Pakistan’s ‘Thousand Year War’ with Bharat, which was actually a political rhetoric by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had taken some turns in the history which proved to be shame for Pakistan, a numerous times at the hands of Bharatiyas. In the same string, in a recent turn of events with profound geopolitical implications, the Bharatiyas have achieved yet another victory, as United States has extradited Pakistan Army Captain Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian citizen and ex-army doctor, to Bharat for his suspected role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The extradition, facilitated after a long drawn-out legal process and a final order by the US Supreme Court, is a huge diplomatic win for Bharat and a critical milestone in the global fight against terrorism.
Rana’s extradition, some 16 years on from the heinous attacks which killed 166 individuals is a symbolic and strategic benchmark. The assault, dubbed around the world as “26/11,” was perpetrated by agents of the Pakistan-based militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and involved a highly complicated infrastructure of facilitators and planners based across frontiers.
Rana, now in Bharatiya custody and shortly to be produced before a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, was arrested in the US in 2009 and convicted in 2011 of a different plot to commit terrorism against a Danish newspaper. His link to 26/11 however, has always been large. Bharatiya officials claim Rana played a key role in facilitating his boyhood friend from the Cadet College Hasanabdal days and co-conspirator, Daood Gilani also known by his alias ‘David Coleman Headley’, in the procurement of travel documents and establishing a legitimate business cover in Bharat as an immigration consulting outfit. The cover enabled Headley to make close observations of the 26/11 targets, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Chabad House, without provoking suspicions.
Rana’s role as a Deep-State operative was exposed, as a prime facilitator of the attacks which had been established through Gilani’s confessions. What makes his extradition particularly significant is the potential intelligence he may hold. Investigators hope Rana could expose deeper ties between Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba. Bharat has always claimed that the 2008 Mumbai attacks were not just the product of lone wolf actors but were organised with the backing of elements in the Pakistani state.
Rana’s background lends credence to this perspective. Post regiment from the Pakistani Army as an officer, Rana moved to Canada and assumed naturalised citizenship, used his global mobility to operate beyond borders. His dual nationality and genuine business fronts furthered him in utilising sleeper cells; with Headley he was able to operate with virtual impunity, until the attacks made the world wake up and take notice.
After his conviction in the US, Rana was faced with extradition proceedings brought by Bharat. He sought to prevent his removal, citing that as a Muslim of Pakistani descent, he could not be assured of safety in Bharat. The US Supreme Court rejected this on the basis that it accepted Bharat’s case and emphasised international cooperation for fighting terrorism; seeking closure for 6 victims from the same attack, who were US citizens. Following the September 11 attack, UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) came into effect, which emphasised more cooperation in extradition and the law of Aut Dedere Aut Judicare (Extradite or Prosecute), trials of cases of terrorism, to which US is the primary ratifying party.
His appeal raised eyebrows, given the judicial treatment by Bharat of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole 26/11 terrorist caught alive. Kasab was tried to his full extent, represented, and appealed before finally being hanged. The bar set little scope for Rana’s case to hold ground.
Bharat has legally won by bringing Rana to justice, sending a message of resolve to the world. For years, the victim families of 26/11, the Bharatiyas, and international observers have demanded accountability from Pakistan. The extradition of Rana indicates that world powers want to act on strong evidence and join hands with Bharat in an international league for justice.
The timing of the extradition of Rana, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with US President Donald Trump, reflects the increasing India-US convergence against terror. Whereas Washington has been criticised in the past for its pick-and-choose attitude towards terror threats worldwide, particularly considering its refusal to extradite David Headley due to a plea bargain arrangement, this action serves to correct some of the imbalance.
Critics have maintained that Headley’s plea bargain, which secured him life imprisonment in return for testimony and immunity from extradition, is a diplomatic failure. Some retired Bharatiya officials have even posited that Headley was a double agent, perhaps beyond the radar of US intelligence agencies. If this were the case, it would add a sinister twist to the story, suggesting foreknowledge or passive collusion.
In light of Rana’s background as a deep state asset, as someone reportedly sent out to subvert Bharatiya security interests while working in civilian cover; his worth to Pakistan’s intelligence community is now largely exhausted. The person who was suggested ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ the highest gallantry award given by Pakistan Army to the 26/11 terrorists, as quoted in the FBI report, his transfer to Bharat, thus, was not only legally tenable but diplomatically convenient to the US and symbolically necessary for Bharat.
What’s in store is the Bharatiya intelligence bureaus and the NIA getting set for a rigorous interrogation session. They want not just to get information regarding the planning and conduct of 26/11 but also determine the remaining sleeper cells, logistics networks, and impending dangers. Rana’s information could bring forth recruitment habits, cross-border funding, and international terrorist hideouts sponsored by states.
Yet, notwithstanding Rana’s extradition, there is a great deal more at stake. Some of the important masterminds such as LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and 26/11 alleged operational commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi roam free in Pakistan, despite condemnation from around the world and a price on their heads. New Delhi has called for their extradition all along, but Islamabad’s denial is representative of a pattern of state-abetted terror.
