13 years have gone by, Samjhauta Express affectees still seek justice: FO

ISLAMABAD: Expressing solidarity with the families of the victims, Pakistan on Tuesday reminds the Indian government of its responsibility to take serious and credible steps to bring the perpetrators of the Samjhauta Express blasts to justice at the earliest and without further delay, ARY News reported.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that the victims of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack continue to await justice.

Thirteen years ago, on 18 February, the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express train blasts resulted in the death of 68 passengers, including more than 40 Pakistani nationals, she added.

The inordinate delay in justice for the victims of this tragedy, despite the availability of evidence, illustrates the unwillingness of the Indian government to hold the perpetrators to account for their barbaric action.

Last year’s acquittal of the self-confessed mastermind of the attack, Swami Aseemanand and some other accused, only reconfirms the culture of impunity that the perpetrators of terrorist attacks enjoy under the RSS/BJP-led, Hindutva-driven, political dispensation in India, the spokesperson added.

Last year on March 20, an Indian court had released accused persons in the Samhauta Express blast that had killed over 60 people more than decade ago, mostly Muslims.

According to Indian media, the National Investigation Agency Court had acquitted an accused named Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta Express blast case. The NIA court in Panchkula had also dismissed the application seeking permission for deposition of Pakistani witnesses in the case.