Bombing of German bakery was a part of Karachi project

Syed Zabiuddin alias Abu Hamza aka Abu Jundal who has been arrested for his role in the Mumbai 26/11 attack was in close contact with Himayat Baig, the accused in the German bakery case. This has been revealed in his interrogations by security officials.

According to officials, Jundal, who was acting as the handler for the 11 terrorists who had attacked Mumbai, along-with one Fayyaz Kagzi, had trained Baig in Colombo.

“It was after being trained by Jundal that he carried out the attack”, a senior police official stated.

Baig, who was arrested by ATS Maharashtra is presently in judicial custody. According to officials, the two used to exchange mails and avoid telephonic conversations. “Jundal had created 25 email ids to converse with each other. All these were in different names to avoid detection.”

Baig had traveled to Colombo in 2008 on the instructions of Jundal's accomplice in Aurangabad arms haul case, Fayyaz Kagzi, to receive training in bomb-making for the German Bakery attack.

“The close contact between Jundal and Baig establishes that the Pune Mumbai was a part of a larger conspiracy, aided by ISI,” an official stated.

The 2010 Pune bombing occurred on 13 February 2010 in which seventeen people were killed and 60 injured.

Officials said that the bombing of German bakery was a part of Karachi project. The “Karachi Project” has been described by security analyst as part of an overall strategy adopted by the Pakistani Army to use terror outfits as a crucial part of a strategic arsenal to hurt India's military and economic might.

This startling disclosure was made by David C. Headley ,who stated that ISI is running, since 2003, a residential protected compound in Karachi where a conglomerate of anti-Indian individuals and groups were working together.

In-fact, LeT operative David Coleman Headley, had conducted a surveillance of the German Bakery. Later, Mirza Himayat Baig, too, carried out a reconnaissance tour of the German Bakery on 31 January 2010.

The interrogation of Jundal has also revealed that Baig was responsible for the merger of Laskar E Toiba (LeT) modules with those of IM. "He was the LeT chief of Maharashtra and he was the one who selected the targets, got in touch with the sleeper modules, planned and execute the attack," said an official.

Mirza Himayat Baig was arrested from Pune in September.

Mumabi is not just about Taj

After the 26-11 seize of Mumbai ended, the post mortem going into the conduct of the electronic media during the whole sixty hours of operation began to surface.

There are two thought process which have gained wind as we move more into analyzing the way media reported the whole incident. The first one says that the media did its duty in a commendable way and the second one which also has equal followers, says that they were inherently biased. And even in that time of ‘War on India’ as they described it, they were not able to move away from the magnetic force of TRPs.

The first notion is out there in the open for anyone to judge. We all were glued to the TV, we watched every second of the operation. And we can all make out what was happening.

The second one though needs to be elaborated. The terrorist before being surrounded in The Taj and Trident caused mayhem at the CST railway station. But none of the media personnel were present at the CST to bring out the details of those who died. Some people will attribute this to the great socio-economic difference that separates someone walking in the Taj and someone at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

The other reason which comes into mind is that perhaps at CST the action was already over, those who had to die, were dead. The marauders had moved to the Taj. And I can well imagine that an editor instructing his reporters, for obvious reasons, would have told his crew to focus on Taj where the action was still unfolding.

As we watched in disbelief, reporters and cameraperson waited for hours, ducked for cover whenever a blast occurred as they brought out the real picture to us. Even if nothing was happening, the news-anchor, would move to the reporter on-site and ask him to update on the current situation. While people were searching for their dead ones at the CST, the media continued its focus on Taj. According to those who were entrusted with the job of bringing out the news, Taj was a more visible face of Mumbai, known to the world, visited by the ‘elites’. Is not CST a part of Mumbai? I am sure that the ordinary Mumbaikars have spent more hours in and around CST then they have in Taj.

In the midst of all this, the idea of unbiased reporting was forgotten. And also lost was the sense of empathy and compassion. Perhaps overtaken by other materialistic consideration.

Questions about how long will the Taj be shut, who will renovate it, will MF Hussain’s painting don the walls again, will the guest be able to forget 26-11 once they enter Taj , every such questions were asked. But not even a question about who died in CST was ever heard.

