India protests assault on staffer in Pakistan

India protests assault on staffer in Pakistan
JYOTI MALHOTRA & AGENCIES

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, JANUARY 17: India has reacted strongly to the abduction of one of its staffers in its mission in Islamabad, an act New Delhi feels signals another downward step in the worsening bilateral relationship.

``These are unfounded and baseless allegations against one of our staffers, Mr Moses,'' the official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said, pointing to Pakistani charges on Sunday that Moses had been picked up in Islamabad while on his way to meet a ``contact'' and that he had ``explosive'' material on him.

``We have lodged a very strong protest against the government of Pakistan and told them it is responsible for ensuring the safety of all personnel in the High Commission,'' the spokesman said.

Nevertheless, New Delhi is not about to take any drastic action just yet, such as downgrading the mission in Islamabad, aware that such a move would put bilateral ties into a tailspin from where retrieval could be difficult.

Ministry sources said an assessment or comparison ofthe Moses abduction had not been made with Rajiv Dogra, an officer in the Indian consulate in Karachi in 1993, who was brutally assaulted by the agencies. As a consequence of that, New Delhi shut down its consulate in Karachi.

In Islamabad on Monday, the High Commission sent a note to the Foreign Ministry, saying that the ``treatment meted out to Mr Moses is in gross violation of diplomatic norms,'' including the Vienna Convention as well as the bilateral agreement on the treatment of personnel signed in 1992.The High Commission condemns ``such despicable acts,'' it said.

The note also points out that the letter in Urdu ``found'' on Moses by the police authorities was obviously planted on him, since Urdu is a language he neither writes, reads nor understands since he is Tamil.

Further, no attempt was made by the Pakistani authorities on Sunday to question him about the so-called ``contact'' he is supposed to have arranged to meet.

With Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh reading the riot act to PakistaniHigh Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi on Saturday, asking for the extradition of the hijackers of IC-814 from Pakistan and Islamabad consequently rejecting the charges analysts here feel that Pakistan is ``instigating'' the return to an antagonistic relationship with India.

Official sources rejected `tit-for-tat' linkages vis-a-vis the abduction of Moses, pointing out that in any case, beating up and arresting a man without any reason did not amount to ``civilised behaviour.''

``Even if Pakistan acts reflexively, it doesn't justify the illegal abduction of an Indian embassy staffer,'' the sources said.

Acting Indian High Commissioner Sudhir Vyas said in Islamabad that ``Moses was released between 2 a.m. and 2.30 a.m. today.'' A High Commission source in Islamabad said Moses was not in a condition to speak.

Moses was abducted on Sunday when he was leaving for the church in a taxi and severely beaten up. A badly battered Moses was later shown on PTV, which claimed that he was attempting to deliver abomb and Rs 5,000 to unknown persons. His whereabouts were not known till late Sunday night.

Vyas said Moses was made to sign ``confessional'' statements before being released. He was returning from the Fatima church in Sector F8 in a taxi when he alighted at a pay phone booth to call his son in India. It was also the occasion of Pongal.

``Moses was stopped at a police picket and was abducted by the intelligence operatives and taken to Kosar police station,'' Vyas said. He was picked up at 4.45 pm and was forced to sign statements under duress that he was carrying a remote controlled bomb and Rs 5,000 to an unknown person in the rose and jasmine garden.

It was alleged that he was also carrying a note written in Urdu that he was to deliver the bomb and money to someone at Raja bazar in Rawalpindi before January 26. While in custody, Vyas said, ``threats were made on his personal safety, wife and family amounting to physical and psychological torture.''``The Pakistan Government did not consider itnecessary to inform the High Commission even though Moses declared at the time of his abduction that he was a staff member of the Indian High Commission,'' Vyas said.