A dozen bombs, at least fifty dead and more than three hundred injured…
The government remains clueless…
“It is very early to make a conclusion but ULFA has a history of triggering serial blasts,” Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters minutes after the explosions.
even as “…ordinary people believe it as an HuJI attack and Congress government was protecting them by bringing ULFA’s name into picture.”
Their view is echoed by Assam Police:
“The needle of suspicion points to jehadi outfits who are behind subversive activities in the state,” IGP (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma said here.
The jehadi elements, including Bangladesh-based HUJI, could be working in groups or individually, the senior police official said the modus operandi pointed to their involvement.
“While investigation will go on, the police have been zeroing in on Islamic fundamentalist forces which of late have been active in the state and the region,” he said.
…Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Prateek Hajela also suspected the involvement of HUJI militants [ link ]
All the blasts took place almost simultaneously…which suggests a high degree of sophistication and coordination.
Sad statistic of the day: With 19 bomb blasts over a period of last six years the Ganeshguri point of the Guwahati city is arguably one of the most bombed place of country. [ link ]
A Roll Call of Terror:
Dec ‘05: New Delhi: Four Years, Two Attacks, One Story
Mar ‘06: Varanasi: Anger, tears and despair
Jul ‘06: Mumbai: Blasts? What Blasts? ‘Yeh to hota hi rahta hai‘
Aug ‘07: Hyderabad: Another day, another blast - “Kuch nayee baat batao yaar”
May ‘08: Jaipur: Jihadi attack in Jaipur?
Jul ‘08: Bangalore: Blasts in Bangalore…3 killed already
Sept ‘08: New Delhi “Dastardly terror blasts” in Delhi
Jul ‘08: Ahmedabad: Attack in Ahmedabad: Time to say NO MORE
.
Also see Tackling Terrorism: One Step at a Time
October 30th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, India & Its Neighbours, LeT, SIMI etc., Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
29 comments
…of vote-bank politics, breakdown in law and order, land mafias and alienated ghettoes. Please read on…
I received this email about the Jamia Nagar encounter last weekend. It is from Shri Anant Trivedi. Sh Trivedi is an eminent and respected citizen of Delhi working mostly in areas of good governance and improving the lot of the citizens. It is important to mention that Shri Trivedi is NOT affiliated to any political party or organisation.
The email paints a bleak picture of vote-banks, breakdown in law-and-order and a fearful minority that appears helpless against increasing radicalisation. Reproduced in full below:
Keep Reading…
September 25th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Debates & Discussions, LeT, SIMI etc., Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
140 comments
5 blasts, 18 dead, many more injured…
The usual statements have started to pour in:
“These dastardly terror blasts are an act of cowardice,” Gandhi said in a statement after six successive blasts ripped through the capital… [ link ]
Now waiting for the next act to unfold.
.
A Roll Call of Terror:
Dec ‘05: New Delhi: Four Years, Two Attacks, One Story
Mar ‘06: Varanasi: Anger, tears and despair
Jul ‘06: Mumbai: Blasts? What Blasts? ‘Yeh to hota hi rahta hai‘
Aug ‘07: Hyderabad: Another day, another blast - “Kuch nayee baat batao yaar”
May ‘08: Jaipur: Jihadi attack in Jaipur?
Jul ‘08: Bangalore: Blasts in Bangalore…3 killed already
Jul ‘08: Ahmedabad: Attack in Ahmedabad: Time to say NO MORE
P.S. By the way, although the word “dastardly” means “treacherous, cowardly” (MSN Encarta) or “wicked/evil and cruel” ( Oxford Pocket Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary), the usage is considered dated, old-fashioned or humorous.
Is Smt Gandhi’s speechwriter listening?
September 13th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
LeT, SIMI etc., Terrorism in India |
22 comments
This is probably a less lucid post than most of what I write…In spite of that it has taken me a very long time to draft this.
Last Sunday, after hearing of the blasts in Ahmedabad, I asked myself…what would I have done? What should the Government do? What can we do…as concerned, anxious and angry citizens?