The who’s and who’ of the electronic media, seasoned journalist, and veteran editors found themselves moving with the more vibrant side of the whole incident.

It was not an operation that got over in matter of minutes or a couple of hour, but as we all know, it lasted sixty hours. Taking every practical consideration, the networking with the authorities, the sound bytes, the updates, Sixty hours was more than enough for one to focus on CST and VT Hospital. Only if they wanted to.

In one of the articles that appeared in the Washington post after the Mumbai attacks, the writer has emphasized on this very disparity, which even in such testing times, failed to corrode. The article talks about the serial blast in the Mumbai trains that took place more than 2 years ago and says that since if affected the common people, the media sensitiveness was subdued. Even we as common citizens were subdued, no candle light protest, no ‘awaken India’.

Have we started perceiving things as perceived by the media? Does the media’s response decide our response?

Was 26-11 more deadly than 11-07 just because electronic media thought it that way?

India as we all know has more number of the poor and the voiceless. And it is always unfortunate that it is the rich and the vociferous, however less in number, get the attention. 26-11 was no different.

In an open letter to all those who are concerned, one of the journalist who has been on the line of fire, says that “Surely, India has bigger lessons to learn and larger points to mull over, than to expend energy over which television journalist tops the charts or falls to the bottom.”

I sincerely hope that the media too has learnt its part of the chapter and hopefully they will practice what they preach and see the bigger picture.

But then it has never been about the common Indian. Or is it?

http://desicritics.org/2008/12/11/102451.php

The Country bleeds

The tragic events that have engulfed Mumbai have sent waves of shock all across the country. It has been more than 40 hours since the first shot were fired and still the fighting between the security personnel and the terrorist is raging on.

As the number of dead continues to rise and the personal loss of the many affected turns into a national tragedy, we as common citizens of this country are facing many a questions that are very tough to answer.

Our mind sways from experiencing pain to anger. From hopelessness to frustration. Should we salute the bravery of those who died while trying to save the innocent or should we cry for them?

This national tragedy has also given a chance for the government at the centre to redeem itself of the guilt that I presume has surrounded them. Maybe it is the last opportunity for the Prime Minister to show himself as a man who can take decisions that for him may look tough, but otherwise are obvious and expected in the national interest.

The death of children, women, tourists, police officers who had no reason to die will perhaps spur him to keep everything aside except the interest of nation and its citizens while doing what has been long desired from him.

He can advance any number of reasons for still maintaining the status quo, beginning from India being a responsible democracy, a regional superpower, diplomatic relations etc. But deep inside us we know that an attack on innocent civilians taken after so much meticulous planning and preparation cannot be seen as just another act of terrorism.

Politically also he has nothing to lose. The general elections are just months away. And Congress will go down is something that even a die-hard supporter will accept. Maybe if he acts proactively, then he might no go down in the history books as the weakest-unresponsive PM this country had.

He has no precedent to bank on. For never have been we subjected to such frequent-daring attacks at the pan-India level. He must do what is in the best interest of the country. He must remember that politics and accountability are not to be mixed. He as a PM is accountable to all of us. Not to a particular individual, religion or a party.

He has more than enough evidence to prove to the international audience that region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir were used to train the terrorist. The dismantling of the terrorist camps in PoK by the Indian troops may look a too far fetched thought right now, but then who could imagine the 26-11 attack at the heart of Mumbai.

Suddenly the thought of India becoming a police state does not appear too absurd now. We had such a scenario in Kashmir, Punjab and Assam. We might also gradually settle in to live under the shadow of guns and blast but then that would be amounting to disrespecting those who lost their lives while trying to stop this exact scenario.

In midst of this national loss we have been given an opportunity to put things in order. Political will is something that we have craved for long. Mr. PM show us that you have some.

Whenever this whole things end, the memories that it will left behind will make us shudder from the pain, the helplessness and the fact that many of the dead were killed for no reason.

Those who have lost the touch, the voice and the warmth of their closed ones will never be able to come out of the shock and the pain. All we can hope is that no further such incident takes place, incidents where daughters lose their father, mother their sons, wives their husbands and friends their soul.

