The extradition of Tahawwur Rana marks a major win for India. He is accused of helping plan the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian, arrived in India after a long legal process in the US. His return is seen as a big boost to India’s fight against terrorism.
Rana once served as a doctor in the Pakistani army. He later moved to Canada and became involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group behind the 2008 attacks. He is believed to have helped David Headley scout locations in Mumbai.
India hopes Rana’s interrogation will reveal details of Pakistan’s involvement. Officials expect him to name army officers and ISI agents linked to the attack. This could strengthen India’s case against Pakistan on global platforms.
The trial may finally offer some closure to the families of the 166 victims. Rana’s extradition is a key step in the long road to justice.
Water tight case
While extradition of one of the key conspirators is certainly a defining moment for Indian diplomacy, the war against cross-border terrorism is far from over.
Rana’s interrogation should help India build a water-tight case to expose the involvement of Pakistan’s Deep State at multiple levels. Only then, the families of 166 people killed in the Mumbai terror attacks can get a sense of closure.
The fresh leads from the probe agencies could strengthen India’s case against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on the global stage, including at forums like the United Nations Security Council. Pakistan should be exposed before the international community for what it is: a rogue state.
It is preposterous on the part of Pakistan to now try to distance itself from Rana on the ground that he chose to be a Canadian citizen.
It is no secret that Islamabad has been consistently denying assistance to New Delhi in prosecuting Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and other Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives based in Pakistan. Now, Rana’s interrogation could mean an endgame for Pakistan.
Already, there is a growing realisation across the world that Pakistan has become a hub for global terror and that it continues to pursue the policy of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy to inflict the much-touted 'death by thousand cuts’ on India.
India has been steadfast in its position that talks and terrorism cannot go together and that Islamabad must take credible steps to dismantle terror infrastructure and end the support to anti-India militant outfits operating from its soil.
Well-planned operation
In the days ahead, Rana will be questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on his connections with the (LeT), the kind of support he provided to them and the information that he has on the other LeT operatives.
The NIA will also be probing Rana’s relationship with Pakistan's Intelligence Agency, ISI and its specific role in engineering the Mumbai attacks.
Based on his responses, the NIA is likely to continue its investigation into the 26/11 attacks, aiming to uncover additional individuals and organisations connected to the plot.
The onus will now be on India’s probe agencies to make him specify the role of Pakistani state actors in the attacks.
Rana is accused of facilitating the Mumbai attacks by arranging for the travel of a fellow terrorist and an American citizen of Pakistani origin, David Coleman Headley, to Mumbai for surveillance for the purpose of the attacks.
On November 26, 2008, a group of Pakistan-sponsored LeT terrorists entered Indian territory through a sea route in the Arabian Sea. They carried out ghastly terror attacks on different locations in Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, two luxury hotels- Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, Cama Hospital and a Jewish centre called Nariman House. The most audacious attack on Indian soil lasted for about 60 hours.
Rana was arrested in the United States in 2009, along with Headley. In 2013, he was sentenced to 14 years for conspiring to support LeT and for a foiled LeT-sponsored plot in Denmark. Separately, Headley also pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of six Americans in Mumbai attacks and the foiled attack in Denmark.
Sham trial
Pakistan has consistently tried to hoodwink the international community in the face of mounting pressure to bring the conspirators of the Mumbai attacks to book.
The trial of the accused in a Pakistani anti-terror court was nothing short of a sham. After initially denying involvement of any of its nationals in the attacks, Pakistan’s security forces rounded up a few suspects when India and western nations, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, provided evidence of the involvement of the LeT. But, none of them was convicted.
Though the trial began in 2009, the first charge-sheet filed by the Federal Investigation Agency in November that year made no mention of the role of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, even though there was considerable evidence that he had been in contact with the attackers, including Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist who was captured alive in Mumbai.
There is not even a shred of evidence on the ground to suggest that Islamabad is serious about checking the activities of anti-India terror outfits.
Former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani revealed in his 2016 book that shortly after the Mumbai carnage, then ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha admitted that the planners of the attacks were “our people”.
Extradition efforts
Multiple agencies worked tirelessly over years to get Rana to face trial in the Indian court. The process gathered momentum after 2020, when the NIA made a formal request. Indian agencies submitted evidence in support of the extradition request, including transcripts of David Headley’s testimony in the Northern District of Illinois (NDIL) case. The evidence submitted by India outlines, point by point, Rana’s role as an accomplice to Headley in the planning of the Mumbai attacks.
Following years of legal proceedings and based on extensive documentary evidence, sworn testimony, and intercepted communications submitted by the Indian government, the United States Supreme Court has approved Rana’s extradition.
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