I decided not to write anything more about the attacks until I had some idea of the answers to this questions…This post is an attempt in that direction…It mainly deals with what the government should do/ or consider doing…I may decide to write a separate post on what each one of us, as proud ”Bharatiyas”, can do…
The suggestions are organised in different sections (in no particular order):
The Political Will
Effective Policing and Intelligence Coordination
The role of the “middle class”
The role of the Muslim community
The role of Pakistan
Better Legislation
The Ideological Challenge
The ideas I have mentioned below are not all mine - they rely heavily on work and thinking done by others, more experienced and better informed than me…What I have attempted is to bring these ideas together - in a coherent, mostly consistent, way. I will be grateful for any critiques…Please contribute freely with your ideas and suggestions…
Jai Hind.
Tackling Terrorism: One Step at a Time
The Political Will
Our biggest weakness in this war is the lack of political will…No amount of proposals, ideas and counter-terrorist measures will work unless there is a clear, unambiguous and determined consensus - across all parties - at all levels - that this is WAR and it has to be fought with the same intensity and sense of urgency…The time for patting ourselves on the back about the “Spirit of Mumbai” (or Bengaluru or Ahmedabad) is past…
Political Will means bringing pressure on Pakistan …or as Ashutosh memorably mentioned in his comment on this blog, “turning on the heat“…It necessarily involves retaliation - something which NSA M K Narayanan hinted at a few weeks ago (after the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul)…It is time to follow-up on these statements…For more than a decade, we have been crying hoarse about terrorist camps and support infrastructure across the border…Well, THIS is the time to do something about it…
As Raja Ram mentioned in his comment following the Mumbai Blasts:
…The GOI has to present the evidence gathered publicly, set forth a clear demand for actions from governments - or agencies of governments - that may be involved with a clear time frame. This should be backed up with a clear promise of retributive action against the perpetrators with or without their support. International support for such should be channelised and developed.
…But this can happen only when the political class has the clarity of mind about dealing with terror in that manner. There are consequences to such actions that we must be ready to face. The political class, mind you is a creature of the people. The people should not only be ready to back them but demand such action from the political class and only then will they respond. Till that happens, concerned Indians can pull their hair and whack their heads - not much is going to come out of it. India will just have to take it in her stride yet again and fight on alone. There is no support for India in her war on terror. What is available is only meaningless platitudes.
The PM needs to get up and say, as did Tony Blair last June: “…This extremism can be defeated. But it will be defeated only by recognising that we have not created it; it cannot be negotiated with; pandering to its sense of grievance will only encourage it; and only by confronting it, the methods and the ideas, will we win.”
The President, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces needs to declare: India will not negotiate with terrorists… And every political party - and their leaders in Parliament - need to unequivocally support this stance…otherwise there is little hope.
Keep Reading…
August 1st, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Islam & Terrorism, Jammu & Kashmir related, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Terrorism in India |
30 comments
In an eerily prescient post a few weeks back, I had written: Our Kurukshetra is approaching fast.
The terrorist attacks in Ahmedabad and Bangalore are merely the latest consequences of a mis-guided, half-hearted approach to tackle terrorism and ignoring the root of the problem - which is the ideology of “Jihad”…and Islamism…This is the ideology that led to 9/11, the massacre of Beslan and numerous attacks since then - a disturbingly large number of them in Bharat.
As long as we don’t recognise this, we will be fighting the wrong enemy (not terrorists but innocents)…on the wrong front (not at the level of ideas, but at the level of physical force)…and with the wrong weapons (not better policing and quick, efficient justice but Dharnas, Bandhs, Satyagraha etc..)
The FIRST STEP though has to be the realisation that this is WAR - nothing less.
At least someone has realised this…
Terror attacks are a war against India…
I salute Shri Modi for having the courage to speak out.
He at least has more spine than the hundreds of others who claim to represent India. But as Radha-ji of Vigil pointed out in an email to me: “His spine is not in question here, it is his understanding of the nature of the threat - jihad…” I think she has hit the nail on its head.
As I had promised to myself, I will say no more on this until such point when I have some idea of how to deal with this menace.
