Samjhauta Express Tragedy

Samjhauta Express Tragedy
Mike Ghouse Feb 22, 2007

If you want a better society, invoke the best in others.

I commend Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Musharaff's commitment to peace, and their statements kindling the right attitudes among the Indians and Paksitanis.

The bombing of the Samjhauta Express, the Railway Passenger train near New Delhi on the way to Lahore, Pakistan was a disgusting act carried out by extremists intent on derailing the peace process.

Someone once wrote that if you are committed to whatever you want to do in life, all sorts of things happen; providence moves in and paves the way for you. Commitment is the key for changing anything in life. Without commitment, no goal would ever be achieved.

In life, whether it is embarking on a new business, a marriage or any sort of endeavor, commitment is paramount.

If the business faces difficulties, such as losing a bid to another party, or say perhaps a loan application is denied, losing faith is the easy way out. Whatever hard times may befall us, commitment to the endeavor is the key to staying on course.

We can apply these examples in marriage, job, school or anything we do. If we are not committed, problems stop us in the face, where as when the same problems hit you when we are committed, they become part of going forward. Lets apply the same thought to the Indo-Pak peace process.

Thanks to the heads of both the nations, they did not resort to drastic measures such playing the blame game or pulling the embassy staff back. Once you take the wrong step, you go down the hill very fast, and it would take a lot of effort to restore to the place we have reached.

Their statements have generated great attitudes; both of them believe if you want a better society, you have to invoke the best. This invocation is the reason; we are not witnessing any hate today, and have not taken backward steps.

Those who carried out these attacks do not want Pakistanis and Indians to meet. They want to hurt the improving relations between Pakistan and India but they will not succeed. People on both sides of the border must continue to travel and meet and show that they are not scared to die for what is just. Solidarity is the key.

Israel can learn a lesson from us. Bombing is not the solution; it only aggravates the situation further and takes the parties far away from peace. For every action there is an equal reaction, nature is designed to find its own balance. If one has the fire power, others will have the will power. Neither side will let each other live in peace. Those is power owe the Israeli and Palestinian Children a life of hope. The leadership should be elected on the basis of peace they bring, the lives they do not squander. A new accountability system must be initiated for putting leaders on the place. I pray PM Manmohan Singh and President Musharraf will start the clock now.

I hope the Indians and Pakistanis will keep their hearts free from hate, and resist the temptations to go astray. We owe peace to every inhabitant of the land, that is when we become great nations again.

Peace should be our goal, and our attitudes ought to be geared towards that. For peace brings prosperity to the people on both sides of the equation. It is our patriotic duty to uplift every person to have at least two meals a day, decent clothing and minimum shelter.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio, discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He has appeared on the local affiliates of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS and FOX and has been written up in the news papers. He founded the World Muslim Congress with a simple theme " good for Muslims and good for the world." The organization is driven by Qur'aan, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware. Mike believes that if people can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. His articles can be found at www.FoundationforPluralism.com , www.MikeGhouse.net and http://mikeghouse.blogspot.com/ and he can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com


Pakistan forcelifts Samjhauta survivors

Pradeep Thakur, Indrani Bagchi & Megha Suri

[ 23 Feb, 2007 0030hrs IST

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pakistan_forcelifts_Samjhauta_Express_survivors/articleshow/1662455.cms

TRAUMA OVERDOSE: A critically injured Qamaruddin being bundled out of SafdarjungHospital to be taken to a waiting Pakistan Air Force transport aircraft on Thursday (TOI Photo)

NEW DELHI : Seven survivors of the Samjhauta Express tragedy were forced on Thursday to leave SafdarjungHospital on short notice and taken away to a waiting Pakistan Air Force aircraft to be flown back home. All of them were badly burned and a few of them pleaded that they be allowed to stay back for a few days more for their wounds to heal. Some said they had no one at home to look after them. But the doctors said they were helpless; these were orders from above. It transpires that Pakistan was adamant to take back their citizens who had survived the blast, no matter what their medical condition. To make matters worse for them, they were rushed out of the sanitised burns unit in the afternoon, but until the time of writing their aircraft had not taken off, ostensibly due to ‘‘technical reasons’’. In other words, they are waiting in the plane without medical attention. Some of them need it badly. For instance, 9-year-old Shamim was on ventilator when he was almost dragged out of Safdarjung’s ICU along with six others and put on a PAF special aircraft to be airlifted to Lahore. Some of the blast victims cried in vain to be allowed to stay back till they recuperated. As early as Monday, Pakistan asked the Indian government for permission to bring a C-130 transport aircraft to airlift injured Pakistani citizens from Indian hospitals. Baffled, the Indian government took a little time to digest this. The Pakistani victims had been badly injured in body and in spirit and it seemed a very strange request. Finally, India said the injured could be removed only after medical clearance.


Hope floats: Samjhauta is back on tracks

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Hope_floats_Samjhauta_is_back_on_tracks/articleshow/1656110.cms


NEW DELHI: Hundreds of passengers overcame fear and strict security checks on Thursday to travel by rail from India to Pakistan, the first journey on the route since 68 people were killed when a train was bombed this week. Two bombs exploded around midnight on Sunday on the Samjhauta Express, which connects New Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan, triggering a blaze in two coaches that burned victims alive in Panipat. “All of us have to die someday. There is no need to be scared,” said Ameena Bano, a 63-year-old Pakistani woman, sitting on a large blue bag near the platform before boarding the train in Delhi's chaotic station. Bano, who had been visiting her brother-in-law in India, said those behind the blasts would not achieve their goal. “They want to hurt the improving relations between Pakistan and India but they will not succeed,” she said, as people carrying suitcases pushed their way through security barricades. Although the neighbours are linked by air and bus services as well, the bi-weekly train is more popular with mostly the middle-class and poor travellers as it is cheaper. As it was relatively less guarded by security agencies, investigators suspect the train may have been targeted by Muslim extremists who are opposed to a peace process between the neighbours and want to derail it. Authorities said security lapses at the station had allowed the attackers to place the suitcase bombs on the train. On Wednesday, they stepped up checks to unprecedented levels, using sniffer dogs and manually searching luggage. Relatives and friends were not allowed on the platform to see off passengers and armed policemen stood guard by the blue coaches. “We are having security like they have at the airports,” Rajiv Saxena, a railway spokesman, said. “Even I am not allowed on the platform.” Railway officials said the blasts had not hurt bookings for the Samjhauta Express which left just after midnight. Wednesday's service was fully booked with about 700 passengers making the journey and two extra coaches added to meet the rush. Haji Habibul Rehman, a cloth-store owner from Pakistan's Punjab province travelling to Lahore, said he had been due to travel on the ill-fated train on Sunday but was forced to cancel the trip due to a delayed medical appointment. “A doctor's appointment saved us,” said Rehman, 52. “Those who carried out these attacks do not want Pakistanis and Indians to meet. But people must travel and meet and show we are not scared, even of death.”