Islamabad: Suspecting the terror attack on the Delhi-Attari special train as the handiwork of ‘Hindu extremists,’ a section of the Pakistani media on Tuesday said it was clearly aimed at derailing the Indo-Pak peace process. The Nation newspaper, which carried the news of the blasts on front page under the headline ‘Hindu extremists’ link suspected,’ warned India in its editorial against blaming ‘jihadi’ outfits without proof.
"The Indians had better be more careful as to what they say. First of all, blaming jihadi outfits without proof will be incorrect," the paper said in the editorial. "For all we know, Hindu fundamentalists might be behind the incident. We know Shiv Sena and the like are not too pleased with the train service," the newspaper alleged.
"Even if, for the sake of argument, we consider that militant Islamists were behind the act, it will not, in any way, shift the onus. These people died under Indian watch. It was their job to make their railway network more safe and secure, especially for services like the high-profile Samjhauta Express, which are more likely to be targeted by such groups," it said.
Blasts in the train and a subsequent fire killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, near Haryana’s Panipat. The paper said, "Many lapses in the Indian railways system, on the security front and otherwise, have come under light after this incident. It (India) should make all out efforts to trace and punish those responsible for this, the highest ever body count of Pakistanis in India," the paper said.
The News said the attack ‘must be the work of the elements opposed to the ongoing peace process between the two countries. It is worth noting that the deadly explosion took place a day before Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri’s three-day trip to India.’
"As far as the motive is concerned, the attackers could be from an array of opponents to the peace process; from the militants in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir who have opposed the ongoing dialogue and taken a hard line on the four-point plan put forward by President Pervez Musharraf to the Shiv Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal-combine, which has time and again expressed opposition to the peace talks."
"Of course these are not the only opponents of peace between the two countries," it said, adding that ‘several statements made in recent months by the top Indian military brass particularly with regard to settling of the Siachen dispute have shown that institution to be bitterly opposed to peace.’ "One hopes that in this case there will at least be no finger-pointing by the Indian authorities without a thorough investigation into the causes of the blasts," it said.
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