Responding to terror without understanding islamist jihad

Terrorism and our response by Kalyan Viswanathan
http://www.blogs. ivarta.com/ india-usa- blog-column143. htm

Propellant of terrorism by NS Rajaram (Pioneer, 13 Aug. 2008)

Islamism fuels jihad, integral to the vocabulary of Islam

In response to the requests by the Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat to approve special laws for dealing with terrorism, the Union Home Minister Shivaraj Patil retorted that existing laws would suffice. This highlights a profound misconception about jihadi terrorism prevailing in the Government and the intelligentsia -- that terrorists are lawbreakers who can be dealt with by law enforcement authorities.

The jihadis see it very differently: they recognise as legitimate no laws other than those sanctioned by the shariat (Islamic code). The goal of jihad is to wage a continuous war until the whole world is brought under the sway of Islam governed by the shariat. To fight terrorism it is necessary first to understand this ideology and the associated military doctrine. Terrorism is not a crime wave but an ideological war on all fronts. We will have only ourselves to blame if we fail to see this fundamental truth.

Dictionary of Islam defines jihad as: "A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad (the prophet). It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Quran and in the traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined especially for the purpose of advancing Islam..."

The same point is made by Muslim authorities, both ancient and modern. Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), arguably the greatest thinker produced by Islam saw jihad as an aggressive war of expansion with the 'universal' mission to convert everyone: "The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defence... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations."

According to the influential modern thinker Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), the intellectual father of Al Qaeda: "...wherever an Islamic community exists... it has a god-given right to step forward and take control of the political authority... When god restrained Muslims from jihad for a certain period, it was a question of strategy rather than of principle..." We need look no further to understand what motivates the terrorists. It has nothing to do with grievances over Godhra, Palestine or anything else as some jihad apologists would have us believe.

When we come to the use of terror as an instrument of policy, we have the seminal work The Quranic Concept of War by the Pakistani Brigadier SK Malik to guide us. In his effusive foreword, the late General Zia-ul-Haq wrote that the book "...brings out with simplicity, clarity and precision the Quranic philosophy on the application of the military force, within the context of the totality that is jihad."

This means that jihad, "the most glorious word in the vocabulary of Islam," is nothing less than total war. According to Brigadier Malik, "the prophet's operations... are an integral and inseparable part of the divine message revealed to us in the Quran. ...The war he planned and carried out was total to the infinite degree. It was waged on all fronts: internal and external, political and diplomatic, spiritual and psychological, economic and military."

Another point made by the author is that the war should be carried out in the opponent's territory. "The aggressor was always met and destroyed in his own territory." In this Orwellian language, an 'aggressor' is anyone who stands in the way of jihad, that is to say anyone who defends himself. Terrorism is its underlying military doctrine. "The Quranic military strategy thus enjoins us to prepare ourselves for war to the utmost in order to strike terror into the heart of the enemy..."

It doesn't stop here, for Brigadier Malik assures us: "Terror struck into the hearts of the enemy is not only a means, it is the end in itself. Once a condition of terror into the opponent's heart is obtained, hardly anything is left to be achieved... Terror is not a means of imposing decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose upon him." For justification, he cites the Quran (Anfal 59-60): "Against them (non-Muslims) make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war to strike terror (into the hearts of) the enemies of allah and your enemies..."

One can see that the primary sources from the Quran and the early commentators like Ibn Khaldun to modern exponents like Sayyid Qutb and Brigadier Malik leave nothing to the imagination when it comes to jihad and the role of terrorism -- whether the goal or the tactics employed. India's politicians and thinkers must face up to this reality and prepare to fight a long war against a relentless adversary.

http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=oped&file_name=opd3.txt&counter_img=3

Jihadi terror wears now a separatist guise in J&K

Jihadi terror wears now a separatist guise in J&K

ET asks Shivraj Patil to go home. In fact, the recommendation should have been: Sonia, go home! She is the empress running the politics of UPA. Rest are chamcha-s who cannot open their mouths without the empress’ approval. So, why ask Shivraj alone to go home, leaving the substitute PM and the empress of 10 Janpath, scot-free?
The source of terror in Hindusthan is the state run by terror-cuddlers thinking that vote-bank politics demands such cuddling. Little do these cuddlers realize that the very-cuddled jihadi terror will consume the cuddlers themselves.

