New Delhi: Pakistan wants him home and the Indian government wants him for questioning but neither has time for Rana Shaukat Ali's sorrow, whose worst nightmare came true when he lost five of his children to the Samjhauta Express blasts.
Shaukat Ali is now at the centre of an ugly war of words between India and Pakistan. For India, he is the key witness in the blasts case and may be one of the few who actually saw the people who planted the explosives.
Shaukat Ali testified before a magistrate at Panipat on Thursday and he says that he can never forget the face of the blast suspects.
“I can recognise the two men. How can I forget them? One of them got down the train. I saw the other man speaking to a Railway official,” Shaukat Ali says.
Pakistan, on the other hand, alleged that Shaukat was in police custody and was being harassed. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry later issued a statement saying they were unaware that Shaukat Ali had requested to be taken to Panipat so he could identify his children's bodies.
Shaukat Ali and his wife have said time and again that they have been treated well in India.
“Nobody has misbehaved with me. I am their guest why would they misbehave with me,” Shaukat Ali said.
Now Shaukat has finally identified the bodies of his five children at the Panipat hospital and has decided to take them to Pakistan for burial.
Comments
0 comment