unknown issues of upsc/mpsc: September 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Afganisthan factor' Terrorist role of pakistan

A Bird's Eye View of the Pakistani Terrorist Machinery

Details On The Extensive Pakistani Terrorist Network Directed At Kashmir

**The red dots show the location of some of the well-documented terrorist camps operating in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
**The sole red dot in Afghanistan depicts the location of terrorist camps housing Pakistani trainees targeted by US missiles

Some Vital Statistics and Facts on the Pakistani Terrorist Machinery Aimed at Kashmir

Number of Terrorist Camps in Pakistan: 37
Number of Terrorist Camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir: 49
Number of Pakistani-run Terrorist Camps in Afghanistan: 22
Total Number of Hardcore Terrorists Operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 2300
Total Number of Foreign Mercenaries Operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 900
Number of Pakistani terrorists killed by Indian security forces: 291
Number of Pakistani terrorists in Indian jails: 125
Number of Indian civilians killed by Pakistani terrorists: over 29,000
Number of firearms recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 47,000
Amount of explosives recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 60 tons (30,000 kg)
Number of explosions carried out by Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 4,730
Nationalities of Foreign Mercenaries Operating in Jammu and Kashmir:
Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan,
Egypt, Sudan, Yemen,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq
Deadliest Pakistani Terrorist Groups Active in Jammu and Kashmir:
- Harkat-ul-Ansar (recently renamed Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin)
  - Headquarters: Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir)
- Lashkar-e-Toiba
  - Headquarters: Muridke (Pakistan)
- Hizbul Mujahideen
Peak time of annual infiltration of terrorists into India:
- Summer months, when the snows have melted, under cover of Pakistani Army firing (Washington Post, Oct. 15, 1998).
Number of people in Jammu and Kashmir killed in violence waged by Pakistan-supported terrorists over the last decade: over 20,000.
Ethnic Cleansing in Kashmir: Nearly 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits (original Hindu inhabitants of Kashmir valley) driven out of their ancestral homeland by Pakistan-supported terrorists.
Pakistan's response to charges of terrorism support: "It only provides diplomatic and moral support to the terrorists". To see through this outright lie, read about the "credible reports of official Pakistani support to Kashmiri terrorist groups..." in the US State Department 1997 report on global terrorism.
The US Tomahawk missiles killed Pakistani terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Ansar in the Khost camps in Afghanistan this year. These terrorists were training to fight in Kashmir.
The Harkat-ul-Ansar and the Lashkar-e-Toiba threatened US citizens recently in open news conferences in major cities in Pakistan. The Pakistani government makes no attempt to shut down any of these groups.
Most recent recruits to Pakistani terrorist camps: Kashmiri Muslim children as young as 12 years old, coerced into a dead-end career by Pakistani terrorist groups(CNN Online, Oct. 8, 1998).
Why is the Pakistani economy in shambles? 70% of its budget goes to the military plus its debt payments, much of the military spending being on sustaining the Kashmiri terror (NY Times, Aug. 30, 1998, The Tribune, Oct. 10, 1998).

References

Web Data Published by Indian Army
US State Department Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1997

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Afganisthan factor'The Metastasizing Cancer of Pakistan- and Afghanistan-based Islamic Terrorism

The Metastasizing Cancer of Pakistan- and Afghanistan-based Islamic Terrorism

The Metastasizing Cancer Of Pakistan/Aghanistan-based Islamic Terrorism

The above image graphically shows the continued spread of terror wreaked by Islamic fundamentalist groups based in Pakistan and Afghanistan (shown in red as the new foci of international terrorism). All countries and regions affected by the terror, and those where funds are collected by these groups are shown in black.

Osama Bin Laden's network, which supports numerous terrorist groups in Afghanistan, collaborates extensively and shares training facilities with over a dozen Islamic terrorist groups based in Pakistan. The Pakistani groups that collaborate with Bin Laden's network are well known to be financed and sponsored by the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI and its military (New York Times, October 10, 2000).

Many of the groups based in Pakistan and Afghanistan target India, especially Jammu and Kashmir state with holy jihad. Many of these same groups also carry out violent insurgencies and terrorist operations in such far-flung places as Chechnya, Xinjiang region of China, Philippines, Malaysia, Bosnia, Egypt. Geographically, the terror wreaked by these groups extends from Argentina and United States in the western hemisphere all the way to the Xinjiang region of China, the Philippines and Malaysia in the far east. A Pakistani national was arrested recently in the US on suspicion for involvement in the bombings of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in the early 1990s. Even Australia and New Zealand have not been spared. Prior to the recent Olympics, several Afghanistani citizens were arrested in New Zealand for suspected involvement in a plot to blow up the Sydney nuclear reactor during the Olympic Games.

The terror continues unabated today. Dozens of Hindu and other pro-Indian civilians, and security personnel, are butchered every week by Pakistan/Afghanistan-based Islamic terrorist groups such as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al-Badr Mujahideen, Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. These activities do not appear on the front pages of western media, which is much more sensitive when United States "interests" are targeted, an example being the October 12th attack in Yemen on the US naval ship Cole. The half-hearted US battle against international terrorism is exemplified by US Counter-Terrorism coordinator twiddling his thumbs over declaring the Lashkar-e-Toiba (one of the most dangerous and largest Islamic militant groups in the world) a terrorist organization. As many recent reports, including the Oct. 10 New York Times article indicate, groups like Lashkar see India, Israel, the United States and many other countries around the world as their eventual targets for Islamic fundamentalist rule.

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Afganisthan factor'THE NEW ISLAMIST INTERNATIONAL" OF TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE SET UP BY US HOUSE REPUBLICAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE

THE NEW ISLAMIST INTERNATIONAL" OF TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE SET UP BY US HOUSE REPUBLICAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE
EXCEPTS FROM THE REPORT

