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With the five-member Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan having reached Pathankot to begin probe into the terror attack on the Indian Air Force Base, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday slammed the centre for 'welcoming' the team which also has a member from the Inter-Services Intelligence, saying that Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed could also be a part of the team and no one would know.
"This is exactly what will happen in our country. Those who have come from Pakistan, be it terrorists, cricketers or artists will always get security while our people keep getting killed. Our soldiers who are dying every day at the hands of Pakistan will never get any security. Everyone knows that Pakistan is involved in the Pathankot attack, even after that the JIT team gets special treatment, then it is an insult to the nation," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI.
Reacting to the fact that an ISI officer was also part of the team, he added mockingly that Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar could come to India as part of the team and no one will ever know.
"This is completely our failure that we have called them here. What will Pakistan do? They are the guilty party and they are going to investigate? The nation is laughing," Raut added.
Asserting that India has always been on the back foot when it comes to Pakistan, the Shiv Sena leader said that the team's very arrival in India was a security threat and asked if India would be allowed to go to Islamabad to carry out the same kind of probe.
"Can our team go to Pakistan and probe? Will their security agencies allow India's team to visit Kasab's house and the terrorist camps? We have always been on the back foot when it comes to Pakistan. We make a lot of big talk but when it comes to work, we flake out," Raut said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan team arrived at Pathankot to massive protests by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Chanting slogans against the centre and holding placards saying "Pak JIT go back" the protestors also waved black flags and reached the gates of the air base, where defence personnel were seen trying to restrain them and stop them from entering the restricted area.
"First they come here and attack on our soil bleeding us and they pretend that they are trying to get justice. The Congress will never stand this farce," Harinder Kaur, a protestor told ANI.
The five-member Pakistani JIT is headed by Chief of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore's Deputy Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence official Lieutenant-Colonel Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lieutenant-Colonel Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer, Shahid Tanveer.
Image: Officials from JIT of Pakistan at NIA headquarters. Photograph: NIA_India/Twitter