​Justice after extradition: on Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a trial  

Seventeen years after the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, India is preparing for the trial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was extradited by the United States this week. The extradition of a co-conspirator in the planning of the attacks that left 166 people dead is proof of the success of India’s counter-terror diplomacy with the U.S., and the tenacity of Indian investigators. Mr. Rana was first arrested by the U.S. in 2009, as an accomplice of David Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative tasked by Pakistan to carry out the reconnaissance for targets in Mumbai by LeT terrorists, as well as for being a part of a plan to attack a newspaper office in Copenhagen. As Mr. Headley’s childhood friend and colleague, Mr. Rana, a Canadian-American citizen and a former Pakistan military doctor, helped plan the attacks and facilitate his multiple entries to India, including once after the attacks, according to U.S. prosecutors. While Mr. Rana was not convicted for the Mumbai attacks in the U.S. trial, he was convicted for his LeT terror links and involvement in the Copenhagen conspiracy, and spent some part of a 14-year sentence in U.S. prisons. His extradition will allow Indian prosecutors to put on trial one of the men charge-sheeted in absentia for the 26/11 attacks; to extract more information on his Pakistan links; and to further the cause of justice after the dastardly attacks that brought the nation to a standstill. Ajmal Kasab, the only one of the 10 LeT gunmen caught alive, was convicted and hanged in 2012.

The prosecutors of the National Investigation Agency, who have followed the 26/11 trail since 2009, will now need to conduct a similar and unimpeachable time-bound trial. The government would also need to investigate certain unanswered questions: including whether Mr. Rana continued to have provable links with the Pakistani military; whether there is more evidence on the extent of Pakistan’s official complicity, and why the U.S. chose to enter into a plea bargain with Mr. Headley, giving him immunity from extradition despite a treaty with India. When compared to Mr. Rana, he was clearly the more provably diabolical and culpable agent for the conspiracy. It is also curious that the U.S., that had been tracking Mr. Headley even before the 26/11 attacks, did not alert Indian authorities of his return to India for another reconnaissance operation in early 2009. It is hoped that Mr. Rana’s trial will turn the spotlight back on Pakistan, and generate enough pressure on it to cooperate in the prosecution of seven LeT terror commanders, including Hafiz Saeed who planned, trained and equipped the terrorists for the attacks. To that end, Mr. Rana’s extradition is a significant step in the quest for justice and closure for the victims of the 26/11 attacks and their families.