Dated February 1, 1993.
Sponsoring international terrorism and separatist subversion and insurgency is not new to Pakistan. Since the 1970s, Islamabad has been training Sikh and other Indian separatist movements as part of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's strategy of "forward strategic depth", and also as a part of his effort to gain revenge for India's support of an independent Bangladesh..... Thus, the further militarization and radicalization of the Sikh armed struggle increased, as larger quantities of high quality weapons became available. Among the novelties of the revived terrorist campaign were sophisticated bomb making techniques and better training for Sikh terrorists of the Dal Khalsa separatist movement in the Afghan Mujahideen camps. Indeed, Sikh 'trainees' were killed in a Soviet raid on an Afghan training camp in Pakistan and their documents were seized...... the "following of the line of Imam Khomeyni" as their own leaders. Consequently, by 1984, an Islamic radicalization had developed that saw the rise of such movements as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Mahaz-i-Azadi and the Liberation League. ersonality and a Muslim identity with fundamentalist overtones started emerging rapidly". Therefore, it also became imperative for the emerging separatist leaders to "give the struggle a Pan-Islamic character and extra-territorial dimension." ce to the Kashmiri Islamists was even funnelled through Afghan rebel leader Gulbuddin Hikmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami group, thus providing Islamabad with deniability..... mong the most crucial activities of the ISI were the following: The extent of the external, that is Pakistani and Afghan, influence on the Islamist transformation of the Kashmiri insurgency is quite clear. Indeed, Kashmir was the only area in India where, as of the mid-]980s, Islamic revivalism had "taken a radical political stance" and where "the slogans of the Islamic state have been publicly raised" and had been received with growing popularity. The population was increasingly adopting the leadership of Jamaat-i-Islami of Pakistan and Khomeynists representing Later, by 1985, both the Jamaat-i-Islami and Al-Jihad movements, the latter "a clandestine organization influenced by the ideology of the Iranian revolution," were becoming highly influential in Kashmiri politics. Indeed, the Al-Jihad movement publicly raised the issue of an "Islamic Revolution" as "the only way to liberate" Kashmir in the mid-1980s. Thus, in the space of a few short years, "there was a marked erosion of the secular Kashmiri p Indeed, as noted, this transformation was assisted and reinforced by an active ISI program. Initially, the emphasis of this program was on using the Afghan-support infrastructure in Pakistan to support Kashmiri militants. Indeed, during the main escalation of Islamist violence in Indian Kashmir in mid-l988, Pakistan provided assistance in the training and arming of Kashmiri terrorists, as well as sanctuaries to Kashmiri insurgents across the border. At times, the ISI's assistan In 1986, with growing experience in training, organizing and running the Afghan mujahideen, and with military supplies available (through US, Saudi, and other foreign assistance), Pakistan began expanding its operation to sponsor and promote separatism and terrorism, primarily in Kashmir, as a strategic long-term program. A "Religious fundamentalism was propagated in small but lethal doses to promote separatism and communal outlook". "Training and indoctrination of selected leaders from the Kashmir valley was arranged to create militant cadres". "A large number of youth from the Kashmir valley and Poonch Sector were given extensive training in the use of automatic weapons, sabotage and attacks on security force. Automatic weapons and explosives were now issued to these people". "Special teams were trained to organize agitations and hartals, and to engineer incidents to damage the democratic and secular image of India". Thus the rise of Islamist ideology to predominance throughout Indian Kashmir facilitated the emergence of a tight link between the Kashmiri insurgents, their supporters, and Islamabad. Thus, it was with the widespread adoption of Islamist ideologies that Kashmiri Muslims could not seek ideological sustenance from a transnational Islam, while simultaneously basking in the guaranteed patronage from across the border. Concurrently, for the Pakistani defense establishment, the Kashmir cause constituted a combination of regional interest and commitment to the global Islamist cause. "Muslim fundamentalists in Pakistan... see the Islamic surge in Kashmir as the long awaited hour for jihad against Indian infidels, a holy war for which Pakistan must funnel material and moral backing"..... There is a profound difference between support for Sikh terrorism in Punjab, which is a matter of harassing New Delhi, and Islamist terrorism in Kashmir, where there is a genuine whole-hearted commitment to Jihad. Furthermore, in the increase of support for terrorism in India, Islamabad has been able to find a task for the Pakistani and Afghan cadres that Islamabad had developed during the Afghan War and must now keep from meddling in Pakistani domestic politics. Indeed, to secure that goal, Brig (Rtd.), Imtiaz, head of the ISI Political Section, has developed a long-term program called 'K-2'. The 'K-2' program is aimed at unifying and better coordinating the Kashmiri and Sikh subversion efforts by "bringing under one umbrella Sikh and Kashmiri extremists and Muslim fundam The ISI established and runs its own "Kashmiri organization". The most important among these are the Hizb-i-Islami, which is comprised of former Kashmiri Mujahideen who were trained by the ISI and then fought with Gulbuddin Hikmatyar's organization in Afghanistan. Also, there is Harakat-ul-Jihad another highly professional terrorist group created in Pakistan. It is made up of veteran 'Afghans' from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kashmir who receive extensive ISI support.... By early 1991, the importan The Libyans assisted in the upgrading of the terrorist infrastructure in the camps of the Afghan resistance both inside Pakistan and just across the border in Afghanistan, because, as Qadhafi pointed out, "Afghanistan is open to anyone who wants to train". By then, as the fighting in Afghanistan was grinding to a near halt, the Islamist Mujahideen were shifting more and more attention to the training of thousands of "brethren" from all over the Muslim world. Some 2,000-3,000 volunteers were in the Khost area alone in early-1991. The organized transfer of training installations to several camps in Pakistan-Afghanistan began in the summer of 1991 and still continues as For example, some 30-35 Libyan It is noteworthy that the Arm Indeed, Jam'at-i-Islami (Pakistan), Hizb-i-Islami and Jamiat-i-Islami (Afghanistan) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (Kashmir) had all bccome members of the Turabi-led Popular International Organization (PIO), and, in this capacity, provided assistance to, and clos In the early-summer of 1992, some 200 highly-trained and well armed Afghan Mujahid Another group of 300 A ISI's vast and highly experieentalists who would then intensify acts of violence in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh. "Indeed, the escalation of terrorism and subversion since the early 1990s is believed to have been a direct outgrowth of the ISI's implementation of the 'K-2' long-term program ..... ce of the Pakistani-Afghan terrorist infrastructure for the international Islamist movement further increased as a result of changes in Libya in the aftermath of the economic sanctions that were imposed on the country because of Qadhafi's support for international terrorism. terrorist teams arrive from Libya or via other countries. expert terrorist trainers arrived in Peshawar in November 1991 with the declared objective "to train national liberation forces" in Mujahideen camps, mainly those of Gulbuddin and Sayyaf. ed Islamic Movement also played a major role in the consolidation of the capabilities of the Islamist terrorists. In the spring of 1991,13 Kashmiri Islamists were accepted for about 6 months of highly specialized terrorist training in Sudan under the personal supervision of the Sudanese leaders Turabi and Mustafa Uthman. By then, AIM's leader, al-Turabi, had already visited Pakistan and Afghanistan in September 1991 to coordinate terrorist support activities. ely cooperated with, Islamists from Egypt, the Hizbullah in Lebanon, FIS in Algeria, and NIF in Sudan. PIO members exchanged experts and cooperated in joint support and training activities. een infiltrated into Indian Kashmir in order to assist in what was by now a full blown armed struggle. They are directly responsible for the increase in violence in Kashmir, in itself a part of a concentrated effort sponsored and backed by the ISI. fghans in command of a larger force of Pakistani- trained Kashmiris are waiting in Pakistani Kashmir for the opportune conditions in order to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir and open a new terrorist front..... nced terrorist support infrastructure, tempered by years of assistance to such regional armed struggles as those in Afghanistan and India, is increasingly expanding its operations to include and sponsoring of global Islamist terrorism. At present, the Armed Islamic Movement supports and trains Islamist terrorists and fighters for Jihads throughout the world from centers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Afganisthan factor' Major Afghan Mujahideen Groups: A Profile

Major Afghan Mujahideen Groups: A Profile in the Najibullah regime, General Shahnawaz Tanai, who staged an unsuccessful coup against the Afghan President on March 6, 1990; and more recently when he joined hands with the Uzbek Commander, Dostam against the present Afghan government led by Burhanuddin Rabbani. Though not a mullah himself, Hikmatyar is a modern Islamist committed to the ideology of Islamic state in Afghanistan. He has been lending active men and material support to Islamist extremists in Tajikistan and Kashmir.