The latest salvo comes on CNN-IBN interview of Aug. 12, 2008 from the Hon’ble Shivraj who says that he has no problems with Kashmir valley traders using the road to Muzaffarabad. Come on, Shivraj, are you the external minister-commerce minister rolled into one? Is the opening of the road a move by Hindusthan to militarily recapture the road and also the occupied portion of J&K occupied by the Pakistan intruders? If so, remove the temporary Art. 370 by a Presidential proclamation and declare the entire J&K (including the regions occupied by Pakistan intruders) an integral part of Hindustan.

Kalyan

GOVT.& BJP PLAY INTO THE HANDS OF JIHADI TERRORISTS
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.427
B.RAMAN
The nation is still reeling under the impact of three rounds of serial blasts in quick succession in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, in Bengaluru on July 25 and in Ahmedabad on July 26. The police have been unable to make much headway in the investigations into the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July ,2006, in which about 190 innocent civilians were killed and other terrorist strikes, which have followed one after the other in different parts of the country. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat have been as clueless in the face of this terrorism as the non-BJP ruled States.
2.There is a huge jihadi iceberg, which has been moving from State to State spreading death and destruction. We have not been able to locate this iceberg, trace its movement and destroy it. We don't even know who are behind the so-called Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for many of these terrorist strikes.They have had many failures in the form of unexploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs) --- over 30 of them. The conventional wisdom in investigation is that every failure by the terrorists takes the police one step closer to a successful identification of the terrorists responsible. Over 30 failures --- over 20 of them in Surat in Gujarat-- and yet we are as clueless as ever.Were these failed IEDs examined by a single team? What were their conclusions? No answer.
3. The so-called Indian Mujahideen had sent three E-mail messages claiming responsibility--- two before the explosions took place and one after the explosion. It has been reported by "The Hindu" that one more message purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen has been received by a newspaper warning of terrorist strikes in Godhra in Gujarat where a group of Hindu pilgrims travelling in a railway compartment were burnt to death by a group of Muslim fanatics in February 2002, which provoked acts of retaliation by sections of the Hindus all over the State. We take pride in the fact that we are a nation of high-class experts in information technology (IT). And yet, we have not been able to make any break-through in our investigation through an examination of these messages.
4.It is ageed by all analysts that one of the objectives of the perpetrators of these blasts in different States of India outside Jammu & Kashmir was to create a divide between the Hindus and the Muslims. Fortunately--- thanks to the prompt action by the concerned State administrations and to the good sense of the two communities--- the terrorists have not succeeded in this objective.
5.But what the terrorists have failed to achieve so far in other parts of India through their repeated acts of terrorism, the Government of India and the BJP have achieved for them in Jammu & Kashmir---- the Government through its shockingly ham-handed handling of a sensitive issue and the BJP by its cynical exploitation of the communal tensions arising from the Government's mishandling for partisan political purposes with an eye on Hindu votes in the next elections, which are expected before next May.
6. Ham-handed handling of vital national security issues has become the defininig characteristics of the Government of India. We have been seeing it again and again since the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July 2006. Important decisions have been taken--- whether relating to Pakistan or China or terrorism--- without examining their implications for national security. Many sensitive issues have been handled in a shockingly inept manner--- thereby giving the impression of its being a Government of novices with very little understanding of such issues.
7.Nothing illustrated its ineptitude more dramatically than the casual manner in which it watched without intervening when the decision to transfer a plot of land to the ownership of a board for the maintenance of a Hindu shrine (Amarnath) in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley was taken by the local administration headed by the Congress (I) without a proper examination of its likely impact on Muslim public opinion and its likely exploitation by the Muslim radicals and then when the leaders of the Muslim community protested against it,it was cancelled without examining its likely impact on Hindu public opinion in the Hindu majority Jammu Division of the State.
8. The agitation launched by the Hindus of the Jammu Division of the State against the cancellation could have been justified if they had kept it confined to demonstrations and protests. Instead of doing so, they used the agitation for indulging in deplorable acts such as trying to disrupt communications with the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and allegedly preventing the Muslim farmers of the Valley from sending their produce of fruits to the rest of India for sale.
9. This was a dangerous turn in the agitation and was interpreted by many as an economic blocade of the Muslims in order to force them to concede the demands of the Hindus in relation to the transfer of the land. A similar situation was sought to be created in 1990 by the jihadis in the valley by preventing the fruit farmers and artisans from sending their produce to the rest of India for sale. The Government of V.P.Singh, the then Prime Minister, immediately intervened and had their fruits etc flown from Srinagar to the rest of India at Government's expense in special planes of the Indian Airlines. It also organised Kashmir Trade Fairs in Delhi and other parts of India and helped the Kashmiri farmers and artisans to bring their produce out for sale.
10. One would have expected the Government of India to have promptly acted in a similar manner to break the alleged blocade by the Hindus of Jammu. It did nothing of the sort. It kept fiddling as the situation went from bad to worse. Angered by the inaction of the Government, the fruit farmers, instigated by the Muslim radicals and jihadi terrorists, decided to take their produce to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir for sale. No Government could have allowed this. The Government's efforts to stop this have led to instances of firing by the security forces on unruly mobs resulting in over 15 deaths.
11. One would have expected the BJP, which aspires to come to power in New Delhi after the next elections, to exercise self-restraint and resist the urge to exploit the situation for partisan political purposes. The expectations have been belied. Its crude attempts to exploit the situation with an eye on the next elections have added oil to fire and are threatening to take J&K back to 1989, when the insurgency started. All the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism gains of recent years in the State face the danger of being wiped out by the Government's inept handling and the BJP's cynical exploitation of it.
12. In the situation as it is developing in J&K, nobody seems to be interested in national interests and in protecting the lives, property and economic interests of its citizens--- whatever be their religion. Partisan political interests have taken precedence over national interests.
13. Public opinion should force the Government and the BJP to wake up and prevent a slide back to 1989. Otherwise, the Indian Mujahideen, whoever is behind it, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence will be having the last laugh. (12-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )


