Pakistan may finally handover Dawood Ibrahim to India

Friday, 04/10/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/national/pakistan-may-finally-handover-dawood-ibrahim-to-india/87734

NEW DELHI: Pressure is building up on Pakistan to handover the dreaded gangster and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to India. The new Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is believed to be not averse to the idea but certainly with lot of conditions as it may not be so easy for him to sell the idea in his country.

Highly placed sources in New Delhi revealed that the handing over of Dawood Ibrahim to India figured prominently in the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif as also between Singh and the US President Barrack Obama.

Singh reportedly urged Obama to prevail upon Pakistan to handover Dawood to India who is wanted in a number of terrorist related violence cases particularly the Mumbai bomb blasts in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhaya.

Dawood, who was a deadly gangster in Mumbai moved to Dubai and Karachi where he was protected by the Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency. He has been moving between Karachi and Dubai ever since he got patronage and protection from the ISI. He is believed to be controlling part of the Mumbai underworld while staying in Karachi and Dubai.

Dawood’s name figures prominently in the list of the people India wants Pakistan to handover. Pakistan has however consistently maintained that Dawood was not staying in that country although his residential address of Karachi is a public knowledge in Pakistan.

It remains to be seen as how far Nawaz Sharif will be able to prevail upon the military backed ISI to take an initiative to handover Dawood to India. Both the military and ISI are most unlikely to encourage any such move since Dawood remains their prime asset in the proxy war against India. Besides, Dawood’s network is believed to be working to recruit people for the terror activities across India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has always been accused of being a weak Prime Minister and his UPA government has been accused of going soft on terror, Pakistan and border skirmishes, is believed to have strongly argued the case for Dawood’s extradition to India. This will send a strong message across the country that the UPA government is not as weak as it is thought to be and nor is Manmohan Singh so meek a Prime Minister and that too ahead of the crucial General Elections scheduled for 2014.