Anti-India Hizb-ut-Tahrir raises its head, goes unnoticed

ABHINANDAN MISHRA  NEW DELHI | 26th Feb 2012

This was first published here.

The Indian government is yet to take note of the accelerating emergence of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), a political organisation banned in several countries. The HuT was recently in the news for its alleged involvement in the failed coup attempt in Bangladesh, orchestrated to bring down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is seen as pro-India. Till now, the only instance of HuT's presence acknowledged by the Indian security establishment is the demonstration that it arranged at Batla House in New Delhi, in 2010, to protest Israel's action in Gaza. "The HuT has a presence in the national capital. This was visible in the 2010 rally, which was mostly attended by students," said a top official who is with an anti-terror body. The HuT is known to be behind the floating of several NGOs that target police action in sweeping locations where terrorists are suspected to be clustered. The HuT, which was founded in 1953 in Jerusalem by a religious cleric Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, has a presence in more than 40 countries. It aims to establish an "Islamic" way of life in Muslim countries and unify them under a caliphate. It continues to grow in several European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. However, it is the UK that is considered to be the HuT's main recruiting ground. A top official with the Intelligence Bureau (IB), requesting anonymity, said that the name of HuT has not come up in any major incidents in India till now, and hence it is not seen as a major threat here. Its name also does not figure on the list of 35 organisations that have been declared as terrorist organisations under the Unlawful Activities (Preventions) Act, 1967, which has been compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. "Do we need a covert organisation to give a newspaper advertisement before taking steps to check its activities?" asked a security expert in exasperation at the Indian government's "indifference" to HuT. Another example he gave was the granting of an Indian visa to Anjem Choudhry, who has openly called for the overthrow of the political system in India and its replacement by (his version of) Shariah law. A former RAW chief said that the emergence of HuT needs to be followed because of its philosophy. "Even though the HuT says that it is a non-violent political group, it is hard to believe this because its philosophy is based on the Khilafat movement of 1921, which turned violent in Kerala." Former Director-General of Police (DGP) Hormis Tharakan feels that even though the HuT has not made its presence felt in India in an obvious way, yet, it cannot be conclusively ruled out that it's trying to build a base in India so as to cause serious problems to national security. Commenting on the fact that no security agencies see HuT as a serious threat, Tharakan said, "Their presence in India cannot be ruled out just because they have not (publicly) undertaken any major incident. Security agencies have not studied the HuT deeply enough. They need to follow them and study their subtle way of functioning, which is quite dangerous." Sanchita Bhattacharya of Institute of Conflict Management (ICM), a Delhi based think tank, did not rule out the possibility of the HuT working with the militant organisation Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Indian Mujahideen (IM) covertly. "The specialty about HuT is that they are focusing on scholars and elites of the Islamic society. Unlike other militant organisations that target the illiterate and the mullahs, the HuT is focusing on the progressive population of Muslims. They try to indoctrinate the educated elite." The Hizb ut-Tahrir follows a strong anti-Jewish policy and has repeatedly called for the dismantling of Israel. Sources in the police said that the recent attacks on the Israeli diplomat are being investigated through every angle and the HuT is on the radar. Experts believe that the modus operandi of HuT to bring military personnel, members of academia and the elite under its umbrella makes them highly dangerous. In the past they have used this method to destabilise Pakistan where it tried to bring change through the military. Brigadier Ali Khan of Pakistani army who was arrested by the police was alleged to have links with HuT and was working on a plan to bring an Egyptian and Tunisian style uprising in Pakistan.

IB report says extremist PFI has shifted base to Delhi

OUR CORRESPONDENT  NEW DELHI | 11th Mar 2012

This was first published here.

