Bartering credibility

JUNIOR Union Home Minister Kiren Rejiju is on the money when he decries interference in investigating terror-related cases. But how does one account for the amazing u-turn by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Malegaon blast case? The advent of the Modi government has coincided with several witnesses turning hostile in the Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express blasts case with speculation rife that the prime accused may soon be let off. It is no one’s case that Maharashtra Police had a foolproof case against the accused in the Malegaon case that took place a few months before the Mumbai attacks. But regardless of Rejiju’s protestations, doubts arise about the government’s intentions because all the accused were linked to Hindutva organisations. 

The dropping of charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur especially rankles because of the BJP’s love for political sanyasins. In the last Lok Sabha elections, three made it on the BJP ticket to Parliament from UP alone after contaminating the campaign with their distinctive brand of communal virulence.  It is no one’s case that the MCOCA charges against Pragya and Colonel Purohit should not have been dropped. Such shortcuts in which confessions have evidentiary value with no allowance for retraction were used under TADA and POTA to fix inconvenient politicians and unrepentant separatists. 

All these aberrations and turnarounds indulged by vendors of petty politics are the country’s internal matter. But the question mark over the NIA’s integrity and honesty could cast a shadow over India’s claim of a foolproof case against Masood Azhar. India has even taken on China for casting its veto against the UN designating Azhar as a terrorist. The international community will examine the NIA’s charge of Maharashtra Police using “questionable” and “dubious” methods in the Malegaon case with a great deal of interest. Perhaps, the Supreme Court should take the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blast case probes under its wings to remove doubts about the NIA’s impartiality. This will not only give heft to India’s attempts to name Azhar as a terrorist but extradite assorted criminals accused of terrorism as well as defalcating public trust and money.