BJP warns against agreeing to trial of accused in Pakistan

Pune, Jan 16 (PTI) Claiming that a trial in Pakistan
of the Mumbai terror attack accused will only be a "farce",
India's main Opposition BJP Friday warned the government
against buckling under international pressure on the issue .

"The nation is shocked and astonished to hear from
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that India is ready
for the trial in Pakistan, knowing well that it will be a
farce," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Prakash
Jawdekar told reporters here.

Mukherjee had in a TV interview said that India will
have no objection if those behind terror acts here are put to
"fair trial" in Pakistan itself but he Friday issued a
"clarification" that "there is no question of dilution of our
demand of extradition (of those responsible for terror acts in
India)."

Demanding that those accused in the November 26
attacks face trial in India, the BJP said any shift in this
stand would amount to "betrayal of the victims and martyrs of
the Mumbai terror attacks".

Jawdekar alleged that the government had "buckled
under international pressure to bail out Pakistan and lost the
political will to fight terrorism".

Asking for an all-party meeting to be convened on the
issue, Jawdekar claimed that it was ironical that just a few
days back Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had made
a statement to the effect that India would come around to
accept Pakistan viewpoint on the trial of terror suspects. PTI
HBJ
PMR