India Declines to Shift Unidentified Bodies to Pakistan: FO  
By Sarah Kamal 'Pakistan Times' Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: India has declined to shift the bodies of unidentified victims of Samjhota Express terrorist attack to Pakistan on a plea that nationality of the victims had not been determined.

The Indian government has informed Pakistan that it would hold burial of the unidentified victims (in India), saying "in view of deterioration, it is not possible to keep these bodies for a longer period", a Foreign Office statement said here Friday.

"The Indian Government has informed that the bodies of unidentified victims of terrorist attack on Samjhota Express would be given a burial on the afternoon of February 24 (Saturday)".

The statement further said, "We requested the Indian Government to shift the bodies to Pakistan for burial which was declined on the plea that nationality of the victims had not been determined".

However, Pakistan has now requested India for proper separate burial with DNA identification to keep the possibility of bringing the remains of identified Pakistani nationals to Pakistan.

"The last batch of relatives who have been given Indian visa would be proceeding to Panipat tonight for possible identification of missing relatives among the victims", the statement said.

Meanwhile, an official spokesman added that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has personally intervened and directed the foreign ministry to supervise the burial and ensure that DNA identification of Pakistanis, if buried in India, are available to the relatives of the unfortunate victims of the tragic incident.

The Prime Minister has also directed all the departments dealing with the issue to extend all possible cooperation to the relatives of the deceased so that they are able to obtain DNA test results of their kins, the spokesman added.

Seven Bodies Received

And a report from Lahore says that bodies of another seven victims of train tragedy were received at Wagah on Friday morning and shifted to mortuary of Mayo Hospital for dispatch to their native towns.

According to Railways sources, in total bodies of 20 Pakistani victims of Samjhota Express have so far been received at Wagah.

The list of the bodies received today is as follows:

Abdul Wahid Khan son of Abdul Razzaq resident of A-135,sec-II, Buffer Zone North Karachi.

Umar Khan son of Fateh Muhammad age 40, resident of D-87 Mumtazabad, Multan.

Saleem Khan son of Wahid Khan resident of 209 Sec 15-A, Buffer Zone, North Karachi.

Kamran son of Zaheer Ahmad age 24 resident of Mohalla Kot Kadam Hussain, Bandra road, Lahore.

Habibullah Khan son of Aminullah Khan age 80, resident of 208, SITE Area, Hussaini Colony, Hyderabad.

Younus Son of Umarddin aged 25 resident of 476-D, Murtazabad,Multan.

Ayesha wife of Muhammad Amin.

Bodies of following four persons are awaited:

Anwar, son of Suleman Malik, resident of House No.22 Paradise society, Nadiyad Police station, Distt. Khera Gujrat.

Yousaf Naseem resident of 301 Alpha Timaha apartment yakus road Karachi.

Maryam Bano resident of 301 Alpha Timaha apartment, Yakus road Karachi.

Furqan son of Muhammad Yaqoob, 41 Motiwalan,Karachi.

List of Dead Awaited

Meanwhile, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday apprised the National Assembly that the Indian authorities have yet not provided official list of those Pakistanis killed in Samjhota train fire that took place on last Sunday night.

Giving update about the logistics of bodies and injured to Pakistan, the minister said, seven injured of ten have arrived Pakistan in a special flight of C-130 aircraft on Thursday night.

Rest of the three, identified as Rana Liaqat, Shaista and Aqsa were not allowed to travel back to their homeland and were learnt to have been taken to Panipat. Referring to some news items reported by the Indian press, he said, these reveal that they (three injured) have been held back for investigations.

He said that lapse of such a long time, India had turned deaf ear to officially apprise Pakistan about those dead in the fire. Had the accident taken place in Pakistan, India would have made a lot of hue and cry, he said.

He appreciated that the Pakistan High Commission Delhi had in strong terms condemned the reports about the fact that the passengers of Samjhota Express used to travel in a "cage" as all the doors and windows of the bogeys were sealed throughout the passage of the train.

He said it was deplorable that people were being treated inhumanly. He said seven of those killed had already been buried in India.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Pakistan Railways had been making all out efforts to continue to share latest information about the dead and injured with the concerned.

He said earlier a meeting of some Cabinet members, chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was held in the Parliament Chamber of Prime Minister to discuss latest situation about the Samjhota train fire.●