New Delhi: Dismissing the latest revelation made by Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley that her sister Ishrat Jahan, killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2004, was a Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) terrorist, Musarrat Jahan Thursday maintained that she was completely innocent and killed as part of a larger conspiracy.
“My sister Ishrat Jahan was completely innocent. It was a fake encounter,” Musarrat told the Gulf News adding that “a terrorist that Headley is cannot be trusted. My sister’s killing was part of a larger conspiracy in which a lot of big names were involved. Headley clearly has vested interests in saying that my sister was a Lashkar operative. But I have faith in God that truth shall prevail. How can anyone believe the words of a terrorist.”
Headley told the Special Court in Mumbai on Thursday that he received information about Ishrat from Let top operative Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
“Ishrat was very intelligent. She always got first or second rank. She started taking tuitions when my father was alive. After my father died, she increased her duration of taking tuitions. She would also study herself and teach her siblings. A girl who was scared of cockroaches and lizards, how can she kill anyone,” Musarrat averred.
“We have been living with this blotch since 2004. Just because we are poor Muslims, does that mean we are linked to terrorists? Why are we poor Muslims always asked for proof to show that we are not terrorists,” she added.
Ishrat’s lawyer Vrinda Grover told Gulf News that she was murdered in cold blood.
“Headley himself did not name Ishrat Jahan as Lashkar terrorist. He was responding to multiple choice options during questioning by public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. So Headley’s statement cannot be taken on record. Besides, one must keep in mind that Headley is a double agent,” Grover said.
The alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat state police took place in 2004 when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah was Gujarat’s Home Minister. As Narendra Modi government in Gujarat had come under attack by the Congress-led Opposition, the case led to the arrest of several high profile officers. Shah’s name had cropped up in the case. However, citing insufficient evidence, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gave him a clean chit in 2014.
While the revelation came as a vindication for BJP, the Congress attacked it saying that Headley’s claims had no bearing on the fact that the encounter by the Gujarat police was fake.
“Attempts should not be made to get political mileage out of what David Coleman Headley said today through video conferencing. If Headley has made some assertions, let them be carefully investigated so that truth be found. But staging fake encounters is against the Indian law and cannot be accepted,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told the Gulf News.
On the other hand, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, “I am happy that now everything is coming out clearly. All these revelations made by David Coleman Headley are very good for our investigative agencies.”
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain lashed out at the Opposition stating that “those who called Ishrat Jahan the daughter of India should now come out and offer apology. Our stand that Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist stands vindicated.”
