Pakistani envoy to India gets death threats

[LahoreEstate]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik has received a death threat from an Indian extremist group, Dawn learnt Saturday.
The organization has also threatened to bomb Pakistan’s parliament, high commission in Delhi and other places in the country amidst strained relations between New Delhi and Islamabad in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
The threat, made by a previously unknown group ‘All India Anti-Terrorism Group’ (AIATG), has prompted a strong reaction by Islamabad, which has lodged a protest with New Delhi and asked for better security for the envoy.
India, a source said, has been told that it would be held responsible in case of any harm to the high commissioner.
‘The safety, security and welfare of the envoy is paramount in Pakistan’s response to these threats,’ the source said.
The three-page threatening letter delivered by surface mail at Pakistan’s high commission asked the high commissioner to leave Delhi in three days or else face dire consequences.
‘We don’t need to make any kind of relation and also no place for any Pakistani in our country (sic),’ a person claiming to be the chief of AIATG wrote in the letter, further warning that if the threat is taken lightly ‘it is 200% sure’ he would be killed.
Additionally, the letter threatened bombing of the parliament in Islamabad, high commission in Delhi and other places in Pakistan. For this purpose, the letter said, the sub-groups of AIATG namely Students of Hinduism Movement in India and Pakistan, Students Against Terrorism, and Pride of India were already active.
The letter gave 11 reasons for forming the anti-Pakistan group and said: ‘you can understand we have many reasons to take lethal steps towards you and your country, so tell your government that we are mad, zealot and thirsty of Pakistani blood (sic).’
The relations between the two neighbours have been strained after the Mumbai terrorist attack that was blamed by India on an extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba operating from Pakistan.
The threatening letter was the latest indication of increased activities of hate groups in India in the wake of Mumbai attack that have previously seen TV comedian Shahid Siddiqui thrown out of a Mumbai studio by a group called Maharastra Nav Nirman Sena. The group had also forced booksellers to remove books of Pakistani authors from their shelves.
The threat came as a group of civil society activists was in India on a peace mission to prevent further deterioration in ties.

http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn...threat-szh