New Delhi: Hours after admitting that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's stay in Pakistan and he being chased out, Pakistan Prime Minister's special envoy for improving relations with India Shahryar Khan on Saturday did a U-turn saying that he had only quoted Pakistan media reports on Dawood's whereabouts, and had no personal knowledge of them. He also clarified that the comments had not been made in his official capacity.
Khan was referring to his comments in which he had admitted to one of India's most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim's stay in the country and he being chased out. However, a chargesheet of IPL spot-fixing case, where Dawood has been named an accused, proved otherwise. The telephonic intercepts between Dawood, his close-aide Chota Shakeel and aides in his Dubai showed that he was in Pakistan at least till late April 2013.
Pakistan's claim on Dawood has drawn criticism in India with the Bharatiya Janata Party saying that any statement from Pakistan cannot be trusted. The BJP expressed doubts over Khan's statement and said there was no response from the Central government yet. "Any statement from the Pakistani authorities cannot be trusted. They hid al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in their country for ten years and the US had no clue about it. They are doing this again for Dawood. Its not surprising," BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Party President Rajnath Singh acknowledged that its good that Pakistan has accepted that Dawood has been staying in their territory, but this is not enough. He said, "They should do more to get justice for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. If they are not ready to accept our demands then we should scale down our diplomatic ties with Pakistan."
Army Captain Bharat Verma said Pakistan statement was just to divert India'a attention. "The statement from Pakistan that Dawood Ibrahim is no longer in Pakistan and has left for UAE is a way to divert the India's attention."
Khan, however, claimed Dawood has been chased out of the country and is now in the UAE. But Indian intelligence sources said Dawood's house in Karachi continues to be guarded by Sindh police and he regularly travelled out of the country for business purposes.
Pakistan had for the first time admitted to the stay Dawood Ibrahim in the country. The significant statement came from Shahryar Khan and he said that the underworld don had been in Pakistan but has been chased out and is now in the UAE.
Khan had added if Dawood was in Pakistan right now he would be arrested. "Dawood was in Pakistan, but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country," he had said at a pre-launch event organised by the Indian Journalists' Association for his latest book 'Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan'.
"I think he is in the UAE. The Nawaz Sharif government is very much in favour of taking action against criminals who not only affect Pakistan but also any other countries, whether it is India or Afghanistan or wherever. We cannot allow criminals to flourish in the country. If they come to us, we will take action. That is why I think he (Dawood) has left Pakistan," Khan had added.
The former Pakistani foreign secretary also reiterated the newly-elected Pakistan government's commitment to hold talks with moderate elements of the Taliban. "Pakistan has been in favour of discussions with the Taliban of the more moderate ilk. But a large number are not moderate. There are those operating in Pakistan who are not moderate. However, Pakistan remains inclined to talk to the reasonable ones," he said.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
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