he Intelligence bureau (IB) has expressed its concern over the expansion of Popular Front of India (PFI) which as per its reports has shifted base to Delhi. An IB report, a copy of which is with this newspaper reads, "PFI cadres have been trained in the use of sharp-edged weapons and in fabrication and deployment of crude bombs and IEDs." Security agencies see this as a serious security threat to the VIPs living in the city. The fact that PFI is now making its presence felt in the capital is causing more problems for the security agencies. "PFI is not a problem limited to the southern states as was manifested in the recent shifting of its national headquarters to Delhi. Why they have shifted their base to the capital is an easy guess," said a senior official. PFI was formed in December 2006 after merger of three prominent Kerala-based Islamic organisations, National Development Front, Manitha Neethi Pasarai and Karnataka Forum for Dignity. It first grabbed headlines in 2010 when its members chopped off the hands of a professor in Kerala for "blasphemy". Following a crack down after the incident, the state police had recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition from its offices and centres. According to the IB, PFI is clandestinely working on indoctrinating people against the state under the garb of political empowerment. A top official with IB said, "PFI is actually concentrating on taking up the cause of the so-called injustices meted out to the Muslims to garner their support for its own agenda." The report further states that the organisation is trying to develop links with human rights groups, Left Wing Extremist elements and various Dalit bodies. "PFI has emerged as a new area of concern due to its radical Islamic belief and covert tactics. It had recently organised a secret training camp for recruits from different parts of the country in Kerala". This was confirmed by security officials. "A Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) module that was busted in Madhya Pradesh has also revealed the link of PFI with SIMI," the source said. In May last year, one Mohammad Niaz was arrested in Paris who was believed to be recruiting members for the Popular Front's French arm. As per Indian security agencies, Niaz was trying to set up a branch of this organisation — the Popular Front of India in France. Sources say that 80 to 90% of the people influenced or accessed by the group had Gulf or foreign links.

Now, Jaiswal’s relatives in CBI net, Coal Minister directly linked

ABHINANDAN MISHRA   This was first carried here.

Shriprakash Jaiswal (extreme left) with Manoj Jayaswal standing next to him. Photo Courtesy: Abhijeet.in nion coal minister Shriprakash Jaiswal is now being directly linked to the internal operations of the Jayaswal family, one of whom, Manoj Jayaswal, owns the Abhijeet Group, the parent company of JAS infrastructure and JLD Yavatmal. Shriprakash Jaiswal was named as the arbitrator in case of any dispute over the allotment of shares in the family owned AMR Iron & Steels, as per a 2008 agreement between Basant Lal Shaw and his three sons, Manoj Jayaswal, Arvind Jayaswal and Ramesh Jayaswal. "In case there was any dispute regarding the allotment of shares, it was to be decided by "Shri Prakash Jaiswal of Kanpur" (read coal minister Shriprakash Jaiswal)," the agreement between the Jayaswal brothers and their father reads (copy with us). Sriprakash Jaiswal and Manoj Jayaswal are related by marriage. Sriprakash Jaiswal's daughter is married into the same family that Manoj Jayaswal is married into. Sriprakash's daughter has married into a Kolkata-based business family headed by Ganesh Prasad. Manoj is married to the daughter of Prasad's brother. AMR is owned by Manoj Jayaswal and his brother, Arvind Jayaswal. The above mentioned companies have been named in the FIR filed by the CBI in the Coalgate scam on Tuesday. The Jayaswal business family owns several companies in the area of power, roads, steel, iron ore and mining. Abhijeet Group has significant presence in core sector areas like Power, Roads, Mining, Ferroalloys, Steel and Cement and is headquartered in Nagpur, Maharashtra. As per the agreement, it was decided to give at least 26 per cent free equity shares to anyone who was instrumental in getting coal blocks allotted to the family companies. It was decided that 26 per cent shares in AMR, which got a coal block in Maharashtra in 2009, will be transferred to the Lokmat group (copy of documents with this newspaper). As per the documents, the Lokmat Group played an instrumental role in getting the family its coal blocks. Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Vijay Darda, is the chairman of the Lokmat group. Darda has also been named in the CBI FIR filed on Tuesday. He, however, has denied the charge. Later, after a business disagreement within the family, Manoj Jayaswal wrote a letter to his father, Basant Lal Shaw, about matters pertaining to the settlement. The letter (copy with us) also mentions the name of "Shri Prakash Jayaswal" and Lokmat Group. The Manoj Jayaswal letter reads, "As per the understanding, 26 per cent of the shares of AMR are to be allocated free of cost to the Lokmat group. The rights of the balance 14 per cent needs to be decided by Shri Shriprakashji... AMR has been allotted coal blocks because of efforts of Lokmat Group. The commitment should be honoured." Here "Shri Shriprakashji" refers to the minister who has already been named in the agreement once and in other documents available with us pertaining to the deal. The letter further read, "26 per cent equity be immediately allotted to Lokmat and a nominee of Lokmat should be appointed chairman and the director, or matters relating to the family would be jeopardised. Further, I urge that a suitable time be communicated to Shri Sriprakashji for settlements of ownership of 14 per cent shares of AMR." Since 2005, various companies related to Manoj Jayaswal have been coal mines in various parts of the country. This includes Abhijeet Infrastructure, which got 3 coal blocks in Jharkhand in 2005, and, JLD Yavatmal, which got one block in 2008 in Chhattisgarh

Conservationists have tourism interests in tiger reserves

This article was first carried here. 