In the meantime, here are some extracts from a letter written by a concerned father* (in teh US) to his sons back in 2004. Pl. read and think (emphasis mine).
*** Excerpts begin **
…To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII).
The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means.
Keep Reading…
July 27th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Global Terrorism, Godhra, Islam & Terrorism, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Post Independence History, Terrorism in India |
6 comments
Most of you must have heard about the attack in Ahmedabad by now… (17 blasts; 15 killed, many injured)
I am NOT going to write about it…
It is time to say NO MORE…
For the next few day(s), I am going to put all my energies and thinking in trying to find an an answer…finding a way to stop this madness…finding a way to offer something more than empty words and condolences to the unfortunate…the maimed and the dead…it could have been me - or you…
My feelings at the moment are summed up in the title of this post I wrote more than 2 years ago, just after the blasts in Varanasi… Anger, tears and despair
.
A Roll Call of Terror:
Dec ‘05: New Delhi: Four Years, Two Attacks, One Story
Mar ‘06: Varanasi: Anger, tears and despair
Jul ‘06: Mumbai: Blasts? What Blasts?�Yeh to hota hi rahta hai
Aug ‘07: Hyderabad: Another day, another blast - “Kuch nayee baat batao yaar”
May ‘08: Jaipur: Jihadi attack in Jaipur?
Jul ‘08: Bangalore: Blasts in Bangalore…3 killed already
July 27th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, LeT, SIMI etc., Terrorism in India |
17 comments
I am hoping against hope that this is not another terorist attack..
Six explosions have hit the southern Indian city of Bangalore in a span of 15 minutes, police say [ link ]
at least three people were killed [ link ]. Not sure if there were six or more blasts…
Stay tuned for more.
Long list of related tragedies:
Another day, another blast - “Kuch nayee baat batao yaar”
Blasts? What Blasts? “Yeh to hota hi rahta hai”
Anger, tears and despair
and Four Years, Two Attacks, One “Story”
.
UPDATE: In case of anyone still thinks it may have been an accident or an act by some misguided youth:
“In all these cases they have created the blast using timer devices,” Bangalore Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidri told reporters at the site of one of the blasts. “Explosives have also been used, in quantity equal to one or two grenades.” [ link ]
July 25th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
LeT, SIMI etc., Terrorism in India |
5 comments
Why is the English mainstream media so scared of calling terrorists for what they are - instead of the silly label -”militants”?
Is thisnot an insult toour brave officers and soldiers who day in and day out expose themselves to enormous risks…and put their lives on the line to protect our country and uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India?
I am sad, disgusted and very very angry…
Here is a sample from today’s new stories:
An Army Major has been killed and two jawans injured in encounter with militants in Rajouri district in Kashmir. [ link ]
An Army Major and a police constable were killed and three other security personnel seriously injured in a fierce gun battle with a group of Lashker-e-Toiba militants in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir today (July 20). [ link ]
An Indian Army officer and a policeman were killed and four soldiers injured in a shoot out that erupted in a frontier district of Jammu and Kashmir Sunday, defence sources said. The sources said Maj. Bhanu Partap of 43 Rashtriya Rifles and Sanjeev of Kashmir police were killed while fighting heavily armed militants hiding in the Bangai forests in Thana Mandi area of Rajouri district, about 190 kms north of Jammu. [ link ]
An Army Major and a police constable were killed and three other security personnel seriously injured in a fierce gun battle with a group of Lashker-e-Toiba militants in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. [ link ]
Interestingly, the Hindi language media (with which I am somewhat familiar) uniformly uses the term “Aatankwadi” (Terrorist) - save for the lone BBC Hindi which prefers “Charampanthi” (Extremist) - but then it is the BBC, as you know.
Anydoubt why we need a robust, right-of-centre alternative to what passes of as mainstream media?
Related Posts:
The missing T-word
Nice, politically correct reporting -UPDATED
and “The great joke that is Indian Media” series:Part 1,Part 2,Part 3, Part 4and Part 5.
.
