India is known to have the best of laws and regulations, yet these are of little help to bring to book the law breakers – local or foreigners. The latest episode of relaxing laws to keep at bay the arrest of well-known singer Rahat Ali Khan  at  Pakistan’s instance is a good example.
The 37-year-old Pakistani singer, who has sung a number of Bollywood hit numbers, was detained at the IGI airport by revenue intelligence officers on Sunday evening after he and his troupe were found carrying $178,000 in undeclared foreign currency. The singer was on his way back to Pakistan via Dubai.
The gravity of the offence demanded his immediate arrest, as Indian customs rules allow visitors to carry only $5,000 in and out of the country. But the authorities let him go, fearing the arrest would disturb the near-cordial relations between the two nuclear countries. Incidentally, the episode has happened less than a week after New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to resume peace talks, which were suspended more than two years ago after LeT terrorists attacked Mumbai. Rahat Ali Khan was released on Monday evening, along with two members of his troupe.
As the crime was committed in India, he should be tried under Indian Law for the same. While dealing with Rahat Indian authorities should bear in mind that the law is applicable to all, irrespective of their stature. The Indian authorities should not succumb to external pressures and facilitate his return to Pakistan without penalty. It is ironic that Pakistan is blaming India for initiating action against those who visit India to perform and then attempt to loot the country.
Despite the offence being finance-related, the  Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has reportedly stepped in personally to look into the singer’s detention. According to a Pakistan newspaper, Malik has spoken to Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Shahid Malik, and asked him to monitor the matter closely.
It is unfortunate that Pakistan is making a big fuss about the singer’s interrogation. The Pak leaders ought to understand that if he did some financial crime, he should be punished under Indian law like they are doing in the case of the US official Raymond Davis. The Pak authorities have rejected US authorities’ demand to hand Davis over to them as he has committed twin murders on Pak soil and deserved trial by local courts. As per Pakistan leaders’ own statement, “having a celebrity status does not give one licence to commit a crime.” Indian authorities are fully justified in questioning Rahat Fateh Ali Khan as he violated the country’s laws.
As such, the demand for going slow against Fateh shows Pakistan’s duplicity in dealing with its own nationals and that of other countries.
Unarguably, there was no need for Pakistan to take this issue as “us versus them” and ask for his immediate release. Jumping in by Pak Diplomatic staff; and that, too, for letting him go, just does not seem right. Pakistan should not allow the issue to snow-ball into a diplomatic row between the two countries, as was being attempted by Pakistani foreign office and Pakistani Embassy officials. What would be Pakistan’s response if any Indian player or artiste is booked at Lahore Airport for a similar offence? Would Pakistani authorities let them go simply because they happen to be celebrities in both countries? Definitely, they would have acted more harshly, as in the Davis case.
But things are different in India as our leaders couldn’t sum up the courage to strike down Pakistan’s illegitimate request. Indian leaders are concerned more about the cementing of friendly relations rather than spoiling them over a crime committed by a celebrity. To save the situation, they can go to any extent, even to let Fateh go scot free. It is due to India’s assurance of going slow into the matter that Pakistan Interior Minister Rahman Malik thanked Home Minister P. Chidambaram for the release of Rahat.
Keeping in view Pakistan’s firm stand on Davis, India shouldn’t succumb to any external pressure. Instead, India should take appropriate action against the singer by treating him as a normal person. He has been caught with something which he was not supposed to carry. If that was not the case the agencies would not have arrested him in the first place. So let the probe go on. It will send out a good message to others. Notwithstanding what the Pak government says, Indian authorities should make a thorough investigation into the violation.