Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 11, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/345004/Mockery-of-justice.html
US court clears Rana of 26/11 charges
The verdict by the jury of the Chicago court
which has cleared Pakistani Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana of any involvement
in the 26/11 terrorist attack on multiple targets in Mumbai that left at least
166 people dead has no doubt come as a dampener. It is amazing that despite
the overwhelming evidence by way of extensive depositions by Pakistani American
Daood Sayed Gilani, who later changed his name to David Coleman Headley, and
what seemed to be a robust case presented by the prosecution, the jury thought
it fit to absolve the man who played a key role in plotting the massacre.
It is equally intriguing that Rana should have been found guilty on two other
charges - providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and participating
in the aborted plot to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing
cartoons allegedly caricaturing Prophet Mohammed - on the basis of the same
evidence, namely Headley's disclosures. If we are to believe that the jury
went along with Rana's lawyers who dismissed Headley's testimony as "unreliable"
and termed him "a life-long manipulator, liar and con man" while
striking down the prosecution's charge that he was involved in plotting the
Mumbai attack, then it would be in order to raise the question as to why the
star witness's deposition was found to be 'reliable' while upholding the two
other charges against the accused. Headley's testimony was in continuum; it
cannot be seen in separate compartments with facts being fitted in to suit
the jury's verdict. There is obviously a missing link somewhere and the prosecution
must address this issue. The ghastly bloodletting in Mumbai was not about
either America (though American citizens were among the victims) or Pakistan
(whose establishment was involved in planning and executing the attack); it's
also about India and the US cannot be allowed to ignore this significant fact.
It is absurd to suggest, as has been done
by Rana's lawyers - and accepted by the jury - that Headley had all along
"duped" his associate. The two had discussed the Mumbai carnage
both before and after it was committed; Rana was fully aware of Headley's
association with the ISI and its pet terrorist organisation, the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba;
he knew all along what the America spy-turned-Pakistani agent was up to; he
was deeply involved with the LeT (a fact that the jury has upheld); and, he
entirely endorsed the butchery. To allow such a man to go unscathed - it's
really not material whether he will serve 30 years in prison for plotting
the aborted attack on Jyllands-Posten and his association with a banned terrorist
organisation, the LeT - is both a travesty of justice and a repudiation of
America's claim to be leading the war on global jihad. The US Administration
will no doubt claim that the verdict is that of an 'independent' jury and
the unexpected finding is one of the hazards of that country's justice system
with which we must learn to live. But that's balderdash. The crime was committed
in India and both Headley and Rana should have stood trial in this country.
That never happened because the US did not want the world to learn more about
the deadly duo than was told by American officials. The reason is obvious:
The US has a lot to hide, both about itself and its frontline ally, Pakistan.
