Patriotism misunderstood
Legal eye
Saturday, December 27, 2008 (The News)
Babar Sattar
The terrorists have succeeded in realizing their objectives in Mumbai. Not just in carrying out the carnage that claimed innocent Indian lives, but also in provoking chest-thumping hysteria within the two nuclear armed neighbours that is obfuscating real issues and impeding their ability to meaningfully cooperate in confronting the threat of terrorism. With the peace constituency within India and Pakistan having shrunk at an alarming rate over the last few weeks, the Mumbai tragedy has dragged the two countries back by at least a decade in terms of their bilateral relationship. The ugly invidious prejudice that runs deep within each nation against the other now lies bare in public eye. And all this has happened despite the realization shared by saner elements in both countries that neighbours cannot be wished away and the linked destinies of the suffering multitudes in both India and Pakistan will not be served well by a war between them or even the politics of war-mongering.
The governments of Pakistan and India are in a catch-22 situation. The Mumbai attack has hurt India's sense of security as well as its newly found confidence and pride as an aspiring global power. The voices seeking accountability of the perpetrators of terror are probably more than those braying for revenge. But together they have put the Indian government under tremendous pressure to seek reprisals from Pakistan for the alleged involvement of its citizens. The Pakistani government and the civilian political leadership seem genuinely interested in taking to task those within the country whose link to Mumbai can be established through verifiable evidence. But given the history of acrimony between the two countries and how it informs the concept of national honour, the harder India pushes Pakistan publicly the lesser political space and ability the Pakistani government is left with to respond constructively.
One of the casualties of the Mumbai tragedy has been the quest for truth. The speed and ferocity with which media in India and Pakistan assumed on behalf of their respective states the responsibility for proving the other guilty of disseminating lies has been alarming. What has happened to the objectivity and self-restraint of this most vital component of civil society? The worst manifestations of bigotry and hatemongering in each country are being chosen and highlighted as a means to characterize the other. The statements of vengeance seeking politicians in India are regarded in Pakistan as the truly representative voices from India as opposed to the more responsible and tension diffusing statements of the Indian prime minister for example. Likewise, the voices of those in Pakistan who reject any involvement of Pakistanis in Mumbai and view it as an Indian conspiracy to put Pakistan in the dock reverberate across India and overshadow the repeatedly expressed government desire to work with India on establishing facts and taking action on their basis.
The self-styled 'patriots' in Pakistan believe that Arundhati Roy's 'Monster in the Mirror' is the depository of the whole truth about Mumbai and India. And likewise hawks in India love to highlight voices critical of Pakistani state policy – such as that of Pervaiz Hoodbhoy – as proof of their view of Pakistan as an evil state. The consistency in the analysis of Roy and Hoodbhoy – in terms of their denunciation of nuclear weapons or their emphasis on the atrocities inflicted on citizens by misconceived state policies – is lost on these new found disciples. Yet those who love Hoodbhoy in India hate Roy, and those who cite Roy with approval in Pakistan castigate Hoodbhoy for being a traitor. And the lack of awareness of such fundamental contradiction in hawkish views only goes to show the deep-seated bias that we are afflicted with. That patriotism cultivates the desire amongst citizens to defend the territorial integrity, sovereignty and honour of their country is a no-brainer. But reasonable people can and should disagree over how national interest is to be defined and what policies must be employed to accomplish the interest of the state.
In the context of Mumbai, Pakistani patriotism must not be reduced to jingoism or indiscriminately contradicting any views or facts emanating from India. Shutting out the urge to uncover facts and forfeiting the courage to look critically into the mirror out of the fear of discovering unflattering realities, even at a time even when the country is being unduly vilified, neither serves the interests of Pakistan nor qualifies as patriotism. Let us vigorously debate and agree/disagree over what policies and actions promote the collective interest of our nation. But neither the sabre-rattling of hawks on either side of our border, nor any misconceived concept of national interest or security should be allowed to mow down our appetite for the truth. There are some mothers who can never find any fault with their kids out of pride. And there are others whose love urges them to censure kids when they falter to enable these children to tell right from wrong and develop a character. We are only hurting ourselves most of all if, when under attack from abroad, we allow patriotism to degenerate into chauvinism or xenophobia.
The main issue between Pakistan and India that has led to the present state of belligerence and is dragging the two countries towards war is what happened in Mumbai: who all are responsible for killing innocent civilians there and to the extent that verifiable facts establish links with groups in Pakistan what steps can we take to bring the perpetrators to justice. We must not confuse manifestations of the whipped up antagonism post-Mumbai and the fighting words uttered in both countries with the cause itself. Also what are not issues for Pakistan in its interstate relations with India also needs to be highlighted. Whether or not India ill-treats its minorities, especially Muslims, is not our issue. We advocated a solution for the Muslims of Indian sub-continent in the form of Pakistan in full view that the Muslims left behind in India will be an even weaker minority in a Hindu-dominated India. We must reconcile with this reality and understand that the state of Pakistan has no mandate to speak for Indian Muslims. What happened in Gujarat was sad and despicable. But it is a reflection on the Indian federation and a matter for the Indian nation to resolve internally.
The state of Pakistan has the responsibility to promote and maximize the interests and security of the citizens of Pakistan. And as a nation we need more clarity in defining our identity and our national objectives. Faced with challenges straining the cohesion of our own social fabric and the frail state of interethnic relations within Pakistan, we must focus on strengthening our own federation rather than looking abroad and assuming the responsibility of guarding the perceived interests of foreign nationals who share our faith. What is also not an issue between the states of India and Pakistan is the cause of the Malegaon Blast or the Samjhota Express tragedy. These were crimes that were committed in India. And even though some of the casualties in the latter were Pakistani citizens, in terms of state responsibility, they are fundamentally different from the events of Mumbai.
Mumbai is a possible case of non-state actors from one state crossing the international border and unleashing terror in another. Malegaon and Samjhota are relevant only in that they highlight India's indigenous roots of terrorism and counter the propaganda that Pakistan is the fountainhead of violence in the region. But we must fathom that criminal acts do not give the Pakistani state a cause of action against the state of India. Pakistan and India have a very long history of hostility and mistrust and if we look backward rather than forward we will keep fighting till the cows come home. If the present state of flux is to be prevented from crystallizing into a new cold war between the neighbours, we must keep our focus on Mumbai. And to that end the first imperative step is to share with Pakistan the findings of a transparent, diligent and credible investigation that lays threadbare the facts of this tragedy.
Our overzealous patriots must realize that Ajmal Kasab's Pakistani identity does not make Pakistani nation or state complicit in the terror attacks. Taking affirmative steps to try and deny/hide his identity could. And India must understand that sharing evidence with Pakistan cannot be contingent upon Pakistan "doing more". For due process requires such evidence to be the trigger for any enforcement action that the Pakistani government can legitimately undertake.
The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad. He is a Rhodes scholar and has an LL.M from Harvard Law School. Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu
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Showing posts with label Ajmal Kasab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ajmal Kasab. Show all posts
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Get rid of false patriotism. India needs voices such as Arundhati Roy and Pakistan needs voices such as Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Friday, 26 December 2008
Indian military retaliation would play straight into LeT’s hands. - Praful Bidwai
There is no military option
by Praful Bidwai
Ultimately, it wasn’t superior firepower, sophisticated interception methods or commando training that explains how one of the Mumbai attackers was arrested alive. The key to that feat lies in the great courage shown by the city’s policemen in overpowering Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman (Kasab) with nothing more than lathis after his accomplice Abu Ismail was killed.
Assistant sub-Inspector Tukaram Ombale held on to the barrel of Kasab’s gun even as he took a burst of fire and pounced on the man, allowing his colleagues to arrest him. Ombale died, but his bravery ensured that a key participant in the attack would live to tell the tale.
Kasab’s arrest is unique in the annals of anti-terrorist operations anywhere. His interrogation has produced invaluable evidence about the preparation for and execution of the attack.
Kasab must be tried scrupulously fairly and with full respect for his right to legal defence. A lawyer of unimpeachable competence must be drafted to defend him. His conviction cannot be a foregone conclusion merely because of the attack’s barbarity. His guilt must be proved on the highest norms of criminal law.
After Kasab’s disclosures to the police, there can be little doubt that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the attack after putting recruits through rigorous training and ideological-political indoctrination for almost a year. The Pakistani media has since verified Kasab’s home address, and interviewed his father in Faridkot village in Punjab’s Okara district. The international community has confirmed the LeT’s involvement through the ban imposed on its sister organisation, Jamaat-ud-Daawa, by the United Nations Security Council under Resolution 1267.
The LeT isn’t just another jehadi group. It has had a special relationship with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Unlike other groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, which are Deobandi, the LeT is Salafist and doesn’t believe in fighting governments in Islamic countries. The LeT doesn’t actively oppose the army’s anti-Taliban-Al-Qaeda operations at the Afghanistan border.
It’s not clear if the ISI or its “rogue” elements logistically supported the Mumbai attack. But it’s reasonably plain that the attackers’ main motive was to provoke a military response from India, which would cause a troops build-up at Pakistan’s eastern border. This would create a rationale for redeploying Pakistani troops from the western border—where they face considerable pressure from US-Pakistan operations—to the Indian border. This would allow Al Qaeda-Taliban fighters to regroup and overrun large swathes of Afghanistan and Pakistan
Secondarily, the attackers’ motive was to increase disaffection among Indian Muslims and provoke a backlash—to further help extremism. Mercifully, this hasn’t happened—despite the Sangh Parivar. The attacks have triggered unprecedented Hindu-Muslim unity and a spirited condemnation of terrorism by an overwhelming majority of India’s Muslim organisations.
Indian military retaliation would play straight into LeT’s hands. This would further destabilise Pakistan, which is already in a precarious condition, to the point of unravelling its state—with disastrous consequences for the whole region. The Indian government has acted with restraint and used diplomatic, not military, means to deal with the crisis. On December 11, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee underscored this approach. In response to a demand for attacking Pakistan, he said: “That is not the point….I am making it quite clear that that is not the solution. Let us be very clear and frank that that is no solution.”
The meaning of the military option, advocated stridently by hawkish “strategic experts” and by Bharatiya Janata Party MPs like Arun Shourie should be plain. Shourie wants India to target Pakistan’s vital installations and keep Pakistan “preoccupied”, presumably through covert action, with its “own problems in Balochistan, in Gilgit, Baltistan”, etc. He said: “Not an eye for an eye; but for an eye, both eyes. For a tooth, (the) whole jaw.”
This is an insane prescription. Any India-Pakistan conflict is liable to escalate into nuclear war. In Nuclear Armageddon, there are no winners—only mega-deaths.
Even a limited nuclear exchange will kill millions of civilians in both countries. The economic and environmental damage will set us back by decades. A single Hiroshima/Nagasaki-type bomb will kill 8 to 20 lakh people in a big city. India and Pakistan both have scores of such bombs, indeed even more powerful ones.
In every conceivable war-gaming scenario—and many credible ones exist —, an India-Pakistan conflict has one inevitable outcome: full-scale war, in which Pakistan won’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it fears loss of territory. This will invite nuclear retaliation from India, with consequences too horrifying even to contemplate.
No leader has the moral right or political mandate to sacrifice millions of civilians. Only extremists with apocalyptic visions like RSS chief KS Sudarshan believe nuclear war is acceptable.
He recently told an interviewer: “Whenever the demons (Asuri powers) start dominating this planet, there is no way other than war…I know it will not stop there. It will be a nuclear war and a large number of people will perish. But … let me say with confidence that after this destruction, a new world will emerge, which will be very good, free from evil and terrorism.”
It’s dangerous to imagine that the threat of war can compel Pakistan into acting decisively against extremist groups. Indeed, Pakistan will respond with even greater bellicosity.
The idea of “surgical strikes” against terrorist training camps is equally harebrained. LeT camps are makeshift affairs, and poor candidate-targets for strikes. Any strike, however “limited”, will invite armed conflict. Pakistan isn’t Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which the US could attack without fear of resistance because it crippled all military communications. Even covert action, which will require the creation of a new monster—”India’s own ISI”—will trigger escalation.
But there are alternatives. Manmohan Singh outlined a two-pronged approach: galvanising international opinion for effective action against terrorism, and persisting with diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. Domestically, he promised reform of internal security arrangements. US and UK pressure has already led to a ban on JuD. But India must develop a broader multilateral approach to avert getting drawn into Washington’s parochial plans for the region.
The best strategy would be to press Pakistan through UN Security Council Resolution 1373, under which sanctions can be imposed on a state that fails to “deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts…” and violates its duty to “refrain from providing … support… to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts…”.
Bilaterally, India can achieve much by sharing evidence of the LeT’s role in the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan, and acting demonstrably to defuse suspicions about its covert operations in Balochistan and Afghanistan.
While revamping India’s internal security system, the Singh government should have followed the advice of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan against using “questionable methods such as permitting indefinite detention of terror suspects…coercive interrogation techniques and the denial of the right to fair trial”, and his plea for “substantive due process”.
Regrettably, it has done the very opposite by having a law passed which replicates all the obnoxious provisions, including detention without charges for 180 days, of the discredited Prevention of Terrorism Act—except for making police confessions admissible as evidence. The National Investigative Agency Act too has flaws, including overcentralisation of powers, and their illegitimate extension to areas affected by insurgency and Left-wing extremism. These Acts must be undone.
The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and human-rights activist based in Delhi. Email: prafulbidwai1@yahoo.co.in
Friday, December 26, 2008 (The News)
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by Praful Bidwai
Ultimately, it wasn’t superior firepower, sophisticated interception methods or commando training that explains how one of the Mumbai attackers was arrested alive. The key to that feat lies in the great courage shown by the city’s policemen in overpowering Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman (Kasab) with nothing more than lathis after his accomplice Abu Ismail was killed.
Assistant sub-Inspector Tukaram Ombale held on to the barrel of Kasab’s gun even as he took a burst of fire and pounced on the man, allowing his colleagues to arrest him. Ombale died, but his bravery ensured that a key participant in the attack would live to tell the tale.
Kasab’s arrest is unique in the annals of anti-terrorist operations anywhere. His interrogation has produced invaluable evidence about the preparation for and execution of the attack.
Kasab must be tried scrupulously fairly and with full respect for his right to legal defence. A lawyer of unimpeachable competence must be drafted to defend him. His conviction cannot be a foregone conclusion merely because of the attack’s barbarity. His guilt must be proved on the highest norms of criminal law.
After Kasab’s disclosures to the police, there can be little doubt that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the attack after putting recruits through rigorous training and ideological-political indoctrination for almost a year. The Pakistani media has since verified Kasab’s home address, and interviewed his father in Faridkot village in Punjab’s Okara district. The international community has confirmed the LeT’s involvement through the ban imposed on its sister organisation, Jamaat-ud-Daawa, by the United Nations Security Council under Resolution 1267.
The LeT isn’t just another jehadi group. It has had a special relationship with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Unlike other groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, which are Deobandi, the LeT is Salafist and doesn’t believe in fighting governments in Islamic countries. The LeT doesn’t actively oppose the army’s anti-Taliban-Al-Qaeda operations at the Afghanistan border.
It’s not clear if the ISI or its “rogue” elements logistically supported the Mumbai attack. But it’s reasonably plain that the attackers’ main motive was to provoke a military response from India, which would cause a troops build-up at Pakistan’s eastern border. This would create a rationale for redeploying Pakistani troops from the western border—where they face considerable pressure from US-Pakistan operations—to the Indian border. This would allow Al Qaeda-Taliban fighters to regroup and overrun large swathes of Afghanistan and Pakistan
Secondarily, the attackers’ motive was to increase disaffection among Indian Muslims and provoke a backlash—to further help extremism. Mercifully, this hasn’t happened—despite the Sangh Parivar. The attacks have triggered unprecedented Hindu-Muslim unity and a spirited condemnation of terrorism by an overwhelming majority of India’s Muslim organisations.
Indian military retaliation would play straight into LeT’s hands. This would further destabilise Pakistan, which is already in a precarious condition, to the point of unravelling its state—with disastrous consequences for the whole region. The Indian government has acted with restraint and used diplomatic, not military, means to deal with the crisis. On December 11, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee underscored this approach. In response to a demand for attacking Pakistan, he said: “That is not the point….I am making it quite clear that that is not the solution. Let us be very clear and frank that that is no solution.”
The meaning of the military option, advocated stridently by hawkish “strategic experts” and by Bharatiya Janata Party MPs like Arun Shourie should be plain. Shourie wants India to target Pakistan’s vital installations and keep Pakistan “preoccupied”, presumably through covert action, with its “own problems in Balochistan, in Gilgit, Baltistan”, etc. He said: “Not an eye for an eye; but for an eye, both eyes. For a tooth, (the) whole jaw.”
This is an insane prescription. Any India-Pakistan conflict is liable to escalate into nuclear war. In Nuclear Armageddon, there are no winners—only mega-deaths.
Even a limited nuclear exchange will kill millions of civilians in both countries. The economic and environmental damage will set us back by decades. A single Hiroshima/Nagasaki-type bomb will kill 8 to 20 lakh people in a big city. India and Pakistan both have scores of such bombs, indeed even more powerful ones.
In every conceivable war-gaming scenario—and many credible ones exist —, an India-Pakistan conflict has one inevitable outcome: full-scale war, in which Pakistan won’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it fears loss of territory. This will invite nuclear retaliation from India, with consequences too horrifying even to contemplate.
