Pathankot terror attack: Modi has surrendered before Pakistan, says Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal, Modi
The people of this country will not tolerate this, he said.

The meeting between National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials and a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, which arrived on Sunday to probe the deadly terrorist attack on the Pathankot Air Force Base, took place on Monday at the NIA headquarter.

However, the Centre faced a lot of opposition for allowing the JIT team from Pakistan to probe Pathankot attack as the team reportedly consists of Lt. Col Tanvir Ahmed of the ISI along with Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) AIG Rai Tahir as convener, Intelligence Bureau Lahore Deputy Director General Azim Arshad, Lt, Col Irfan Mirza of MI and Gujranwala CTD Investigating Officer Shahid Tanveer.

Kejriwal hit out at the Modi government saying, "PM Modi has surrendered before the Pakistan government by calling the ISI. The Modi government is bargaining martyrdom of martyrs. The people of this country will not tolerate this."

ISI को बुलाकर मोदी सरकार ने पाक के आगे घुटने टेके। मोदी सरकार ने शहीदों की शहादत की सौदेबाज़ी की है।भारत के लोग ये क़तई बर्दाश्त नहीं करेंगे

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 28, 2016

The team would visit Pathankot on March 29. The NIA investigators are expected to seek details on arrests in Pakistan and the action it has taken on the basis of intercepted telephone call records handed over by NSA Ajit Doval to his Pakistani counterpart, Lieutenant General Nasir Janjua.

This is for the first time in over two -and- a- half decades that Pakistan will be joining investigations in a terror attack, which was executed by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants.

The Congress on Monday too questioned the inclusion of an ISI officer in the Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that is visiting India to probe the January 2016 terrorist attack on the Pathankot Air Force Base. "Pakistan has not provided a letter rogatory for the visit of the JIT team, without it there is no guarantee of prosecution. One is forced to wonder what the investigation all about is. Why is an officer of the infamous ISI of Pakistan a part of the JIT? The role of the dreaded terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, its chief Maulana Masood Azhar, his brother Abdul Rauf, who was one of the handlers of Pathankot terror attack is well-known and widely accepted. Despite this, Pakistan Government till today has taken no action either against Jaish-e-Mohammad in terms of banning it or in terms of arresting Maulana Masood Azhar or his brother or the other handler Kashif Jaan," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told the media here.

"Unfettered access being provided to them (Pakistan JIT) and also red carpet welcome accorded by the Indian government. It raises serious question with regard to judicial propriety and genuine apprehensions vis-a-vis compromising on national security. Serious questions are also being raised about Modi government's U-turn in terms of segregation of state and non-state actors in Pakistan, who are indulging in rampant and senseless export of terror into India on an everyday basis, causing serious and irreparable loss of civilian and military lives," he added.

Surjewala further stated that the BJP Government must need to evaluate and reflect upon and answer some of the genuine apprehensions in mind of national security experts, as also, people of the country. "Prima facie it appears to be a case of an accused investigating himself. Secondly, by allowing a Pakistani investigation team to visit and investigate. BJP Government has for the first time distinguished and therefore recognized that Pakistani establishment does not have a role in perpetuating terror in India, more so in context to Pathankot terror attack," he said.

Currently, the meeting between the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials and a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan is currently underway at the NIA headquarter. The team would visit Pathankot on March 29. According to sources, the JIT comprises of Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) AIG Rai Tahir as convener, Intelligence Bureau Lahore Deputy Director General Azim Arshad, Lt. Col Tanvir Ahmed of the ISI, Lt, Col Irfan Mirza of MI and Gujranwala CTD Investigating Officer Shahid Tanveer.

On January 2, terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force. Four terrorists were killed and two security personnel were martyred in the gun battle.