1. Hizb-e-Islami (Islamic Party/Hikmatyar) Radical Islamist in character, Hizb-e-Islami is one of the best armed and organized groups. Its leader, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar who was born in Kunduz in 1947, is a Kharuti Pashtun of Gilzai origin. He was a leader of Muslim Brotherhood movement in Kabul in the early 1970s and shifted later to Pakistan to organize an Islamic opposition movement against the Daud regime. He led a major insurrection in the Panjshir valley in 1975 near Kabul, which was sponsored by the Pakistani government in response to Daud's support of Pashtunistan movement inside Pakistan. The Hizb-e-Islami of Hikmatyar, which is believed to have about 30,000 trained fighters, has close ties with the Jamat-i-Islami of Pakistan, Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and Hizbul Mujahideen, Al Barq, Harkat-ul-Mujahedin and Jamat-i-Islami of Kashmir. Hikmatyar and his party have received strong support from Pakistan. Hizb-e-Islami is mainly composed of Pashtuns from the eastern and north-eastern part of Afghanistan. Considered to be both ambitious and ruthless, Hikmatyar displayed his political opportunism first in the spring of 1990, when he aligned with the former Defence Minister 2. Hizb-e-Islami (Islamic Party/Khalis) This faction of Hizb-e-Islami, is led by Maulvi Mohammad Yunus Khalis, who broke away from his former colleague, Hikmatyar in 1979. Although about seventy years old, Khalis has been actively involved in the anti-Soviet operations. He is well organized and has some of the best field commanders. He viewed the Afghan resistance movement as a struggle betwecn Islam and Kufr. Khalis aimed at the establishment of an Islamic state in accordance with the Quran, Sunnah and thc Shariah. He considers the modern concept of elections as un-lslamic. Khalis is of traditional ulema (clerical) background and has translated works of a prominent Egyptian Muslim Brother, Sayyid Qutb. His party which is primarily Pashtun in membership, is believed to have around 10,000 trained cadres. Khalis maintains close relations with Burhanuddin Rabbani of Jamiat-e-Islami. 3. Jamiat-e-Islami Jamiat-e-Islami, Afghanistan headed by Burhanuddin Rabbani distinguishes itself by its basically northern (non-Pashtun) membership particularly Tajiks and some Uzbeks as well. Born in 1940 in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan in northern Afghanistan, Rabbani is a Tajik specialised in Islamic theology. Holding a degree from Al Azhar University - the premier institute of Islamic studies, Rabbani, founded the Jamiat-e-Islami, Afghanistan in 1967 and became its President in 1972. He migrated to Pakistan in 1974 and later operated from his base in Peshawar against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Jamiat-e-Islami has been operating mainly in Panjsher valley under the effective commanders like Ahmad Shah Masood and Ismail Khan. With an effective strength of around 20,000 fighters, Jamial-e-Islami received support from Pakistan and Arab States. Though both Rabbani and Hikmatyar have Islamist orientation and wanted a strictly Islamic state in Afghanistan, their ethnic and personal differences led them split into two groups in 1976-77. Besides, Rabbani who has a broad background of classical culture, religious orthodoxy and potitical Islamism, has been willing to work with traditional ulema (clerics) which was opposed by Hikmatyar. 4. Ittehad-e-Islami (Islamic Union) Led by Abdur Rab Rasul Sayyaf, the Ittehad-e-Islami is closely aligned to the militant international Muslim Brotherhood and is heavily financed by radical Islamic groups in Saudi Arabia. Holding a Masters degree in Islamic theology from Cairo, Sayyaf speaks fluent Arabic which has facilitated his ties with the Saudis. This group is known to be close to Wahabis, hence receiving most of the support from Saudi Arabia. It is believed to have about 20,000 fighters, mostly in the Paghman Province near Kabul. This party too is for a strictly Islamic state in Afghanistan. 5. Harakat-e-Inquilabi-e-Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement) Led by Maulvi Mohammad Nabi Mohammad, this party was founded by him in Quetta in 1978. Mohammadi is a Pashtun and being a cleric himself, his party draws its strength from graduates of traditional madrasseh and the clergy. With an estimated strength of about 20000, this party has been one of Afghanistan's strongest Mujahideen groups operating mainly in Ghazni, Kabul and Herat. 6. Mahaz-e-Milli Islami Afghanistan (National Islamic Front of Afghanistan) Led by Syed Ahmad Effendi Gaillani, a spiritual leader of Afghanistan's Sufi sect, the Qadiris, Mahaz too is Pashtun dominated and conservative. Gaillani who is related to Afghanistan's royal family, advocates the return of former King Zahir Shah. Despite his religious credentials, Gaillani is opposed to radical Islamists. His front is reported to be about 18000 strong. 7. Jabba-e-Nejat-e-Milli Afghanistan (Afghan National Liberation Front) Led by Sebghatullah Mojaddidi, who is a theologian by training and a Pir (religious heed) of another important Sufi order, the Naqshbandi, this parly is also Sufi oriented and is opposed to radical Islamist ideology. Mojaddidi too has had links with the royalist establishment and consequently had differences with Hikmatyar. This group is reported to have about 18000 cadres, operating mostly around Qandhar, Farah and Baghlan. 8. Hizb-e-Wahdat The nine Afghan Shia Mujahideen groups, which were based in Teheran, namely Sazman-e-Nasr Afghanistan, Harakat-e-Islami, Hezbollah-e-Afghanistan, Jabha- e-Motteheda-Afghanistan Nezhat-e-Islami, Daivet Islami, Pasdaran-e-Jehad- Islami, Sazman-e-Niruy-e-Islami and the Islamic Council formed a loose alliance in 1990 namely Hizb-e-Wahdat. This group has close contacts with Iran. Iran has been extending full support to these Shia groups in securing their share in the political set-up in Afghanistan

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Afganisthan factor'

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--' Pakistan Taliban’

3,000 terrorists for India battle: Pak Taliban
July 26, 2010
Pakistan’s Taliban claims it has organised 3,000 terrorists for its declared battle against India the Taliban spokesperson tells Tahir Ali in Islamabad.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has declared it is training terrorists to launch an attack on India.
The TTP is the Pakistan counterpart of Afghanistan’s Taliban and has been blamed for several terror attacks in that country.
TTP spokesperson Azam Tariq told this correspondent in a telephone interview that the TTP has vowed to capture “Hindustan”.
“India is our jageer (domain),” Tariq said, “and we will attack to take possession of it. We are training lots of fighters and suicide bombers who will be used for this purpose.”
He added the Taliban would fight a “decisive’ battle” in India before proceeding towards the Middle East, presumably to evict Israel from that region.
After taking control of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the TTP spokesperson said the Taliban would move towards India.
Tariq said Islamic scriptures have predicted a victory over “non-believers”.
“For us, whether they are Hindus or Jews, they all are the same. Soon, we will teach India a lesson. India’s defeat at the hands of the mujahedeen is written in our religious books,” he boasted.
Criticising relations between Pakistan and the United States, Tariq said, “We are not against Pakistan, but we don’t like its pro-American policies; we will target their security forces, the secular leaders and other sensitive installations until the government does not change its anti-Islamic policies.”
“What has Pakistan gained from American friendship? Despite Pakistan’s role as a frontline ally in the war against terror, India is closer to the US. The Americans are not interested in solving the Kashmir issue and have shown their inclination towards India in this regard. Pakistani rulers should remember that only the mujahideen would come to their rescue in case of Indian aggression against their country.”
“If Pakistan changes its anti-Taliban policies, not only can the mujahedeen free Kashmir from India, but can also capture India itself,” Tariq declared.
When asked how the TTP is preparing for its declared onslaught against India, Tariq claimed, “We are preparing fighters to attack India. Sooner or later, when there is no tussle between the Pakistani forces and us, or after we defeat the Pakistani forces, the mujahideen will move towards Hindustan.”
“There are around 3,000 trained suicide bombers with the TTP. Others are undergoing training. We are not preparing them for Pakistan, but for our real target — the occupation of India,” Tariq said.
Asked if the Pakistani Taliban was involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Tariq added, “We don’t have any connection with those attackers or their backers, but we appreciate their struggle and sacrifices.”
Tahir Ali in Islamabad