Terrorism all the way

The lull before the storm has never been so apt before. It was just few month back that Delhi witnessed serial bombings. Before every possible words and thoughts condemning the blast could see the light of day, another serial bomb blast rocked the nation. This time it was Assam.

The familiar words expressing sympathy for the victims from the PM and the habitual statements from the intelligence department was handed out to the media.

Nothing was different. Same words, same people, same response. The intelligence agency though came out with a ‘revelation’ that they had the prior knowledge of a possibility of such destructive activity being undertaken in Assam.

The only saving grace was that the intelligence guys did not blame the terrorist for not informing them about the exact spot where the bombs were planted.

I can well imagine their helplessness as the alleged perpetrators had already crossed over to Bangladesh well before news of the dead and injured poured in.

It’s time to be honestly blunt here. It fails my mind that why India which prides itself being called as a regional ‘super-nuclear-economic’ power fails to reign in the lesser-insignificant neighbors like Bangladesh and Nepal.

Nepal and Bangladesh have now established themselves as a safe heaven and a launching pad for carrying out anti-Indian activities. Illegal immigrants continue to enter India and in due time they are converted into ‘Indians’ for obvious vote bank.

Diplomats and seasoned foreign experts say that acting tough against these two countries would alienate them and pave a way for China to come closer to these ‘traditional friends’ of India. This argument defies every logic. How can one to continue to overlook something such blatant nefarious designs of our well-wishing neighbors?

Still, despite all the appeasing measures adopted by India, it’s no secret that in recent years Nepal and Bangladesh have takes long strides that goes to Beijing and not towards New Delhi.

Some years ago The Times of India carried a front page picture in which a BSF jawan who was killed by personnel of Bangladeshi rifles was shown being carried on a bamboo stick just like the old days when the hunters would proudly carry their kill exhibiting their strength.

The jawans were killed by the BDR personnel after they resisted their attempt to help cattle thieves from stealing cattle and taking it to Bangladesh from the Indian side.

I had expected at least an economic embargo on Bangladesh for a limited period from our government for such a daring misadventure by them. Sadly I was proved wrong. If I remember correctly India could only manage a diplomatic rebuke. That was the price we paid for being a ‘responsible- South Asian- giant’.

Now I have no hesitation in saying that the Indian nationalist freedom movement was perhaps the last magnificent show of India’s political will. Will to stand against anarchy and tyranny.

The one thing that the arrest of Malegaon accused has done is that now the supporter of tougher anti-terrorism law will not be called ‘anti-minority’. Terrorism has no religion. It never had.

Life has never been so cheap and vulnerable before. And the sad fact is that we have been blinded by the bright light of a ‘resurgent economy’ and a nuclear deal that has brought us international acclamation. Unfortunately that same very light has made us falsely believe that everything is vibrant and functioning.

The present government has repeatedly said that it is against taking a knee-jerk action. But for how long? And is it correct to term a legitimate action important for national security as knee jerk action?

Bring in a law which will stop the terrorists from killing children, men and women, suspend talks with the militant groups wherever they are, arrest the separatists be it the Kashmiri or the Assamese. Do something that goes beyond words on mike and on paper.

Media and Politics hand in hand

With every new day our media is increasingly transgressing the boundaries that has been allotted to it for functioning as a ‘liberal media’. Every 9 out of 10 write-ups on terrorism that appear in a daily or a magazine is based on the basic premise that the terrorists that were shot or apprehended are innocent and the investigative agencies had concocted something false, a false story, a false investigation and more importantly a false encounter.

In the recent shoot out almost every national newspaper expressed that they were skeptical about the whole ‘setup’ that surrounded the Jamia Nagar encounter. Soon the electronic media followed suit

They came out with a series of questionnaire which were put before the public and security agencies. Though it’s another thing that the verdict to the questions was a foregone conclusion. “Police is guilty”.

The investigative agencies are always first to be blamed; for not investigating properly- for not following leads that could have stopped a blast and ultimately blamed for indulging in a false shootout.

