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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Photos, videos
via atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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