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--Islmic Terrorism in India

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (UPI) — More than half of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Islam and say they consider it to be a religion that encourages violence, a poll indicates.
Americans hold strongly positive views on Christianity but are less approving in their assessment of other religions, the Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In a survey of 1,024 adults, the poll found 83 percent generally have a favorable view of Christianity while 47 percent feel the same way about Judaism and 43 percent about Buddhism.
But 52 percent of respondents said they hold an unfavorable view of Islam, the poll found.
Asked about religion encouraging violence, 45 percent said they believe Islam encourages violence and 25 percent described it as a peaceful religion.
While 91 per cent of Americans say they have a good basic understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Christianity, less than half are knowledgeable about five other religions: Judaism 43 percent, Islam 34 percent, Buddhism 31 percent, Hinduism 22 percent and Sikhism 8 percent, the poll indicates.
The poll was conducted online on Sept 14 and 15 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Posted in Islam, Islamofascism, Terrorism, United States of America | Leave a Comment »

Ahead of Commonwealth Games, suspected Islamic terrorists shoot and injure two tourists near Jama Masjid in Delhi

Posted by jagoindia on September 20, 2010

Gunmen fire at tourist bus in Delhi, wounding 2

By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated Press Writer Nirmala
Sun Sep 19
NEW DELHI – Two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire Sunday at a group of tourists near one of India’s biggest mosques, injuring two Taiwanese and raising concerns about security less than two weeks before an international sporting event in the Indian capital.
The gunmen shot randomly at the tourists as they were about to board a bus parked near the Jama Masjid mosque, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. The 17th century mosque is a popular tourist destination in the heart of the city.
Police launched a massive search for the gunmen and issued a security alert across the Indian capital.
Hours later, the BBC’s Hindi language service said it received an e-mail purportedly from the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group, threatening to attack the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
“We know preparations for the games are at their peak. Beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise,” the e-mail said.
Police cautioned that the e-mail and Sunday’s attack could be unrelated.
“We are investigating the attack on the tourists from all angles,” said Karnail Singh, a joint commissioner of police.
Officials quickly tried to reassure athletes and the public that security in the city was at an unprecedented high. Thousands of athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations are to compete in the games, which are held every four years.
New Delhi’s top elected official, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, appealed for calm, declaring the city was safe to host the Oct. 3-14 games in which 71 teams are to take part.
“Please do not panic. An incident like this is something worrying, but nothing to panic about,” Dikshit told reporters.
The secretary-general of the games organizing committee, Lalit Bhanot, said the shooting would have “no impact” on the event.
Indian authorities “have made elaborate arrangements to provide the Commonwealth Games athletes and officials a safe and secure environment,” Bhanot said in a statement.
Federal Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram visited the two injured Taiwanese men in the hospital after one was operated on for a stomach wound.
They were in stable condition, said Jaspal Singh, a top police official.
The area around the mosque was cordoned off after the attack and police scoured the densely populated alleys around it. Cars and other vehicles were checked at barriers erected on major roads in the city.
Police said witnesses could give few details about the assailants.
“Eyewitnesses have told us the men were wearing raincoats and helmets. They fired around seven rounds before they sped away,” Karnail Singh said.
The Indian Mujahideen, which has been linked to the banned Pakistan-based Islamist rebel group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was outlawed in June after it was suspected of involvement in an attack on a popular bakery in western India in which 10 people died.

Posted in Delhi, India, Indian Mujahideen, Islamofascism, State, Terrorism | Leave a Comment »

LeT Islamic terrorists using Sri Lanka as base to attack India

Posted by jagoindia on September 19, 2010

US terror alert: Lashkar using Lanka as base to attack India
Pranab Dhal Samanta
Sep 19 2010
Days after it was revealed that German Bakery blast-accused Mirza Himayat Baig allegedly met his Lashkar-e-Toiba contact in Sri Lanka to avoid detection, US agencies have passed on intelligence inputs to India that the LeT already has some 200 cadres present in the island nation who plan to use the country as a “staging ground” to enter India.
It’s learnt that Washington has also informed Colombo about this after Lankan authorities denied that LeT had training facilities there. As per New Delhi’s assessment, the threat could be aggravated if remnants of the LTTE cadre are engaged in logistics for LeT.
Contrary to initial claims that Baig was trained in Sri Lanka, what has been confirmed is that he traveled there in 2008 where he met a contact from LeT. Sources said investigations are on to find out whether he undertook more visits and if LeT operatives are using Sri Lanka as a rendezvous to avoid detection.
According to US inputs, LeT’s 200 cadres in Sri Lanka were possibly “planners and facilitators” currently engaged in laying a network before more operatives can be sent for specific attacks in India. In fact, these inputs suggest that LeT operatives were being specifically trained to be sent to Sri Lanka.
Sources said efforts are on to “sensitise” Lankan authorities at the highest levels to take the threat seriously and help pre-empt any major plans. With India extra cautious along its western coast after 26/11, using Sri Lanka as a staging ground is seen as a “fresh innovation” which can translate into a specific threat with local help.
The US assessment, in fact, suggests that LeT is looking to strengthen its presence in Nepal and Maldives, too. While Nepal has been used to carry out attacks in India, Maldives provides new options if operatives have to reach peninsular India where many “high-value targets” are.
While cautioning against being alarmist about this development, high-level sources said the concern is serious because terror outfits like the LeT seem to have only increased their resources and there is no check on their spread and growth despite the international pressure on Pakistan.

Posted in India, Islamofascism, LeT, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Terrorism, United States of America | Leave a Comment »

Obama says US not at war with peace loving Islam

Posted by jagoindia on September 18, 2010

US not at war with peace loving Islam, says Obama
September 11, 2010
On the eve of the ninth anniversary of the 9/11, President Barack Obama said that America is not at war with Islam, but against “a handful of tiny minority” who have distorted the preachings of this great religion.
Asserting that the majority of the Muslims across the world are peace loving and do not support extremist ideologies, Obama said the US is at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted Islam.
“We were at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted Islam, had stolen its banner to carry out their outrageous acts,” Obama said in response to a question at his White House press conference on Friday.
“We are not at war against Islam. We are at war against terrorist organisations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts. He underlined the need for allies to successfully reduce the terror threat.
“We’ve got to be clear about that, because…if we’re going to successfully reduce the terror threat, then we need all the allies we can get,” Obama said. “The folks who are most interested in a war between the United States or the West and Islam are al-Qaeda. That’s what they’ve been banking on,” he said.
He said the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world are peace-loving and interested in the same things that “you and I are interested in. How do I make sure I can get a good job, how can I make sure that my kids get a decent education, how can I make sure I’m safe, how can I improve my lot in life.”
“And so they have rejected this violent ideology for the most part, overwhelmingly,” Obama said. He said it was necessary to be clear about “who the enemy is here”.
“So from a national security interest, we want to be clear about who the enemy is here. It’s a handful, a tiny minority of people who are engaging in horrific acts and have killed Muslims more than anybody else,” Obama said.
In fact, Obama praised his predecessor, George W Bush, in this regard. “One of the things that I most admired about President Bush was, after 9/11, him being crystal clear about the fact that we were not at war with Islam,” he said.
“We were at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted Islam, had stolen its banner to carry out their outrageous acts,” Obama noted.
Obama said the country stands “together against those who would try to do us harm”.
“I was so proud of the country rallying around that idea, that notion: that we are not going to be divided by religion; we’re not going to be divided by ethnicity; we are all Americans; we stand together against those who would try to do us harm,” the President told the American people.
“That’s what the US has done over the last nine years. We should take great pride in that,” he said. He said it is absolutely important for the American people to know who our enemies are.
“Our enemies are al-Qaeda and their allies, who are trying to kill us but have killed more Muslims than just about anybody on Earth,” Obama said. The US President said it is important for the Americans to remember the large Muslim population in the country.
“They’re going to school with our kids. They’re our neighbours. They’re our friends. They’re our co-workers,” he said, adding “I’ve got Muslims who are fighting in Afghanistan, in the uniform of the United States armed services”.
“And we’ve got to make sure that we are crystal clear for our sakes and their sakes: They are Americans. And we honour their service,” Obama said, adding “Part of honouring their service is making sure that they understand that we don’t differentiate between ‘them’ and ‘us’”.
Lalit K Jha in Washington
© Copyright 2010 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