UPDATE: According to this report, these so-called militants were using a woman as a shield:
Army sources claimed that on specific information, a joint team of the Thannamandi-based 43 RR and the Rajouri SOG launched a search and destroy operation in Kunda near here on Saturday night. After cordoning the area, a search party led by Major Bhanu reached a dhok (temporary shed used by nomads in higher reaches) owned by Gulzar Begum of Shahdara Sharief area and knocked at the door. Begum who was inside the dhok at that time was allegedly used by militants, reportedly belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), as their shield, sources added.
July 21st, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Jammu & Kashmir related, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
one comment
Came across this news-report yesterday and wondered whether there is now sufficientevidence todeclare Pakistan a state-sponsor of terrorism?
…Elements of Pakistan’s ISI and its paramilitaries are actively backing Taliban insurgents and if their sanctuaries in the country are not eliminated, the efforts of the US and its allies to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan will be in jeopardy, a leading US think-tank has warned.
The study by Rand Corporation, funded by the US Department of Defence, finds that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and Frontier Corps have failed to root out Afghan insurgent groups…in some cases, individuals from these Pakistani organisations have provided direct assistance to such groups as the Taliban and Haqqani network.
…Pointing to the growing list of terrorist attacks and foiled plots in the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, and Spain, US intelligence agencies have identified terrorist plots stemming from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region as perhaps the single most important threat to America’s security. [ link]
Not that any of this isnew…
I have been harping on this theme for more than two years now but, as they say in French, plus ca change.. 
From an unrelated report, I learn that “…there are at least 200 entities in Pakistan raising funds for terror operations…”
…According to the IB, there are at least 200 entities in Pakistan raising funds for terror operations. The afore-mentioned document suggests that the nexus between Indian gangsters and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, the ISI, agency is also getting stronger by the day.
…The government document also notes that the ISI has been stoking increased militancy in Punjab and the north-eastern states.
Since 2006 several terror cells set up by the ISI have been neutralised in Kashmir, forcing it to look beyond. The ISI then re-launched its Operation Pin Code and Operation Topac with a view to destabilising the entire country. That is where Punjab and the north-east come in.
…The first stage in Topac and Pin Code involves low-level insurgency through placing operatives in key locations across the country with a view to subverting the police force, communication networks, and financial institutions.
Phase two, which is underway, deals with stepping up terror in the border areas and elsewhere, through the Afghan mujahideen and Bangla militants who will have entered the country to carry out terror strikes.
Knowing the way the UPA government functions, I do not expect to see any action on this or other similar reports…Where does that leave us?
As I mentioned in one of my earliestposts on this subject (”All roads lead toIslamabad“),
Sadly, the prevalent atmosphere in New Delhi and a government obsessed with bhai-chara and peace process suggests that the government either does not believe in facts on the ground or is being driven by a different agenda.
Thanks to modern technology though, we, as common citizens, are more empowered today to try and influence behaviours and perceptions than ever before.
Let us put these resources to good use and spread the message Hopefully a point will be reached when no government will be able to ignore the groundswell of public opinion.
The message that we must forcefully repeat is this:
-
Pakistan isa state-sponsor of terrorism
-
It is responsible for nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea
-
The ISI has been the god-father of Al-Qaeda and continues to support and sponsor jihadi activities, including in Kashmir
-
Pakistans madrassas harbour a growing number of jihadi terrorists and fanatics who will stop at nothing in their quest for total domination*
It is high time that the regime in Pakistan is recognised for what it is a supra-terrorist organization and dealt with appropriately.
Related Posts:
Pakistan, Taliban & the War onTerroryawn
All roads lead to Pakistan(onceagain)and
All roads lead toIslamabad
For an unusual perspective, read: The Raja-Mandala approach to containingPakistan
*P.S. If you thought I am being dramatic, read how schools in Pakistan are turningintonurseriesof bombers
London, May 20 (2008): Al-Qaeda-linked militants have transformed a Government-run school in the restive tribal region of Pakistan into a nursery for suicide bombers, training children as young as nine-year-old.
It was like factory that had been recruiting nine to 12-year-old boys and turning them into suicide bombers, Maj Gen Tariq Khan, the commander of the division that captured the area, was quoted in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday as saying.
The camp was located in a territory in South Waziristan where the notorious Pakistani Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, operates.
