India is crying foul over the indefinite adjournment of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed’s trial by Pakistan’s supreme court. But the fact remains that apart from Ajmal Kasab’s allegations against Saeed during his initial confession to Mumbai Police, New Delhi has not been able to link him directly to the Mumbai attack.
The adjournment of the case has more to do with a recent SC order, rather than a desire to protect Saeed. The apex court has declared that the 2007 emergency declared by former president General Pervez Musharraf was illegal.
Hence, all advocate generals and judges appointed at that time had no standing. The advocate general of Punjab resigned on Sunday and until he is replaced, Saeed’s case cannot be heard.
But indefinite postponement of the trial has got New Delhi all worked up. “India has provided all the evidence through our dossiers...we have provided dossiers on March 5 and 13, May 20, June 9 and August 1. I don’t know what more they want,” foreign minister SM Krishna told reporters on Monday
“If they (Pakistan) have the willingness, the basic conviction … they should go after those who engineered the heinous attacks on India,” Krishna said. Home minister P Chidambaram claimed that Pakistan had enough evidence to bring charges against Saeed after handing over a dossier in this regard to Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner Rifat Masood on Saturday.
But sources said besides Kasab’s allegations, made during his questioning by the Mumbai police, there was precious little that India had given to Islamabad to nail the JUD chief.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which helped Indian investigators track calls made by the terrorists to their handlers during the attack, also found no evidence against Saeed. In fact the Americans had advised India not to focus too much on the JUD chief as even the FBI had failed to pin him down to the Mumbai strike.
Pakistan’s interior adviser Rehman Malik said there was not enough proof of Saeed’s involvement in the 26/11 carnage.