Posted in Islam, Islamofascism, Muslims, Obama, Terrorism, United States of America | Leave a Comment »

Sultan Shahin takes on Muslim fundamentalists through his website newageislam.com

Posted by jagoindia on September 16, 2010

Publication: The Crest Mumbai; Date: May 1, 2010; Section: Profile; Page: 32
Via epaper.timesofindia.com
‘I fight petrodollar Islam’
Virtual warrior Sultan Shahin takes on Muslim fundamentalists through his website newageislam.com
MOHAMMED WAJIHUDDIN TIMES NEWS NETWORK
In a tiny room in East Delhi’s Patparganj, a man spends most of his waking hours at his computer. This passion may be something he shares with millions, but Sultan Shahin is no ordinary web addict. Behind his constant surfing, writing and posting pieces on his website called newageislam.com is a steadfast purpose: to reclaim Islam from the clutches of jihadists and petrodollarfunded Salafist-Wahhabis.
Shahin, who ideologically fights the religious right — the tyrannical Taliban and its sympathisers as well as the many Islamic supremacists who claim that Islam alone is Allah’s chosen path to paradise — is a spirited web warrior. “My fight is against petrodollar Islam,” he declares. “I am creating a forum that will lead us to the understanding of a pluralistic, inclusive, tolerant Islam.” And Islam, he adds, is not a new religion. “The Quran says this. It is a reiteration and revalidation of earlier religions,” he avers, seated at his study stacked with scholarly tomes, including several copies of the commentaries on the Quran.
Anathema as this may be to fundamentalists, it’s won Shahin many followers. In the mere two years since the inception of newageislam.com, the website has 117,000 registered subscribers (subscription is free), claims its 60-year-old editor. Its daily newsletter, brought out by a skeletal staff of five, has carried debates on issues and personalities seldom talked about among mosque-going, visibly pious Muslims. So the Mumbai-based Muslim televangelist Dr Zakir Naik is slammed, not because he is allegedly funded by the petro-rich Saudi Sheikhs, but because he tries to establish the supremacy of Islam over all other religions. Niyaz Fatehpuri, a 20th-century Indian scholar and editor of Urdu periodical Nigaar, has become a much admired man on the website because of his rational, ingenious interpretation of Islamic principles. The website even follows the Urdu press, including Urdu dailies in Pakistan, and uploads the rational views in it, both in their original Urdu and English translations.
The feedback, says Shahin, has been astounding. “When I launched it, I didn’t realise it would generate so much interest, especially in young Muslims, from Australia to Abu Dhabi and Canada to Coimbatore,” explains the journalist who, ironically, began his career way back in the 1970s at the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami’s mouthpiece weekly Radiance, then based in the bylanes of Ballimaran in Old Delhi.
Son of a maulvi, Shahin grew up in a village in the backwaters of Aurangabad in Bihar, and remembers the many nights, he, along with his five siblings, went to bed hungry as his father fell ill and later died, leaving the responsibility of supporting the family on Shahin’s young shoulders. While studying in a college in Patna, he worked part-time for a couple of local Urdu dailies. Shahin later landed up in London as editor of Asia Times, a weekly owned by one Arif Ali of Indian origin. A decade or so in England, he says, gave him great experience “as it exposed me to different strains of Islam and Muslims”. Like, once at a friend’s house in Nottingham, he heard a 20-year-old Muslim extolling the virtues of Ahle Hadees, a sect which propagates puritanical Islam. Shahin asked the boy the treatment he would prescribe for those Muslims who didn’t follow the Ahle Hadees sect. “Kill them,” said the young fanatic in a cold-blooded tone. “It really disturbed me. The boy had apparently been influenced by radical organisations like Al Mujahidun and Hizbul Tehrir. Thousands of young Muslims had been brainwashed by incendiary preacher Omar Bakri who commanded the following that saints do,” recalls Shahin. “I knew it would not take long before the fires of fanatic Islam reached the Indian subcontinent and consumed our youth.”
Shahin personally encountered the ugly face of exclusivist, supremacist Wahhabism in India when he left the London job to edit a magazine in Delhi in the 1990s, backed by a group of influential, educated, “enlightened” Muslims. A few months into his new job, over breakfast one morning, a member of the management asked him a strange question: “You have been married to a Hindu (Pragya) for a decade. Why have you not been able to bring her under the fold of Islam?” “I quoted him the Quranic verse La iqra fideen (there is no compulsion in religion) and reasoned that to convert or not to Islam was her personal choice. But it didn’t cut any ice and they sacked me,” Shahin says.
He went into deep depression, as the blow had been dealt by the people whom he believed to be “the cream of Indian Muslim society”. He took to freelancing aggressively in the national press, opposing the conservative mindset, a mentality which threatened the multicultural, pluralistic ethos of India and Indian Islam. Many in the Sangh Parivar, including the BJP, mistook him for the right medium to reach out to Muslims. “They didn’t know that many Muslims hated me. I was a bad choice to become a bridge between the Sangh Parivar and Muslims,” laughs Shahin, who has been variously addressed as kafir (infidel), munafiq (hypocrite) and even Dear Zionist.
His liberal, rational advocacy of Islamic principles, especially since he launched the website, has enraged many Islamists, who hack his website regularly and post abusive letters and rejoinders. Many threaten him with the fires of hell. “Initially, I left the site unmonitored, as I wanted a free and frank dialogue. But now we monitor it, as we discovered that not just the jihadists, but even some Viagra-selling companies were using the website to advertise their products,” he smiles. “We sell ideas, not aphrodisiacs.”
A father of four, Shahin’s deep study of religions, especially Islam, has made him conclude that like Adam, Moses and Mohammad, Ram and Krishna were also prophets. “If we address Mohammad as Hazrat Mohammad, I have no reservations about addressing Ram as Hazrat Ram,” he explains.
As we leave this champion of rational, inclusive Islam, we marvel at India’s generous secularism. Which Islamic country would have tolerated a Shahin? Ask Salman Rushdie or Taslima Nasreen.

Posted in Indian Muslims, Islam, Islamofascism, Terrorism | 1 Comment »

Historic 9/11 Rally against Islamic Terrorism draws tens of thousands

Posted by jagoindia on September 15, 2010

Historic 9/11 Rally against Islamic Terrorism draws tens of thousands
Photos, videos
via atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com

Posted in 9/11 attack, Islamofascism, Must read article, Terrorism, United States of America | Leave a Comment »