At another location, military investigators found film footage on a DVD that they believed depicts children at the school being trained in suicide bombing.
Maj Gen Athar Abbas, the armys chief spokesman, said that the school and a hospital had been taken over by militants to prepare children for suicide attacks and for making improved explosive devices (IEDS).
June 11th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, India & Its Neighbours, Jammu & Kashmir related, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
7 comments
Did anyonenotice the missing “T-word”?
From JK: Six militants killed; blast on Amarnath route
…Six militants were killed across Kashmir in separate incidents on Monday.
From Four militants killed in J&K encounter:
…Four Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including a self-styled district commander of the outfit, were killed in separate encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara districts…
…sources said…the slain militants were believed to be Pakistan nationals.
From Army kills two militants in Jammu and Kashmir
…Two militants were killed in a gun battle with soldiers in a village in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir early Monday, an official said.
A defence spokesperson here said…”While the soldiers were searching the village, the hiding militants opened fire at the troops. The soldiers returned fire and two militants were killed,“
I am shocked…I would dearly love to speak to this defence spokesperson and ask him/herwhen do terrorists become militants? and vice-versa…? or is this term now banned in official circles and in official media?
Or maybe that word is exclusively reserved for the likes of Sh. Narendra Modi?
From Narendra Modi is ‘terrorist number one’: Bukhari
“Narendra Modi is the terrorist number one in the country. He is unleashing state-sponsored terrorism in Gujarat. In the name to curbing terrorism, innocent people are arrested and harassed,” Bukhari said at an international conference against terrorism organised by the Jama Masjid United Forum here today (1st June).
…He claimed people were resorting to terrorism to take revenge against forces which harass them.
“When a boy sees his family members being brutally killed and is not getting justice, what will he do. Will he not become violent,” he asked.
[ I thinkabout the thousands of refugees from Kashmir...and wonder if they did not have any "boys" within their families? ]
Actually there is an even better term that we can use…how about “some other forces” (this is to distinguish them from”security forces”)
…Some other forces are also unleashing terror in the name of ‘Jehad’. They are killing innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir…(Imam Bukhari) said. [link]
Across the border in Pakistan though, they obviously have no such qualms…
From Pak leader links terror to madarsas
…A politician whose party is a partner in Pakistans ruling coalition today surprised a conference on terrorism here by declaring that madarsas in his country were breeding grounds of terror.
Hasham Baber, additional secretary-general of the Awami National Party, said political sermons, not just lectures on Islam, were delivered in such institutions in the federally administered tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan.
The breeding grounds should be removed because on Fridays, it isnt Islam that is taught but political sermons. Both Afghanistan and India will benefit, he told the conference organised by Jama Masjid United Forum.
Predictably,
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, made it clear that Baber had only expressed his own views about affairs in Pakistan.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi disagreed with Baber, saying madarsas in his state werent teaching terror.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad spoke of the threat from Right-wing Hindu schools in tribal areas …
Related Posts:
An eye-witness account of *militants* crossing intoJ&Kand
BBCs Objectivity Checklist Goes Right Through theWindow (Courtesy, Hawkeye)
Nice, politically correct reporting -UPDATED
.
June 3rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, India & Its Neighbours, Indian Media, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
6 comments
*** CAUTION: LONG POST ***
This is an unusual blog-post. It is actuallya series of excerpts fromarticles that speak for themselves.
Please read and share with everyone who is even a little bit concerned about India.
We cannot afford to remain mute spectators…
First, some excerpts from a richly referenced analysis, “The Shiliguri Corridor: Question Mark on Security” by Pinaki Bhattacharya:
“A critical futuristic threat perception vis--vis Indias North Eastern region has long preoccupied many analysts and the Indian security establishment. The projected exercise would involve Pakistan launching an attack on Jammu and Kashmir. At the other end, China would engage India militarily in the latters Northeast with movement from Tibet, through Bhutan and via Alipurduar in the Jalpaiguri district and consequently cut-off what is referred to as the eastern chickens neck or the Shiliguri corridor. An Indian strategists nightmare come true.