With this increased pressure from the media political parties specially the Congress, are also feeling the heat. Congress leaders have gone on the records to say that they also feel that something was not right in the Delhi shout out.

The media has conveniently linked Islam and terrorism. In most of the terrorism related stories they say that Islam and terrorism should not be linked. Later in the same article they write that since the police are targeting terrorists the Muslim community is feeling insecure. Why give birth to this notion of fear in the Muslim community? What happened to the earlier stand of keeping Islam separate from the whole story?

Earlier the Congress was going soft on terror and now it’s the medias turn to tow their line. I may sound someone from the "low strata-not-so-educated" but still I take the liberty and ask the ‘Softist’ that how will they react if one of their kin becomes a victim of such blasts?

A terrorist whose participation in the parliament attack has been proved beyond doubt by the highest judiciary of the land is still enjoying the state treatment. Reason? The Congress doesn’t want to alienate the Muslim vote bank. Why this assumption? Has someone made any representation to them on behalf of the Muslims that they will feel alienated if Afzal is hanged?

Home minister Shivraj Patil says that the existing laws are enough to tackle terrorism. I guess he wants to send a message to us that we should be thankful to him and to the existing law and its ‘effective’ implementation for if it was not for the effective law and Patil himself , we would have been witness to more such incidents. Maybe every alternate day! Thank you sir, we feel honored.

Rajinder Puri in his column in Outlook has rightly and refreshingly lambasted the Political setup of this country. I guess if the ‘well read’ leaders of our country go though that piece they would be forced to introspect on what they said in the past and what they did in the present. But then some one told me that that ‘introspection’ for them is a word that translates into how to rectify their past errors and maximize their votes. Ah!! More hatred- more fiery speeches- more blasts.

In the end he suggests a ‘very very far fetched idea’ that the UPA and the NDA must get together to form a national government. The noblest of suggestion that I have come across but as the saying goes ‘the two shall never meet’. And I will be happier that they never meet for it will be hard to imagine what will emerge when their minds work collectively.

Whether it’s he Congress or the BJP everyone is on the proverbial ‘same plate’, though they look different even act different yet they are the same. Fraternal twins would be the appropriate word to describe them.

There the terrorists strike at will and here we are at our wits end on whom to select in the forthcoming polls. The dilemma is summed up in the following words

“The wave was with the Congress all this years
now they’ll find a solace in the saffron wear;
to again return to the Gandhi cap five here hence
for the path to salvation is still not ‘Left’.”

India losing to terror

The country again wakes to a morning that is laden with the news of the increase in number of dead and injured in another bomb blast that took place in the country somewhere. This time it was Ahmedabad and one day before it was Bangalore. Who knows by the time I conclude this write-up another blast would have ‘rocked’ the nation.

Since October 2005 when a bomb went off in the crowded Sarojni market of Delhi, just a day before Diwali in which more that 60 people died, 11 more such incidents have rattled India. The most deadly being the July 2006 serial blast in Mumbai’s trains in which over 200 people were killed. And not surprisingly we cannot say that we have been able to solve the case or even figure out the identity of the perpetrators. In most cases the obvious answer that one gets from the investigative agencies is the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), the HuJI-B (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh) or the HuM (Harkat-ul Mujahideen).

The country witnessed its first major strike in 1992 when the financial capital of India was rocked. It was aid that the fundamentalist behind the Mumbai attacks were avenging the demolition of Babri structure and the subsequent riots. Then also the think-tank of this country has talked of formulating counter-terrorism policies that would make future such strikes much harder.

In very simple terms Terrorism is violence, or the threat of violence, calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm. Terrorist acts are intended to produce effects beyond the immediate, having long-term psychological repercussions on a particular victim audience. The fear created by terrorists may be intended to cause people to exaggerate the strengths of the terrorist and the importance of the cause, to provoke governmental overreaction, to discourage dissent, or simply to intimidate and thereby enforce compliance with their demands.

Terrorist actions are generally carried out in a way that will achieve maximum publicity. Unlike other criminal acts, terrorists often claim responsibility for their acts.

None of the two major political parties, the Congress or the BJP can escape blame when it comes to who stands tall on the criteria of which of the two countered terrorism efficiently.