No leader has the moral right or political mandate to sacrifice millions of civilians. Only extremists with apocalyptic visions like RSS chief KS Sudarshan believe nuclear war is acceptable.
He recently told an interviewer: “Whenever the demons (Asuri powers) start dominating this planet, there is no way other than war…I know it will not stop there. It will be a nuclear war and a large number of people will perish. But … let me say with confidence that after this destruction, a new world will emerge, which will be very good, free from evil and terrorism.”
It’s dangerous to imagine that the threat of war can compel Pakistan into acting decisively against extremist groups. Indeed, Pakistan will respond with even greater bellicosity.
The idea of “surgical strikes” against terrorist training camps is equally harebrained. LeT camps are makeshift affairs, and poor candidate-targets for strikes. Any strike, however “limited”, will invite armed conflict. Pakistan isn’t Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which the US could attack without fear of resistance because it crippled all military communications. Even covert action, which will require the creation of a new monster—”India’s own ISI”—will trigger escalation.
But there are alternatives. Manmohan Singh outlined a two-pronged approach: galvanising international opinion for effective action against terrorism, and persisting with diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. Domestically, he promised reform of internal security arrangements. US and UK pressure has already led to a ban on JuD. But India must develop a broader multilateral approach to avert getting drawn into Washington’s parochial plans for the region.
The best strategy would be to press Pakistan through UN Security Council Resolution 1373, under which sanctions can be imposed on a state that fails to “deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts…” and violates its duty to “refrain from providing … support… to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts…”.
Bilaterally, India can achieve much by sharing evidence of the LeT’s role in the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan, and acting demonstrably to defuse suspicions about its covert operations in Balochistan and Afghanistan.
While revamping India’s internal security system, the Singh government should have followed the advice of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan against using “questionable methods such as permitting indefinite detention of terror suspects…coercive interrogation techniques and the denial of the right to fair trial”, and his plea for “substantive due process”.
Regrettably, it has done the very opposite by having a law passed which replicates all the obnoxious provisions, including detention without charges for 180 days, of the discredited Prevention of Terrorism Act—except for making police confessions admissible as evidence. The National Investigative Agency Act too has flaws, including overcentralisation of powers, and their illegitimate extension to areas affected by insurgency and Left-wing extremism. These Acts must be undone.
The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and human-rights activist based in Delhi. Email: prafulbidwai1@yahoo.co.in
Friday, December 26, 2008 (The News)
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Monday, 22 December 2008
Ansar Abbasi's column on the Mumbai terrorist attacks and Ajma Kasab. Abbasi is in the 'denial' mode.
Ansar Abbasi's column on the Mumbai terrorist attacks and Ajma Kasab. Abbasi is in the 'denial' mode. Do you know why? Because he is most probably on the payroll of the Taliban. He is a stauch supporter of Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, whom he consider as the hero of Islam. Shame on you Ansar Abbasi. You are a traitor to your own country.
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Media war and India-Pakistan tension
As the world worries about India and Pakistan going to war over the Mumbai attack of November 26, 2008, Pakistan is all set to take on India if it attacks. Defence ministry officials in Islamabad, responding to an intelligence report saying India had prepared for a war with Pakistan, were quoted by the press Saturday as saying “Pakistan is not afraid of India’s preparations for war” and that “the Pakistan Army has been making its own preparations for a possible war”.
Anyone outside South Asia would be shocked at this kind of news. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and any conflict between them is bound to escalate into a holocaust for the region. Then why are the two sides hyping up a conflict neither can afford? What is pushing them to the edge, if it cannot be reason and good sense?
It is clear that the Indian media is setting the stage for the Indian Congress-UPA government to put on the warpaint or take a defeat in the coming elections to a more jingoist BJP. The Nepalese journal Himal (December 2008) wrote: “There is an attempt on to generate mass hysteria in India as television channels compete for ratings. The channels are using the Bombay attacks of last week in a dangerous game of TRP-upmanship [TV’s target-rating point] which can well derail the political process and set back the India-Pakistan peace train. Going far beyond what is required of them even in times of crisis, some media houses are leading campaigns to get citizens to take pledges of patriotism. They are pushing a brittle, monochromatic vision of the resilient country we know as India”.
Sane voices in India are also worried. Shekhar Gupta, editor of Indian Express, noting the way the TV anchors in India were getting savagely emotional, wrote to advise the two sides to bring down the temperature of the media war: “This hostility must end and senior media people on both sides, particularly editors, need to intervene before this great professional bond starts to fray. Journalists are of course loyal to their countries, but are never to be held accountable for their governments’ policies. They can neither be framing state policies, nor be their spokesmen, and certainly not be waging wars...It is time media institutions and senior editors from both sides intervened and ensured it does not get out of control”.
In Pakistan the “reactive” assault by the media has brought out the dark side of the Pakistani state, oblivious of any strategy of restraint and more worried about how bad the government will appear in the eyes of the people overwhelmed by the anti-Indian fury of key TV anchors and newspapers columnists. One senior columnist laid down the terrain on which the war of the anchors and columnists is being fought when he said there were only two kinds of journalism, one for the country and the other for one’s self. But what about the facts?
Daily Jang (December 13, 2008) reported that its team went to Faridkot in Okara to inquire whether the terrorist caught in Mumbai Ajmal Amir Kasab was an inhabitant of the village. According to the report it was greeted at first with cover-up stories. Then a villager disclosed that Ajmal had disappeared but when he came back he showed off his physical prowess and taught karate to village children. More and more people reportedly started complaining that intelligence agencies were actively discouraging people from telling the truth. The president of the local press club said if Ajmal was not from the village, why were the secret agencies putting pressure on the village? People said the terrorists were not only bothering India but had made life hell for Pakistanis too.
This report seemed to substantiate the contents of an earlier report about Faridkot in London’s Observer. But then some TV channels went to Faridkot and reported that Ajmal Kasab had not lived there. Other reports told us how the villagers of Faridkot were out in processions saying no Ajmal Kasab had actually existed. What then are the facts? India initially said it was in the process of putting the evidence together. Now, its external affairs minister says his country has given evidence to Pakistan but Islamabad is not acting against the culprits on the basis of that information. The Interior secretary, Kamal Shah, was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt (December 14, 2008) as saying that the captured terrorist Kasab was not on the record of NADRA and he did not possess a Pakistani ID card.
The entire issue has got mired in politics and nationalistic sparring. The “pause” in normalisation means the only framework in and through which India and Pakistan were moving forward and could, under the circumstances, is now in abeyance. And just when the two sides needed it the most to not only tackle the Mumbai episode but by agreeing to contextualise the problem of “terrorism” move towards a lasting solution of the problem. Now sane voices in India are asking their media to cool off; in Pakistan too sane voices must start speaking up so the issue can be put in the proper perspective. * (Daily Times, 22 Dec 2008)
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Anyone outside South Asia would be shocked at this kind of news. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and any conflict between them is bound to escalate into a holocaust for the region. Then why are the two sides hyping up a conflict neither can afford? What is pushing them to the edge, if it cannot be reason and good sense?
It is clear that the Indian media is setting the stage for the Indian Congress-UPA government to put on the warpaint or take a defeat in the coming elections to a more jingoist BJP. The Nepalese journal Himal (December 2008) wrote: “There is an attempt on to generate mass hysteria in India as television channels compete for ratings. The channels are using the Bombay attacks of last week in a dangerous game of TRP-upmanship [TV’s target-rating point] which can well derail the political process and set back the India-Pakistan peace train. Going far beyond what is required of them even in times of crisis, some media houses are leading campaigns to get citizens to take pledges of patriotism. They are pushing a brittle, monochromatic vision of the resilient country we know as India”.
Sane voices in India are also worried. Shekhar Gupta, editor of Indian Express, noting the way the TV anchors in India were getting savagely emotional, wrote to advise the two sides to bring down the temperature of the media war: “This hostility must end and senior media people on both sides, particularly editors, need to intervene before this great professional bond starts to fray. Journalists are of course loyal to their countries, but are never to be held accountable for their governments’ policies. They can neither be framing state policies, nor be their spokesmen, and certainly not be waging wars...It is time media institutions and senior editors from both sides intervened and ensured it does not get out of control”.
In Pakistan the “reactive” assault by the media has brought out the dark side of the Pakistani state, oblivious of any strategy of restraint and more worried about how bad the government will appear in the eyes of the people overwhelmed by the anti-Indian fury of key TV anchors and newspapers columnists. One senior columnist laid down the terrain on which the war of the anchors and columnists is being fought when he said there were only two kinds of journalism, one for the country and the other for one’s self. But what about the facts?
Daily Jang (December 13, 2008) reported that its team went to Faridkot in Okara to inquire whether the terrorist caught in Mumbai Ajmal Amir Kasab was an inhabitant of the village. According to the report it was greeted at first with cover-up stories. Then a villager disclosed that Ajmal had disappeared but when he came back he showed off his physical prowess and taught karate to village children. More and more people reportedly started complaining that intelligence agencies were actively discouraging people from telling the truth. The president of the local press club said if Ajmal was not from the village, why were the secret agencies putting pressure on the village? People said the terrorists were not only bothering India but had made life hell for Pakistanis too.
This report seemed to substantiate the contents of an earlier report about Faridkot in London’s Observer. But then some TV channels went to Faridkot and reported that Ajmal Kasab had not lived there. Other reports told us how the villagers of Faridkot were out in processions saying no Ajmal Kasab had actually existed. What then are the facts? India initially said it was in the process of putting the evidence together. Now, its external affairs minister says his country has given evidence to Pakistan but Islamabad is not acting against the culprits on the basis of that information. The Interior secretary, Kamal Shah, was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt (December 14, 2008) as saying that the captured terrorist Kasab was not on the record of NADRA and he did not possess a Pakistani ID card.
The entire issue has got mired in politics and nationalistic sparring. The “pause” in normalisation means the only framework in and through which India and Pakistan were moving forward and could, under the circumstances, is now in abeyance. And just when the two sides needed it the most to not only tackle the Mumbai episode but by agreeing to contextualise the problem of “terrorism” move towards a lasting solution of the problem. Now sane voices in India are asking their media to cool off; in Pakistan too sane voices must start speaking up so the issue can be put in the proper perspective. * (Daily Times, 22 Dec 2008)
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Hamid Mir nails Pakistan Government’s lie on Ajmal Kasab ....
This Pakistani nailed Pak Government’s lie on Kasab
Renuka Narayanan, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, December 22, 2008
The Pakistani who had a court case filed against his TV news channel on December 19 for publicly establishing Ajmal Amir Kasab’s Pakistani origin says he is optimistic about a solution to terror simply because he is still alive.
“The students asked me to explain the difference between ‘patriotic journalism’ and ‘real journalism’,” he said. “I said whoever is killing innocent people, whether in India or in Pakistan, has to be exposed. That is real journalism.” Hamid Mir, Islamabad-based editor of Geo Channel, who telecast Kasab's father from Faridkot village in Okara district of Pakistan identifying his son as the captured terrorist of 26/11, told Hindustan Times: “The mood of the Pakistani people is overall pessimistic. But I am optimistic that there will be a positive outcome because I am still alive.”
“I am being observed with great attention and no one has killed me yet,” he said. Mir was invited to address journalism students at Panjab University, Lahore, on Saturday. “The students asked me to explain the difference between ‘patriotic journalism’ and ‘real journalism’,” he said. “I said whoever is killing innocent people, whether in India or in Pakistan, has to be exposed. That is real journalism.”
Mir squarely blames several Indian TV channels for whipping up public hysteria on both sides of the border.
“Between November 27 and December 4, every bad word said against Pakistan on these channels was taped by Pakistani news channels and then shown to the public here,” he said. “There was general disbelief about the allegation that the Pakistani navy transported the terrorists to Indian waters, because even the common man here knows that the navy are gentlemen and apolitical, they are not like our army.”
“Also there was some fictional Pakistani character called ‘Rehman Chacha’, shown on an Indian channel as the trainer of terrorists. I showed such clips to an Indian journalist here. She said if Indian media was behaving irresponsibly, then we should behave responsibly,” Mir added.
Mir then hosted a discussion on his show Capital Talk on December 4 between Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of Nuclear Physics, Qaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, and Lt. Gen. (retired) Hamid Nawaz, former federal minister for interior, who said that the Mumbai massacre was the work of Hindu extremists, to discredit Pakistan.
But when Professor Hoodbhoy challenged that theory, supported by Mir, “There was an outcry next day in sections of Pakistan’s Urdu press that two Indian agents were sitting on Geo TV,” said Mir.
So why did he air the findings on Kasab’s Pakistani identity, knowing what the fallout would be? “I am not doing this for India. I am doing it for Pakistan,” said Mir. “I have been telling people here that both India and Pakistan have extreme elements. Maulana Masood Azhar’s counterparts are Praveen Togadia and Babu Bajrangi. We have to tell the truth about these people or we are just benefiting those who want Pakistani civil society, media and justice to be suppressed.”
Read more...
Friday, 19 December 2008
Nawaz Sharif says Ajmal Kasab from Faridkot, Pakistan
Sharif slams Zardari, says Kasab from Pakistan
Challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s assertion that there was no proof that the arrested Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan’s Punjab province, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect’s village was cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
“I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet anybody. I don’t undertand why it has been done,” Shraif, who hails from Punjab, said in an interview to ‘Geo News’ channel.
“The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman’s parents so that the truth could come out in the open,” he said, adding that “We need some kind of introspection.”
In his interview on Kamran Khan Kay Sath, Nawaz Sharif stated that Pakistan was becoming ‘a failed state’
........
After India, Sharif slams Zardari, says Kasab from Pak
Islamabad Challenging President Asif Ali Zardari's assertion that there was no proof that the arrested Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan's Punjab province, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect's village was cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
"I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet anybody. I don't undertand why it has been done," Shraif, who hails from Punjab, said in an interview to ‘Geo News’ channel.
"The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman's parents so that the truth could come out in the open," he said, adding that "We need some kind of introspection."
Zardari, who earlier acknowledged that the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage could be 'non-state' actors from Pakistan, has now said there is still no "real evidence" that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai came from Pakistan.
"Have you seen any evidence to that effect. I have definitely not seen any real evidence to that effect," Zardari told BBC in an interview earlier this week.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in Faridkot have launched a cover-up since India made it public that Kasab belonged to the village in Punjab province and his father acknowledged to a Pakistani newspaper that the gunman captured in India was his son.
Sharif also slammed President Zardari's rule, saying the functioning of the current Pakistan People's Party-led government is making Pakistan look like a "failed state". Pakistan presents the picture of a failed and ungovernable state due to the absence of the government's writ and the country urgently needs a new roadmap to pull it out of the problems it is currently facing, he said.
Kasab has told Indian investigators that he belongs to Faridkot village of Okara district in Pakistan's Punjab province and that he was trained by the Lashker-e-Taiba to carry out the attacks. Iman's father Amir Kasab too had admitted that the gunman in pictures beamed by the world media is his son.
Sharif said if Iman was not involved in the Mumbai attacks, why was Faridkot village being cordoned off by security agencies and the media prevented from going there.
If Iman was "involved in any way, despite that his parents should be allowed to speak out and say the boy has been (away from home) for three or four months or one or two years and we are also very worried about him", Sharif said.
He also asked why people and journalists were being barred from meeting Iman's parents and other residents of Faridkot.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in Faridkot have launched an apparent cover-up operation since Indian investigators revealed he belonged to the village.
Iman's parents have reportedly been shifted from the village and local officials have claimed no youth named Ajmal Kasab had lived in Faridkot.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Sharif-acknowledges-Kasab-belongs-to-Pak--slams-Zardari/400494/
.....
Ataul Haq Qasmi - Jang - 20 Dec 2008
.......
Some Comments
gditpp Says:
Read more...
Challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s assertion that there was no proof that the arrested Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan’s Punjab province, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect’s village was cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
“I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet anybody. I don’t undertand why it has been done,” Shraif, who hails from Punjab, said in an interview to ‘Geo News’ channel.
“The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman’s parents so that the truth could come out in the open,” he said, adding that “We need some kind of introspection.”
In his interview on Kamran Khan Kay Sath, Nawaz Sharif stated that Pakistan was becoming ‘a failed state’
........
After India, Sharif slams Zardari, says Kasab from Pak
Islamabad Challenging President Asif Ali Zardari's assertion that there was no proof that the arrested Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan's Punjab province, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect's village was cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
"I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet anybody. I don't undertand why it has been done," Shraif, who hails from Punjab, said in an interview to ‘Geo News’ channel.
"The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman's parents so that the truth could come out in the open," he said, adding that "We need some kind of introspection."
Zardari, who earlier acknowledged that the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage could be 'non-state' actors from Pakistan, has now said there is still no "real evidence" that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai came from Pakistan.
"Have you seen any evidence to that effect. I have definitely not seen any real evidence to that effect," Zardari told BBC in an interview earlier this week.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in Faridkot have launched a cover-up since India made it public that Kasab belonged to the village in Punjab province and his father acknowledged to a Pakistani newspaper that the gunman captured in India was his son.