Belinda Wright and Valmik Thapar, who are opposed to the Supreme Court’s interim ban on tourism in core tiger areas, “own” resorts in Kanha and Ranthambore.

ABHINANDAN MISHRA  New Delhi | 2nd Sep

A Royal Bengal Tiger at an enclosure of Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata. PTI almik Thapar and Belinda Wright, two renowned tiger conservationists, who are opposing the interim ban by the Supreme Court on tourism in the core areas of 41 tiger reserves, are associated with resorts that flank national parks. Interestingly, they had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking for his intervention to save the tigers and stating that "people and tiger do no co-exist". Wright owns a resort near Kanha National Park, while Thapar's nephew runs another resort next to Ranthambore National Park. According to an official list of 53 resorts surrounding the Kanha National Park, Belinda Wright owns the Kipling Camp, which is at a distance of less than 4 km from the park boundaries. Kipling has 14 rooms, and as per Wright, was established in 1982. At least 9 more resorts are slated to come up in and around Kanha. Similarly, Thapar's nephew Jaisal Singh owns Sherbagh Resort in Ranthambore. The fact that Sherbagh is owned by Valmik Thapar's family was confirmed by many travel sites including Indian Wildlife. Thapar's association with the resort has been displayed as its USP. The "campaign letter" written to the Prime Minister on 29 May 2007 asked for tiger reserves to be made inviolate, and bore the names of other activists such as, Raghu Chundawat, Bittu Sahgal, P.K. Sen and Toby Sinclair. "Secure inviolate areas. The WII/NTCA data shows clearly that people and tigers do not co-exist. We must focus our attention on protecting the few remaining inviolate tiger-bearing tracts — largely Tiger Reserves — and the connectivity between them, before all is lost," it reads. Valmik Thapar The Tour Operators for Tigers (TOFT), one of the most well known tiger-tour operators, which has several eco-resort owners and tour operators as partners, has called for funds from tour operators across the world to fight the ban and the government's guidelines. TOFT is also opposing the imposition of a cess on its revenues to be used for conserving wildlife and providing livelihood to locals as proposed in the government guidelines. Most of the funds received by TOFT till now have come from the UK and has big names such as Cox and Kings, a travel agency. The association, along with prominent wildlife NGOs, such as Wildlife Protection Society of India, headed by Wright, has taken a stand against the 24 July ban. Wright has described the tourism ban as a "total disaster". Activist Ajay Dubey, the man behind the PIL which led to the ban, feels that vested interests are spreading misinformation: "This is not the final order but an interim stay. And nowhere have I prayed for a complete ban, I just want the court to see to it that the laws are implemented. That's why I have demanded that there should be some guidelines to control tourism so that it does not affect the tiger." The pressure being put by the tourism lobby can be gauged from the fact that H.S. Pabla, who is presently the advisor to Madhya Pradesh eco-tourism board, wrote an email to resort owners and to TOFT, when he was still the Chief Wildlife Warden, advising them to take "whatever steps" required to protect their interests after Dubey first filed the PIL in Jabalpur High Court in 2010. "This is to let you know that a PIL has been filed in the HC Jabalpur seeking ban in core areas of tiger reserves ... although the government of MP will oppose the ban, still lodge owners, travel operators may also implead themselves as affected parties to make sure that the PIL does not succeed," the email reads. Belinda Wright Resort owners, including Wright, say that there are a huge number of people (according to Wright over a million) who depend, either directly or indirectly, on wildlife tourism. According to her, without an income from tourism, most local people would have little option but to turn to the forest for resources, including poaching for food and illegal wildlife trade. However, Dubey says that this is not true. "What kind of livelihood has been provided to the locals all these years? Washing utensils, doing laundry? Can the resort owners give even 10 names of persons who have moved upwards in the economic chain and progressed apart from the owners themselves?" According to Wright, poachers do not feel safe operating in areas where there is unpredictable vehicle movement. "There are numerous examples where guides and tourists have reported suspicious intruders, and twice to my knowledge tigers caught in a steel jaw trap," Wright told this newspaper through email. Siddharth Gupta, Dubey's counsel, is not convinced. "The visitors go inside the park for roughly 6-8 hours and that too in daytime. Poachers prefer darkness and they don't wait for the tourists to come." The core question, according to Dubey, is wildlife tourism, which is growing in an unregulated manner.