….In such a projected war scenario, while India battles Pakistan and China, behind the lines of the security forces guarding the narrow strip of land called the Shiliguri corridor, which at its narrowest is 20 kilometres long and just 20 kilometres wide in the general area south west of Shiliguri, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the Bodos, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and other subversives trained in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan raise attrition to a feverish pitch. China could, it is projected, choose to cut the chickens neck with irreversible consequences vis--vis Indias Northeast.
Keep Reading…
May 22nd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Human Rights and Legal Issues, Identity, India & Its Neighbours, Indian Media, LeT, SIMI etc., Muslim Population in India, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Post Independence History, Terrorism in India |
5 comments
Some fresh updates…
“…The blasts took place in Tripolia Bazar where a Hanuman temple drew a large number of devotees today…Manas Chowk, Badi Choupal, Choti Choupal and Johari Bazar. ” link
As many of you must have already realised, Tuesday isa particularlysignificant day for devotees of Lord Hanuman (and is generally considered auspiciousfor a variety of reasons).Another important fact: apparently there were 7 bomb blasts and 8 bombs were diffused…In terms of scale at least, 15 coordinated bombs is serious stuff.
The predictable appeal for calm:I wonder ifthe Honourable PM is going to loose anysleep over this?
Latest Count 60 deadand 150 injured. HuJI role suspected (more on this in an upcoming post):
“,,,sources said the tell-tale signs of the blasts indicate HuJI’s hand.
The blasts showed that HuJI, which is being mainly run from Bangladesh, has managed to establish cells in Rajasthan and that the outfit was responsible for previous major terror attacks including the New Year eve attack on CRPF camp in Rampur and serial blasts in three other places in Uttar Pradesh.
The last terror strike in Rajasthan occurred on October 11, 2007 when an explosion in the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer left two persons dead and 17 others injured.
HuJI outfit, suspected to be behind the blast at the sufi shrine, had used a mixture of Tri-Nitro Toluene (TNT) as the explosive material.
…The sources did not rule out the possibility that banned HuJI may have been supported by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which has been attempting to target tourist destinations and places of economic interests.
A heart-rending first-hand account of how it feels from Shivani in Jaipur (courtesy Bharat-Rakshak):
“…I do not know what to say. Yes, I am in Jaipur. Today, I actually went to these markets in the afternoon.
I ask members to forgive me, but I am being very honest when I say that all the blasts we have had in other cities have not affected me at all, and I realized this only today. …
Terrorism was something that happened to “other” people. Something very distant.
Now I am afraid to even step out of the house, or allow a family member to do likewise. Imagine going to some shop or mall and being blown apart. Or living handicapped for the rest of your life. Presently, the roads are deserted, sirens have only just stopped screaming, and people are retiring to their homes after talking with neigbours etc.
This changes everything. I do not particularly feel angry towards Indian Muslims, pakis, and their puppeteers in the west. They are doing something that is very natural, and very ‘rational’.
It is the unnaturally passive and thoroughly incompetent Indian approach that offends me the most. I feel strong outrage towards our dysfunctional system of governance…
…I have never felt more disillusioned with New Delhi, the politicians and babus, and the western controlled media. We have never had a revolution in India and it shows.
The entire system system of governance and its operators need to be eliminated and replaced by a new order if we are to make fundamental progress in how we survive and prosper as a nation.
I can’t go to sleep now, just found out someone lost relative. Sorry if anyone is offended, I have never felt the kind of emotion like today before. I am so utterly miserable and helpless…
and another first-hand account of how it feels, from amar_gwho lived through the Mumbai blasts:
“…been through the same thing myself a few years ago during the mumbai serial blasts..was attending classes for my 10th std and slowly news started to come in about blasts..my father was in the stock exchange building at that time..it was a horrible feeling till he called up and confirmed everything was ok..
i really do hope and pray the govt dose take some action and we indians do not get used to this “as just one of those things that keep happening” ..like people do in iraq..
…the religion of peace is trying to target our tourist destination..a soft target..scare foreigners away..besides jaipur has got one of the IPL teams..it can only generate more bad press for india as not being a safe destination…
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat. We shall overcome.