Sharif also slammed President Zardari's rule, saying the functioning of the current Pakistan People's Party-led government is making Pakistan look like a "failed state". Pakistan presents the picture of a failed and ungovernable state due to the absence of the government's writ and the country urgently needs a new roadmap to pull it out of the problems it is currently facing, he said.
Kasab has told Indian investigators that he belongs to Faridkot village of Okara district in Pakistan's Punjab province and that he was trained by the Lashker-e-Taiba to carry out the attacks. Iman's father Amir Kasab too had admitted that the gunman in pictures beamed by the world media is his son.
Sharif said if Iman was not involved in the Mumbai attacks, why was Faridkot village being cordoned off by security agencies and the media prevented from going there.
If Iman was "involved in any way, despite that his parents should be allowed to speak out and say the boy has been (away from home) for three or four months or one or two years and we are also very worried about him", Sharif said.
He also asked why people and journalists were being barred from meeting Iman's parents and other residents of Faridkot.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in Faridkot have launched an apparent cover-up operation since Indian investigators revealed he belonged to the village.
Iman's parents have reportedly been shifted from the village and local officials have claimed no youth named Ajmal Kasab had lived in Faridkot.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Sharif-acknowledges-Kasab-belongs-to-Pak--slams-Zardari/400494/
.....
Ataul Haq Qasmi - Jang - 20 Dec 2008
.......
Some Comments
gditpp Says:
Read more...
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Genesis of jihadis - By Dr Manzur Ejaz
On the one hand, religious outfits preach jihad, and on the other they provide education, health and other social services, which are supposed to be responsibilities of the state. If the state had fulfilled its responsibilities, there would be no space for people like Hafiz Saeed
The proliferation of jihad in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, is not just induced by Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Rather, rapid socio-economic changes have played a major role in the propagation of jihadi culture. However, the truth gets lost in the media hype because journalists that only seek thrillers occupy intellectual space. News about jihad, Al Qaeda and the Taliban sells in the media market, and therefore no one is ready to talk about the fundamental realities.
We can take solace in make-believe conspiracy theories about the hidden role of the CIA, RAW or Mossad in the recent Mumbai terror attacks. Nonetheless, the fact remains that other than one from Dera Ismail Khan — an overwhelmingly Hinko-Punjabi speaking area — all other nine terrorists belonged to central Punjab. They came from Multan, Okara, Faisalabad and Sialkot — some of the more prosperous areas of Pakistan. But if one looks deeply into the causes behind the creation of jihadis in these areas, it becomes clear that this region is ripe for anti-status quo movements.
The mammoth socio-economic changes and resulting inequalities are the highest in these areas. In addition, the desire and consciousness for a fair society is also part of the mindset of this area. In other words, central Punjab is boiling for change. The movement for the restoration of deposed judiciary was only a prologue to even larger upheavals.
Take Ajmal Amir Kasab, who allegedly comes from a village in Okara, a very prosperous district in central Punjab. Imagine that on Eid, a boy in Okara asks his poor father for new clothes. The father, who has five other children, cannot afford to get him new clothes. The boy, an elementary school dropout, cannot swallow his deprivation given that other kids around him will have new clothes, and runs away from home. He tries to fulfil his dreams through wage labour, then robbery, and somehow ends up at a jihadi training centre. Had he become a professional robber, his end would not have been much different, only that now he will be called a shaheed or a ghazi.
This boy is the victim of a socio-economic system that has changed fundamentally in the entire sub-continent, and more so in Punjab — both Pakistani and Indian. Tractor trolleys have replaced the wooden cart pulled by oxen. In fact, the entire mode of production based on manual labour with oxen-pulled ploughs has disappeared from the landscape.
Villages where a few fortunate had bicycles have been inundated with motorcycles and cars. The villages from where only a few ever ventured outside, and even then to appear in court or make purchases for weddings, now have hourly bus services along with the twenty-four hour availability of rickshaws and taxis. Villages have been transformed into ghettos for cities. As the new generation of artisans and other working class people has brought money from the Middle East, the class arrangements that had prevailed for centuries have been uprooted.
In this new set-up, the individual’s role has been transformed as well. Societal roles have become more fluid: the son of a blacksmith or a butcher is no longer destined to take up us his ancestors’ occupation. However, along with the newly gained freedom, economic security is gone. In the previous social order the offspring of a blacksmith was assured to have certain economic security. Now everyone has to make his or her own living. This is a new crushing insecurity that has seeped into the psyche of the new generation.
Whatever is happening in Punjab is not new. In eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe, similar phenomenon resulted in devastating results. Civil wars became common and ultimately two world wars were fought because of hyper-nationalism. In a sense, the jihadis are also affected by pan-Islam nationalism, which includes liberating Kashmir.
This process is accelerated by the fundamental socio-economic changes that always result from the creation of new wealth and increasing inequality in the initial stages. This universal rule applied to nineteenth century Europe as well as to present day China. Pakistan is going through a rough Darwinian phase where the big fish are swallowing the smaller ones. Concepts of wrong and right are thrown out the window and everyone is out there to grab whatever they can. As a result, a new rich class has emerged along with a new class of subjugated poor.
Amid this loot and plunder, sections of the middle and lower classes have taken refuge in religion and embraced jihad. On the one hand, religious outfits preach jihad, and on the other they provide education, health and other social services, which are supposed to be responsibilities of the state. Take Hafiz Saeed, who comes from the jihad-preaching middle class and also provides many social services in his centres. If the state had fulfilled its responsibilities, there would be no space for people like him.
No wonder in such circumstances, the young son of an impoverished father falls into the jihadi trap. No outsider but the state and the new rich have given birth to these jihadis, who will continue to proliferate unless the state and the ruling classes re-examine and correct their current practices.
The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com
(Daily Times, 17 Dec 2008)
Read more...
The proliferation of jihad in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, is not just induced by Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Rather, rapid socio-economic changes have played a major role in the propagation of jihadi culture. However, the truth gets lost in the media hype because journalists that only seek thrillers occupy intellectual space. News about jihad, Al Qaeda and the Taliban sells in the media market, and therefore no one is ready to talk about the fundamental realities.
We can take solace in make-believe conspiracy theories about the hidden role of the CIA, RAW or Mossad in the recent Mumbai terror attacks. Nonetheless, the fact remains that other than one from Dera Ismail Khan — an overwhelmingly Hinko-Punjabi speaking area — all other nine terrorists belonged to central Punjab. They came from Multan, Okara, Faisalabad and Sialkot — some of the more prosperous areas of Pakistan. But if one looks deeply into the causes behind the creation of jihadis in these areas, it becomes clear that this region is ripe for anti-status quo movements.
The mammoth socio-economic changes and resulting inequalities are the highest in these areas. In addition, the desire and consciousness for a fair society is also part of the mindset of this area. In other words, central Punjab is boiling for change. The movement for the restoration of deposed judiciary was only a prologue to even larger upheavals.
Take Ajmal Amir Kasab, who allegedly comes from a village in Okara, a very prosperous district in central Punjab. Imagine that on Eid, a boy in Okara asks his poor father for new clothes. The father, who has five other children, cannot afford to get him new clothes. The boy, an elementary school dropout, cannot swallow his deprivation given that other kids around him will have new clothes, and runs away from home. He tries to fulfil his dreams through wage labour, then robbery, and somehow ends up at a jihadi training centre. Had he become a professional robber, his end would not have been much different, only that now he will be called a shaheed or a ghazi.
This boy is the victim of a socio-economic system that has changed fundamentally in the entire sub-continent, and more so in Punjab — both Pakistani and Indian. Tractor trolleys have replaced the wooden cart pulled by oxen. In fact, the entire mode of production based on manual labour with oxen-pulled ploughs has disappeared from the landscape.
Villages where a few fortunate had bicycles have been inundated with motorcycles and cars. The villages from where only a few ever ventured outside, and even then to appear in court or make purchases for weddings, now have hourly bus services along with the twenty-four hour availability of rickshaws and taxis. Villages have been transformed into ghettos for cities. As the new generation of artisans and other working class people has brought money from the Middle East, the class arrangements that had prevailed for centuries have been uprooted.
In this new set-up, the individual’s role has been transformed as well. Societal roles have become more fluid: the son of a blacksmith or a butcher is no longer destined to take up us his ancestors’ occupation. However, along with the newly gained freedom, economic security is gone. In the previous social order the offspring of a blacksmith was assured to have certain economic security. Now everyone has to make his or her own living. This is a new crushing insecurity that has seeped into the psyche of the new generation.
Whatever is happening in Punjab is not new. In eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe, similar phenomenon resulted in devastating results. Civil wars became common and ultimately two world wars were fought because of hyper-nationalism. In a sense, the jihadis are also affected by pan-Islam nationalism, which includes liberating Kashmir.
This process is accelerated by the fundamental socio-economic changes that always result from the creation of new wealth and increasing inequality in the initial stages. This universal rule applied to nineteenth century Europe as well as to present day China. Pakistan is going through a rough Darwinian phase where the big fish are swallowing the smaller ones. Concepts of wrong and right are thrown out the window and everyone is out there to grab whatever they can. As a result, a new rich class has emerged along with a new class of subjugated poor.
Amid this loot and plunder, sections of the middle and lower classes have taken refuge in religion and embraced jihad. On the one hand, religious outfits preach jihad, and on the other they provide education, health and other social services, which are supposed to be responsibilities of the state. Take Hafiz Saeed, who comes from the jihad-preaching middle class and also provides many social services in his centres. If the state had fulfilled its responsibilities, there would be no space for people like him.
No wonder in such circumstances, the young son of an impoverished father falls into the jihadi trap. No outsider but the state and the new rich have given birth to these jihadis, who will continue to proliferate unless the state and the ruling classes re-examine and correct their current practices.
The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com
(Daily Times, 17 Dec 2008)
Read more...
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Pakistan's newspaper Dawn establishes Faridkot link to Mumbai terror attack. Ajmal Kasab's father interviewed....
Pakistan's newspaper Dawn establishes Faridkot link to Mumbai terror attack; Ajmal Kasab's father interviewed
Dec 12, 2008
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper has confirmed that there is a link between Faridkot in Punjab province and the terror attacks that were launched on Mumbai last month.
In a special report, the Dawn says that the targeting of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India.
A jihadi slogan by a Tauheedi (Wahhabi organization)in Faridkot
The Dawn says that through it's own investigations last week, it could locate a family who claimed to be the kin of Ajmal Kasab, the sole survivor among the 10 attackers. The Dawn report follows:
.......
Crackdown hints at Faridkot-Mumbai link
Dawn Special Report
KARACHI, Dec 11: The targeting of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India following the capture of one of the 10 men who attacked several targets in Mumbai towards the end of last month.
During the course of Dawn’s own investigations last week our reporters were able to locate a family who claimed to be the kin of the arrested young man in Mumbai.
The sole survivor among the 10 attackers was named as Ajmal Kasab and was supposed to belong to the village Faridkot in the Punjab. Media organisations such as the BBC and now the British newspaper Observer have done reports trying to ascertain the veracity of claims appearing in the media that the young man had a home there.
On Friday last, the BBC reported unusual activity in Faridkot near Deepalpur. A BBC correspondent located a house in the village, the then inhabitants of which carried the surname of Kasab (or Qasab as the word is often spelt here). But the residents denied any link with either Ajmal or with any Amir Kasab, the name of Ajmal’s father as reported by some of the media.
At the weekend, the Observer in England claimed that it had managed to locate the house everyone was looking for so desperately. Its correspondent said he had got hold of the voters’ roll which had the names of Amir Kasab and his wife, identified as Noor, as well as the numbers on the identity cards the couple carried.
Even though the news stories by both BBC and the Observer made a mention of the LeT, some television channels in Pakistan suggested that a connection between Mumbai and Faridkot could not be established beyond a shadow of doubt.
However, the man who said he was Amir Kasab confirmed to Dawn that the young man whose face had been beamed over the media was his son.
For the next few minutes, the fifty-something man of medium build agonized over the reality that took time sinking in, amid sobs complaining about the raw deal the fate had given him and his family.
“I was in denial for the first couple of days, saying to myself it could not have been my son,” he told Dawn in the courtyard of his house in Faridkot, a village of about 2,500 people just a few kilometres from Deepalpur on the way to Kasur. “Now I have accepted it.
“This is the truth. I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son Ajmal.”
Variously addressed as Azam, Iman, Kamal and Kasav, the young man, apparently in his 20s, is being kept in custody at an undisclosed place in Mumbai.
Indian media reports ‘based on intelligence sources’ said the man was said to be a former Faridkot resident who left home a frustrated teenager about four years ago and went to Lahore.
After his brush with crime and criminals in Lahore, he is said to have run into and joined a religious group during a visit to Rawalpindi.
Along with others, claimed the Indian media, he was trained in fighting. And after a crash course in navigation, said Amir Kasab, a father of three sons and two daughters, Ajmal disappeared from home four years ago.
“He had asked me for new clothes on Eid that I couldn’t provide him. He got angry and left.”
While Amir was talking, Ajmal’s two “sisters and a younger brother” were lurking about. To Amir’s right, on a nearby charpoy, sat their mother, wrapped in a chador and in a world of her own. Her trance was broken as the small picture of Ajmal lying in a Mumbai hospital was shown around. They appeared to have identified their son. The mother shrunk back in her chador but the father said he had no problem in talking about the subject.
Amir Kasab said he had settled in Faridkot after arriving from the nearby Haveli Lakha many years ago. He owned the house and made his earnings by selling pakoras in the streets of the village.
He modestly pointed to a hand-cart in one corner of the courtyard. “This is all I have. I shifted back to the village after doing the same job in Lahore.
“My eldest son, Afzal, is also back after a stint in Lahore. He is out working in the fields.”
Faridkot is far from the urbanites’ idea of a remote village. It is located right off a busy road and bears all the characteristics of a lower-middle class locality in a big city.
It has two middle-level schools, one for girls and the other for boys which Ajmal attended as a young boy. For higher standards, the students have to enroll in schools in Deepalpur which is not as far off as the word remote tends to indicate.
It by no means qualifies as Punjab’s backwaters, which makes the young Ajmal’s graduation to an international “fearmonger” even more difficult to understand. The area can do with cleaner streets and a better sewage system but the brick houses towards the side of the Kasur-Deepalpur road have a more organised look to them than is the case with most Pakistani villages.
The Observer newspaper reports that some locals seeking anonymity say the area is a hunting ground for the recruiters of LeT and provides the organisation with rich pickings.
The approach to Faridkot also points to at least some opportunities for those looking for a job. There are some factories in the surroundings, rice mills et al, interspersed with fertile land. But for the gravity of the situation, with its mellowed and welcoming ambience, the picture could be serene.
It is not and Amir Kasab repeats how little role he has had in the scheme since the day his son walked out on him. He calls the people who snatched Ajmal from him his enemies but has no clue who these enemies are. Asked why he didn’t look for his son all this while, he counters: “What could I do with the few resources that I had?”
Otherwise quite forthcoming in his answers, Amir Kasab, a mild-mannered soul, is a bit agitated at the mention of the link between his son’s actions and money. Indian media has claimed that Ajmal’s handlers had promised him that his family will be compensated with Rs150,000 (one and a half lakh) after the completion of the Mumbai mission.
“I don’t sell my sons,” he retorts.
Journalists visiting Faridkot since Dawn reporters were at the village say the family has moved from their home and some relatives now live in the house. Perhaps fearing a media invasion, nobody is willing to say where the family has gone.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/12/top6.htm
......
"Ajmal is my son" Read this report on BBC Urdu dot com:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/12/081212_faridkot_qasab_int_rh.shtml
.......
Geo TV Report
Ajmal Qasab is Pakistan resident?
Updated at: 2136 PST, Friday, December 12, 2008
Ajmal Qasab is Pakistan resident? FARID KOT: Ajmal Qasab, allegedly involved in Mumbai attacks and presently in Indian custody, is a resident of Farid Kot, Pakistan.
Geo News team that arrived in Farid Kot to investigate this, started inquiring the local people about Ajmal Qasab. Most of the people seemed unwilling to speak. However, a man or two confirmed that Ajmal Qasab’s father Amir Azam Qasab used to sell ‘Pakora’ in the area while his son Ajmal Qasab worked in the crop fields.
It was investigated that Ajmal Qasab ran away from home four years ago because his father failed to provide him new clothes on Eid as his son desired.
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30564.htm
Watch the Geo Report on this link:
http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f137/geo-investigation-report-about-farid-kot-82613/
.........
BBC Reporter visits Faridkot:
Read more...
Dec 12, 2008
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper has confirmed that there is a link between Faridkot in Punjab province and the terror attacks that were launched on Mumbai last month.
In a special report, the Dawn says that the targeting of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India.
A jihadi slogan by a Tauheedi (Wahhabi organization)in Faridkot
The Dawn says that through it's own investigations last week, it could locate a family who claimed to be the kin of Ajmal Kasab, the sole survivor among the 10 attackers. The Dawn report follows:
.......
Crackdown hints at Faridkot-Mumbai link
Dawn Special Report
KARACHI, Dec 11: The targeting of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India following the capture of one of the 10 men who attacked several targets in Mumbai towards the end of last month.
During the course of Dawn’s own investigations last week our reporters were able to locate a family who claimed to be the kin of the arrested young man in Mumbai.