Read more at...
http://jihaditerror.blogspot.com/2008/08/jihadi-terror-wears-now-separatist.html

BJP opposed to opening of Muzaffarabad road route
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday said it is opposed to any move by the government to open up the Muzaffarabad road route to Pakistan for trade "in the present circumstances."
"The party is in favour of normal relations and trade with Pakistan. But in the present circumstances any step by the government to open trade through Muzaffarabad would send wrong signals especially when the separatists are demanding the same," party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad told reporters here.
Stressing that a solution to the problem was possible only through "dialogue", the party reiterated that there has been no economic blockade and the issue has been blown out of proportion by the separatist forces.
"The truck movement in and out of the valley is normal and there is no economic blockade. The separatist forces are trying to blow it out of proportion because they have been caught on the wrong foot on the land issue of Amarnath," Prasad said.
The separatists with the help of some politicians are trying to create a series of blockade while the reality is that daily 400-500 trucks are moving in and out of the valley, he added.
Meanwhile as per sources, BJP feels that the "government is relying on the issue to die down on its own after Yatra which completes on August 17" and is not making "serious efforts to solve the issue."
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200808122121.htm
BJP slams UPA constituents, asks PM to come clean on colleagues
New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday criticised the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), taking exception to two allies arguing for lifting the ban on the terror outfit SIMI and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) giving a call to Kashmir's fruit growers to cross the Line of Control (LOC).
“Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav have shamefully advocated the lifting of the ban on the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), which is not only anti-national but also follows the philosophy of Taliban,” BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters here.
A tribunal last week ordered lifting the ban on SIMI, though the Supreme Court overturned the ruling.
“Now the PDP has incited people from Kashmir to drive out trucks and cross over to Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-administered Kashmir capital). The present composition of the UPA is hurting national and economical interests of the country,” Rudy said.
Earlier in the day, two people were killed and dozens injured when security forces opened fire at a group of fruit merchants who were trying to march to the LoC, dividing Kashmir, as high tension prevailed in the Kashmir Valley.
Thousands of fruit growers and others, alleging "economic blockade" by protesters in Jammu over the Amarnath land row, had gathered in Sopore, an apple trade centre, and at many places of the valley to walk over to Pakistan-administered Kashmir using the Srinagar-Uri-Muzaffarabad highway.
Violent demonstrations on the Jammu-Srinagar highway had caused disruption in the supply of medicines, food items and other commodities to the valley.
Fruit supplies to other states of India from Kashmir by road, which is the only motorable link to the valley, were also stopped.
“The Amarnath issue is lingering for the past 41 days. The government did not have sense and responsibility to take up the matter early and take necessary action,” Rudy said.
He said the BJP Monday launched its three-day 'jail bharo' or court arrest campaign and its thousands of activists and leaders have been arrested across the country.
He said party leader Vijay Goel and Harsh Vardhan were arrested among other activists for staging protest at Jantar Mantar in the heart of New Delhi. Around 2,000 people were arrested in Rajasthan. The workers were later released on bail.
“Some 3,000 party workers were arrested in Madhya Pradesh. More than 1,000 were arrested in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While hundreds were arrested in Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” he said.
Rudy said the party could not hold protest in Maharashtra and Jammu due to heavy rains and in Uttarakhand due to panchayat polls.


