Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lodged a diplomatic protest with India on Friday over its decision to release a man jailed over a 2007 train bombing that killed 68 people, including 42 innocent Pakistanis.

In this regard, the director general (South Asia and SAARC) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in Indian deputy high commissioner and protested against the Indian National Investigation Agency’s decision of not contesting the bail granted to Swami Aseemanand on “special leave permission”.

The protest to the Indian deputy high commissioner, made as Pakistan celebrated the anniversary of its independence from India, comes as the two nuclear-armed rivals prepare for a high-level meeting on August 23-24.

That will be the first serious effort in months to improve strained relations, though the two sides have vastly different expectations.

The Samjhauta Express, one of the two active rail links between Pakistan and India, was bombed in February 2007. No action has been taken by the Indian authorities against the mastermind and perpetrator of this dastardly attack.

“The government of Pakistan expects India to take steps to bring to justice all those involved in the heinous act of terrorism on the Samjhauta Express, in which 42 Pakistani innocent citizens lost their lives,” it said in a statement.The Indian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Swami Aseemanand, a Hindu holy man or ‘sadhu’ and former member of the nationalist organisation Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was jailed in 2010 after he admitted involvement in the attack on the train, which was en route to Lahore.

He later said he was tortured to give a false statement, and earlier this month India’s premier investigation agency announced it would not oppose a court’s decision last year to grant him bail.

Pakistan said it had “serious reservations on the efficiency of the court in processing and disposal of cases regarding terrorism, especially those involving deaths of Pakistani citizens”.

Relations between the two countries chilled again after the election of the right-winger Narendra Modi as Indian prime minister last year.

This April, Pakistan infuriated India by granting bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused of plotting a 2008 militant assault in Mumbai that killed 166 people.