The sole survivor among the 10 attackers was named as Ajmal Kasab and was supposed to belong to the village Faridkot in the Punjab. Media organisations such as the BBC and now the British newspaper Observer have done reports trying to ascertain the veracity of claims appearing in the media that the young man had a home there.
On Friday last, the BBC reported unusual activity in Faridkot near Deepalpur. A BBC correspondent located a house in the village, the then inhabitants of which carried the surname of Kasab (or Qasab as the word is often spelt here). But the residents denied any link with either Ajmal or with any Amir Kasab, the name of Ajmal’s father as reported by some of the media.
At the weekend, the Observer in England claimed that it had managed to locate the house everyone was looking for so desperately. Its correspondent said he had got hold of the voters’ roll which had the names of Amir Kasab and his wife, identified as Noor, as well as the numbers on the identity cards the couple carried.
Even though the news stories by both BBC and the Observer made a mention of the LeT, some television channels in Pakistan suggested that a connection between Mumbai and Faridkot could not be established beyond a shadow of doubt.
However, the man who said he was Amir Kasab confirmed to Dawn that the young man whose face had been beamed over the media was his son.
For the next few minutes, the fifty-something man of medium build agonized over the reality that took time sinking in, amid sobs complaining about the raw deal the fate had given him and his family.
“I was in denial for the first couple of days, saying to myself it could not have been my son,” he told Dawn in the courtyard of his house in Faridkot, a village of about 2,500 people just a few kilometres from Deepalpur on the way to Kasur. “Now I have accepted it.
“This is the truth. I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son Ajmal.”
Variously addressed as Azam, Iman, Kamal and Kasav, the young man, apparently in his 20s, is being kept in custody at an undisclosed place in Mumbai.
Indian media reports ‘based on intelligence sources’ said the man was said to be a former Faridkot resident who left home a frustrated teenager about four years ago and went to Lahore.
After his brush with crime and criminals in Lahore, he is said to have run into and joined a religious group during a visit to Rawalpindi.
Along with others, claimed the Indian media, he was trained in fighting. And after a crash course in navigation, said Amir Kasab, a father of three sons and two daughters, Ajmal disappeared from home four years ago.
“He had asked me for new clothes on Eid that I couldn’t provide him. He got angry and left.”
While Amir was talking, Ajmal’s two “sisters and a younger brother” were lurking about. To Amir’s right, on a nearby charpoy, sat their mother, wrapped in a chador and in a world of her own. Her trance was broken as the small picture of Ajmal lying in a Mumbai hospital was shown around. They appeared to have identified their son. The mother shrunk back in her chador but the father said he had no problem in talking about the subject.
Amir Kasab said he had settled in Faridkot after arriving from the nearby Haveli Lakha many years ago. He owned the house and made his earnings by selling pakoras in the streets of the village.
He modestly pointed to a hand-cart in one corner of the courtyard. “This is all I have. I shifted back to the village after doing the same job in Lahore.
“My eldest son, Afzal, is also back after a stint in Lahore. He is out working in the fields.”
Faridkot is far from the urbanites’ idea of a remote village. It is located right off a busy road and bears all the characteristics of a lower-middle class locality in a big city.
It has two middle-level schools, one for girls and the other for boys which Ajmal attended as a young boy. For higher standards, the students have to enroll in schools in Deepalpur which is not as far off as the word remote tends to indicate.
It by no means qualifies as Punjab’s backwaters, which makes the young Ajmal’s graduation to an international “fearmonger” even more difficult to understand. The area can do with cleaner streets and a better sewage system but the brick houses towards the side of the Kasur-Deepalpur road have a more organised look to them than is the case with most Pakistani villages.
The Observer newspaper reports that some locals seeking anonymity say the area is a hunting ground for the recruiters of LeT and provides the organisation with rich pickings.
The approach to Faridkot also points to at least some opportunities for those looking for a job. There are some factories in the surroundings, rice mills et al, interspersed with fertile land. But for the gravity of the situation, with its mellowed and welcoming ambience, the picture could be serene.
It is not and Amir Kasab repeats how little role he has had in the scheme since the day his son walked out on him. He calls the people who snatched Ajmal from him his enemies but has no clue who these enemies are. Asked why he didn’t look for his son all this while, he counters: “What could I do with the few resources that I had?”
Otherwise quite forthcoming in his answers, Amir Kasab, a mild-mannered soul, is a bit agitated at the mention of the link between his son’s actions and money. Indian media has claimed that Ajmal’s handlers had promised him that his family will be compensated with Rs150,000 (one and a half lakh) after the completion of the Mumbai mission.
“I don’t sell my sons,” he retorts.
Journalists visiting Faridkot since Dawn reporters were at the village say the family has moved from their home and some relatives now live in the house. Perhaps fearing a media invasion, nobody is willing to say where the family has gone.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/12/top6.htm
......
"Ajmal is my son" Read this report on BBC Urdu dot com:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/12/081212_faridkot_qasab_int_rh.shtml
.......
Geo TV Report
Ajmal Qasab is Pakistan resident?
Updated at: 2136 PST, Friday, December 12, 2008
Ajmal Qasab is Pakistan resident? FARID KOT: Ajmal Qasab, allegedly involved in Mumbai attacks and presently in Indian custody, is a resident of Farid Kot, Pakistan.
Geo News team that arrived in Farid Kot to investigate this, started inquiring the local people about Ajmal Qasab. Most of the people seemed unwilling to speak. However, a man or two confirmed that Ajmal Qasab’s father Amir Azam Qasab used to sell ‘Pakora’ in the area while his son Ajmal Qasab worked in the crop fields.
It was investigated that Ajmal Qasab ran away from home four years ago because his father failed to provide him new clothes on Eid as his son desired.
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30564.htm
Watch the Geo Report on this link:
http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f137/geo-investigation-report-about-farid-kot-82613/
.........
BBC Reporter visits Faridkot:
Read more...
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Names and pictures of terrrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks. All of them belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba & also Sipah-e-Sahaba from D.I.Khan
India releases names, details on Mumbai gunmen
By MUNEEZA NAQVI – (The Associated Press)
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Police in India said Tuesday they had identified the nine suspected Islamic militants killed during the three-day siege of Mumbai and uncovered new details about them — including their hometowns in Pakistan.
The new information, which included three gruesome photos of maimed faces, appeared to bolster India's claims that all the attackers were from Pakistan.
The chief police investigator into the attacks also showed photos of eight of the men — some from identity cards, while others were gruesome shots of the dead attackers. The body of the ninth, he said, was too badly burned.
Most of the attackers came from Pakistan's Punjab province, and all were between the ages of 20 and 28.
India has blamed the Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks that left 171 people dead in India's financial center last, and have demanded that Pakistan take action.
At Tuesday's briefing, Mumbai's chief police investigator Rakesh Maria gave the names and the aliases used by the attackers. He also showed photographs of eight of the men and gave details of what he said were their hometowns in Pakistan. He did not say how police had tracked down their hometowns, although they have been interrogating the lone surviving gunman.
Maria said the leader of the group was Ismail Khan, 25, from Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, who he called veteran of other Lashkar attacks. He did not provide details.
Khan led the assault on Mumbai's busy railway station.
Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on Lashkar-e-Taiba by arresting 20 more people but said Tuesday it will not hand any of its citizens over to India.
The United States also is pressing Pakistan to help catch those behind the attack, and avert a crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors that would harm efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
However, for some of the gunmen police only had first names and aliases. Maria said the men had been introduced to each other by their aliases, but during the operation had told each other there real names.
The youngest attacker was identified as 20-year-old Shoaib, alias Soheb, who came from Narowal district in Pakistan's Punjab province. He was among those who attacked the Taj Mahal hotel, Maria said. Two came from the central Pakistani city of Multan, Maria said.
Some of the photographs were taken from identity documents found on the dead gunmen, while others were pictures taken of the bodies. Some had charred faces, while others were swollen and battered.
Officials at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached immediately for comment, though President Asif Ali Zardari said last week that he doubted the captured gunman was a Pakistani.
Also Tuesday, Maria said the captured gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, had asked to be allowed to write a letter to his father in which he expressed regret for carrying out the attacks.
In the letter, written in Urdu, Kasab said "he has been misled by these people," Maria said, apparently referring to those who recruited him. "Youngsters in the village should be told not to believe in this indoctrination," Maria said, reading from a copy of the letter.
The new head of the Jewish center ravaged by the gunmen vowed Tuesday to restore the facility — as did the owners of the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, scene of much of the bloodshed.
Chabad house, the Jewish center, was one of several places captured by suspected Islamic gunmen in the Nov. 26-29 attacks. A commando assault ended the two-day siege of the center, but six people inside the building — all Jewish foreigners — were killed.
"We are staying at the same center and will rebuild it even nicer than it was," said Rabbi Dov Goldberg, an Israeli who was sent by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which ran the house.
Among those killed in the attack was American-Israeli Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka.
The building served as a spiritual oasis for Mumbai's small Jewish community, traveling Jewish backpackers and visiting businessmen, providing a synagogue and kosher food.
Goldberg said the center, which was ravaged by dozens of explosions during the commando assault, would be refurbished and security would be strengthened. "We will do all that's necessary for security and for safety," he said.
The Holtzbergs' 2-year-old son, Moshe, survived the attack after being whisked out the building by his nanny and another worker.
The owners of the Taj Mahal, scene of much of the bloodshed, planned an interfaith prayer ceremony to rededicate the building, although it was far from clear how long it would take to rebuild the 105-year-old structure.
In a statement, the hotel said it hoped "the hotel will shine again in tribute to the people who fell during the terrorist attacks" after the eventual rededication ceremony — performed by Parsi, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish religious leaders.
The historic hotel suffered extensive damage during the siege, frequently catching fire as the gunmen and commandos battled it out. The place was riddled with bullets and dozens of grenades were thrown in the building.
A fire broke out at the hotel early Tuesday, likely caused by a short circuit, but no additional damage was done, the hotel said in a statement.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hz0C0SXcxgP0NxzlqGA_EI57FBkQD94VACM00
.........
Fake college ID cards help police identify terrorists
9 Dec 2008, 2206 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: All the ten terrorists who attacked the city on November 26 carried fake student identity cards of different Indian colleges which
helped the city police identify them despite bodies of many of them being damaged beyond recognition, a senior police officer said today.
The police also recovered their photographs from the fake ID cards and today released eight of them.
"Most of the photographs were recovered from the fake college identity cards that were recovered from the bodies of the terrorists," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said.
However, the ID cards of three terrorist were damaged and their photos could not be recovered from them, so, the police had to release the photographs of their dead bodies, he said.
Meanwhile, photo of one of the terrorists was not released since his body was badly charred. He has been identified as Nazeer alias Abu Umer by Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone arrested terrorist, Maria said adding Nazeer was killed by NSG commandos at the Taj Hotel.
The police also released the names of the ten individuals on the basis of Ajmal's interrogation.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Fake_college_ID_cards_help_police_identify_terrorists/articleshow/3814922.cms
.......
Mumbai attacks: Terrorists pictured for the first time
By Andy Rudd, Mirror.co.uk 9/12/2008
Bloodied and battered these are the faces of eight of the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai massacre killing 172 people.
The photographs of the gang were released along with their names and aliases and home towns by Chief investigator Rakesh Maria.
He said that the body of the ninth terrorist was too badly burned to be shown.
Police have been interrogating the lone surviving gunman Azam Amir Kasav – dubbed the Smiling Assassin - about the three-day attack which claimed the lives of 172 people and injured 239.
He revealed that terrorist planners had visited Mumbai a month ago to take photos and film the spots they wanted to hit, including the Taj Mahal Palace hotel where it is now suspected two “sleeper” terrorists were working as a chef and waiter.
The Pakistani gang had slit the throat of a coastguard before sailing into Mumbai to launch their killing spree.
Once holed up inside the Taj they texted their fanatic pals to brag they were eating curry while slaughtering guests.
Indian police will use the evidence of 21-year-old Kasav, from Gipal Pura in Pakistan, to help track the brains behind the plot which is now feared to have claimed more than 300 people.
Kasav was captured alive after fleeing Mumbai’s railway station in a stolen Skoda on Thursday evening. As he sped off he was involved in a gun battle with a police officer. Kasav took two bullets, the officer was killed.
The young killer had pretended he was also dead, but as his body was taken to hospital police saw him move and anti-terror officers pounced.
Kasav eventually told detectives that he was among a group of 10 who left Karachi in Pakistan on one boat for the 500-mile journey to Mumbai.
Six miles from Mumbai they overpowered a fishing vessel called Kuber, hoping to use the local boat to pass through a checkpoint. But the plan failed when a coastguard cutter approached them.
When the cutter was alongside they struck and one of the coastguard had his throat slit while the other was made to navigate the men onwards to Mumbai.
Four miles out, they dumped the vessel before switching to dinghies to enter India. Each man had an AK47 machine gun, 50-bullet magazines and eight hand grenades.
Kasav told police their aim had been to create another 9/11: “The Taj was to be reduced to rubble – and we had the ammunition to do it,” he said.
Terrorists had ordered the chefs to cook them chicken and lamb curry, which they feasted on while picking out hostages to kill. Groups of terrified guests were tied and bound with bed sheets, marched into rooms and ordered to urinate on one another.
Before people were shot they had their wallets emptied and were stripped of all their jewellery.
According to survivor reports, the gang had whooped with joy as news broke that intelligence chief Hemant Karkare and other policemen had been killed outside.
A police source said: “The ballroom was the control room used by the attackers. They packed it with satellite phones, mobile phones, computers and TVs. We are going through all the information now to see what we can find.”
The Indian Army finally brought the siege at the Taj to an end when hundreds of soldiers stormed the building just after 7am, killing the remaining three terrorists
http://www.mirror.co.uk/2008/12/09/mumbai-attacks-terrorists-pictured-for-the-first-time-115875-20958275/
........
Read more...
By MUNEEZA NAQVI – (The Associated Press)
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Police in India said Tuesday they had identified the nine suspected Islamic militants killed during the three-day siege of Mumbai and uncovered new details about them — including their hometowns in Pakistan.
The new information, which included three gruesome photos of maimed faces, appeared to bolster India's claims that all the attackers were from Pakistan.
The chief police investigator into the attacks also showed photos of eight of the men — some from identity cards, while others were gruesome shots of the dead attackers. The body of the ninth, he said, was too badly burned.
Most of the attackers came from Pakistan's Punjab province, and all were between the ages of 20 and 28.
India has blamed the Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks that left 171 people dead in India's financial center last, and have demanded that Pakistan take action.
At Tuesday's briefing, Mumbai's chief police investigator Rakesh Maria gave the names and the aliases used by the attackers. He also showed photographs of eight of the men and gave details of what he said were their hometowns in Pakistan. He did not say how police had tracked down their hometowns, although they have been interrogating the lone surviving gunman.
Maria said the leader of the group was Ismail Khan, 25, from Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, who he called veteran of other Lashkar attacks. He did not provide details.
Khan led the assault on Mumbai's busy railway station.
Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on Lashkar-e-Taiba by arresting 20 more people but said Tuesday it will not hand any of its citizens over to India.
The United States also is pressing Pakistan to help catch those behind the attack, and avert a crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors that would harm efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
However, for some of the gunmen police only had first names and aliases. Maria said the men had been introduced to each other by their aliases, but during the operation had told each other there real names.
The youngest attacker was identified as 20-year-old Shoaib, alias Soheb, who came from Narowal district in Pakistan's Punjab province. He was among those who attacked the Taj Mahal hotel, Maria said. Two came from the central Pakistani city of Multan, Maria said.
Some of the photographs were taken from identity documents found on the dead gunmen, while others were pictures taken of the bodies. Some had charred faces, while others were swollen and battered.
Officials at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached immediately for comment, though President Asif Ali Zardari said last week that he doubted the captured gunman was a Pakistani.
Also Tuesday, Maria said the captured gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, had asked to be allowed to write a letter to his father in which he expressed regret for carrying out the attacks.
In the letter, written in Urdu, Kasab said "he has been misled by these people," Maria said, apparently referring to those who recruited him. "Youngsters in the village should be told not to believe in this indoctrination," Maria said, reading from a copy of the letter.
The new head of the Jewish center ravaged by the gunmen vowed Tuesday to restore the facility — as did the owners of the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, scene of much of the bloodshed.
Chabad house, the Jewish center, was one of several places captured by suspected Islamic gunmen in the Nov. 26-29 attacks. A commando assault ended the two-day siege of the center, but six people inside the building — all Jewish foreigners — were killed.
"We are staying at the same center and will rebuild it even nicer than it was," said Rabbi Dov Goldberg, an Israeli who was sent by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which ran the house.
Among those killed in the attack was American-Israeli Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka.
The building served as a spiritual oasis for Mumbai's small Jewish community, traveling Jewish backpackers and visiting businessmen, providing a synagogue and kosher food.
Goldberg said the center, which was ravaged by dozens of explosions during the commando assault, would be refurbished and security would be strengthened. "We will do all that's necessary for security and for safety," he said.
The Holtzbergs' 2-year-old son, Moshe, survived the attack after being whisked out the building by his nanny and another worker.
The owners of the Taj Mahal, scene of much of the bloodshed, planned an interfaith prayer ceremony to rededicate the building, although it was far from clear how long it would take to rebuild the 105-year-old structure.
