Pakistan Must Demand General VK Singh’s Extradition

Pakistan must demand General VK Singh’s extraditio​n for involvemen​t in bombings on Pak soil

The current US Secretary of Defense also confirmed in a previously unreleased video that India has, over the years, ‘financed problems for Pakistan’ using Afghanistan as a base.

When Bilal Lashari’s WAAR was released just days ago in Pakistan, a lot of eyebrows were raised over the depiction of the Indian involvement in terror on Pakistan’s soil. Prominent Pakistani journalists declared it as jingoistic propaganda, far removed from reality.

It is, therefore, a timely slap in the faces of the pro-Indian lobby in Pakistan that the recently retired Indian Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh admitted India’s involvement in doling out money to separatist terrorists in Balochistan and sponsoring bombings elsewhere in the country.

VK Singh is a political ally of BJP leader Narendra Modi, also known as the Butcher of Gujarat for his role in the massacre of Muslims in the Indian state in 2002.

VK Singh’s admission comes in an inquiry report prepared by India’s DG Military Operations, highlighting the activities of an army unit called the Tactical Support Division (TSD) – raised on the directives of the Defence Minister and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon. It consists of six officers, five JCOs and 30 men, and is operated out of the capital, Delhi.

The TSD is said to have been given tasks ranging from clandestine monetary support and training of separatists and other terrorist elements targeting the Pakistani state and military, as well as targeted assassinations of senior political and religious leaders, including Jama’at ud Dawa Chief Hafiz Saeed, blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Saeed has a US$ 10m bounty on his head, placed by the United States last year, although bizarrely it is for ‘information leading to (his) arrest’ that would stand up in court – an admission by the Americans that the current information, including that from India, for Saeed’s alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks is insufficient and inadmissible in court.

In light of the above, it is criminal of the Pakistani state and the Interior as well as Foreign and Defence Ministries to ignore General VK Singh’s admission of guilt in running a terrorist cartel in Pakistan and not call for his immediate arrest and extradition to Pakistan, along with Colonel Munishwar Nath Bakshi who heads the TSD. In addition to these two, Pakistan must also demand the extradition of Colonel Purohit, a serving Indian Army Officer who was found involved in a series of bombings on Indian soil, including the Samjhauta Express bombing of 2007. All of these attacks were initially blamed on Pakistan by the Indian media and security officials.

Pakistan must also press on the United States to put a leash on the Indian presence in Afghanistan and restrict it from using that country to destabilize Pakistan.

The current US Secretary of Defense also confirmed in a previously unreleased video that India has, over the years, ‘financed problems for Pakistan’ using Afghanistan as a base.

Additionally, Pakistan needs a strong media and broadcast watchdog to keep an eye on the presence of the pro-Indian lobby in Pakistan’s media, acting against the national interest by deliberately downplaying Indian terrorism in Pakistan, and serving Delhi’s interests by using every opportunity to attack Pakistan and its security forces.