India must build irrefutable case

The backdrop in which Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari assumed office — the fierce anti-military mobilisation in that country, and his wife Benazir Bhutto’s assassination by terrorists for which many blamed the establishment — ensured that Pakistan had a sympathetic audience in the region and the wider world. In coming to power Mr Zardari disappointed opinion in his own country by the way he treated his crucial ally Nawaz Sharif and gave short shrift to the judiciary.

But this was overlooked, given the wider scheme of things. This is now set to change. The manner in which Mr Zardari has so implausibly — and ham-handedly — denied that the Mumbai attackers were Pakistanis cannot but give his credentials a setback. His observation is astounding. It flies in the face of the evidence collated so far by Indian investigators and corroborated by their American counterparts.

US director of intelligence Mike McConnell has all but named the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, in saying that those who attacked Mumbai last week were the same people who had planted bombs in Mumbai’s suburban train two years ago, killing 200 people, and executed the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has noted that even if the terrorists were “stateless” or “non-state actors”, as Mr Zardari has maintained, Pakistan could not shirk the responsibility of dealing with them as they operated from Pakistani territory.

None of this, however, should be a reason for the Indian investigation to be anything less than professional and thorough. The evidence being collected is not for presentation to a court of law at this stage. In any case, terrorism cases — by their very nature — are hard to nail down through procedures of Anglo-Saxon legal jurisprudence (hence the Guantanamo Bay rules). Even so, India’s case must be so firm that those who see it internationally are persuaded that the path of wholesale denial that Islamabad has chosen to adopt is taking a step too far.

This exercise is an integral part of the diplomatic efforts that will constitute India’s eventual response to the Mumbai terror attack, an important and necessary first step. The lone captured terrorist being questioned by the Indian authorities is certain to have also been trained by his handlers to withstand sophisticated interrogation, which is a matter of specialisation among those who operate in the shadows.

 It is widely understood in specialist circles in this country, as well as in the United States and Western Europe, that terrorist training is handled in Pakistan by serving or retired Army officers and those belonging to the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence. In the event, the information coming from the captured terrorist in Mumbai has to be treated with due circumspection. He is likely to attempt to sell dummies. Every caution must be exerted to prepare a dossier that will impress serious investigators anywhere. This may involve some coordination and forensic and legal assistance from others across the world who have been victims of terrorism. The necessity for this cannot be overemphasised.