Crime syndicate behind 1993 Mumbai blasts enjoyed 5-star hospitality, given state protection: India at UN
Jan 19, 2022
New York [US], January 19 : The crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts was not just given state protection but it also enjoyed five-star hospitality, said India said at United Nations, in a veiled reference to Dawood Ibrahim believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
Speaking at the International Counter Terrorism Conference 2022 organized by the Global Counter Terrorism Council on Tuesday (local time), India's Permanent Representative TS Tirumurti said that linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime must be fully recognized and addressed vigorously.
"Linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime must be fully recognized and addressed vigorously. We have seen the crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts not just given state protection but enjoying 5-star hospitality," Tirumurti said in a statement.
These remarks were a veiled reference Dawood Ibrahim, believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
On March 12, 1993, a series of 13 bomb explosions took place in Mumbai killing 257 people and injuring over 713 others. The attacks were planned by Dawood Ibrahim, underworld don and India's 'most wanted' fugitive.
Tirumurti said that the UN sanctions regimes, including the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, are pivotal to the international efforts in preventing terror-financing, terrorist-travel and access to arms by the terrorist organizations.
"It is critical that all sanctions regimes established by the Council ensure due process in their working procedures and decision-making. The decision-making process and listing/delisting measures should be objective, swift, credible, evidence based and transparent, and not for political and religious considerations," the Indian Ambassador said.
He added that a recent report of the Monitoring Team (MT) on the asset freeze exemption procedures pursuant to resolution 2560 (2020) points to the lacunae of asset freeze measures by member states, partly due to deficiencies in the existing guidelines of the Committee.
Furthermore, the Indian Ambassador said that Al-Qaida's linkages with UNSC proscribed Pakistan-based terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continue to strengthen their operations.
While stating that transnational terrorism, crimes and funding ought to be identified and addressed on priority, Tirumurti said that the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 had proved to be a turning point in approach towards terrorism, in the global counter-terrorism domain.