Sonali Mukherjee- disfigured for life

This article was first carried here.

Sonali with her father.

It was not difficult to recognise Sonali Mukherjee among the crowd in Dilli Haat as she walked towards this correspondent, guided by a fragile, bespectacled man, her father, Chandi Das Mukherjee. Her face was covered with a red dupatta and she was wearing sunglasses that she bought from a local shop.

"The sunglasses cover my eyes, while the duppata hides my burn scars and the ears," she says.

She was 17 years old when three men threw acid at her on the night of 22 April 2003. "They used to pass lewd comments at me. When I protested they became angry, and one night when I was sleeping, they poured acid on me."

She suffered more than 70% burn injuries, lost both her eyes and can only hear from one ear. Her whole face is disfigured beyond recognition.

Ever since the tragedy, the father-daughter duo have spent most of the last nine years in either seeing doctors or visiting political leaders. Both have given them hope, but it's only the doctors who seem to have fulfilled their promise. "The doctors are doing whatever they can, but no one else is helping me," says Sonali.

She says that after nine years of trying to get financial help for treatment, she now wants mercy killing. "I have gone through 22 surgeries and have already spent Rs 8 lakh. My father, who worked as a watchman, sold off the land and jewellery we had. My mother has lost her mental balance. Now the whole burden has become unbearable."

Sonali rues the false commitments of help given by political leaders from her state, Jharkhand.

However, according to her father, some help is finally trickling in. "Famous lawyer Ram Jethmalani called me and gave Rs 1.49 lakh. Small donations are also coming in. But I need Rs 15 lakh for the surgery. Please publish my account number so that your readers can help us."

Chandi Das Mukherjee appears dejected and perpetually lost. "I have lost faith in everything. What was my daughter's fault? Those who are responsible for her condition are enjoying a normal life. They just spent a little more than three years in prison before they were granted bail," he said.

At the time of the incident, Sonali was an undergraduate student of sociology at a Dhanbad college. Just few months before the incident, she received an award from the hands of the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for being the best NCC cadet. But everything changed in a matter of minutes.

The three accused, Kapas Mitra, Sanjay Paswan and Brahmdev Hazra, were from a neighbouring village. In 2007, Paswan and Hazra were granted bail. While the third accused, Mitra, was shown to be a minor and hence was released much earlier.

According to Chandi Das, money was used at every stage of the case. "Justice was bought and sold. My own lawyer, who was my relative, took money from the accused and weakened our case."

Last week, the Mukherjees met Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, who promised them assistance. They have not heard anything from her since then.

Bank account details of Chandi Das Mukherjee:

0612000103217694

Punjab National Bank

Nauroji Nagar Branch,

IFSC code: PUNB006120

New Delhi

It happens again

Despite being a part of this city for so many years, the in-humanness which I have slowly started to associate with Delhi , the apathy of ‘Diliwala’ to the pain of a fellow human being, the ease at which the Delhites  ignores those who are weak and cannot defend themselves, still  continues to amaze me and  upset me.

Every alternate day, I come across something that makes me question that why am I living here. The answer never comes. Or maybe it does, just that it’s too ‘practical’ to be discussed.

Today was that alternate day.

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As I was walking towards the gate of my society, not more than 100 meters far, I saw a man collapsing on the ground.

I rushed towards him, thinking that he had suffered a heat stroke. However, going closer, I realized that he was bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth.

He was a rickshaw puller and the blood on his mouth was because of the fist-blows that he had just received from the driver of a car.

The rickshawalla, a man in his 50s,  had apparently parked his rickshaw in front of the society gate, which as per the man driving the car, was obstructing the road and making it difficult for him to park his car.

So, after shouting at him, which the frail rickshaw puller ignored, this man punched him repeatedly and only stopped after he was satisfied that he had learnt his lesson.

This whole incident happened at a time when scores of oversized housewives were taking evening walks to reduce off the extra weight. It was witnessed by a whole lot of educated-civilized people, who, could have saved the old rickshaw puller,but chose to ignore the merciless beating.

As I helped him stand up, he looked at me and said “ Hamari galti nahee thee..Hum nahee suney who kya bola, phir woh maa ki gaali deeya”.

The sight of him holding his broken tooth in one hand, and trying to stop the gushing blood from his mouth from the other, is something that will continue to torment me for long.

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I do not want to write anything more. This was not the first time I had witnessed something like this; the only thing that disconcerts me is that why have we become so insensitive to pain.