In a statement, the hotel said it hoped "the hotel will shine again in tribute to the people who fell during the terrorist attacks" after the eventual rededication ceremony — performed by Parsi, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish religious leaders.
The historic hotel suffered extensive damage during the siege, frequently catching fire as the gunmen and commandos battled it out. The place was riddled with bullets and dozens of grenades were thrown in the building.
A fire broke out at the hotel early Tuesday, likely caused by a short circuit, but no additional damage was done, the hotel said in a statement.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hz0C0SXcxgP0NxzlqGA_EI57FBkQD94VACM00
.........
Fake college ID cards help police identify terrorists
9 Dec 2008, 2206 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: All the ten terrorists who attacked the city on November 26 carried fake student identity cards of different Indian colleges which
helped the city police identify them despite bodies of many of them being damaged beyond recognition, a senior police officer said today.
The police also recovered their photographs from the fake ID cards and today released eight of them.
"Most of the photographs were recovered from the fake college identity cards that were recovered from the bodies of the terrorists," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said.
However, the ID cards of three terrorist were damaged and their photos could not be recovered from them, so, the police had to release the photographs of their dead bodies, he said.
Meanwhile, photo of one of the terrorists was not released since his body was badly charred. He has been identified as Nazeer alias Abu Umer by Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone arrested terrorist, Maria said adding Nazeer was killed by NSG commandos at the Taj Hotel.
The police also released the names of the ten individuals on the basis of Ajmal's interrogation.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Fake_college_ID_cards_help_police_identify_terrorists/articleshow/3814922.cms
.......
Mumbai attacks: Terrorists pictured for the first time
By Andy Rudd, Mirror.co.uk 9/12/2008
Bloodied and battered these are the faces of eight of the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai massacre killing 172 people.
The photographs of the gang were released along with their names and aliases and home towns by Chief investigator Rakesh Maria.
He said that the body of the ninth terrorist was too badly burned to be shown.
Police have been interrogating the lone surviving gunman Azam Amir Kasav – dubbed the Smiling Assassin - about the three-day attack which claimed the lives of 172 people and injured 239.
He revealed that terrorist planners had visited Mumbai a month ago to take photos and film the spots they wanted to hit, including the Taj Mahal Palace hotel where it is now suspected two “sleeper” terrorists were working as a chef and waiter.
The Pakistani gang had slit the throat of a coastguard before sailing into Mumbai to launch their killing spree.
Once holed up inside the Taj they texted their fanatic pals to brag they were eating curry while slaughtering guests.
Indian police will use the evidence of 21-year-old Kasav, from Gipal Pura in Pakistan, to help track the brains behind the plot which is now feared to have claimed more than 300 people.
Kasav was captured alive after fleeing Mumbai’s railway station in a stolen Skoda on Thursday evening. As he sped off he was involved in a gun battle with a police officer. Kasav took two bullets, the officer was killed.
The young killer had pretended he was also dead, but as his body was taken to hospital police saw him move and anti-terror officers pounced.
Kasav eventually told detectives that he was among a group of 10 who left Karachi in Pakistan on one boat for the 500-mile journey to Mumbai.
Six miles from Mumbai they overpowered a fishing vessel called Kuber, hoping to use the local boat to pass through a checkpoint. But the plan failed when a coastguard cutter approached them.
When the cutter was alongside they struck and one of the coastguard had his throat slit while the other was made to navigate the men onwards to Mumbai.
Four miles out, they dumped the vessel before switching to dinghies to enter India. Each man had an AK47 machine gun, 50-bullet magazines and eight hand grenades.
Kasav told police their aim had been to create another 9/11: “The Taj was to be reduced to rubble – and we had the ammunition to do it,” he said.
Terrorists had ordered the chefs to cook them chicken and lamb curry, which they feasted on while picking out hostages to kill. Groups of terrified guests were tied and bound with bed sheets, marched into rooms and ordered to urinate on one another.
Before people were shot they had their wallets emptied and were stripped of all their jewellery.
According to survivor reports, the gang had whooped with joy as news broke that intelligence chief Hemant Karkare and other policemen had been killed outside.
A police source said: “The ballroom was the control room used by the attackers. They packed it with satellite phones, mobile phones, computers and TVs. We are going through all the information now to see what we can find.”
The Indian Army finally brought the siege at the Taj to an end when hundreds of soldiers stormed the building just after 7am, killing the remaining three terrorists
http://www.mirror.co.uk/2008/12/09/mumbai-attacks-terrorists-pictured-for-the-first-time-115875-20958275/
........
Read more...
Pakistan arrests suspected mastermind of Mumbai attacks: Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba /Jamatud Dawa arrested.
Pakistan arrests suspected mastermind of Mumbai attacks
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, named by sole surviving attacker as ringleader, held after raid on militant camp in Pakistani Kashmir
* Saeed Shah in Islamabad
* guardian.co.uk, Monday December 8 2008 16.56 GMT
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally in April 2008 Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally in April 2008. Photograph: Abu Arqam Naqash/Reuters
Pakistan today captured a suspected mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in a raid on a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the jihadist group accused by Delhi of carrying out the assault on India's commercial capital.
Pakistani authorities moved after indications India was considering air strikes against Lashkar-e-Taiba camps inside Pakistan if there was no action by Islamabad.
Twelve members of the group were arrested last night by the army in the town of Muzaffarabad, according to reports, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, named by India as one of the planners of the Mumbai attacks, which left 171 people dead. A helicopter gunship hovered overhead during the raid, and gunfire was heard.
Muzaffarabad is the regional capital of the part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and is the nerve-centre of jihadist activity aimed across the "line of control" to the part of Kashmir ruled by India.
The raid was the first concrete sign of a crackdown against militants in Pakistan following the attack on Mumbai. Indian officials privately described it as "an important first step", though there was some scepticism in India about the nature of the raid.
The camp includes a hospital, a madrassa (Islamic school) and offices; it was unclear whether it was a training facility for militants. As it was on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, it may only have been an administrative and charitable site. The complex was ostensibly being used by Jamaat ud Dawa, an Islamic organisation believed to be a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, but which claims to have no Islamist links.
The camp was subsequently sealed and the area cordoned. The Pakistan army acknowledged the raid but provided few details.
"This is an intelligence-led operation against banned militant outfits," said Major General Athar Abbas, the chief spokesman for the army. "There have been arrests and investigations are on. We are not disclosing any names. Further details will be available after preliminary investigations."
There was no move against the alleged headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is located just outside the eastern city of Lahore at Muridke. The group has denied involvement in the Mumbai attack.
Lakhvi is alleged to be the operations chief of the militant group and, according to some reports, recruited Ajmal Ameer Kasab, the lone gunman caught alive during the Mumbai assault.
It is unclear what happened to Lakhvi after his arrest. Also, the whereabouts of Yusuf Muzammil, the head of India activities who has been named by Indian officials as the other main planner of the Mumbai attack, is unknown. Reports suggested Indian authorities had asked for both men to be handed over.
Some locals in Muzaffarabad suggested some aspects of the raid may have been staged, and there are rumours the militants were tipped off. In the past, Pakistan has arrested the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed, but then quietly let him go.
Analysts see little chance that Lakhvi or any other major Lashkar-e-Taiba commander will actually be given up to India. Pakistan's president, Asif Zardari, has said that anyone detained in Pakistan will be tried there.
Pakistan is under intense international pressure to act against Lashkar-e-Taiba but any concerted attempt to quash the group in Pakistan would be likely be met with a violent response by its followers and a political backlash, placing Islamabad in a no-win position.
Today, the Pakistani government again complained that India had not shared evidence it claims to have on the participation of groups or individuals based in Pakistan. Islamabad also proposed that it would send a "high level delegation" to New Delhi.
"The main site of LeT is Muridke, Lahore, but they haven't done that," said Vikram Sood, an analyst in New Delhi and former head of India's RAW intelligence agency. "I wouldn't say this is a major move but I think it's to pre-empt any [Indian] action."
Within Pakistan, the religious right was predictably scathing over the Muzaffarabad raid.
"We've known for a long time that it [the camp] was there. If we wanted to take action, we should have done so, but not under external pressure we now face," said Fazlur Rehman, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a hardline religious party that is part of the ruling coalition in Islamabad.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the head of the other main religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said: "This [raid] is wrong. It's all a conspiracy by India and the US. This action shows up the weakness of this [Pakistani] government."
.......
What do ordinary Pakistanis think? Some comments:
anclub Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
comment-top
we must accept our negligence to handle the terrorists activities inside pakistan.all the activities inside or outside pakistan are patronised by our (so called)security agencies,just for the political reasons.they simply turn the situation into an other way.agencies are responsible.
Plato Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
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Dear Friends,
Has anyone gone into the depth of why the Air Chief Marshall may have issued the statement about Pakistan’ capability?
Has anyone also gone into the depth of why our Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani issued multiple statements against drone attacks stating at a few occasions that Pakistan would retaliate. He even issued orders for two F16s to patrol the tribal areas more than twice.
While looking at the above two questions that I have put for you, please remember that under our previous president, General Pervaiz Musharraf, not once did ISPR or any officer from the Pakistani Army or Airforce made a statement against the attacks or even implicitly against America.
Please also remember that the civilian government issued orders for the closure of ISI political cell. And ISPR issued statement that ISI political cell has not been “closed”, but made “inactive” after the Prime Minister made an announcement that the political cell had been closed.
Within 3 days of the Prime Minister’s statement and its partial refutation, terrorists struck Mumbai.
Ask ourselves what maybe going on and things would hopefully sit in place for all of us. You must also ensure that the commentary should be neutral. Patriotism does not demand that we close our eyes when the name Gilani or the word army is mentioned. I am asking you to question everything.
Also, please check Dawn Main page’s news on:
http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=30_11_2008_001_006
Please check out the above article (along with my note above) to make sense of what may be going on between our military, civilian government, India and our innocent people.
Once you have a clear mind (cleared of your biases towards one thing or another), you may notice:
Army is trying to rescue itself by issuing statements which are directly in conflict with the civilian government.
I am not in love with the civilian government, but why the hell should those whose primary responsibility is on the borders of our country issue statements to undermine a sitting government when they, themselves, when in power, are the worst kind of puppets for the foreigners.
A few days ago, controversy surrounded the statement by an air chief marshall who said we can take out the drones and it is well within our capability. Remind this intellectually dishonest cheat where he was when during Musharraf’s time so many attacks took place - in fact, it was Musharraf who was the chief architect of this whole (drone, “strongly condemn”) arrangement.
That said, our army is trying to regain the public confidence, that it presumably thought it once had, by issuing statements whose nature is not logistical, military, or professional. These are political statements telling the Pakistanis how incapable and inept, lacking any balls, their government is.
I would also like to point out that on the one hand we have our corrupt leader Zard-ari offering help to the Indians on investigation (to assure them that Pakistan had nothing to do with it), and on the other hand, I would not rule out the possibility that the attackers were trained by our own ISI.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, when created this horrible political cell, did not know that he would be unable to curb its powers. Now, we have had a credibility issue. Army on the one hand trying to reassert itself by, on the one hand, arranging these attacks, because it was not happy with our corrupt leadership’s statement issued to all major newspapers 12 days ago that Pakistan will not be the first country to use nuclear weapons.
Zardari made statements which he, as President of Pakistan, should never had made (such as the one using the words “non-state actors”). He wanted to shrug responsibility, but in doing so, he assumed more responsibility than he would have if he had only kept quiet or even outright defiant.
Our army lives, breaths, sleeps and mates with the Kashmir issue. It is weak without an Indian threat (in its own eyes and in the eyes of the Pakistani public). So, it is now again creating that Indian threat. It is also trying to destabilize a sitting government (whether or not we like that government, that aside for now) just as Musharraf arranged the Kargil adventure (or misadventure) so he could later claim, “Nawaz Sharif’s run to Washington made us loose a war which was already won”.
Any sensible thoughts which may be unbiased and which can be tested through available facts and theory?
gditpp Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
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Technically, is Azad Kashmir a part of Pakistan? If India chooses to go for a surgical strike there or Pakistan retaliates by attacking occupied Kashmir, would that be considered a violation of international borders? Isnt the two parts of Kashmir seperated by a line of control? Can the government’s decision to act before India does, be considered right as it will deny India an oppurtunity to do things herself, frankly I donot know, not for now atleast.
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
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@plato
First you have to understand what is Pakistan Army & who is Pakistan Army only then you can accuse PA.
PA is a body of Core Commanders working under COAS–Under Constitution of Pakistan COAS is servant of civil Govt but a God within the body of core commanders–where core commanders are consulted but theres no voting system that 7 CC have one opinion & 5 have other–COAS is decision maker, not bound to go with majority–He may disregard all 7+5 opinions & come up with his own unique opinion or decision.
So to say Army has its own thinking is partially right but it changes with COAS to COAS.
COAS may not have imposed his own thinking if civilian Govt is strong which is not the case in Pakistan.
I agree with you theres a tussle between Army & Civilian Govt. Kiyani goes everywhere after Zardari either it be China or USA–smells of trouble.
ISI character also changes with the chief operator either it be Army or Civilian Operator. Since Zia-ul-Haq ISI is working for American interests with a slight difference in all the era & big difference in Musharaf era.
Hamid Gul was ISI Chief when fighting against Soviet Union or Jihad against Invasion in Afghanistan. There was a National & Islamic Character included with American interest so its hard to say who was playing whom–Character of Hamid Gul can not be declared as puppet of foreign powers neither he did out of greed so when he talks we can feel a pride in his character.
Yes theres one most corrupted ISI Chief who can never face the public–He is right hand of Musharaf–Gen. Mehmood Ahmed.
What Musharaf wrote in his book that he rcvd a call from Washington is all BS–He knew all about 9/11 well before it happened & everything was planned even post 9/11 impacts & strategy with CIA.
We can not blame India for pointing their fingers towards ISI every time something happened because they have some knowledge of ISI which our Govt. never deny strongly.
Indian Intelligence found out the money trail to Hijacker Atta Mohammad–That was $100000/- sent by Omar Saeed Sheikh(also an ISI & Al-Qaida operator) on instructions of Gen. Mehmood Ahmed(ISI Chief)–This story was also confirmed by FBI but it was suppressed by western media & CIA–It only got a place on Wall Street Journal(internet version only)then removed from online version also as done by Fox News on many stories linking Israelis to 9/11.
Because of leakage of his linkage to money trail Gen Mehmood was removed as an ISI Chief–This story many Pakistanis do not know.
Please follow this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdu0tLb2frk
Gen Mehmood was also in Washington DC on the eve of 9/11.
dadarocks Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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I have asked so many Pakistani will try even here the same question.
What in your view constitutes evidence because whatever India provides you claim it’s not strong evidence. If you are looking for paper trail then in events like these that’s next to impossible.
BTW here is Irfan Hussain journalist of dawn.com vouching for my point.
http://dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20080312.htm
Each time an atrocity like Mumbai occurs, and Pakistan is accused of being involved, the defensive mantra chanted by the chorus of official spokesmen is: “Show us the proof.” The reality is that in terrorist operations planned in secret, there is not much of a paper trail left behind. Nine times out of ten, the perpetrators do not survive to give evidence before a court. But in this case, one terrorist did survive, and Ajmal Amir Kamal’s story points to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. The sophistication of the attack is testimony to careful planning and rigorous training.
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
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jazoo@
“Character of Hamid Gul can not be declared as puppet of foreign powers neither he did out of greed so when he talks we can feel a pride in his character.”
The one who has confessed and apologized to the nation several times for his ‘acheivements’, no subsequent inquiry or trial. Is it a PRIDE? It is shame.
All these rtd. generals (Baig, Gul etc.), while in power spent all of their energies and resources for doing conspiracies against Civilians. Once their tenure is over they pretend like Champions of Democracy.
Gen Yahya/Gen Niazi– After loosing half of the country– died naturally not for saving the country—- burried wraped in national flag with great HONOR. What a pride.
Gen. Zia’s bruial ceremony– with full national HONOR. What a Pride
Gene Musharraf stepped down: again Guard of HONOR. What a pride.
Are these words HONOR/PRIDE are devoted for these Generals for their shameful acts?
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
@mibrahim
Pride is what you feel not what you see.
All the Ibrahimic Prophets lacks your definition of pride–They were shepherd & Peasants & belong to Masses.
Pharaoh had all the pride he traveled with dignity & grace with slaves prostrating before & around him–that is very similar to pride of Guard of Honor you so impressed of.
You add one more merit to Hamid Gul that he confessed & apologize to nation many times.
Hopefully now you will understand the difference between Adam & Iblees–In these two characters theres a whole philosophy of life one was arrogant & other repent & cry–One was thrown out other was forgiven–Since then theres a follow up of these two trends & it will continue until the day of judgment. You make up your mind which group you want to belong.
Although Hamid Gul was not the Chief Operator–He was an important part of Zia Setup as ISI Chief–He feel guilt of Zia Policies because he had seen the repercussions of his policies–He feel guilt because he had an important roll under those policies.
Perhaps he does not feel the pride but we do because we believe his conscience was clear that whatever he was doing it was under pretense that it will bring good to the people of Pakistan & Islam–unfortunately it turn out be a mistake but he did not do it for money or personal benefits or exclusively as American bidding–thats where we feel pride in him.
Army is the only viable institution left in Pakistan which can save Pakistan if & when the time comes–Your vehement against Pakistan Army is not appreciated.