With deepest sympathies andcondolences for the families of the innocents…Their lives must not go in vain…
Long list of related tragedies:
Another day, another blast - Kuch nayee baat bataoyaar
Blasts? What Blasts?Yeh to hota hi rahtahai
Anger, tears anddespair
and Four Years, Two Attacks, OneStory
May 14th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Indian Media, Islam & Terrorism, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
17 comments
I recently came across this interesting admissionby a senior US government official putting it on record that:
Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world
As the report, Saudi Arabia’s Terror Finance Problemby Douglas Farah notes,
There is little willingness to tackle the Saudis anymore on the issue of cracking down on terror finance. Intelligence services here and in Europe know most of the money for the mujahadeed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere still come from wealthy donors in the Kingdom.
Only a handful of officials, however, dare to say so publicly
The exception has been Stuart Levy, the Treasury undersecretary for terror finance issues, who recently and publicly took on the Saudis in little-noted Congressional testimony.
One of the more interesting parts of the story, however, is…that, in essence, the Saudi government has repeatedly lied to the U.S. government over the steps the Kingdom has taken to crack down.
For example more than two years ago, the Saudis assured then-Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) that the Kingdom, as promised in 2003, had set up a financial intelligence unit and a commission to oversee the financial dealings of charities, many which have had ties to funding terrorist activities.
Now, Saudi spokesman Nail Jubeir (brother of ambassador Adel Jubeir) confirmed that Saudi Arabia has not set up the financial intelligence unit or charity commission, but said it was cracking down on the financiers of terrorism in other ways, such as making it illegal for anyone to send money outside the kingdom without going through official government channels.
Why should I loose sleep over this, you may ask. What concern is it to us?
If this reportis anything to go by, it should be of pretty serious concern to usI doubt though that anyone is loosing sleep over this yet.
From, Saudi Arabia Woos China and India by Harsh V. Pant, read this richly referenced extract:
A more significant impediment, especially with regard to India, is the proliferation of Saudi-funded religious schools in the country.
A madrasa (Islamic school) education in India has long been a part of many Muslim children’s lives. Madrasas in India number between 8,000 and 40,000.[46] But concerns have been rising in India about the dated and, with Saudi financing, increasingly radical curricula. In 2001, a report of the Group of Ministers on “Reforming the National Security System” recommended the need to modernize madrasa education.[47]
Saudi financial assistance has gone to a range of Indian-Islamic organizations resulting in the establishment of mosques, madrasas, and publishing houses inculcating the Saudi worldview.[48]
Riyadh also provides scholarships to Indian students to study religion in its universities. The Ahle-Hadith (People of the Tradition of the Prophet), a Sunni Islamic sect with ties to the Saudi state dating back to the 1920s, has arguably been the biggest beneficiary of Saudi monetary assistance contributing to internecine rivalries among various Indian Muslim sects.[51] While the early Ahle-Hadith was in many ways progressive, it has now altered into an intolerant, literalist strand.
Several Indian Islamic jurists and scholars seem to have gravitated towards this Saudi-sanctioned, radical interpretation of Islam and to a conspiratorial version of global politics. Instructive in this context is a claim made by a Muslim jurist from the Deoband sect in India that “should it be proved that Osama was the mastermind behind the attacks of September 11, he would not be punished under Islamic law since his actions were the result of an independent, legal opinion issued by top jurists.”[52]
Another Islamic scholar from a prominent seminary in north India has argued that “a worldwide anti-Muslim alliance has been formed and is headed by the U.S. It runs in an arc from Hindu fundamentalist India, through China and Russia, and ends with Europe and the U.S. in the west. The effect is to encircle and choke the Islamic world.”[53]
While the radicalism of Deoband would hardly surprisereaders - given its reputation for teaching”the most fundamentalist, narrow, puritan, rigid, oppressive version of Islam that exists anywhere in the world today -what is more worrying (at least to me) is the slow radicalisation of otherwise harmless Madrassas now flush with Saudi money and dominated by Wahabbi ideas(do remember the “S” in SIMI)
That is the real danger lurking beneath the surfaceand that is what we should be most worried about.
