Letter to Prime Minister of India

May 24, 2010
The Honorable Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
Dear Prime Minister Dr. Singh,
On September 5, 1986, 14 Indians died and over 100 were injured, many of them seriously, at Karachi airport. All of them were victims of a terrorist attack on a Pan Am plane (PA73) going from Mumbai to New York via Karachi. The plane was hijacked on the tarmac at Karachi Airport by a terrorist group backed by Libya.
Libya had been a hotbed of terrorism and had sponsored many such acts all over the world, although, till date, it refuses to publicly acknowledge this. Yet, it settled and paid out billions of dollars as compensation money to the victims because of the tremendous pressure applied by the leading powers of the world, including USA, France, UK, Germany etc. who espoused the rights of their citizens.
An important offshoot of the tremendous diplomatic, political AND financial pressure was that ultimately Libya renounced terrorism and transformed itself from a ‘rogue’ nation to a respectable citizen of the world.
Espousal of the rights of its citizens and creating a huge financial burden on terrorist sponsoring nations seems like an important part of the strategy of the ‘powerful’ nations of the world to combat terrorism. As India takes its rightful place as a ‘Superpower’ in the world arena, it also needs to strongly adopt this policy.
The PA73 case is a perfect opportunity for our Nation to set an example for rogue nations around the world, including our neighborhood, that if they indulge in any mischievous and terrorist activity against India and its citizens, or provide logistical support to it, India will hit back at them not only politically, diplomatically but also financially and make them pay a huge price for their misdemeanors.
A note on the PA73 case is attached. We seek an appointment with you to give our suggestions for your consideration on how India could send such a clear message to the rogue nations of the world while espousing the rights of our citizens.
Yours faithfully,
Aneesh Bhanot
Member – Liaison Group
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