Claremont Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
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Why we cannot have peace. Why cannot we live with our neighbours.Why should we go to war. Are we not capable of having peaceful relations with our neighbour and the rest of the world. Why not initiate why not take the first step.Don’t you think others will respect us for that.
aahmad Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
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So 2 weeks of our media aggression has gone down the drain? So is India has spoken the truth first time in the history? It is hard to believe… I would like to know more details about this new development.
What Hamid Mir, Kashif Abbasi and Talat would say and how would we defend ourselves to international media!!
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
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‘Pride is what you feel not what you see.’
Now compare these comments of yours with these comments.
‘He feel guilt because he had an important roll under those policies.’
What feeling he has, GUILT or PRIDE?
It is a separate debate whether PRIDE is only a subjective feeling or it has objective manifestations also.
Additionally
‘You add one more merit to Hamid Gul that he confessed & apologize to nation many times’.
If someone commits a murder or other crime, offering apologies is not enough.
A civilian has to undergo punishment for confessing a crime. An army general will become a hero if he confess a crime. That is our basic problem. We have differnt sets of criterias for different categories of people. This is known as unjuistice.
You can use historical events of past but there should be a limit. How you can compare a general of current era, confessing a crime ( not mistake), whith a prophet.
You can compare any person with a prophet and point out mistakes of prophet jut to justify a Generals. this is not appreciable either.
These generals are not prophets. Making them MUQADDAS GAAY has brought us down to this level.
Further more
‘Army is the only viable institution left in Pakistan’.
Because rest of the institutions have been destroyed by use of power by this ‘only’ viable institution. There power (given by wealth generated by labours, farmers etc. for their lucritive expenditure)was supposed to be used against enemy. Rather than that was utilized against their own people and institutions. This is an auto immune disorder (in which once own body’s tissues get destroyed by body’s own immune system).
as Per Late Ahmed Faraz
Meray Paasban Meray Naqab Zan
Mera Mulk Mulk-e-Yateem Hay
Mera Des Ameer-e-Sipah Ka
Mere Shehar maal-e-ghaneem hay
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
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@mibrahim
I wrote everything in English–where did I write he feels pride–I said he feels guilt thats why we feel pride in him.
To my knowledge theres no murder charges on him.
He did not confess a CRIME–He confessed policy of Afghan Jihad on American prompting was a mistake–Although he did not make those policies.
You wrote
“You can compare any person with a prophet and point out mistakes of prophet jut to justify a Generals. this is not appreciable either.”
Mr. I do not want to insult your intellect–I believe you are grown up man.
I am not comparing General’s mistakes with Prophet’s mistakes.
I believe every word in Quran has a message–do you think all these narratives in Quran are just fantasy readings that Mr. Ibrahim should read them & enjoy–These narratives has message & whole philosophy of life.
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
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jazoo@
You don’ need to apologize. I understand that we all sitting in front of computer leaving all other activities because we all have good and sincere intentions for our beloved country.
Please don’t ignore the crucial facts that I am trying to point out.
Creating IJI by bribing political right wing leadership and those confesses and apologies comitted by group of retired army generals taht included Gen. Gul. Their resons for apology in their on words
“for imposing martial laws in the past, abrogating the Constitution several times, and not letting democracy flourish in the last 60 years”
Ref. = Daily Times, February 01, 2008).
I don’t concider them mistakes. They are crimes. As you targeted my word ” murder” which I used as an example, not as literal meaning (I am not concidering it as your lack of intellact).
I am not accusing these general for comitting murder of one human being. I am accusing them for murdering the future of 170 million people. I am not willing to forgive them, no matter you bring QASAS-UL-AMBIA in their defance.
‘do you think all these narratives in Quran are just fantasy readings that Mr. Ibrahim should read them & enjoy–’
I agree. These are not fantacies. But their purpose is to promote juistice. It is extremely unjust to not only forgive but portray them as a hero.
FahadAfridi Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
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We can longer keep playing dumb about ISI connection with LeT and other jihadi groups. It is a well known and old link. Of course if Pakistan supportes militants/terrorists that attack India, India and the World will blame Pakistan and take action.
What can you expect if you try to scam the world with our duplicitous policies? Either we come out in support of jihadi movement and say that we are prepared to destroy Pakistan for the sake of jihadis or we destroy the jihadi and other terror networks. No other choice is left. This game can no longer be played on the lives of innocent people by killers like Hamid Gul, Javid Nasir, Khalid Khwaja etc.
FahadAfridi Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
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It is sad that we cannot prosecute criminals like hamid gul in pakistan ourselves but need foreign directions to do the right thing.
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ataraxis6 Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:02 am
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Why the HELL did they wait for Mumbai carnage to happen, before taking action against terrorist living and operating freely in Pakistan?
The sad fact is the current rulers don’t really have a stake in the future of Pakistan. They only act against terrorist in Pakistan, when immense pressure is put on them by the international community.
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#
Ghost Of TK Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:26 am
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@atarxis6: Although I agree that most of our political leadership is corrupt and spineless, I think in this case it has to do with the abusive behaviour of the army brass and their real bosses the americans.
Our politicans act like abused children and don’t know what is the ‘right course’ because they might get beaten by the drunk abusive parent ie; the army coas.
This action is happening because there is the threat of force (read: the american plus indian boot up the jurnails’ ar$e) which the jurnails abhor with a passion.
They have NO respect for the people or their representatives.. .but they comply like shameless b!tches when cuntolickza tells them to do it or get their houses burnet
Read more...
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, named by sole surviving attacker as ringleader, held after raid on militant camp in Pakistani Kashmir
* Saeed Shah in Islamabad
* guardian.co.uk, Monday December 8 2008 16.56 GMT
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally in April 2008 Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally in April 2008. Photograph: Abu Arqam Naqash/Reuters
Pakistan today captured a suspected mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in a raid on a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the jihadist group accused by Delhi of carrying out the assault on India's commercial capital.
Pakistani authorities moved after indications India was considering air strikes against Lashkar-e-Taiba camps inside Pakistan if there was no action by Islamabad.
Twelve members of the group were arrested last night by the army in the town of Muzaffarabad, according to reports, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, named by India as one of the planners of the Mumbai attacks, which left 171 people dead. A helicopter gunship hovered overhead during the raid, and gunfire was heard.
Muzaffarabad is the regional capital of the part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and is the nerve-centre of jihadist activity aimed across the "line of control" to the part of Kashmir ruled by India.
The raid was the first concrete sign of a crackdown against militants in Pakistan following the attack on Mumbai. Indian officials privately described it as "an important first step", though there was some scepticism in India about the nature of the raid.
The camp includes a hospital, a madrassa (Islamic school) and offices; it was unclear whether it was a training facility for militants. As it was on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, it may only have been an administrative and charitable site. The complex was ostensibly being used by Jamaat ud Dawa, an Islamic organisation believed to be a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, but which claims to have no Islamist links.
The camp was subsequently sealed and the area cordoned. The Pakistan army acknowledged the raid but provided few details.
"This is an intelligence-led operation against banned militant outfits," said Major General Athar Abbas, the chief spokesman for the army. "There have been arrests and investigations are on. We are not disclosing any names. Further details will be available after preliminary investigations."
There was no move against the alleged headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is located just outside the eastern city of Lahore at Muridke. The group has denied involvement in the Mumbai attack.
Lakhvi is alleged to be the operations chief of the militant group and, according to some reports, recruited Ajmal Ameer Kasab, the lone gunman caught alive during the Mumbai assault.
It is unclear what happened to Lakhvi after his arrest. Also, the whereabouts of Yusuf Muzammil, the head of India activities who has been named by Indian officials as the other main planner of the Mumbai attack, is unknown. Reports suggested Indian authorities had asked for both men to be handed over.
Some locals in Muzaffarabad suggested some aspects of the raid may have been staged, and there are rumours the militants were tipped off. In the past, Pakistan has arrested the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed, but then quietly let him go.
Analysts see little chance that Lakhvi or any other major Lashkar-e-Taiba commander will actually be given up to India. Pakistan's president, Asif Zardari, has said that anyone detained in Pakistan will be tried there.
Pakistan is under intense international pressure to act against Lashkar-e-Taiba but any concerted attempt to quash the group in Pakistan would be likely be met with a violent response by its followers and a political backlash, placing Islamabad in a no-win position.
Today, the Pakistani government again complained that India had not shared evidence it claims to have on the participation of groups or individuals based in Pakistan. Islamabad also proposed that it would send a "high level delegation" to New Delhi.
"The main site of LeT is Muridke, Lahore, but they haven't done that," said Vikram Sood, an analyst in New Delhi and former head of India's RAW intelligence agency. "I wouldn't say this is a major move but I think it's to pre-empt any [Indian] action."
Within Pakistan, the religious right was predictably scathing over the Muzaffarabad raid.
"We've known for a long time that it [the camp] was there. If we wanted to take action, we should have done so, but not under external pressure we now face," said Fazlur Rehman, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a hardline religious party that is part of the ruling coalition in Islamabad.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the head of the other main religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said: "This [raid] is wrong. It's all a conspiracy by India and the US. This action shows up the weakness of this [Pakistani] government."
.......
What do ordinary Pakistanis think? Some comments:
anclub Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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we must accept our negligence to handle the terrorists activities inside pakistan.all the activities inside or outside pakistan are patronised by our (so called)security agencies,just for the political reasons.they simply turn the situation into an other way.agencies are responsible.
Plato Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
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Dear Friends,
Has anyone gone into the depth of why the Air Chief Marshall may have issued the statement about Pakistan’ capability?
Has anyone also gone into the depth of why our Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani issued multiple statements against drone attacks stating at a few occasions that Pakistan would retaliate. He even issued orders for two F16s to patrol the tribal areas more than twice.
While looking at the above two questions that I have put for you, please remember that under our previous president, General Pervaiz Musharraf, not once did ISPR or any officer from the Pakistani Army or Airforce made a statement against the attacks or even implicitly against America.
Please also remember that the civilian government issued orders for the closure of ISI political cell. And ISPR issued statement that ISI political cell has not been “closed”, but made “inactive” after the Prime Minister made an announcement that the political cell had been closed.
Within 3 days of the Prime Minister’s statement and its partial refutation, terrorists struck Mumbai.
Ask ourselves what maybe going on and things would hopefully sit in place for all of us. You must also ensure that the commentary should be neutral. Patriotism does not demand that we close our eyes when the name Gilani or the word army is mentioned. I am asking you to question everything.
Also, please check Dawn Main page’s news on:
http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=30_11_2008_001_006
Please check out the above article (along with my note above) to make sense of what may be going on between our military, civilian government, India and our innocent people.
Once you have a clear mind (cleared of your biases towards one thing or another), you may notice:
Army is trying to rescue itself by issuing statements which are directly in conflict with the civilian government.
I am not in love with the civilian government, but why the hell should those whose primary responsibility is on the borders of our country issue statements to undermine a sitting government when they, themselves, when in power, are the worst kind of puppets for the foreigners.
A few days ago, controversy surrounded the statement by an air chief marshall who said we can take out the drones and it is well within our capability. Remind this intellectually dishonest cheat where he was when during Musharraf’s time so many attacks took place - in fact, it was Musharraf who was the chief architect of this whole (drone, “strongly condemn”) arrangement.
That said, our army is trying to regain the public confidence, that it presumably thought it once had, by issuing statements whose nature is not logistical, military, or professional. These are political statements telling the Pakistanis how incapable and inept, lacking any balls, their government is.
I would also like to point out that on the one hand we have our corrupt leader Zard-ari offering help to the Indians on investigation (to assure them that Pakistan had nothing to do with it), and on the other hand, I would not rule out the possibility that the attackers were trained by our own ISI.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, when created this horrible political cell, did not know that he would be unable to curb its powers. Now, we have had a credibility issue. Army on the one hand trying to reassert itself by, on the one hand, arranging these attacks, because it was not happy with our corrupt leadership’s statement issued to all major newspapers 12 days ago that Pakistan will not be the first country to use nuclear weapons.
Zardari made statements which he, as President of Pakistan, should never had made (such as the one using the words “non-state actors”). He wanted to shrug responsibility, but in doing so, he assumed more responsibility than he would have if he had only kept quiet or even outright defiant.
Our army lives, breaths, sleeps and mates with the Kashmir issue. It is weak without an Indian threat (in its own eyes and in the eyes of the Pakistani public). So, it is now again creating that Indian threat. It is also trying to destabilize a sitting government (whether or not we like that government, that aside for now) just as Musharraf arranged the Kargil adventure (or misadventure) so he could later claim, “Nawaz Sharif’s run to Washington made us loose a war which was already won”.
Any sensible thoughts which may be unbiased and which can be tested through available facts and theory?
gditpp Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
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Technically, is Azad Kashmir a part of Pakistan? If India chooses to go for a surgical strike there or Pakistan retaliates by attacking occupied Kashmir, would that be considered a violation of international borders? Isnt the two parts of Kashmir seperated by a line of control? Can the government’s decision to act before India does, be considered right as it will deny India an oppurtunity to do things herself, frankly I donot know, not for now atleast.
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
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@plato
First you have to understand what is Pakistan Army & who is Pakistan Army only then you can accuse PA.
PA is a body of Core Commanders working under COAS–Under Constitution of Pakistan COAS is servant of civil Govt but a God within the body of core commanders–where core commanders are consulted but theres no voting system that 7 CC have one opinion & 5 have other–COAS is decision maker, not bound to go with majority–He may disregard all 7+5 opinions & come up with his own unique opinion or decision.
So to say Army has its own thinking is partially right but it changes with COAS to COAS.
COAS may not have imposed his own thinking if civilian Govt is strong which is not the case in Pakistan.
I agree with you theres a tussle between Army & Civilian Govt. Kiyani goes everywhere after Zardari either it be China or USA–smells of trouble.
ISI character also changes with the chief operator either it be Army or Civilian Operator. Since Zia-ul-Haq ISI is working for American interests with a slight difference in all the era & big difference in Musharaf era.
Hamid Gul was ISI Chief when fighting against Soviet Union or Jihad against Invasion in Afghanistan. There was a National & Islamic Character included with American interest so its hard to say who was playing whom–Character of Hamid Gul can not be declared as puppet of foreign powers neither he did out of greed so when he talks we can feel a pride in his character.
Yes theres one most corrupted ISI Chief who can never face the public–He is right hand of Musharaf–Gen. Mehmood Ahmed.
What Musharaf wrote in his book that he rcvd a call from Washington is all BS–He knew all about 9/11 well before it happened & everything was planned even post 9/11 impacts & strategy with CIA.
We can not blame India for pointing their fingers towards ISI every time something happened because they have some knowledge of ISI which our Govt. never deny strongly.
Indian Intelligence found out the money trail to Hijacker Atta Mohammad–That was $100000/- sent by Omar Saeed Sheikh(also an ISI & Al-Qaida operator) on instructions of Gen. Mehmood Ahmed(ISI Chief)–This story was also confirmed by FBI but it was suppressed by western media & CIA–It only got a place on Wall Street Journal(internet version only)then removed from online version also as done by Fox News on many stories linking Israelis to 9/11.
Because of leakage of his linkage to money trail Gen Mehmood was removed as an ISI Chief–This story many Pakistanis do not know.
Please follow this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdu0tLb2frk
Gen Mehmood was also in Washington DC on the eve of 9/11.
dadarocks Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
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I have asked so many Pakistani will try even here the same question.
What in your view constitutes evidence because whatever India provides you claim it’s not strong evidence. If you are looking for paper trail then in events like these that’s next to impossible.
BTW here is Irfan Hussain journalist of dawn.com vouching for my point.
http://dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20080312.htm
Each time an atrocity like Mumbai occurs, and Pakistan is accused of being involved, the defensive mantra chanted by the chorus of official spokesmen is: “Show us the proof.” The reality is that in terrorist operations planned in secret, there is not much of a paper trail left behind. Nine times out of ten, the perpetrators do not survive to give evidence before a court. But in this case, one terrorist did survive, and Ajmal Amir Kamal’s story points to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. The sophistication of the attack is testimony to careful planning and rigorous training.
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
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jazoo@
“Character of Hamid Gul can not be declared as puppet of foreign powers neither he did out of greed so when he talks we can feel a pride in his character.”
The one who has confessed and apologized to the nation several times for his ‘acheivements’, no subsequent inquiry or trial. Is it a PRIDE? It is shame.
All these rtd. generals (Baig, Gul etc.), while in power spent all of their energies and resources for doing conspiracies against Civilians. Once their tenure is over they pretend like Champions of Democracy.
Gen Yahya/Gen Niazi– After loosing half of the country– died naturally not for saving the country—- burried wraped in national flag with great HONOR. What a pride.
Gen. Zia’s bruial ceremony– with full national HONOR. What a Pride
Gene Musharraf stepped down: again Guard of HONOR. What a pride.
Are these words HONOR/PRIDE are devoted for these Generals for their shameful acts?
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
@mibrahim
Pride is what you feel not what you see.
All the Ibrahimic Prophets lacks your definition of pride–They were shepherd & Peasants & belong to Masses.
Pharaoh had all the pride he traveled with dignity & grace with slaves prostrating before & around him–that is very similar to pride of Guard of Honor you so impressed of.
You add one more merit to Hamid Gul that he confessed & apologize to nation many times.