http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=88435#
Mr Shivraj Patil, go home!
29 Jul, 2008, 0536 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: These are our brothers who have gone astray. We have a duty to bring them back to the family fold. It is only through dialogue that a solution is possible: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in the Lok Sabha.

The government had some advance knowledge that such an attack might take place, but what we didn’t have was the place and the time: Shivraj Patil after the Mumbai train blasts.

There is breakthrough in the search for clues. We have sufficient information but we are not going to reveal for the sake of investigations: Shivraj Patil after the Samajhauta blasts The UP government has done their bit. The police have done their bit. The people are vigilant. We have deployed more forces: Shivraj Patil after the Varanasi blasts.

I will not like to name the dangerous outfits. I appreciate people of Rajasthan for showing restraint despite provocation by the perpetrators of violence: Shivraj Patil after the Jaipur blasts.

Afzal Guru... You are asking for the death sentence to be waived for people (the reference is to Sarabjit Singh a death row convict in Pakistan; India says he is a case of mistaken identity and is seeking his pardon) and you are demanding that people from Hindustan should be hanged. What are you doing? You are starting to say that those people should not be hanged and here, you are demanding a hanging: Mr Patil again, drawing a shocking parallel between the Parliament attack convict and the wronged Sarabjit.

These sound bites — a combination of indifference, law enforcement fickleness and reckless tolerance — are the standard fare from the Union home minister each time terror strikes India's hinterland. In the past four years, the home minister or the men in his department tasked with handling the nation's security have rarely opened their eyes to hatred or connected the terror dots. The investigations into the terror attacks have not reached anywhere. And his party's ideological apologism and its reliance on concepts such as "innocent until proven guilty" and "benefit of doubt" offer a free run for the murderous thugs.

The home minister is not the only one aiding this cynical project. Everytime the terrorists target innocents, the leaders of the ruling regime focus on the 'root cause' of the attack. To the regime managers, these are acts of violence by 'our brothers gone astray'. There are also routine calls for compassionate handling of terror crimes. Naturally, there is charge that the government is handcuffing the police at every step of the way.

But nothing seems to shame Shivraj Patil. Not even such numbing statistics as the killings, at last count, of 5,900 people and terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Hyderabad Bangalore and Ahmedabad. He appears to believe that his job ends with making an on-the-spot visit to the site of the terror attack and mouthing few meaningless words.

Already, many in the Congress have begun admitting that sticking with a minister who routinely advertises his cluelessness is plain bad news. In any case when it comes to the government's credibility on national security, the public is not buying it. This just does not augur well for the ruling side.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Mr_Shivraj_Patil_go_home/articleshow/3299913.cms