In the early 2000 when the BJP led NDA was at the power the country saw two major terrorist strikes that will be forever embedded in our memory. The Hijacking of the aircraft IC 814 and the attack on the Indian parliament which till then was considered impregnable and unthinkable.

The Indian Airlines flight, IC -814, carrying 178 passengers was hijacked on 24^th December 1999 after it took off from Katmandu. The aircraft landed at three different places (Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai) before it flew to Kandhar. No counter-hijacking action was taken while the aircraft was still in the Indian airspace. In fact the pilot of the craft deliberately delayed the departure of IC814 from the Amritsar airport and waited for more than half hour to give the Indian establishments chance to mount a takeover. His wait was in vain. Later the then national security advisor, Brajesh Mishra stated that while the plane was still in Amritsar he had given instructions to the security agencies to shoot at the tyres of the craft so as to make it immovable. He also very candidly admitted that his instructions were not heeded to; why? Even he doesn’t know.

Brajesh Mishra at that time was no ordinary man or a bureaucrat. He was the national security advisor and the closest confidant of the Prime minister, even LK Advani who at that time was the Home minister couldn’t boast of sharing the same intimacy with Vajpayee when it came to Mishra. And if he says that his instructions went ignored then we can well imagine the whole anti-terrorism machinery the country had at that time.

It can be termed as nothing but a diplomatic failure that Vajpayee led government was not able to take either Pakistan’s or Saudi Arabia assent for a commando-led operation to take control of the craft when it was still in their respective airspace. Surely a commando operation was more feasible in Pakistan or Dubai rather then Afghanistan as it was subsequently discovered.

The subsequent chain of incidents are well- known as the Indian government had to resort to a face-saving exercise and release 3 dreaded terrorist in return for the safe release of the passengers aboard the ill-fated aircraft.

The then foreign minister personally took the terrorist to Kandhar. The three were Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.

After his release Maulana Azhar set up Jaish-e-Mohammad in early 2000 which is accused of the deadly attacks on Indian targets, including one on the parliament in Delhi in December 2001.Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar after his release renewed the activity of Al-Umar Mujahideen in Muzaffarabad, close to the LOC, in recruiting and training of young Muslims to the independence war in Indian occupied Kashmir.Zargar while in custody revealed his enormous hatred for Non-Muslims especially Jews, Hindus and Christians and once famously said "If you want to end these terror strikes in the world then either accept Islam or wipe out Islam" .

The last of the freed terrorist who was once a LSE attendee, Sheikh Omar Saeed was later arrested by Pakistani police on February 12, 2002, in Lahore for his involvement in the Pearl kidnapping and sentenced to death.

The whole IC 814 incident the way in which it was handled is a terrible blotch on the BJP and India as a whole and is often used as an example of “how not to deal with hijack situations”.

Though the terrorist strike on the parliament was thwarted by the individual bravery of the sentinels yet it pointed out the glaring deficiencies in the over-all security setup of the seat of democracy and the weakness and failure of the intelligence gathering mechanism of the country. It was not the first time that the intelligence agency had failed us. Kargil was happening right below our nose and we were in deep slumber.

Since then the terrorist strike have increased at an alarming level and on an average a major terror strike is being carried out at a period of every 3-4 months.

Although the security agencies have been successful in busting quite a few modules, the most recent being the SIMI module which was taken out in Indore which led to the arrest of scores of SIMI operatives including the arrest of SIMI chief Safdar Nagori and the discovery of many nefarious designs, yet terror has no sigh of abetting.

Terrorist too are evolving and now have took a liking for soft targets and are shying away more and more from hard targets like military bases. Soft Targets are relatively unguarded or difficult to protect from terrorists, and therefore yield a higher probability for a successful attack. The recent blast in the markets of Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi confirm this shift of pattern.

Similarly they have also adopted the serial bombing method which are more ‘productive in terms of the number of deaths and have a more deep impact psychologically. Also since the serial bombing doesn’t require huge amount of explosive device at a single place, they stand a much better chance of being undiscovered hence causing maximum damage.

