The Hindu : Prevail upon Pak. to hand over Dawood, Advani urges U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2003

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Prevail upon Pak. to hand over Dawood, Advani urges U.S.

By Our Staff Reporter

NELLORE OCT. 27. The United States must prevail upon Pakistan, "its friend", to hand over Dawood Ibrahim to India to be tried for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, said today.

At a public meeting here, Mr. Advani referred to the recent statement by the U.S. declaring Dawood an `international terrorist' assisting the Al-Qaeda terror network, and wanted the U.S. to take "action". Pakistan, he said, did not have the courage to face India directly and was indulging in subversive activities in this country. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government in the last five years had destroyed more than 200 modules of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence in the country, he said adding that "democracy is in danger if terrorism is not tackled".

Mr. Advani recalled the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's address to the U.S. Congress in 2000 warning that distance was not a deterrent against terrorism. He said that the prophecy came true on September 11, 2001, when New York's World Trade Center was destroyed in a terrorist attack. Since then the world had changed and it was in such a scenario that the demand for Dawood's extradition assumed importance, he said.

Among the many steps taken by the NDA Government to normalise relations with Pakistan, Mr. Advani said, was Mr. Vajpayee's bus journey to Lahore. Pakistan, however, mistook it for `weakness' and started the Kargil war in which it was defeated. Despite this, Mr. Vajpayee invited Pakistan's military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, to Agra for talks which unfortunately failed. India then conducted elections in Jammu and Kashmir under international supervision. All through this, Pakistan continued to aid and abet cross-border terrorism.

On the 12-proposal peace package announced by the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, last week, he said the "ball is in Pakistan's court".

The BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, asserted that there was no alternative to Mr. Vajpayee and said that the Opposition was without an agenda and leadership. He also said that he would not contest the elections and would work for the party. The Union Agriculture Minister, Rajnath Singh, the Union Minister for Surface Transport, B.C. Khanduri, the Minister for State for Urban Development, Pon. Radhakrishnan, the State BJP chief, N. Indrasena Reddy, and other functionaries were present at the meeting.

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