Self-proclaimed Indian Mujahideen ...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4365020/indian-mujahideen
Jihadi terror in Tamil Nadu...
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20080829251701600.htm
Moorthy Muthuswamy on Frontpage magazine, conducted by Jamie Glazov…
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5C2AF0F9-9FDD-4595-89BA-308CC5C8549A
India Terrorism Assessment – 2007
2,765 people died in terrorism-related violence in India during year 2006. A review of the data indicates that nearly 41 per cent of all such fatalities occurred in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) alone as a result of the Pakistan-backed separatist proxy war in that State. 27 per cent resulted from Left Wing Extremism (Maoism/Naxalism) across parts of 14 States, prominently including Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Karnataka. 23 per cent of the total fatalities in 2006 occurred in the multiple insurgencies of India’s Northeast.
By comparison, year 2005 witnessed a total of 3,236 fatalities in terrorism-related incidents across the country. The fatality index, consequently, registered a definite decrease in year 2006.
At least 231 of the country’s 608 Districts are currently afflicted, at differing intensities, by various insurgent and terrorist movements. Terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir (affecting 12 of the States 14 Districts), in different States of the Northeast (54 Districts) and Left Wing extremism (affecting at least 165 Districts in 14 States, estimate based on end-2005 data) continue to pose serious challenges to the country’s security framework. In addition, wide areas of the country appear to have ‘fallen off the map’ of good governance, and are acutely susceptible to violent political mobilization, lawlessness and organized criminal activity.
Jammu and Kashmir
Since 2002, terrorism-related fatalities have demonstrated a secular decline in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and this trend continued in 2006, with a total of 1,116 persons killed. More than 40,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict since 1989, and, even at present, an average of nearly 100 lives is lost each month in J&K.
Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in Jammu and Kashmir

Civilians
Security Force Personnel
Terrorist
Total
2001
1067
590
2850
4507
2002
839
469
1714
3022
2003
658
338
1546
2542
2004
534
325
951
1810
2005
520
216
996
1732
2006
349
168
599
1116
Source: Institute for Conflict Management database.
(Note: Compiled from news reports and is provisional)
Despite the declines in indices of violence, the State continues to suffer from high levels of violence and subversion. Pakistan’s military regime, which was forced to scale down its proxy-war under intense international scrutiny, has nevertheless shown no indication of dismantling the vast infrastructure of terrorism on its soil. According to the Union Home Ministry’s (MHA) "Status Paper on Internal Security Situation" (presented in Parliament on November 30, 2006), the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir is yet to be dismantled and is being "used by Pak based and Pak ISI sponsored outfits like JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammed], LeT [Lashkar-e-Toiba], Al-Badr, HM [Hizb-ul-Mujahideen], etc."
Amidst the hype on people-to-people contacts and confidence-building measures (CBMs), it is evident that the reduced levels of violence in J&K primarily reflect a tactical rather than strategic shift in the Pakistani calculus, as a two-pronged strategy of parallel talks and terrorism is pursued by the Musharraf regime to secure its ambitions against India.
Talks between India and Pakistan thus continue under the aegis of the Composite Dialogue, even as terrorism in J&K, and sporadically in other parts of the India, persists. At the same time, Pakistan has been complaining bitterly about the slow pace of ‘progress’ towards the goals it seeks to secure on the negotiating table, having failed to achieve these through its vicious campaign of terrorism over 17 years. The peace process, consequently, remains, tactical rather than substantive, as the hiatus between the rival positions on Kashmir remains unbridgeable, and much of the ‘progress’ has been in peripheral areas, such as the restoration of communication links, people-to-people exchanges, Track Two diplomacy and a range of confidence building measures. At the same time, the ground situation in J&K remains a cause for concern, as a stream of infiltrators continues to find its way into the terror wracked State. While the various CBMs currently operational between the two countries may have strengthened processes of 'emotional enlistment', have failed to alter India's and Pakistan's stated positions on the Kashmir issue, or to change the fundamentals of the conflict in and over Kashmir. An end to the bloodshed in the State, consequently, seems as unlikely today as it was at any given point since the dramatic escalation of the militancy in 1989-90.
The Northeast
There has been a marginal improvement in the levels of militancy in the Northeast. While 715 people died in 2005, 627 people were killed in militancy-related violence during 2006.
Nevertheless, certain States of the region have shown remarkable signs of recovery in recent years. Tripura, once considered to be one of the most violent States of the country, recorded 59 insurgency-related fatalities in 2006, down from 75 in 2005, and from a peak of 514 in 2000. Tripura is "carving out a success story in the troubled setting of India’s Northeast, as its Police force reorganizes radically to evolve a counter-insurgency strategy that has left entrenched militant groups in disarray." Building on a "model of a police-led response to terrorism, which saw the country’s most dramatic victory over this modern scourge in Punjab in the early 1990s, Tripura’s Police, under the leadership of its Chief, G.M. Srivastava, has reversed the trajectory of insurgent violence and, crucially, mobilisation… despite continued and vigorous support provided to the insurgent groups by Bangladesh, and the safe haven each of these outfits has been provided in that country."
The gains in Tripura are more than offset by the losses in Manipur, which, at 280 fatalities, now accounts for nearly 45 per cent of the fatalities in the Northeast – with just 5.6 per cent of the region’s population. Manipur thus remains the most violent State in the region, although there is a relative decline in violence, with total fatalities registering a decline from 331 in 2005. While a number of other States in the Northeast have or are being reclaimed from protracted insurgencies, Manipur continues to remain volatile. Large-scale extortion and its impact on ordinary lives, as well as on the lives of people at the helm of affairs in the State, are symptomatic of the virtual collapse of governance in the State.
Assam too remains a disturbed State with 174 deaths in 2006 compared to 242 fatalities in 2005.
Assam, which attracts far greater national attention and accounts for 69 per cent of the population of the Northeast, saw 174 fatalities in 2006, as against 242 in 2005. The militancy in Assam persists despite continuous and successful operations by the Security Forces, with the principal terrorist groups – particularly the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) – finding permanent safe haven and significant state support across the border in Bangladesh.
Nagaland, where a ‘peace process’ has been in place since 1997, saw the third largest number of fatalities in the region in 2006, with 90 dead, overwhelmingly in the fratricidal turf-war between the rival Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. Both the militant outfits (NSCN-IM and NSCN-K) are in cease-fire agreements with the Government in Nagaland, but the Government continues been held hostage to the diktats of the insurgent groups. The process of negotiations has been complicated by insurgent groups that have appropriated the attributes of criminal and extortionist gangs, and successfully circumvent the due process of law by their engagement in the negotiation process with the Government.
The fight against insurgency in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh remains largely successful.
Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in India's Northeast, 2005-2006
States
2005
2006