Hopefully now you will understand the difference between Adam & Iblees–In these two characters theres a whole philosophy of life one was arrogant & other repent & cry–One was thrown out other was forgiven–Since then theres a follow up of these two trends & it will continue until the day of judgment. You make up your mind which group you want to belong.
Although Hamid Gul was not the Chief Operator–He was an important part of Zia Setup as ISI Chief–He feel guilt of Zia Policies because he had seen the repercussions of his policies–He feel guilt because he had an important roll under those policies.
Perhaps he does not feel the pride but we do because we believe his conscience was clear that whatever he was doing it was under pretense that it will bring good to the people of Pakistan & Islam–unfortunately it turn out be a mistake but he did not do it for money or personal benefits or exclusively as American bidding–thats where we feel pride in him.
Army is the only viable institution left in Pakistan which can save Pakistan if & when the time comes–Your vehement against Pakistan Army is not appreciated.
Claremont Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
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Why we cannot have peace. Why cannot we live with our neighbours.Why should we go to war. Are we not capable of having peaceful relations with our neighbour and the rest of the world. Why not initiate why not take the first step.Don’t you think others will respect us for that.
aahmad Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
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So 2 weeks of our media aggression has gone down the drain? So is India has spoken the truth first time in the history? It is hard to believe… I would like to know more details about this new development.
What Hamid Mir, Kashif Abbasi and Talat would say and how would we defend ourselves to international media!!
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
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‘Pride is what you feel not what you see.’
Now compare these comments of yours with these comments.
‘He feel guilt because he had an important roll under those policies.’
What feeling he has, GUILT or PRIDE?
It is a separate debate whether PRIDE is only a subjective feeling or it has objective manifestations also.
Additionally
‘You add one more merit to Hamid Gul that he confessed & apologize to nation many times’.
If someone commits a murder or other crime, offering apologies is not enough.
A civilian has to undergo punishment for confessing a crime. An army general will become a hero if he confess a crime. That is our basic problem. We have differnt sets of criterias for different categories of people. This is known as unjuistice.
You can use historical events of past but there should be a limit. How you can compare a general of current era, confessing a crime ( not mistake), whith a prophet.
You can compare any person with a prophet and point out mistakes of prophet jut to justify a Generals. this is not appreciable either.
These generals are not prophets. Making them MUQADDAS GAAY has brought us down to this level.
Further more
‘Army is the only viable institution left in Pakistan’.
Because rest of the institutions have been destroyed by use of power by this ‘only’ viable institution. There power (given by wealth generated by labours, farmers etc. for their lucritive expenditure)was supposed to be used against enemy. Rather than that was utilized against their own people and institutions. This is an auto immune disorder (in which once own body’s tissues get destroyed by body’s own immune system).
as Per Late Ahmed Faraz
Meray Paasban Meray Naqab Zan
Mera Mulk Mulk-e-Yateem Hay
Mera Des Ameer-e-Sipah Ka
Mere Shehar maal-e-ghaneem hay
jazoo Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
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@mibrahim
I wrote everything in English–where did I write he feels pride–I said he feels guilt thats why we feel pride in him.
To my knowledge theres no murder charges on him.
He did not confess a CRIME–He confessed policy of Afghan Jihad on American prompting was a mistake–Although he did not make those policies.
You wrote
“You can compare any person with a prophet and point out mistakes of prophet jut to justify a Generals. this is not appreciable either.”
Mr. I do not want to insult your intellect–I believe you are grown up man.
I am not comparing General’s mistakes with Prophet’s mistakes.
I believe every word in Quran has a message–do you think all these narratives in Quran are just fantasy readings that Mr. Ibrahim should read them & enjoy–These narratives has message & whole philosophy of life.
mibrahim Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
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jazoo@
You don’ need to apologize. I understand that we all sitting in front of computer leaving all other activities because we all have good and sincere intentions for our beloved country.
Please don’t ignore the crucial facts that I am trying to point out.
Creating IJI by bribing political right wing leadership and those confesses and apologies comitted by group of retired army generals taht included Gen. Gul. Their resons for apology in their on words
“for imposing martial laws in the past, abrogating the Constitution several times, and not letting democracy flourish in the last 60 years”
Ref. = Daily Times, February 01, 2008).
I don’t concider them mistakes. They are crimes. As you targeted my word ” murder” which I used as an example, not as literal meaning (I am not concidering it as your lack of intellact).
I am not accusing these general for comitting murder of one human being. I am accusing them for murdering the future of 170 million people. I am not willing to forgive them, no matter you bring QASAS-UL-AMBIA in their defance.
‘do you think all these narratives in Quran are just fantasy readings that Mr. Ibrahim should read them & enjoy–’
I agree. These are not fantacies. But their purpose is to promote juistice. It is extremely unjust to not only forgive but portray them as a hero.
FahadAfridi Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
comment-top
We can longer keep playing dumb about ISI connection with LeT and other jihadi groups. It is a well known and old link. Of course if Pakistan supportes militants/terrorists that attack India, India and the World will blame Pakistan and take action.
What can you expect if you try to scam the world with our duplicitous policies? Either we come out in support of jihadi movement and say that we are prepared to destroy Pakistan for the sake of jihadis or we destroy the jihadi and other terror networks. No other choice is left. This game can no longer be played on the lives of innocent people by killers like Hamid Gul, Javid Nasir, Khalid Khwaja etc.
FahadAfridi Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
comment-top
It is sad that we cannot prosecute criminals like hamid gul in pakistan ourselves but need foreign directions to do the right thing.
#
ataraxis6 Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:02 am
comment-top
Why the HELL did they wait for Mumbai carnage to happen, before taking action against terrorist living and operating freely in Pakistan?
The sad fact is the current rulers don’t really have a stake in the future of Pakistan. They only act against terrorist in Pakistan, when immense pressure is put on them by the international community.
comment-bottom
#
Ghost Of TK Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:26 am
comment-top
@atarxis6: Although I agree that most of our political leadership is corrupt and spineless, I think in this case it has to do with the abusive behaviour of the army brass and their real bosses the americans.
Our politicans act like abused children and don’t know what is the ‘right course’ because they might get beaten by the drunk abusive parent ie; the army coas.
This action is happening because there is the threat of force (read: the american plus indian boot up the jurnails’ ar$e) which the jurnails abhor with a passion.
They have NO respect for the people or their representatives.. .but they comply like shameless b!tches when cuntolickza tells them to do it or get their houses burnet
Read more...
Monday, 8 December 2008
Mumbai terrorist came from Pakistan, local villagers confirm - Ajmal Amir Kasab
* Saeed Shah in Faridkot, near Depalpur
* The Observer, Sunday December 7 2008
An Observer investigation has established that the lone surviving gunman caught by Indian police during last week's terrorist attacks on Mumbai came from a village in the Okara district of the Pakistani Punjab.
Ajmal Amir Kasab, interrogated in custody after last month's attacks, which killed 163 people, reportedly told Indian security officials that he came from a place called Faridkot in the Punjab province. His father was named as Mohammed Amir, married to a woman named Noor. During the past week, Pakistani sources have cast doubt on the authenticity of the leaked information, which has had a predictably explosive impact on relations between the two countries.
The Observer has obtained electoral lists for Faridkot showing 478 registered voters, including a Mohammed Amir, married to Noor Elahi. Amir's and Noor's national identity card numbers have also been obtained. At the address identified in the list, a man identifying himself as Sultan said he was the father-in-law of Mohammed Amir.
A villager, who cannot be named for his own protection, said the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. 'We know that boy [caught in Mumbai] is from Faridkot,' he said. 'We knew from the first night [of the attack]. They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village. It is so wrong,' he added.
According to the villager and other locals, Ajmal has not lived in Faridkot for about four years but would return to see his family once a year and frequently talked of freeing Kashmir from Indian rule.
The truth about Ajmal's origins are key to the ongoing investigation of where the attackers came from and will have a profound impact on relations between India and Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly said that no proof has been provided to back Indian accusations that all the gunmen came from Pakistan. The terrorist outrage has pushed the two nuclear-armed countries to the brink of confrontation but, until now, there had been no solid evidence that any of the militants were from Pakistan.
On Friday, police arrested two Indian men accused of illegally buying mobile phone cards used by the gunmen in the Mumbai attacks, in the first known arrests since the bloody siege ended. Security officials demanded the release of one of them, Mukhtar Ahmed, yesterday, claiming he was a counter-insurgency police officer who may have been on an undercover mission.
Police said another Indian citizen, Faheem Ansari, who was arrested in February in northern India carrying sketches of hotels, the train terminus and other sites that were later attacked, was being brought to Mumbai for renewed questioning.
Rakesh Maria, a senior Mumbai police officer, said he believed there was a connection between Ansari and the Mumbai attacks. 'Ansari was trained by Lashkar and sent to do reconnaissance,' Maria said.
One of the arrested men, Tauseef Rahman, allegedly bought Sim cards by providing fake documents, including identification cards of dead people, senior police official Rajeev Kumar said yesterday in the eastern city of Calcutta. Rahman, of West Bengal state, later sold them to Ahmed, Kumar said. Both men were arrested on Friday and charged with fraud and conspiracy.
Police said they were still investigating how the 10 gunmen obtained the Sim cards. Most large Indian cities, including Calcutta, where the Sim cards were purchased, have thriving black markets for Sim cards and cheap phones.
Ahmed was from the Indian portion of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region at the root of much of the tension between India and Pakistan, Kumar said. According to an unnamed police official in Srinagar, Kashmir's biggest city, Ahmed was a local police officer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/07/mumbai-terrorism-india-pakistan1
Read more...
* The Observer, Sunday December 7 2008
An Observer investigation has established that the lone surviving gunman caught by Indian police during last week's terrorist attacks on Mumbai came from a village in the Okara district of the Pakistani Punjab.
Ajmal Amir Kasab, interrogated in custody after last month's attacks, which killed 163 people, reportedly told Indian security officials that he came from a place called Faridkot in the Punjab province. His father was named as Mohammed Amir, married to a woman named Noor. During the past week, Pakistani sources have cast doubt on the authenticity of the leaked information, which has had a predictably explosive impact on relations between the two countries.
The Observer has obtained electoral lists for Faridkot showing 478 registered voters, including a Mohammed Amir, married to Noor Elahi. Amir's and Noor's national identity card numbers have also been obtained. At the address identified in the list, a man identifying himself as Sultan said he was the father-in-law of Mohammed Amir.
A villager, who cannot be named for his own protection, said the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. 'We know that boy [caught in Mumbai] is from Faridkot,' he said. 'We knew from the first night [of the attack]. They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village. It is so wrong,' he added.
According to the villager and other locals, Ajmal has not lived in Faridkot for about four years but would return to see his family once a year and frequently talked of freeing Kashmir from Indian rule.
The truth about Ajmal's origins are key to the ongoing investigation of where the attackers came from and will have a profound impact on relations between India and Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly said that no proof has been provided to back Indian accusations that all the gunmen came from Pakistan. The terrorist outrage has pushed the two nuclear-armed countries to the brink of confrontation but, until now, there had been no solid evidence that any of the militants were from Pakistan.
On Friday, police arrested two Indian men accused of illegally buying mobile phone cards used by the gunmen in the Mumbai attacks, in the first known arrests since the bloody siege ended. Security officials demanded the release of one of them, Mukhtar Ahmed, yesterday, claiming he was a counter-insurgency police officer who may have been on an undercover mission.
Police said another Indian citizen, Faheem Ansari, who was arrested in February in northern India carrying sketches of hotels, the train terminus and other sites that were later attacked, was being brought to Mumbai for renewed questioning.
Rakesh Maria, a senior Mumbai police officer, said he believed there was a connection between Ansari and the Mumbai attacks. 'Ansari was trained by Lashkar and sent to do reconnaissance,' Maria said.
One of the arrested men, Tauseef Rahman, allegedly bought Sim cards by providing fake documents, including identification cards of dead people, senior police official Rajeev Kumar said yesterday in the eastern city of Calcutta. Rahman, of West Bengal state, later sold them to Ahmed, Kumar said. Both men were arrested on Friday and charged with fraud and conspiracy.
Police said they were still investigating how the 10 gunmen obtained the Sim cards. Most large Indian cities, including Calcutta, where the Sim cards were purchased, have thriving black markets for Sim cards and cheap phones.
Ahmed was from the Indian portion of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region at the root of much of the tension between India and Pakistan, Kumar said. According to an unnamed police official in Srinagar, Kashmir's biggest city, Ahmed was a local police officer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/07/mumbai-terrorism-india-pakistan1
Read more...
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Profile of a terrorist: Mohammad Ajmal Amir Imran (Kasab) of Laskhar-e-Toiba, a recruit from Faridkot
The capture of the terrorist
Mumbai massacre story unfolds in terrorist’s interrogation
Praveen Swami
— PHOTO: AFP
Prize catch: Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman, the only terrorist arrested in Mumbai, is undergoing treatment at an undisclosed location in the city. This handout photo has been released by the police.
MUMBAI: For the past week, newspaper readers across the world gazed at photographs of the dark young man who, sack slung over his shoulder, was caught on closed-circuit camera minutes before he opened fire at commuters at a busy Mumbai railway station.
Based on interviews with key officers involved in the investigation and on the interrogation records of the terrorist, The Hindu has been able to assemble key parts of the story behind the face.
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman (wrongly identified earlier as Kamaal and Kasav) began his journey to Mumbai on September 15, 2008. He was part of a group of ten men who had spent months training in marine combat and navigation skills in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab.
Lashkar military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Iman has told investigators, showed them detailed maps of south Mumbai, and films of the targets they had been tasked to hit. Iman and his partner ‘Abu Umar’ — whose name, he learned, was in fact Mohammad Ismail — were tasked with attacking the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
Iman and the other terrorists were set to leave for Mumbai on September 27.
For reasons he claims to be unaware of, they were ordered to hold back. Late on November 22, Lakhvi finally gave the team a heads-up. At 4:15 a.m. on November 23, Iman and Ismail rowed out to sea along with four other groups: men Iman knew as Abu Akasha and Abu Umar; ‘Bada’ [Big] Abdul Rehman and Abu Ali; ‘Chhota’ [small] Abdul Rehman and Afadullah; Shoaib and Umar.
Each man was equipped with a Kalashnikov rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition and grenades. The group also had at least one state-of-the art Garmin global positioning system set, and several mobile phones fitted with SIM cards, which have now been determined to have been purchased in Kolkata and New Delhi. Three men had larger bags, packed with five timer-controlled Improvised Explosive Devices.
Near Indian coastal waters, the men hijacked a fishing boat. On reaching Mumbai, they rowed the last few nautical miles to Budhwar Park in an inflatable dinghy. From Budhwar Park, they travelled on to their targets by hailing taxis. Iman and Ismail reached CST as planned, and opened fire on the assembled commuters. While Ismail was killed when policemen at the site returned fire, braving grenades thrown at them, Iman was injured and is now in the Mumbai hospital.
Mumbai police officials were able to defuse two of the IEDs planted at the Taj Mahal hotel and a third at the Oberoi hotel, even as fighting broke out. This police action saved dozens of lives. However, two bombs went off in taxis used by the group, possibly after being abandoned in the vehicles.
Iman has told interrogators that right through the fighting, the Lashkar headquarters remained in touch with the group, calling their phones through a voice-over-internet service. In all likelihood, Indian investigators were able to intercept these calls, which would then form part of a compelling body of evidence to corroborate Iman’s account. In addition, Mumbai police sources said, investigators have succeeded in reconstructing the group’s journey through the Garmin GPS set that has been seized.
Corrections and Clarifications:
The lead story "Mumbai massacre story unfolds in terrorist's interrogation" (December 2, 2008, page 1) said, in the third paragraph, that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman (wrongly identified earlier as Kamaal and Kasav) began his journey to Mumbai on September 15, 2008, while the fifth paragraph said Iman and the other terrorists were set to leave for Mumbai on September 27. Confusion arose over the two dates mentioned. The clarification is that the terrorists concerned began to leave Muridke, near Lahore, on September 15, travelling in groups of two to Karachi. They were ready to leave Karachi on September 27.
(The Hindu, 2 Dec 08)
.......
A journey into the Lashkar
Praveen Swami
Iman’s story shows it preys on the most vulnerable poor
MUMBAI: It is improbable that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman’s family has seen the photograph that has made his face known across the world.
Hours before he began firing at commuters waiting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) last week, Iman, one of ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, was caught on closed-circuit camera.
After he and his partner, Mohammad Ismail, had killed 55 commuters at CST and three senior police officers, including Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Chief Hemant Karkare, Iman was injured and captured — and the story he has since been telling Mumbai police investigators casts new light on how the feared terror group preys on the most vulnerable in Pakistani society to further its agenda of hate.
The man in the photo was born on July 13, 1987 at Faridkot village in Dipalpur tehsil of Okara district in Pakistan’s Punjab province. His family belongs to the underprivileged Qasai caste. His father, Mohammad Amir Iman, runs a dahi-puri snack cart. His mother, Noori Tai, is a homemaker.
Iman is the third of the family’s five children. His 25-year-old brother, Afzal, lives near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore. His sister, Rukaiyya Husain, 22, is married locally. Iman’s younger siblings, 14-year-old Suraiyya and 11-year-old Munir, live at home.