Punishing these men will take more than diplomatic pressure. It will take concerted international pressure, including from friends like the US, to make Pakistan comply. In the meantime, symbolic wins like Rana’s extradition will be both a victory and a reminder of work still to be done.
The international struggle against terrorism cannot be discriminatory. If terrorism has to be vanquished, political expediency must be abandoned by all countries and principles of justice enforced uniformly. Rana’s extradition is progress, but the Headley deal is still a stain. If the United States really wants to lead the war on terror globally, its policy and practice have to match its words. In the same way, Pakistan needs to face international repercussions if it keeps harbouring and hosting those who carried out mass killings.
Coining “saffron Terrorism”
But this coinage it appears was an attempt at appeasement. There were recently exposed by the court.
- “In Malegaon bomb blast case the SC has stayed the trial against sameer sharad Kulkarni accused on my petition. The point is that there is no sanction for prosecution by the central government under sec 45 of the uapa act. Its a case of harassment a fake theory of hindu terror,” posted Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain on X on April 30
- January 20, 2013, Indian media across the country reported that the then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde accusing BJP and RSS of conducting terror training camps and promoting “Hindu terrorism”! According to Outlook, Shinde at AICC meeting in New Delhi said, “One on hand we are trying to bring peace in this country. We are also taking steps against injustice to minorities as also against infiltration. But, in the midst of all this, we have got an investigation report that be it the RSS or BJP, their training camps are promoting Hindu terrorism. We are keeping a strict vigil on all this.” According to a report published on First Post on September 12, 2013, addressing a Congress “Mahasammelan” at Kukshi in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh had used the word ‘Hindu terrorists’.
So far, Bharat has taken a definitive leap towards accountability to the 26/11 victims. The global audience waits in suspense. Will this turning point give way to actual accountability, or disappear in the skein of global diplomacy, is a determination that will map the contours of future South Asia and international counter-terror agendas. As the plane bearing Tahawwur Rana touched Bharatiya ground on April 9, 2025, the message was clear: Bharat will not rest until each hand behind the 26/11 horror is brought to book. Rana’s extradition is not the end but a new beginning in a long search for truth, justice, and the destruction of terror networks based on ideology and power politics.
Big revelation by Tahawwur Rana
According to initial disclosures, NIA learned that Tahawwur Rana belongs to Chichawatni, a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province. His father, a school principal, has three sons – one of whom is now serving as a psychiatrist in the Pakistani army, and another who is employed as a journalist. Rana himself attended the Cadet College Hasanabdal, where he first came into contact with David Coleman Headley, another key operative in the Mumbai attacks – currently jailed in the US. In 1997, Rana emigrated to Canada, accompanied by his wife, a practising physician named Samraz Rana Akhtar. There, he launched an immigration consultancy and later expanded into a halal meat business. This immigration business became a front to mask terror activities, with Headley posing as a consultant. After getting a medical degree, Rana joined the Pakistani army’s medical corps. According to NIA sources, even after leaving service, he often wore military fatigues while meeting high-profile individuals associated with Pakistan’s military intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives. He is said to have regularly visited camps associated with terror outfits clad in uniform.
The Sajid Mir Connection
One of Rana’s regular contacts, investigators say, was Sajid Mir, a designated global terrorist and one of India’s most wanted men. Mir allegedly acted as a principal handler during the 26/11 attacks and is accused of directing the siege of Mumbai’s Chabad House, where six hostages were killed. The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Mir’s capture. In 2022, India submitted an audio recording to the United Nations where Mir was allegedly heard coordinating with the attackers during the siege. According to reports, Rana has links not only to Lashkar-e-Taiba but also to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), another terror organisation. He reportedly visited their camps, sometimes accompanied by ISI officers and Pakistani military personnel.
Given the serious terrorism charges Tahawwur Rana faces in Bharat and his status as a naturalised Canadian citizen, inspite of Ottawa’s inaction, it is reasonable to expect that the Canadian government would have revoked his passport following his arrest in the United States, especially under the provisions of Canada’s Citizenship Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-29), which allows for revocation in cases involving in terrorism and/or national or international threat. Widely regarded as a terrorist operative for Pakistani deep-state, Rana is considered strategically expendable. Despite commendable diplomatic wrangling by the Bharatiya external affairs and the judiciary, his extradition to Bharat, therefore, serves as an optic diplomatic gesture, particularly for the US President Donald Trump, reinforcing an image of strong counter-terrorism cooperation with Bharat. But genuine diplomatic achievement in the war against terrorism would be more aptly illustrated by the extradition of David Coleman Headley from America, also, by forcing Pakistan, through relentless international pressure, to extradite Saeed and Lakhvi. These villains were key players in the planning of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Ensuring their prosecution in Bharatiya courts would be a much more significant and effective milestone in international efforts to combat terrorism and bring its masterminds to justice.
The road ahead is long, but for now, justice has taken a meaningful step forward.
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