Deafening silence on David Headley & Tahawwur Rana extradition while US hounds Nikhil Gupta
Image credit X @drsjaishankar
US remains mum on extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror masterminds
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, June 19: The US national security advisor Jake Sullivan is wrapping up his two-day visit. He met Union Minister for External Affairs Subhramanyam Jaishankar, and his counterpart Ajit Doval.
Sullivan reportedly raised the issue of the alleged murder plot of the Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun during his talks with the Indian hosts. His visit to New Delhi was set in the backdrop of the Indian national Nikhil Gupta extradited to the US from the Czech Republic.
Gupta was pushed and shoved into an airline while being taken to the US. Washington has warned that the US will not tolerate such brazen act on its soil.
Also Read: China fumes at US Congressional delegation meeting with Dalai Lama
Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi has also been attributed to the warming up of the bilateral relations between India and the US. The two nations are fast-pacing cooperation in Initiative on Critical Emerging Technology (ICET), signed in 2022.
Sullivan’s high-profile foray into the security alleys of New Delhi also coincided with the bipartisan US Congressional delegation arriving in McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh to meet Dalai Lama. China, predictably, warned the US against meddling into the affairs of the Communist country.
Sullivan and Doval have been holding meetings on a regular basis. Both are credited to have enhanced intelligence sharing between the two nations.
Also Read: Paras Defence & Space turns hot to gain 20% in row
But there has been a deafening silence on extradition of David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Both are in the American custody.
Both Headley and Rana are butchers of Mumbai. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was as ghastly as 9/11 twin tower attacks in the US.
Americans bombed Afghanistan to flatten cities and villages in terrorist-infested country. India didn’t bomb any terrorist infested country for 26/11.
But the US refuses to extradite Headley and Rana. Both have Pakistani origins. Yet, the US has been hectoring India on the alleged Pannun murder plot as a matter of routine ritual.
Pannun is a Sikh separatist who openly called for terror activities in India. His associates in Canada are accused to have carried out terror acts in India.
Also Read: Modi govt can collapse any day, says Rahul Gandhi
Gupta is not accused of killing Pannun. He is charged for a ‘hire for murder’ plot. This should have been too weak a ground for extradition.
On the contrary, the US should invite unfriendly charges for not extraditing Headley and Rana. It may also be perplexing to note that unlike the regularity of the utterances of the US State Department on ‘Pannun murder plot’, the Indian External Affairs Ministry is not heard to have spoken a word on extradition demand of Headley and Rana for ages.
Could India have told the US that Gupta would also be tried in an Indian court, and if found guilty he would serve jail term as is the case with Headley and Rana?
India on the contrary had been defensive against the ganging up for ‘Five Eye’ partners – the US, Canda, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
The contrasting tale of Headley and Rana on one side and Gupta on the other should just be seen as an assertion of white supremacy. This should surely be unacceptable to India which is keeping the US economy afloat by giving huge orders for the American manufacturers.
Join WhatsApp channel of The Raisina Hills
About The Author