How Pakistan protected Taliban

Posted by jagoindia on September 14, 2010

Pakiban: How Pakistan protected Taliban against US post 9/11
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN, Sep 14, 2010
WASHINGTON: As “Taliban’s primary sponsor” Pakistan protected and promoted its client every inch of the way in the immediate days after 9/11 resulting in undermining the US war on terror, newly declassified documents detailing exchanges at that time between Washington and Islamabad reveal.
As current US strategy increasingly pursues policies to reconcile or “flip” the Taliban, the document collection released on Monday show Washington’s refusal to negotiate with Taliban leadership directly after 9/11 and Pakistan’s insistence of the relevance of group it nurtured in order to push for strategic depth in Afghanistan and thwart Indian influence.
According to the documents, on September 13, 2001, US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin “bluntly” told Pakistani President Musharraf that there was “absolutely no inclination in Washington to enter into a dialogue with the Taliban. The time for dialog was finished as of September 11.”
Pakistan, as the Taliban’s primary sponsor, disagreed. Pakistani Intelligence ( ISI) Chief Mahmoud told the ambassador “not to act in anger. Real victory will come in negotiations… If the Taliban are eliminated… Afghanistan will revert to warlordism.” Pakistan’s primary concern was that the Northern Alliance, backed by other foreign powers in the region, including India, would return to power in Kabul.
Pakistan also backed off from hunting down Osama bin Laden, with Mahmoud, who was present in Washington on 9/11 and later turned out to be a frontman for Taliban, telling the Americans it was “better for the Afghans to do it. We could avoid the fallout.”
As a result, Pakistani tribal areas where Osama bin Laden found refuge, which were momentarily open to the Pakistani Army when “the tribes were overawed by US firepower” after 9/11, quickly again became “no-go areas” where the Taliban could reorganize and plan their resurgence in Afghanistan, a commentary by the national Security Archive that accompanied the documents, notes.
Consequently, according to US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann, the 2005 Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan was a direct product of the “four years that the Taliban has had to reorganize and think about their approach in a sanctuary beyond the reach of either government.” This had exponentially increased casualties as the Taliban adopted insurgency tactics successful in Iraq, including suicide bombings and the use of IEDs.
Neumann, the documents reveal, warned Washington that if the sanctuary in Pakistan were not addressed it would “lead to the re-emergence of the same strategic threat to the United States that prompted our OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom] intervention” in 2001.
The policy to protect Taliban reached the highest levels of the Pakistani establishment, the documents show. In exchanges between September 14 and November 16, 2001 – Pakistan’s military strongman Pervez Musharraf asks the US to clarify if its counterterrorism mission is against the Taliban or just al-Qaida and repeatedly asks the US not to let the Northern Alliance take over Kabul.
The declassified documents also show that the state department, then headed by Colin Powell, batted hard for Pakistan despite suspicions in the US establishment about its bonafides in the war on terror. In a memo to President Bush, Powell notes that Musharraf’s decision to ally with the US comes “at considerable political risk,” as he has “abandoned the Taliban, frozen terrorist assets [and] quelled anti-Western protests without unwarranted force, ” all dubious assumptions.
Regarding Afghanistan, the secretary appears to push Islamabad’s agenda, telling the president that Pakistan will want to protect its interests and maintain influence in Kabul. “Musharraf is pressing for a future government supportive of its interests and is concerned that the Northern Alliance will occupy Kabul,” Powell notes.
The disclosures came even as the White House began yet another review on Monday of its Af-Pak policy which has so far been based on several questionable premises, including undue sensitivity to Pakistan’s extra-territorial ambitions and concerns mainly relating to its existential insecurity vis-à-vis India.
In a read-out of the meeting presided over by President Obama, the White House indicated that reports of overtures to the Taliban may be overstated. Additional forces deployed in Afghanistan are now at the highest operational tempo to date, and are focused on challenging long-established Taliban strongholds, targeting Taliban leadership, training Afghan Security Forces, and supporting Afghan-led reintegration and local policing initiatives, the White House cited General Petraeus as emphasizing.

Posted in Afghanistan, India, Islamofascism, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, United States of America | Leave a Comment »

Another 26/11 Islamic terrorist attack may lead to full blown Indo-Pak war: Report

Posted by jagoindia on September 13, 2010

Another 26/11 may lead to Indo-Pak war: Report
Sat, Sep 11 02:30 PM
Washington: As US observes the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, a reputed Washington-based research group on Saturday warned that a repeat of 26/11 may lead to a full blown Indo-Pak war. Preventing Mumbai-II from occurring remains a major foreign policy challenge for the US, the report said.
“One of the more predictable foreign policy challenges of the next years is a ‘Mumbai II’: a large-scale attack on a major Indian city by a Pakistani militant group that kills hundreds,” said the 42-page report from the Bipartisan Policy Centre’s National Security Preparedness Group, a Washington based research group.
Authored by Peter Bergen and Bruce Hoffman, the report “Assessing the Terrorist Threat” appreciated the considerable restraint shown by India in its reaction to the provocation of the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
“Another such attack, however, would likely produce considerable political pressure on the Indian government to ‘do something’. That something would likely involve incursions over the border to eliminate the training camps of Pakistani militant groups with histories of attacking India,” the report said. “That could lead in turn to a full-blown war for the fourth time since 1947 between India and Pakistan,” it said.
“Such a war involves the possibility of a nuclear exchange and the certainty that Pakistan would move substantial resources to its eastern border and away from fighting the Taliban on its western border, so relieving pressure on all the militant groups based there, including al-Qaeda,” said the report.
Over a three-day period in late November 2008, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out multiple attacks in Mumbai targeting five-star hotels housing Westerners, as well as a Jewish-American community centre, it noted. Additional incidents involved the Pakistan-born US citizen David Coleman Headley, who had changed his name from Daood Sayed Gilani. Headley’s reconnaissance efforts on behalf of LeT were pivotal to the attacks in Mumbai, the report said.
“Last year he also planned an operation to kill those responsible for the 2005 publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims had deemed to be offensive,” the report said.

Posted in India, Islamofascism, LeT, Pakistan, Terrorism | Leave a Comment »

Salman Khan says Pakistan not to be blamed for 26/11 Mumbai attack

Posted by jagoindia on September 12, 2010

Update: I am really sorry: Salman Khan Link
What did Salman say:
In an interview to Pakistani channel Express TV Salman said, “It was the elite that were targeted this time. Five star hotels and all. So they panicked. Then they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much,” the 44-year-old actor had said during an interview to Express 24/7 channel.”Everybody took this up because the Taj and Oberoi hotels were involved. The attacks happened because our security failed.”"The attacks happened because our security failed. Everybody knows that the Pakistan government was not behind it and it was a terrorist attack,”