Unfortunately, such worries are rather unfashionable in Lutyen’s Delhi…andsuch thoughts are far from the mind of our government which earlier this week sent External Affairs Minister, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee to Riyadh to establish a “strategic partnership” with Saudi Arabia.
Curiously, ministry spokesman Navtej Sarnaissued a statement after the meetings saying:
“Both sides were keen that genuine businessmen from both sides be given multi-entry visas to boost bilateral investment…”
“genuine businessmen”?I hope they mean it!!
Related Posts:
Indias Islamist Groups -Extracts
Madrassas on Nepalborder
April 23rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Impact of Islam on India, Islam & Reform, LeT, SIMI etc., World History |
one comment
Pakistan still training terror outfits: India
“….National Security Advisor M K Narayanan recently said one of the greatest dangers India faced was terror camps being run on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border by the Al-Qaedaand the Taliban.
He said Pakistan continued to acquire missiles and other weapons and its military strategy remains India-centric.
…The Home Ministry said terror attacks like Samjhauta blast, Mecca Mosque attack, twin explosions in Hyderabad and incidents at the Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, besides the blasts in court premises in Uttar Pradesh ‘have been committed by externally based and sponsored terrorist outfits with some local help’.
A senior MHA official said some recent incidents suggested that outfits like LeT and JeM used territory and elements in Bangladesh and Nepal for movement of men and material. The involvement of HUJAI-Bangladesh has come to notice in some of the recent incidents of terrorist violence, he said.
He said Indian youth were recruited by LeT and HUJAI-BD, which has links with LeT and JeM, for training in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and re-launched into India ‘for sabotage and subversive activities’….”
but theremay be some hope (or we may be disappointed once again with empty platitudes):
Pakistani PM vows to fight terror
“…Pakistan’s new Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani, has told parliament in Islamabad that his top priority will be the fight against terrorism.”
China the ‘bully’ is threat number one: Fernandes
“…Describing the National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to recognise Tibetas a part of China as an ‘error’, former Defence Minister George Fernandes has said the Communist nation was the ‘potential threat number one’ to India and flayed the United Progressive Alliance dispensation for allowing it to be ‘bullied’.
…”It was not a mistake but an error. It should not have been done,” he said about India’s decision to recognise Tibet as part of China during the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in which he was the Defence Minister.
Fernandes told Karan Thapar’s Devil’s Advocate programme on CNN-IBN that China is ’still the potential threat number one’ and ‘could become an enemy’, as he recalled his statement on similar lines years ago.
…”I have a feeling that what happened in 1962 is still affecting people’s mind and they can’t get out of it,” he said.
Fernandes also took exception at the Chinese government lauding India for its handling of the Tibetan protests in the country.
“It is a disgrace that China should say that India has done well,” he said.”
The full interview is here: http://www.ibnlive.com/printpage.php?id=62286ion_id=3
Related Posts:
We know its Pakistan but we hope itsnot!
Pakistan, Taliban & the War onTerroryawn
and the whole category of Pakistan related posts
March 30th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Jammu & Kashmir related, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History, Terrorism in India |
14 comments
Indore has been in the news before…butthis time it isback for all the wrong reasons.
From NDTV: “Arrested SIMI chief planned terror strikes”
“…Arrested SIMI chief Safdar Nagori had called a meeting in Indore to finalise plans for major terror strikes across the country, police sources have said…SIMI activist Ehtesham has told the police that Nagori held a series of meetings to plan the strikes.
He also organised training camps in Madhya Pradesh to raise a local terror force. Nagori’s plan was to set up a completely indigenous jehadi outfit trained in the use of explosives and sophisticated arms.
…Ehtesham, who was caught after the Mumbai train blasts, has also revealed that Nagori played a key role in the Malegaon and Mumbai train blasts.
With the Indore arrests, the police have managed to catch almost all major SIMI chiefs.
…The Karnataka police have said that Nagori, Shibli and Adnan were involved in the foiled Hubli terror attack plot.
HT adds: Keep Reading…
March 28th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Terrorism in India |
one comment
and my inferences are based on...
