New Delhi : Indian defence experts on Wednesday taunted Pakistan’s ‘expected fabricated’ response on David Coleman Headley’s deposition, calling it funny.
The response came after Pakistan’s former interior minister Rehman Malik rubbished the testimony of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks convict about his alleged part in conducting the deadly massacre in November 2008.
As reported by The Express Tribune, Malik while brushing aside all ‘allegations levelled by India against Pakistan for ulterior motives’ said that Headley was planted by India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for executing the Mumbai attacks and then getting concocted statements from him.
Rubbishing Malik’s statements, former diplomat Rajiv Dogra said the former’s words had no relation to rationality or wisdom.
“Malik is known for his outlandish statements. His words have no relation to rationality or wisdom. He is not taken seriously by his own country. So, we must not give any importance to what he says,” he told ANI in an exclusive telecon.
Another defence expert Qamar Agha called Malik’s statement funny and asked as to who would buy this argument.
“Such statements have been coming in from Pakistan for a long time. When the Peshawar attack (December 2014) happened, they said India did it. When a few days ago, people were killed in Pakistan by the Taliban, they said India did it. So, these statements have no worth,” he told ANI.
Experts have time and again expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s ‘denial’ of their role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The statement by the former interior minister yet again proved Pakistan’s refutation over the involvement of their premier military operated intelligence service, the ISI.
Headley in his deposition has named Major Ali and Major Iqbal of the ISI and Lashkar commander Sajid Mir as his contacts in Pakistan. He also revealed that the intelligence agency provided financial, moral as well as military support to the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Experts like Agha, Dogra and Commodore Uday Bhaskar have remained sceptical about whether Headley’s deposition would make any difference to the stance adopted by Pakistan in the ongoing trial of the alleged perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.
“It is expected of Pakistan. They have not been serious. That is why there has been no progress on the 26/11 case in the last seven years. What Malik said is representative of the mindset of the establishment in Pakistan,” said Dogra.
“Incidentally, Malik is someone who was not even loyal to his leader Benazir Bhutto. He ran away for his life when his leader, who made him what he is today, died in front of his own eyes. He will always shy away from the truth,” he added.
Voicing similar opinion, Agha said the testimony of Headley was an important one as he has exposed all those people who he had direct links with in the ISI.
“Headley’s testimony is very important. The Indian court is respected by many courts worldwide. Headley’s lawyers were also present during the deposition. But it is in Pakistan’s history to deny their involvement. They also said that Kasab did not belong to Pakistan, but later they found that he did,” he added.
With such statements of denunciation expected from Pakistan, the Indian experts said there was no value to these statements and they did not feel that India needed to respond.
Agha has time and again said that India should expose Pakistan’s true face, which has always been in denial mode, before the world community, and reiterated, “There is no need for India to respond. I think the Government of India would send a dossier.”
He further said, “The matter should now be brought to the United Nations Security Council’s unit which deals with terrorism and pressure should be built on Pakistan because the people who dies in the 26/11 attack were not just Indians. When Iran was punished for just making uranium, Pakistan should be completely boycotted after the havoc they’ve created in Afghanistan and South Asia.”
Dogra said, “India must treat his (Malik’s) lies with the contempt they deserve and see to it that 26/11type incidents are not unleashed by Pakistan again.”
In his revelation during the deposition yesterday, Headley said that Pakistan’s spy agency ISI provides financial, moral as well as military support to terror outfits like the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Headley said that he was asked by the ISI to recruit Indian army men to spy for them.
On the first day of the deposition, he revealed the sequence of events and planning behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Headley, one of the main conspirators in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, deposed as a witness in the case and admitted that he had come to the city with a false identity at the behest of his colleague and handler Sajid Mir, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative.
Meanwhile, post a technical snag in video-conferencing, David Coleman Headley’s deposition has been adjourned till Thursday. (ANI)