The Hindu : India protests assault on mission staffer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 20, 2002

National

National

India protests assault on mission staffer

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI APRIL 19. Alleging the involvement of the Pakistani Intelligence, India today lodged a strong protest over the abduction of one of its staffers in its High Commission in Islamabad and described it as an "abominable'' act. "We have strongly protested against this abominable incident,'' the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Nirupama Rao, said.

Seeking to establish the "hand of the Pakistani Intelligence" agencies, she said the abduction of Mr. A. K. Khanna — assistant in the High Commission — had taken place in the high security diplomatic area where security had been tightened after the March 17 attack on a church located there; his apprehension could not have been a "simple act of criminality." Secondly, police there had refused to lodge a criminal case despite the insistence of the Indian High Commission staff. This would have been impossible unless the police authorities had received "suitable instructions" from higher quarters, she observed.

The Joint Secretary in-charge of Pakistan, Arun K. Singh, had taken up the matter with Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner, Jaleel Abbas Jilani. Mr. Jilani had been told in "unambiguous terms" that Pakistan would be held responsible for any consequences if Mr. Khanna was harmed. And that his abduction was all the more unacceptable as he had neither violated any Pakistani law nor breached the existing diplomatic code of conduct between the two countries.

According to sources, incidents of tit-for-tat abductions and harassment of personnel — usually staffers in the two missions — are common. In the early 1990s, a diplomat, Rajesh Mittal, was tortured after being abducted in Islamabad. This led to the signing of an agreement on the code of conduct for the treatment of diplomatic and consular personnel. India, in the last two-and-a- half years, has sent back 10 Pakistani High Commission staff members after declaring them persona non grata.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National