The bombing by RSS terrorists killed nearly seventy people, more than forty Pakistani citizens on the train
Justice delayed is justice denied, is an age-old cliché that holds a very powerful meaning. Unfortunately for some, even delayed justice doesn’t appear to be a possibility. 68 people died on this day including 40 Pakistanis on this very day on the Samjhauta Express train when a bomb went off. Many of the victims were burnt alive. Indian authorities claimed that it was the Pakistan-based terror outfits that carried out the attack. However, the flimsy allegations came crumbling down when irrefutable evidence of the involvement of RSS and the Indian military’s factions was found in the investigation.
The Hindu Extremist Confessions
A Hindu extremist from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sadhu Aseemanand Swami, alias Naba Kumar Das, confessed he was involved in Samjhauta Express as well as other bombings. Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) also arrested a serving Lt. Col. Srikant Purohit along with other army officials. Purohit confessed he was involved in the Samjhuta Express bombing. The army personnel provided support to the Hindu Extremist groups by training them and providing them with military-grade explosive RDX used in the Malegaon bombings and terrorist attacks in other Indian cities. Purohit’s testimony also hinted at a much larger problem in the Indian army where the higher-ups, possibly including the then army chief, also had Hindu nationalist designs and supported such causes.
Acquittals in the case
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Haryana state acquitted four individuals accused in the Samjhauta Express bombing case, giving the accused the benefit of the doubt in 2018. “The NIA Special Court has concluded that the investigating agency has failed to prove the conspiracy charge and ruled that [the] accused deserve a benefit of [the] doubt,” The Indian Express quoted NIA Counsel RK Handa as saying. The accused Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, and Rajinder Chaudhary were present in the court while the alleged mastermind Sunil Joshi was killed in 2007.
Families search for justice
The Indian legal system had failed the victims of Samjhauta Express. Despite confessions from the accused, the court still sided with them and murdered justice in the process. This not only denied victims their right to justice but also left their families in agony over such misdeeds. The so-called world’s biggest democracy not only failed the Pakistanis but also their own citizens that died on that very day.