Salman Khan puts his foot in his mouth
via Bollywood Hungama News Network, September 14, 2010
Salman Khan is my favorite actor right from his MPK, his first movie. His handsome features are enhanced by his stage presence and charisma and he has single handedly steered the movies he starred to unprecedented successes. (No offence meant to his other supporting casts who also are important for production of a good movie) .
Just day before yesterday Salman had the whole world eating out of his hands with his spectacular box office hit ‘Dabangg’. Came the news of the interview he gave to a Pakistani TV channel and the hell broke loose. And before long he had expressed unconditional apology for his comments on 26/11. He does not seem to be particularly attempting any damage control but yet was persuaded to go through with his apology bit, with all the political parties except Raj Thakre’s MNS, pulling him up in most unkind words.
Salman has got away with murders (literally). But he has not reckoned that 26/11 is altogether a different cup of tea. For a consummate actor that he is, his knowledge and views about 26/11 are coarse and shallow.
He is right when he implies in his badly worded comment that in India only the elite get the goodies.
The TV host was seen clearly prompting word ‘elite’ in his mouth. And it is correct to say that after the blasts that took place earlier , the victims were soon forgotten. Also consider the fact that compensation for an air crash victim is many fold than that given to an rail crash victim.
He is also right when he said that Indian Intelligence faltered. There was a clear warning before 26/11 sent by the USA but was lost in the labyrinth of intelligence maze just the way all signals were missed by the US about 9/11 and also about attack on Pearl Harbor in 1939.
But he is horribly wrong when says that Pakistan Government was not involved. Even a school child has understood how Pakistani ISI and the Army systematically planned the 26/11, starting from recruitment and hard hard training for more than a year. To a select few with all the state of the art weaponry and electronic gadgets. A regular military operation would be planned so carefully. The smoke screen that the Pakistani handlers threw for communicating with terrorists was not missed at all. They obtained satellite phones, one accidentally was dropped in the hijacked boat. The purchases were done through many fronts and layers in Italy to mask the real purchaser. Everything was confirmed by Hadley’s statements given to Indian team.
I don’t know if he is patriotic, but he appeared to be in an appeasing mood towards Pakistan, Why else he would make a silly statement like that ? But LK Advaniji too made a statement on Jinnah in Pakistan that invoked passions from his own party men.
All I can say, Salman needs to educate himself on the facts.
Too much hype around 26/11 as the elite were targetted: Salman
Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, September 12, 2010 (New Delhi)
Salman Khan’s much awaited Dabangg opened to full houses across the country cashing in on the festive weekend.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan has triggered a controversy by claiming that “too much hype” was created around the 26/11 attack as “elite people were targetted” and that the Pakistani government was not behind it.
In an interview to a Pakistani channel, Salman said: “Too much hype has been created around the 26/11 attacks because elite people were targetted. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much.”
“Everybody took this up because the Taj and Oberoi hotels were involved. The attacks happened because our security failed,” he added.
“Everybody knows that the Pakistani government was not behind it and it was a terrorist attack. Our security had failed. We have had lot of attacks earlier, and all of them were not from Pakistan. They were from within also.”
His comments have drawn strong reactions. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told a news channel: “Salman’s comments are illogical and an actor shouldn’t have commented on terror attacks in this manner.”
Salman invites flak for ‘unwarranted’ 26/11 comments
Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, September 12, 2010 (Mumbai)
Salman Khan’s comments on the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks have triggered strong protests and condemnation with political leaders saying the Bollywood star’s remarks were “unwarranted and irresponsible” and made “no sense”.
In an interview to Pakistani channel Express TV, Salman Khan was reported as saying the 26/11 attacks were widely publicised and noticed only because two major hotels in Mumbai were targetted and claimed the lives of rich and influential people.
Reacting to the actor’s statement, Public Prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam said: “If Salman is making such a statement without knowing the details of the case, it is foolish. Terrorists do not strike after differentiating rich from the poor nor do they differentiate a village from a city. The attack has wide ramifications as it killed many people and because the conspiracy was allegedly hatched in Pakistan.”
Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Anant Gadgil dismissed Salman’s comments as baseless. “This statement is not right. It is not about taking note of the attack because rich people were killed. It is about loss of lives,” he said.
Agreed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Atul Bhatalkar. “Most political parties have always taken note of attacks, be it the terror attacks in 2008 or the 1993 blasts or the Malegaon bomb blasts. What Salman has said is totally out of context,” Bhatalkar said.
Abu Azmi, state president of Samajwadi Party, urged Salman to help the victims of terror attacks instead of making irrelevant statements. “The attack first happened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), where common men and women were killed and injured. What sense does such a statement make?,” questioned Azmi.
Azmi also mentioned that a woman named Sabira was badly in need of funds for herself and her son. Sabira lost both her legs in the attack and was still waiting for some financial aid. “Salman should extend support to her instead of making such statements,” Azmi added.
Despite repeated efforts, Salman or his family members were not available for comment.
In New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain condemned Salman’s remarks and demanded the Bollywood actor apologise for his “unwarranted comments”.
“We strongly condemn Salman Khan’s unwarranted and irresponsible comments and that too to a Pakistani channel. How can he say only the elite were targeted? Is he not aware of the common people killed at the railway station and also the security forces? Moreover he has no right to give the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and the Pakistani government a clean chit… He should immediately apologise,” Hussain told IANS.
Salman Khan in an interview to Pakistan’s Express TV said the Pakistani government is not to be blamed and that it was a security failure on India’s part.
“Salman’s comment at this point when all the evidence is pointing a finger at the ISI and Pakistan, is totally uncalled for. This will weaken India’s case and strengthen Pakistan’s. He is an Indian celebrity and he has disappointed many Indian fans. If there was POTA today he would be behind bars,” Hussain said.
“Salman should concentrate on films and not make such comments,” Hussain added.
The Nov 26-29, 2008 attack left 166 people dead as 10 terrorists who sailed in from Karachi let loose coordinated shooting and bombing attacks largely across south Mumbai.

Posted in Bollywood, Hindus, ISI, India, Islamofascism, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pakistan, State, Terrorism | 5 Comments »

Pune German Bakery blast case solve with arrest of two Islamic terrorists

Posted by jagoindia on September 10, 2010

Bomb was fabricated at Baig’s cyber café and taken to Pune: ATS
via The Hindu
Rahi Gaikwad
Vinaya Deshpande
CASE SOLVED: Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria with his team members at a press conferene in Mumbai to announce the cracking of the Pune German Bakery blast case.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday announced an award of Rs. 5 lakh for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad team which cracked the German Bakery blast case by arresting Mirza Himayat Baig (29) from Pune and Sheikh Lalbaba Mohammad Hussain Farid alias Bilal in Nashik.
Declaring the case “solved,” Home Minister R.R. Patil said: “I congratulate the Maharashtra ATS and other national agencies involved in the investigation. The Chief Minister will soon felicitate the ATS team.”
Narrating the sequence of events before the February 13 blast, ATS chief Rakesh Maria told presspersons here that the conspirators Mohsin Chaudhary, Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin alias Shah Rukh and Baig brought the explosives to Global Internet Café, run by Baig at Udgir in Latur district, between 1 and 5 a.m. on February 7 and fabricated the bomb there. On February 13, Yasin and Baig, carrying the bomb, travelled to Pune by bus, and planted the bomb in the bakery. However, the CCTV in the bakery did not capture Baig. Mr. Maria said the person in the footage was Yasin as he entered the bakery, while Baig waited outside.
The ATS chief said the accused used a Nokia mobile alarm to set off the bomb, which went off around 7.30 p.m.
Baig was previously involved in two cases — one a 2008 UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) case of the ATS in Pune and the other under the Arms Act. He had gone to Bhatkal for training. Iqbal and Riyaz Shahbandari — known as the Bhatkal brothers — sheltered him when he was on the run for his involvement in the two cases, Mr. Maria said.
“He is from the original Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari module, which was involved in a May 2006 arms haul case [in Aurangabad]. He was part of that group,” the ATS chief said.
Originally a resident of Beed district in Maharashtra, Baig settled in Udgir. He failed in the B.A. second year examination. He was close to Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari.
Reconnaissance
Bilal (27) was arrested at 8.45 p.m. on Tuesday from Ashoknagar, Satpur in Nashik, for doing a recce of vital government installations there. He was a resident of Hotgi in Solapur district. He set up an Indian Mujahideen sleeper cell in Nashik and was trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan from January 2008 to early 2010.
“In these two years, he did not officially come back to India. But according to our information, he crossed the border thrice — twice via Bangladesh and once via Nepal. He has failed in B.Sc. first year examination,” Mr. Maria said.
The ATS seized from Bilal two kg of RDX, LeT literature, soldering wires, cutters, booklets on bomb-making, SIM cards, fake documents used for getting SIM cards, mobile phones, pen drives and $1,300 and Rs. 10,500 in cash. “He has got the U.S. dollars from Pakistan,” ATS officer Sukhwinder Singh said.
According to the ATS’ preliminary information, Bilal was not directly involved in planning or executing the bakery blast. “His prime objective was to recce government buildings. He carried many fake documents. He also possessed a driving licence, a residential certificate and other documents all under fake identities,” Mr. Maria said.
Police custody
Baig was produced before a court in Pune on Wednesday afternoon and was remanded to 14-day police custody till September 20. A Nashik court remanded Bilal to police custody till September 14.
The ATS is on the lookout for Mohsin and Yasin. The probe took ATS teams to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi.