Civilian
SFs
Terrorist
Total
Civilian
SFs
Terrorist
Total
Assam
149
10
83
242
96
35
43
174
Nagaland
9
0
31
40
9
1
80
90
Meghalaya
2
1
26
29
7
0
17
24
Manipur
138
50
143
331
95
37
148
280
Tripura
34
8
31
73
11
19
29
59
Total
332
69
314
715
218
92
317
627
Source: Institute for Conflict Management
(Note: Compiled from news reports and is provisional)
In spite of the Government’s efforts in bringing all militant outfits to the negotiating table, the region continues to remain disturbed. Indeed, ‘peace processes’ that have consistently failed to get to the bottom of the core issues of the conflict, are themselves fraught with problems, producing a rush to enter into unprincipled agreements with particular, with little concern regarding the broader outcome on other groups, and on the region at large. The prevailing orientation to ‘peace processes’ and negotiations with terrorist groups have often "paralyzed the state and have even occasionally undermined the will of elements within the Security Forces to act with determination against terrorism. They have certainly undermined the capacity of the political and administrative leadership to define coherent policies against terrorism, and to implement these consistently."
In spite of the Government’s efforts in bringing all militant outfits to the negotiating table, the region continues to remain disturbed. Indeed, ‘peace processes’ that have consistently failed to get to the bottom of the core issues of the conflict, are themselves fraught with problems, producing a rush to enter into unprincipled agreements with particular, with little concern regarding the broader outcome on other groups, and on the region at large. The prevailing orientation to ‘peace processes’ and negotiations with terrorist groups have often "paralyzed the state and have even occasionally undermined the will of elements within the Security Forces to act with determination against terrorism. They have certainly undermined the capacity of the political and administrative leadership to define coherent policies against terrorism, and to implement these consistently."
The militant groups operating in various States of the Northeast have usually found refuge in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. Fencing along the 4,096.7 kilometre-long border with Bangladesh, suggested as a remedy to the problem of militancy, has not been completed, leaving ample scope for easy entry and exit by the militants. Similarly, a number of militant groups operating in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur have taken shelter in Myanmar.
Left-Wing Extremism
Accounting for 27 per cent of the total fatalities in India during 2006, Left Wing extremism constitutes what Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh rightly described as the "single biggest internal security challenge" confronting the country. The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), today, exercises dominance over a large swathe of the country’s territory, carry out attacks on security forces and symbols of governance at will. Chhattisgarh has now emerged as one of the principal centres of a co-ordinated Maoist movement. Indeed, with 361 fatalities in 2006, Chhattisgarh is the most violent State after Jammu and Kashmir. While the number of Maoist-affected States in the country is currently pegged at 14, the movement has demonstrated the intent and potential to spread across the length and breadth of the country. The Maoist threat has now overtaken all other insurgencies in the country – at least from the perspective of geographical spread, with various levels of Maoist mobilisation and violence currently afflicting at least 165 Districts in 14 States. Over the past years, moreover, while fatalities in various other insurgencies have tended to decline consistently, fatalities related to the Maoist conflict have continuously augmented.
A total of 742 persons died in Maoist-related violence across the country in 2006, up from 717 in 2005. Chhattisgarh in 2006 emerged as the worst affected State – dramatically displacing Andhra Pradesh – and the Dantewada District was by far the worst off within the State.
Fatalities in Maoist Violence, 2005-2006
States
2005
2006