Iman’s desperately poor family could not afford to keep their second son, an indifferent student, at the Government Primary School in Faridkot past the fourth grade. He was pulled out of school in 2000, at the age of 13, and went to live with his older brother in Lahore. Afzal, who lives in a tenement near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore, eked out a living on a labourer’s wages, and could barely afford to look after his brother. For the next several years, Iman shuttled between the homes of his brother and parents.
Adrift
After a row with his parents in 2005, Iman left home, determined never to return. No longer welcome in Afzal’s home, he stayed at the shrine of the saint Syed Ali Hajveri until he could pick up some work. He began working as a labourer and by 2007 his work brought in Rs. 200 a day. Iman, however, found the work degrading. He soon began spending time with small-time criminals in Lahore. Along with a friend, a one-time Attock resident named Muzaffar Lal Khan, Iman decided to launch a new career in armed robbery.
On Bakr Eid day in 2007, Iman has told the Mumbai Police, the two men made their way to the Raja bazaar in Rawalpindi, hoping to purchase weapons. In the market, they saw activists for the Jamaat-ud-Dawa — the parent political organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba — handing out pamphlets and posters about the organisation and its activities. After a discussion lasting a few minutes, Iman claims, both men decided to join — not because of their Islamist convictions but in the hope that the jihad training they would receive would further their future life in crime.
A life in Lashkar
But at the Lashkar’s base camp, Markaz Taiba, Iman’s world view began to change. Films on India’s purported atrocities in Kashmir, and fiery lectures by preachers, including Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, led him to believe that the Lashkar’s cause — the greater glory of Islam, as the organisation presented it — was worth giving his life to. It is possible, an official involved in the interrogation suggested, that the atmosphere of the camp gave him the sense of family he had lacked for much of his life.
When he returned home for a two-month break after his indoctrination at the Lashkar base camp, he found a respectability within his community and family that had eluded him most of his life. Where Iman had earlier been seen as a burden, he was now self-sufficient — and bore the halo of religious piety.
Later that year, Iman was chosen for the Lashkar’s basic combat course, the Daura Aam. He performed well and was among a small group of 32 men selected to undergo advanced training at a camp near Manshera, a course the organisation calls the Daura Khaas. Finally, he was among an even smaller group selected for specialised marine commando and navigation training given to the fidayeen unit selected to target Mumbai.
According to Iman, Lashkar military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi promised that his family would be rewarded with Rs. 1.5 lakh for his sacrifice.
.......
Read the story of Faridkot on BBC Urdu.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/12/081205_faridkot_village_visited.shtml
.....
Faridkot in pictures:(from BBC Urdu dot com)
A jihadi slogan by a Tauheedi (Salafi/Ahl-e-Hadith/Wahhabi organization)
People in Faridkot
.....
Sleepy village baffled by link to captured terrorist
* Saeed Shah in Faridkot, Pakistan
* The Guardian, Tuesday December 2 2008
A sleepy village in Pakistan has found itself at the centre of the Mumbai terror plot, leaving locals bewildered.
Faridkot, a settlement in the south of the Punjab province, has been overrun by Pakistani intelligence agents and police for the past three days after it was reported by Indian officials that the lone gunman captured alive in Mumbai came from a place called Faridkot.
Agents from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were still questioning locals yesterday.
"All the agencies have been here and the (police) special branch," said village elder Mehboob Khan Daha. "We have become very worried. What's this all about?"
A dusty backwater, the inhabitants are peasant farmers who own small parcels of land and are poorly educated. Water buffalo and goats roam the dirt tracks of the village.
Men sit around gossiping on traditional woven rope beds, placed out in the open, wearing the usual baggy shalwar kameez pyjama suits, some with turbans. Roughly built small brick homes and little mud huts are dotted around the village, which has a population of about 3,000. It is 34 miles east from the nearest large city, Multan.
"There are no jihadis here," said Ijaz Ahmed, 41. "I can think of maybe 10 or 20 people here who have even been as far as Multan."
The Faridkot link is a key plank of India's accusations against Pakistan. The captured gunman, variously named as Ajmal Amir Kamal, Azam Amir Kasav or Azam Ameer Qasab, is said to come from Faridkot, which is described as being near Multan. He is said to speak fluent English and a clear photograph of him shows a young man in western clothes. Shown a picture of the alleged militant, Daha said: "That's a smart-looking boy. We don't have that sort around here."
In Faridkot, no one appeared to be able to speak much English; most could only converse in a dialect of the provincial language. None of the villagers recognised the face in the photograph.
They said the intelligence agents wanted to know if there was any presence of the radical Deobandi or Al-Hadith religious movements in the village, to which they were told "no". The agents mentioned five names, villagers said, including Ajmal, Amir, Kamal and Azam, all common names in Pakistan. There were five Ajmals in the village, all present except one who is living in provincial capital Lahore, and none fitted the description of the militant. The Azam in the village is a 75-year-old retired railway worker.
One of the Ajmals, a man who thought he was about 30, has worked in a nearby tea factory for the past 12 years, he said. The police and intelligence agencies have been asking his whereabouts.
"All I ever do is go to work, which is about 3km away. I have never been beyond Kanewal (the closest town)," said Muhammad Ajmal. "I'm uneducated."
Faridkot lies in a part of Punjab known for extremist activity but the village itself did not show any signs of being a hotbed of militancy. Written on a board at the entrance to the village mosque, it is declared that members of the hardline Tablighi Jamaat "are not permitted". [This is a sign of Salafi/Wahhabi control (the Lashkar-e-Toiba creed of Islam) on this village, as is also evident from the pictures above).
Also read the following report on evidence that Ajmal Kasab belonged to Farid Kot:
http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2008/12/mumbai-terrorist-came-from-pakistan.html
Read more...
Mumbai massacre story unfolds in terrorist’s interrogation
Praveen Swami
— PHOTO: AFP
Prize catch: Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman, the only terrorist arrested in Mumbai, is undergoing treatment at an undisclosed location in the city. This handout photo has been released by the police.
MUMBAI: For the past week, newspaper readers across the world gazed at photographs of the dark young man who, sack slung over his shoulder, was caught on closed-circuit camera minutes before he opened fire at commuters at a busy Mumbai railway station.
Based on interviews with key officers involved in the investigation and on the interrogation records of the terrorist, The Hindu has been able to assemble key parts of the story behind the face.
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman (wrongly identified earlier as Kamaal and Kasav) began his journey to Mumbai on September 15, 2008. He was part of a group of ten men who had spent months training in marine combat and navigation skills in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab.
Lashkar military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Iman has told investigators, showed them detailed maps of south Mumbai, and films of the targets they had been tasked to hit. Iman and his partner ‘Abu Umar’ — whose name, he learned, was in fact Mohammad Ismail — were tasked with attacking the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
Iman and the other terrorists were set to leave for Mumbai on September 27.
For reasons he claims to be unaware of, they were ordered to hold back. Late on November 22, Lakhvi finally gave the team a heads-up. At 4:15 a.m. on November 23, Iman and Ismail rowed out to sea along with four other groups: men Iman knew as Abu Akasha and Abu Umar; ‘Bada’ [Big] Abdul Rehman and Abu Ali; ‘Chhota’ [small] Abdul Rehman and Afadullah; Shoaib and Umar.
Each man was equipped with a Kalashnikov rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition and grenades. The group also had at least one state-of-the art Garmin global positioning system set, and several mobile phones fitted with SIM cards, which have now been determined to have been purchased in Kolkata and New Delhi. Three men had larger bags, packed with five timer-controlled Improvised Explosive Devices.
Near Indian coastal waters, the men hijacked a fishing boat. On reaching Mumbai, they rowed the last few nautical miles to Budhwar Park in an inflatable dinghy. From Budhwar Park, they travelled on to their targets by hailing taxis. Iman and Ismail reached CST as planned, and opened fire on the assembled commuters. While Ismail was killed when policemen at the site returned fire, braving grenades thrown at them, Iman was injured and is now in the Mumbai hospital.
Mumbai police officials were able to defuse two of the IEDs planted at the Taj Mahal hotel and a third at the Oberoi hotel, even as fighting broke out. This police action saved dozens of lives. However, two bombs went off in taxis used by the group, possibly after being abandoned in the vehicles.
Iman has told interrogators that right through the fighting, the Lashkar headquarters remained in touch with the group, calling their phones through a voice-over-internet service. In all likelihood, Indian investigators were able to intercept these calls, which would then form part of a compelling body of evidence to corroborate Iman’s account. In addition, Mumbai police sources said, investigators have succeeded in reconstructing the group’s journey through the Garmin GPS set that has been seized.
Corrections and Clarifications:
The lead story "Mumbai massacre story unfolds in terrorist's interrogation" (December 2, 2008, page 1) said, in the third paragraph, that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman (wrongly identified earlier as Kamaal and Kasav) began his journey to Mumbai on September 15, 2008, while the fifth paragraph said Iman and the other terrorists were set to leave for Mumbai on September 27. Confusion arose over the two dates mentioned. The clarification is that the terrorists concerned began to leave Muridke, near Lahore, on September 15, travelling in groups of two to Karachi. They were ready to leave Karachi on September 27.
(The Hindu, 2 Dec 08)
.......
A journey into the Lashkar
Praveen Swami
Iman’s story shows it preys on the most vulnerable poor
MUMBAI: It is improbable that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman’s family has seen the photograph that has made his face known across the world.
Hours before he began firing at commuters waiting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) last week, Iman, one of ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, was caught on closed-circuit camera.
After he and his partner, Mohammad Ismail, had killed 55 commuters at CST and three senior police officers, including Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Chief Hemant Karkare, Iman was injured and captured — and the story he has since been telling Mumbai police investigators casts new light on how the feared terror group preys on the most vulnerable in Pakistani society to further its agenda of hate.
The man in the photo was born on July 13, 1987 at Faridkot village in Dipalpur tehsil of Okara district in Pakistan’s Punjab province. His family belongs to the underprivileged Qasai caste. His father, Mohammad Amir Iman, runs a dahi-puri snack cart. His mother, Noori Tai, is a homemaker.
Iman is the third of the family’s five children. His 25-year-old brother, Afzal, lives near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore. His sister, Rukaiyya Husain, 22, is married locally. Iman’s younger siblings, 14-year-old Suraiyya and 11-year-old Munir, live at home.
Iman’s desperately poor family could not afford to keep their second son, an indifferent student, at the Government Primary School in Faridkot past the fourth grade. He was pulled out of school in 2000, at the age of 13, and went to live with his older brother in Lahore. Afzal, who lives in a tenement near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore, eked out a living on a labourer’s wages, and could barely afford to look after his brother. For the next several years, Iman shuttled between the homes of his brother and parents.
Adrift
After a row with his parents in 2005, Iman left home, determined never to return. No longer welcome in Afzal’s home, he stayed at the shrine of the saint Syed Ali Hajveri until he could pick up some work. He began working as a labourer and by 2007 his work brought in Rs. 200 a day. Iman, however, found the work degrading. He soon began spending time with small-time criminals in Lahore. Along with a friend, a one-time Attock resident named Muzaffar Lal Khan, Iman decided to launch a new career in armed robbery.
On Bakr Eid day in 2007, Iman has told the Mumbai Police, the two men made their way to the Raja bazaar in Rawalpindi, hoping to purchase weapons. In the market, they saw activists for the Jamaat-ud-Dawa — the parent political organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba — handing out pamphlets and posters about the organisation and its activities. After a discussion lasting a few minutes, Iman claims, both men decided to join — not because of their Islamist convictions but in the hope that the jihad training they would receive would further their future life in crime.
A life in Lashkar
But at the Lashkar’s base camp, Markaz Taiba, Iman’s world view began to change. Films on India’s purported atrocities in Kashmir, and fiery lectures by preachers, including Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, led him to believe that the Lashkar’s cause — the greater glory of Islam, as the organisation presented it — was worth giving his life to. It is possible, an official involved in the interrogation suggested, that the atmosphere of the camp gave him the sense of family he had lacked for much of his life.
When he returned home for a two-month break after his indoctrination at the Lashkar base camp, he found a respectability within his community and family that had eluded him most of his life. Where Iman had earlier been seen as a burden, he was now self-sufficient — and bore the halo of religious piety.
Later that year, Iman was chosen for the Lashkar’s basic combat course, the Daura Aam. He performed well and was among a small group of 32 men selected to undergo advanced training at a camp near Manshera, a course the organisation calls the Daura Khaas. Finally, he was among an even smaller group selected for specialised marine commando and navigation training given to the fidayeen unit selected to target Mumbai.
According to Iman, Lashkar military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi promised that his family would be rewarded with Rs. 1.5 lakh for his sacrifice.
.......
Read the story of Faridkot on BBC Urdu.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/12/081205_faridkot_village_visited.shtml
.....
Faridkot in pictures:(from BBC Urdu dot com)
A jihadi slogan by a Tauheedi (Salafi/Ahl-e-Hadith/Wahhabi organization)
People in Faridkot
.....
Sleepy village baffled by link to captured terrorist
* Saeed Shah in Faridkot, Pakistan
* The Guardian, Tuesday December 2 2008
A sleepy village in Pakistan has found itself at the centre of the Mumbai terror plot, leaving locals bewildered.
Faridkot, a settlement in the south of the Punjab province, has been overrun by Pakistani intelligence agents and police for the past three days after it was reported by Indian officials that the lone gunman captured alive in Mumbai came from a place called Faridkot.
Agents from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were still questioning locals yesterday.
"All the agencies have been here and the (police) special branch," said village elder Mehboob Khan Daha. "We have become very worried. What's this all about?"
A dusty backwater, the inhabitants are peasant farmers who own small parcels of land and are poorly educated. Water buffalo and goats roam the dirt tracks of the village.
Men sit around gossiping on traditional woven rope beds, placed out in the open, wearing the usual baggy shalwar kameez pyjama suits, some with turbans. Roughly built small brick homes and little mud huts are dotted around the village, which has a population of about 3,000. It is 34 miles east from the nearest large city, Multan.
"There are no jihadis here," said Ijaz Ahmed, 41. "I can think of maybe 10 or 20 people here who have even been as far as Multan."
The Faridkot link is a key plank of India's accusations against Pakistan. The captured gunman, variously named as Ajmal Amir Kamal, Azam Amir Kasav or Azam Ameer Qasab, is said to come from Faridkot, which is described as being near Multan. He is said to speak fluent English and a clear photograph of him shows a young man in western clothes. Shown a picture of the alleged militant, Daha said: "That's a smart-looking boy. We don't have that sort around here."
In Faridkot, no one appeared to be able to speak much English; most could only converse in a dialect of the provincial language. None of the villagers recognised the face in the photograph.
They said the intelligence agents wanted to know if there was any presence of the radical Deobandi or Al-Hadith religious movements in the village, to which they were told "no". The agents mentioned five names, villagers said, including Ajmal, Amir, Kamal and Azam, all common names in Pakistan. There were five Ajmals in the village, all present except one who is living in provincial capital Lahore, and none fitted the description of the militant. The Azam in the village is a 75-year-old retired railway worker.
One of the Ajmals, a man who thought he was about 30, has worked in a nearby tea factory for the past 12 years, he said. The police and intelligence agencies have been asking his whereabouts.
"All I ever do is go to work, which is about 3km away. I have never been beyond Kanewal (the closest town)," said Muhammad Ajmal. "I'm uneducated."
Faridkot lies in a part of Punjab known for extremist activity but the village itself did not show any signs of being a hotbed of militancy. Written on a board at the entrance to the village mosque, it is declared that members of the hardline Tablighi Jamaat "are not permitted". [This is a sign of Salafi/Wahhabi control (the Lashkar-e-Toiba creed of Islam) on this village, as is also evident from the pictures above).
Also read the following report on evidence that Ajmal Kasab belonged to Farid Kot:
http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2008/12/mumbai-terrorist-came-from-pakistan.html
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Terrorists can attack Mosques, Janazas and innocent civilians. But they will not kill any Hindu Indian cricketer, funny statement Khan sb.
IMHO ISI should not be the PRIME national intelligence agency. Only a civilian agency should be responsible to take care of national security, headed by a civilian.
When BB, Zardari and the rest of PPP leadership was suffering at the hands of establishment Imran was supporting Musharaf’s in-uniform-referendum and was voting MMA candidate, FazalurRehman for PM. NRO is a issue only because it freed PPP leadership from running from one court room to another and allowed them to focus on Politics. Earlier its opponents had an open field in addition to establishment’s overt as well as covert support while PPP was kept occupied on false charges but when PPP forced establishment to give it a leveled playing field it hurts its opponents and they start crying like Imran was doing today. The opponents of PPP have always been a direct beneficiary of PPP’s persecution at the hands of GHQ.
Shouldn’t the dictum “Every one should be considered INNOCENT until proven otherwise” stated by Imran, apply to Mr. Zardari also. Was he been proven guilty by any court of law in more than two decades of persecution and media trial? Persistent propaganda results in brain washing. GHQ/ISI has been partly successful in maligning the only Federalist Democratic Party in Pakistan at least in the eyes of a section of Urban Central Punjab.
And yes PPP govt like any other govt is committing mistakes. They can be voted out in the next elections. No party or politician is perfect and all should to be discarded like diapers when they outlive their utility but only by the voters, the AWAM and not by the Jarnails.