New Delhi: Home minister P Chidambaram feels that exchanging fugitives' lists with Pakistan is a futile exercise.
Under attack from his rivals for the faux pas in the "most wanted" list handed over to Pakistan, Chidambaram dismissed the suggestion that the embarrassing lapse will encourage Islamabad to shrug off New Delhi's demand for the custody of fugitives holed up in the neighbouring country.
Asked about the concern in a TV interview, Chidambaram said "I doubt it. You see these lists have been exchanged in 2004, 2007 and 2011. Pakistan has always been dismissive." The home minister also appeared to doubt the utility of exchanging list with Pakistan. He explained, "They never acted on any list. In fact, I asked the home secretary what is this ritual of exchanging lists when they never act on this list. They give us a list and most of those names; we flatly deny (they) are in India. They give lists of people allegedly for minting trouble in Baluchistan and elsewhere, and we reject it. So, I think it is a genuine mistake, in fact, I wonder why we are exchanging these lists over the last 7-8 years, but that's been a practice".
Asked whether he meant to say that the bungle has given no fresh handle to Pakistan as it has in any case never acted on India's "most wanted" lists, Chidambaram said, "As I said, it is embarrassing, but it is not something that will change the dynamics of the relationship between India and Pakistan or the status of the discussions between India and Pakistan because Pakistan has always been dismissive of these lists". The minister denied the goof-up has damaged government's credibility, but said it was "a wakeup call to the agencies to become more professional".
Chidambaram disagreed with the suggestion that the government owed an apology to Wazhul Kamar Khan and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan, who have been dubbed fugitives despite being in India.
Emphasizing that the two were fugitives from justice, Chidambaram said "it was not right to exonerate them at this stage" since they have been accused in grave cases. The home minister said that while government was regretful and had said so, the suggestion that it needed to apologize is "carrying the argument too far".
He added, "No. I don't think this is a case where we owe anyone an apology. If we owe an apology, if we owe a regret, it's the regret that we have expressed, that there was a genuine human error in not updating the list.' Chidambaram, who has owned up to the error, emphasized that the bungle was essentially the fault of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "Obviously, it embarrasses the ministry of home affairs. We rely on lists given by the CBI, which is Interpol's national crime division. They maintain the list of most wanted against whom red corner notices are given. Please remember, both mistakes occurred in one part of the list, namely the red corner notices. Since the list was handed over formally by the Home Secretary, we have taken what I would call constructive responsibility."
He focused on CBI's accountability in the matter, stressing that the list prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which, unlike the CBI, functions under the MHA, was error-free.
"NIA, which is under the home ministry directly, gave a list of 10 names and they have given in writing that all ten are believed to be fugitives from justice abroad. Now, if CBI discovers more mistakes, well I would be sorry for them, but I hope there are no mistakes," Chidambaram said.
Under attack from his rivals for the faux pas in the "most wanted" list handed over to Pakistan, Chidambaram dismissed the suggestion that the embarrassing lapse will encourage Islamabad to shrug off New Delhi's demand for the custody of fugitives holed up in the neighbouring country.
Asked about the concern in a TV interview, Chidambaram said "I doubt it. You see these lists have been exchanged in 2004, 2007 and 2011. Pakistan has always been dismissive." The home minister also appeared to doubt the utility of exchanging list with Pakistan. He explained, "They never acted on any list. In fact, I asked the home secretary what is this ritual of exchanging lists when they never act on this list. They give us a list and most of those names; we flatly deny (they) are in India. They give lists of people allegedly for minting trouble in Baluchistan and elsewhere, and we reject it. So, I think it is a genuine mistake, in fact, I wonder why we are exchanging these lists over the last 7-8 years, but that's been a practice".
Asked whether he meant to say that the bungle has given no fresh handle to Pakistan as it has in any case never acted on India's "most wanted" lists, Chidambaram said, "As I said, it is embarrassing, but it is not something that will change the dynamics of the relationship between India and Pakistan or the status of the discussions between India and Pakistan because Pakistan has always been dismissive of these lists". The minister denied the goof-up has damaged government's credibility, but said it was "a wakeup call to the agencies to become more professional".
Chidambaram disagreed with the suggestion that the government owed an apology to Wazhul Kamar Khan and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan, who have been dubbed fugitives despite being in India.
Emphasizing that the two were fugitives from justice, Chidambaram said "it was not right to exonerate them at this stage" since they have been accused in grave cases. The home minister said that while government was regretful and had said so, the suggestion that it needed to apologize is "carrying the argument too far".
He added, "No. I don't think this is a case where we owe anyone an apology. If we owe an apology, if we owe a regret, it's the regret that we have expressed, that there was a genuine human error in not updating the list.' Chidambaram, who has owned up to the error, emphasized that the bungle was essentially the fault of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "Obviously, it embarrasses the ministry of home affairs. We rely on lists given by the CBI, which is Interpol's national crime division. They maintain the list of most wanted against whom red corner notices are given. Please remember, both mistakes occurred in one part of the list, namely the red corner notices. Since the list was handed over formally by the Home Secretary, we have taken what I would call constructive responsibility."
He focused on CBI's accountability in the matter, stressing that the list prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which, unlike the CBI, functions under the MHA, was error-free.
"NIA, which is under the home ministry directly, gave a list of 10 names and they have given in writing that all ten are believed to be fugitives from justice abroad. Now, if CBI discovers more mistakes, well I would be sorry for them, but I hope there are no mistakes," Chidambaram said.
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