Anonymous is an Idea

Sometime back I was able to speak to “Smart”, who is the founder of Anonymous, Romania. And this is what he said about the why, who and what they are all about. 

Q.What is Anonymous? Some say it is a group of hackers yearning for publicity.

A.First of all, you are wrong about Anonymous saying that it is a group of individuals who are hacking. "Anonymous is an idea. Anonymous is you, is me, is every single one of us who fights in every way for a better world. A free, uncensored, world."

Q.How do someone becomes a part of it?

A. Anyone can be part in the things what we do, just join the network! Get in touch with me and my brothers.

RTI lacks teeth to enforce its orders- Chief Information Commissioner

Interview with Satyanand Mishra, Chief Information commissioner, Central Information Commission (CIC). Satyanand Mishra talks about more power for a greater efficiency in implementing RTI.

As CIC chief, do you think RTI need more teeth to make it stronger?

The RTI right now lacks teeth to enforce and make sure that its orders are followed. In most of the cases the officials are reluctant to part with information. And we have limited power because of which departments sometime does not takes our orders seriously.  More power is needed to make sure that CIC /SIC orders are followed.

As has been demanded by some section of the society and politicians like Nitish Kumar, do you think that the corporate/ private companies should also come under the purview of RTI?

Right now the focus should be on consolidating the gains made by the RTI during all these years. Widening its ‘reach’ to include private sector will make it difficult to manage its operation in an effective way. Once a certain level of effectiveness is reached in government sector, it should be made applicable to the private sector. But currently, its reach and effectiveness is something that is still unfolding.

You said that you are opposed to the creation of Jan Lokpal?

Yes I opposed the creation of Jan Lokpal in its present form because it will be impractical to implement it. My experience as a bureaucrat has taught me that it will be impossible for a single body to keep vigil on the entire government from PM to peon. The Janlok pal in its present form will be a huge organization. Who will keep tab on its own employees?

The exuberance of Sukma collector and the security failure

Jagdalpur/Sukma

Even though there is a lot of resentment among the common people against the maoist over the abduction of Sukma district Alex Paul Menon but still many feel that this was an incident which could have been avoided had police and the collector himself been more careful.

According to locals the police protection provided to Menon who was abducted by the maoist as he was listening to villagers in Keralapal during the Gram Suraj Abhiyan was absolutely negligible. He was only provided with two gunmen, Kisan Kujur and Ahmed, both of whom were shot dead by the maoist which had woman members too.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Satyanarayan Sharma said that if more protection was given to the officer who was posted in a maoist hotbed then the incident would not have happened. “I was in Sukma two days before he was abducted and  it was visible that adequate protection was not being given to the officers who were involved in the Gram Suraj Abhiyaan.”

This was admitted by a senior police official in Police Head quarters Raipur. “Security failure did happen. On Friday just a day before Menon’s abduction the maoist had done a land mine blast in which threepeople were killed. This should have alerted the police and the threat perception should have been reviewed, which was not done.”

A police sources said that even the Intelligence Bureau had given the state government inputs that the maosits are going to target bureaucrats.

The source added  that lapse on the part of the security cover made Menon a soft target. “There was negligence on the part of the police.” The same sentiments were echoed by journalists who have been following the event. They however added that the fault lies with Menon too. “He is an IAS officer and he should have realized that he was a high value target and taken necessary precaution. Now the state government will pay the price of his carelessness by releasing hard core maoists”.

The place from where Menon was abducted at around 4.30 PM is close to a CRPF camp that is located just 3 Km away but even then also the maoist could easily come and execute their plan. He was accompanied by other senior officials of the district including the SDM,CEO, BEO, none of whom were even touched by the maoist who had obviously come with a fixed target in mind.

Karan Singh a local politician that the town is still to come in terms with the event that has suddenly made Sukma a house hold name. “Menon joined here only three months back and this was his first posting. Why adequate protection was not provided to him is something that only the officials can say.”

Sukma Live

Reenactment of the popular 2010 Bollywood movie ‘Peepli Live” which took a dig at the electronic media is taking place in Sukma from where Alex Paul Menon was abducted by the maoists.

The sudden convergence of media personals, police and politicians to this small district has provided an opportunity for the poor villagers to earn extra income as make shift shops selling eatables and tea have come up in the popular points of Sukma.

Karan Dev, a local resident said that this was for the first time that he was watching the national media anchors personally. “I had never seen the logo of news channel so closely before nor had I seen vans with umbrella like structure on their top (OB vans). So many outsiders have come here and they are just running from one place to the other.”