Civilian
SF
Maoist
Total
Civilian
SF
Maoist
Total
Andhra Pradesh
132
21
167
320
18
7
127
152
Bihar
25
29
52
106
16
5
19
40
Jharkhand
49
27
20
96
18
47
29
94
Karnataka
52
48
26
126
0
0
1
1
Chhattisgarh
13
1
3
17
189
55
117
361
Maharashtra
2
17
8
27
13
3
33
49
Orissa
2
6
4
12
3
4
16
23
West Bengal
1
0
6
7
9
7
4
20
Uttar Pradesh
5
1
0
6
0
0
2
2
Total*
281
150
286
717
266
128
348
742
Source: Institute for Conflict Management database
(Note: Compiled from news reports and is provisional)
According to the Union Home Ministry’s Status Paper on Internal Security, the marginal increase in casualties of civilians is mainly due to high violence levels in Chhattisgarh and to some extent in Jharkhand. The paper noted that, "Chhattisgarh alone accounts for 49.30 per cent of total incidents and 59.80 per cent of total casualties in the current year." There is, however, no assessment of the reasons for the decline in violence in other States – other than Andhra Pradesh, where focused Police action has resulted in a flight of the Maoists – and there is reason to believe that the decline in violence is a Maoist decision, rather than any significant gain on the part of the state Forces. Maoist efforts are evidently and increasingly focused on political mobilization and consolidation over wider areas.
According to the Union Home Ministry’s Status Paper on Internal Security, the marginal increase in casualties of civilians is mainly due to high violence levels in Chhattisgarh and to some extent in Jharkhand. The paper noted that, "Chhattisgarh alone accounts for 49.30 per cent of total incidents and 59.80 per cent of total casualties in the current year." There is, however, no assessment of the reasons for the decline in violence in other States – other than Andhra Pradesh, where focused Police action has resulted in a flight of the Maoists – and there is reason to believe that the decline in violence is a Maoist decision, rather than any significant gain on the part of the state Forces. Maoist efforts are evidently and increasingly focused on political mobilization and consolidation over wider areas.
It is useful to recognize, within this context, that the threat of the Maoists is "not limited to the areas of immediate violence, nor does this threat vanish if violence is not manifested at a particular location for a specific period of time. It is in the complex processes of political activity, mass mobilisation, arms training and military consolidation that the Maoist potential has to be estimated." Significantly, the CPI-Maoist has established "Regional Bureaus across a mass of nearly two-thirds of the country's territory, and these regions are further sub-divided into state, special zonal and special area committee jurisdictions, where the processes of mobilisation have been defined and allocated to local leaders. This structure of organisation substantially reflects current Maoist plans, but does not exhaust their perspectives or ambitions. There is further evidence of preliminary activity for the extension of operations to new areas including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya, beyond what is reflected in the scope of the regional, zonal and state committees." Maoists have also articulated a new strategy to target urban centres in their "Urban Perspective Document", drawing up guidelines for "working in towns and cities", and for the revival of a mobilization effort targeting students and the urban unemployed. Two principal 'industrial belts' have been identified as targets for urban mobilisation: Bhilai-Ranchi-Dhanbad-Calcutta and Mumbai-Pune-Surat-Ahmedabad. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) on December 5, 2006, that Maoists were now planning to target important installations in major cities of India. Patil said "Like forests provide safe hideouts to Naxalites in tribal areas, the cities also provide them cover. Taking advantage of this, they plan to target major installations in cities."