After every such strike the political establishment wakes up and the President, the Prime Minister and the various political parties issue statements of condemnation. The Home Minister issues stern warnings that terrorism would not be tolerated and that the terrorists involved in the latest attacks would be brought to book. Ministers then visit the hospitals in the city where the terrorist attack has taken place to show their sympathy. And then it gets over.

Nothing concrete is done, some knee-jerk reactions at the state level; transfer of officials is the standard statutory method to mollify the public sentiments.

The country earlier had the stringent POTA laws. The POTA might not have been successful in deterring the hardcore terrorists but it had the desired effect on those minds that were still at the stage where they could be brought back in to the social mainstream. It deterred the gullible minds from taking the path that was both detrimental to them as well as the country.

But the law was revoked after the Congress came to power. In fact Congress in its election manifesto had said that it would revoke POTA if it came to power. It said that POTA was a draconian law and was aimed against the minorities. Agreed that there might have been cases of police excesses under the law but it should not have been done away without an alternative legal tool.

The minority appeasement policy that is followed by political parties in general and Congress party in particular has not helped either. A Former police commissioner of Mumbai said that the state minorities commission, civil rights activists and mohalla committee workers had cautioned the police against conducting combing operations, random checks and make preventive arrests. Time and again intelligence agencies have expressed helplessness in wake of political interference that has hampered the agencies from effectively investigating the incidents

The failure of the implementation of the finding of The Justice Srikrishna Commission report acts like a fuel to fire. It indicted 31 police personnel (from officers to constables) for abetting the rioters. But no action has been taken against the bigger leaders that have been named in the report.

The politicians play their game of linking the minorities to the terror strike. They stand on dais and scream of ‘stopping the state from alienating the minorities’, thereby giving the perpetrators an identity based on religion.

States like Maharashtra has its own set of stringent anti-terror law. The MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act.) which has been termed draconian by some rights activist but they conveniently forget that it’s this draconian law that has curbed the terror incidents in the state. Similar anti-terror laws passed by the Gujarat and Maharashtra are lying with the president office for the past 4 years for its necessary assent and it speaks volumes about the Center’s attitude on its mindset to tackle terrorism.

Terror strikes can never be rid of completely, but they can be minimized to a negligible level. Sets of effective steps are the need of the hour. A closer and increased co-ordination between the Center and the State on measures to curd terrorism is needed. Recently the Central government had issued a high alert warning to all the states asking them to step up vigil, but it seems that either they were not taken seriously or were completely ignored. Also it would be more effective if the special Anti Terrorist squads (ATS) that are present in most of the states work in tandem.

In the long-run political establishment should think of forming a special agency that would specifically deal with terrorism, something in the lines of the IB or the Vigilance agency, both who have a specific nature of job. The agency should be headed by a senior rank IPS officer and should be directly under the PMO so as to reduce political hindrance and interference. This will help in fixing responsibility and channeling of concentrated resources and efforts in the right direction so as to curb terrorism.

Political will to weed out terrorism is the foremost of all. If that is not present then even the best of counter –terrorism measures will be rendered ineffective. Stress should be led on intelligence based policing. Due importance has not been given to the intelligence branch and is most states it is used by the political parties to gauge to mood of the voters and the strengths and the weakness of their rivals.

In the morning of the 22^nd of July when the confidence motion was to take place, the CBI chief gave a courtesy call to the prime minister residence. It is anybody’s guess that what the nature of the courtesy call was.

If such terror strikes are not curbed then the demand for a state supported attack into foreign territories and into Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to destroy the terrorist camps which till now are sporadic in nature will gain more recognition and appreciation and then the situation may get more trickier for the government

A lot of money is required to support intelligence gathering which unfortunately is not happening in this country. Similarly Sensitization of people and greater awareness on sustained basis in the battle against terrorism will pay a great dividend as the terrorist work while staying between us. Also religion and fanaticism should be looked through two very different perspective, they should not be mixed for anyone’s convenience.

Finally our resolve to spring back to life after every such attack is the most effective method that can be taken by an ordinary citizen to combat the evil designs of these terrorists.

Ends

http://desicritics.org/2008/07/27/132626.php