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--How the soscial life changed

Can married men and women just be friends with the opposite sex? No. 'It's not impossible; it's impractical'

know it doesn't sound fair or politically correct, but married men and women simply cannot be friends with the opposite sex. It's not impossible; it's impractical. I'm sure that somewhere out there at least one person has managed to pull it off, but it can be pretty risky, and given all of the other obstacles your marriage has to face, why add the temptation of friendship with the opposite sex?
Nothing is wrong with married people wanting opposite-sex friends. But ask yourself, can you handle the responsibility that comes with the relationship? We always believe we can handle the temptation until we discover that we can't.

upsc/mpsc carrier matra day first--Present sosciety issues

Translated from a Bengali letter written to Shrimati Mrinalini Bose from Deoghar (Vaidyanâth), on 23rd December, 1898.)
with the exception of one great good point, is fraught with evil. The good point is that men can do one or two things well with very little effort, having practiced them every day through generations. The delicious rice and curry which a cook of this country prepares with the aid of three lumps of earth and a few sticks can be had nowhere else. With the simple mechanism of an antediluvian loom, worth one rupee, and the feet put in a pit, it is possible to make kincobs worth twenty rupees a yard, in this country alone. A torn mat, an earthen lamp, and that fed by castor oil — with the aid of materials such as these, wonderful savants are produced in this country alone. An all-forbearing attachment to an ugly and deformed wife, and a lifelong devotion to a worthless and villainous husband are possible in this country alone. Thus far the bright side. are non-intelligent; they move, turn, and run, but they are without intelligence. And yonder tiny worm which moved away from the railway line to save its life, why is it intelligent? There is no manifestation of will in the machine, the machine never wishes to transgress law; the worm wants to oppose law — rises against law whether it succeeds or not; therefore it is intelligent. Greater is the happiness, higher is the Jiva, in proportion as this will is more successfully manifest. The will of God is perfectly fruitful; therefore He is the highest. control of one devoid of sense-power? What again is the self-sacrifice of one devoid of idea, devoid of heart, devoid of high ambition, and devoid of the conception of what constitutes society? What expression of devotedness to a husband is there by forcing a widow to commit Sati? Why make people do virtuous deeds by teaching superstitions? I say, liberate, undo the shackles of people as much as you can. Can dirt be washed by dirt? Can bondage be removed by bondage? Where is the instance? When you would be able to sacrifice all desire for happiness for the sake of society, then you would be the Buddha, then you would be free: that is far off. Again, do you think the way to do it lies through oppression? "Oh, what examples or self-denial are our widows! Oh, how sweet is child-marriage! Is another such custom possible! Can there be anything but love between husband and wife in such a marriage!" such is the whine going round nowadays. But as to the men, the masters of the situation, there is no need of self-denial for them! Is there a virtue higher than serving others? But the same does not apply to Brâhmins — you others do it! The truth is that in this country parents and relatives can ruthlessly sacrifice the best interests of their children and others for their own selfish ends to save themselves by compromise to society; and the teaching of generations rendering the mind callous has made it perfectly easy. He, the brave alone, can deny self. The coward, afraid of the lash, with one hand wipes his eyes and gives with the other. Of what avail are such gifts? It is a far cry to love universal. The young plant should be hedged in and taken care of. One can hope gradually to attain to universal love if one can learn to love one object unselfishly. If devotion to one particular Ishta-Deva is attained, devotion to the universal Virat is gradually possible. of society, not before. It is action with desire that leads to action without desire. Is the renunciation of desire possible if desire did not exist in the beginning? And what could it mean? Can light have any meaning if there is no darkness?

— "The Lord whose nature is unspeakable love." That this characteristic of God mentioned by Nârada is manifest and admitted on all hands is the firm conviction of my life. The aggregate of many individuals is called Samashti (the whole), and each individual is called Vyashti (a part). You and I — each is Vyashti, society is Samashti. You, I, an animal, a bird, a worm, an insect, a tree, a creeper, the earth, a planet, a star — each is Vyashti, while this universe is Samashti, which is called Virât, Hiranyagarbha, or Ishvara in Vedânta, and Brahmâ, Vishnu, Devi, etc., in the Purânas. Whether or not Vyashti has individual freedom, and if it has, what should be its measure, whether or not Vyashti should completely sacrifice its own will, its own happiness for Samashti — are the perennial problems before every society. Society everywhere is busy finding the solution of these problems. These, like big waves, are agitating modern Western society. The doctrine which demands the sacrifice of individual freedom to social supremacy is called socialism, while that which advocates the cause of the individual is called individualism.

Our motherland is a glowing example of the results and consequence of the eternal subjection of the individual to society and forced self-sacrifice by dint of institution and discipline. In this country men are born according to Shâstric injunctions, they eat and drink by prescribed rules throughout life, they go through marriage and kindred functions in the same way; in short, they even die according to Shastric injunctions. The hard discipline,
But all these things are done by people guided like lifeless machines. There is no mental activity, no unfoldment of the heart, no vibration of life, no flux of hope; there is no strong stimulation of the will, no experience of keen pleasure, nor the contact of intense sorrow; there is no stir of inventive genius, no desire for novelty, no appreciation of new things. Clouds never pass away from this mind, the radiant picture of the morning sun never charms this heart. It never even occurs to this mind if there is any better state than this; where it does, it cannot convince; in the event of conviction, effort is lacking; and even where there is effort, lack of enthusiasm kills it out.
If living by rule alone ensures excellence, if it be virtue to follow strictly the rules and customs handed down through generations, say then, who is more virtuous than a tree, who is a greater devotee, a holier saint, than a railway train? Who has ever seen a piece of stone transgress a natural law? Who has ever known cattle to commit sin?
The huge steamer, the mighty railway engine — they
What is education? Is it book-learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is called education. Now consider, is that education as a result of which the will, being continuously choked by force through generations, is well-nigh killed out; is that education under whose sway even the old ideas, let alone the new ones, are disappearing one by one; is that education which is slowly making man a machine? It is more blessed, in my opinion, even to go wrong, impelled by one's free will and intelligence than to be good as an automaton. Again, can that be called society which is formed by an aggregate of men who are like lumps of clay, like lifeless machines, like heaped up pebbles? How can such society fare well? Were good possible, then instead of being slaves for hundreds of years, we would have been the greatest nation on earth, and this soil of India, instead of being a mine of stupidity, would have been the eternal fountain-head of learning.
Is not self-sacrifice, then, a virtue? Is it not the most virtuous deed to sacrifice the happiness of one, the welfare of one, for the sake of the many? Exactly, but as the Bengali adage goes, "Can beauty be manufactured by rubbing and scrubbing? Can love be generated by effort and compulsion?" What glory is there in the renunciation of an eternal beggar? What virtue is there in the sense-
Therefore, when one has been able to deny self for an individual, one should talk of self-sacrifice for the sake
Worship with desire, with attachment, comes first. Commence with the worship of the little, then the greater will come of itself.
Mother, be not anxious. It is against the big tree that the great wind strikes. "Poking a fire makes it burn better"; "A snake struck on the head raises its hood" — and so on. When there comes affliction in the heart, when the storm of sorrow blows all around, and it seems light will be seen no more, when hope and courage are almost gone, it is then, in the midst of this great spiritual tempest, that the light of Brahman within gleams. Brought up in the lap of luxury, lying on a bed of roses and never shedding a tear, who has ever become great, who has ever unfolded the Brahman within? Why do you fear to weep? Weep! Weeping dears the eyes and brings about intuition. Then the vision of diversity — man, animal, tree — slowly melting away, makes room for the infinite realisation of Brahman everywhere and in everything. Then —

— "Verily, seeing the same God equally existent every where, he does not injure the Self by the self, and so goes to the Supreme Goal" (Gitâ, XIII. 28).

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