Pakistan`s courageous journalists has long known: ``that the Pakistani intelligence service continues to collaborate with the Taliban and other insurgent groups operating out of its border regions.`` Pressure is mounting on the General to make his choice — and soon.

#27 nasah: The ``Who did it?`` is not answered by the kind of speculation geared to reach preferred conclusions as in case of the Times of India. That is merely trash journalism. The question is answered by proper police investigative work. And the job of journalists is to report the facts, not spin convenient theories.

tahmed --this is not trash journalism by TOI -- here is another `speculation` from the Times of India:

``Is there an Ahmedabad link to Samjhauta blasts?
[ 20 Feb, 2007 2127hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]


latest updates

AHMEDABAD: The blast at Panipat, aboard the Samjhauta Express, was preceded by an incident that seemed to link the suspects to Gujarat.

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan accosted two unidentified persons on the Pakistan-bound train who claimed they had got on the train by mistake and had in fact wanted to go to Ahmedabad.

The duo got down just before the train reached Panipat and exploded into flames, killing 68 passengers and injuring many.

This piece of information has got the Gujarat police worried. TOI sources said that a high-level meeting was convened in Gandhinagar and was attended by officials of the Central Intelligence Bureau, Anti Terrorist Squad and other state intelligence agencies.``(TOI)

``#26 by tahmed32 on February 20, 2007 5:40am PT``

time of india is TRASH. there is no question about it. this newspaper has always been trying to be politically correct. i have never seen the TOI actually raise relevant issues in the country.

for better quality indian journalism, i would suggest you look at the Indian Express. this newspaper by far is the best indian newspaper. though its distribution numbers do not tell the whole story, this newspaper is a very hard hitting and talks about very relevant issues.

however, on the down side, since its founder, the legendary ramnath goenka expired in the late 80`s, indian express has lost some of its fire power.

rgds,

devkant.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/23837.html

A Pakistani, he was born here, will be buried here’

PANIPAT, FEBRUARY 20 : “Isi watan me paida hue the, aur isi watan ki mitti mein dafnaaye jayenge. Phir kya hua agar woh Pakistani the (They were born here, they will be buried here. So what if they were Pakistani),” says Waqil Khan.

It’s 2 am and the family from Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, is the first to claim bodies from the 67 lying at the Panipat Civil Hospital mortuary. It has not been an easy decision. Waqil Khan lost five of his relatives from Pakistan in the blasts. All will be buried in India.

“My brother Tasleem Khan went to Pakistan in 1987 with his wife Nafisa after they were granted citizenship. They had eight children. This was his first visit, his wife and three children came with him. But he fell ill, had typhoid and could not leave on January 18, the date he was to return. We got the visa extended by a month. All five died in the blasts.”

Three other brothers also live in Putlinagar in Hathras. Waqil Khan says Tasleem went to Pakistan hoping for a better life. “Our condition is not so good. But he settled in Hyderabad (Pakistan) and got a job in a bangle factory. It took him 20 years to save enough money to visit us. Now he is no more. We just don’t know what to tell his remaining five children in Pakistan. They are all so young. We have simply told them that their parents are in a serious condition, that they should come to India as soon as they can. We don’t know what to do, we plan to keep the children with us.”

While Tasleem’s daughter Mehreen (18), Sajid (13) and Rulamin (6) died in the Samjhauta blasts, the five children in Pakistan are all below the age of 15.

Waqil Khan says there is little point in taking the five bodies to Pakistan. “Tasleem belonged to India, this was his home and those close to him are here. He had been in Pakistan for 20 years but perhaps it was Allah’s will that he die here and be buried here. He loved both Pakistan and India,” says Waqil.

By 3 am, Waqil has arranged a mini-truck. The hospital staff help him load the five coffins. It’s an eight-hour journey to Hathras. “I’m taking them home.”

Imam approached

PANIPAT: Panipat officials have approached a local Imam and identified a spot near the town where bodies which remain unidentified for four-five days may be buried. “It is possible that some bodies may remain unidentified as they are completely charred. The Muslims here have promised to help us bury the bodies if no one claims them. Later, if they are identified as Pakistani after DNA tests, the bodies can be exhumed and sent to Pakistan or wherever the next of kin desire,” said Sharad Kumar, IG (Rohtak Range).

devkant #31: Thanks. I checked, and the news item on this subject in the Indian Express was well written and certainly more balanced than the Times of India. I shall switch to Indian Express for news of events within India.