The Maoist menace continues to expand, except where it has been confronted by coherent use of force – as is presently and substantially the case in Andhra Pradesh, where area domination exercise under the leadership of the local Police, backed by the armed reserve forces and the Grey Hounds, and a well-developed intelligence network, have succeeded in beating back the Naxalites to a large extent, and have forced their leadership into flight. The Andhra Pradesh Police has long prepared for this confrontation and has consistently developed its capacities to engage with the Maoists in their ‘strongholds’, though it has been repeatedly inhibited by political constraints from effective action. These constraints appear, for the moment, to have been lifted.
Other States, however, remain far from prepared. Indeed, a consistent feature across all the major Maoist-affected States is that they have extraordinarily poor policing capacities. As against a national average of 122 police personnel per 100,000 population, and some peaceful States with ratios as high as 854/100,000 (Mizoram) and 609/100,000 (Sikkim), Bihar has just 57, Jharkhand – 85, Chhattisgarh – 103 and Orissa – 90, and even Andhra Pradesh, just 98 per 100,000 population. Worse, there is ample evidence that large proportions of the Central allocation for police modernisation and up-gradation remain unspent or are being diverted or mis-spent. Utilization of funds has been particularly poor over the years in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
Islamist Terrorism outside J&K and the Northeast
At least 270 people died in Islamist terrorist violence in locations outside J&K and the Northeast during 2006. The significant incidents included:
March 7: At least 21 civilians were killed and 62 others injured in three serial bomb explosions at a temple and railway station in Varanasi. Seven bombs were later defused, including four that had been planted on the Gowdolia-Dasashwamedh Ghat Road near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Hours after the blasts, a suspected LeT terrorist was shot dead during an encounter with the police in the Gosaiganj area on the outskirts of Lucknow city.
April 14: Two bombs exploded inside the Jama Masjid at Delhi injuring approximately 14 persons, including a woman and a girl.
June 1: Three suspected LeT terrorists were shot dead during an abortive attempt to storm the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu organization, at Nagpur in Maharashtra.
July 11: At least 200 persons were killed and over 700 others injured in seven bomb blasts targeting the railway network in the city of Mumbai. First class compartments of local trains at Mira-Bayandhar, Jogeshwari, Mahim, Santacruz, Khar, Matunga and Borivli stations on the Western Railway were targeted.
September 8: Forty people killed and 65 sustain injuries in three bomb explosions at Malegaon town in the Nashik District of Maharashtra.
According to the MHA’s Status Paper, the current strategy of Pakistan-based terrorist groups is to:
· Maintain a continuous flow of finances to sustain the terrorist networks in India
· Target vital installations and economic infrastructure in India
· Recruit and train local modules
· Attack soft targets like market places, public transport system, places of worship and congregation, etc.
· Provoke communal tensions to create a wedge between communities
· Supply hardware through land and sea routes
The Status Paper discloses that the LeT and JeM also use territory and elements in Bangladesh and Nepal for movement of terrorists and finances. Army chief J. J. Singh, on December 27, 2006, stated that "As terrorists are finding it hard to penetrate the fence and new anti-infiltration systems placed all along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and in Punjab… The areas bordering Nepal and Bangladesh are still porous and intelligence reports suggest that terrorists are trying to use them to infiltrate into India."
According to data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management, at least 81 Inter-Services Intelligence-Jihadi modules have been disrupted just over the years 2004-2006, leading to hundreds of arrests across India – outside Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast – in locations that extend from Uttaranchal in the North, to Andhra Pradesh in the South, and from Gujarat in the West to West Bengal in the East. These modules had been tasked to target security and vital installations, communication links, and commercial and industrial centres, as well as to provoke instability and disorder by circulating large quantities of counterfeit currency and by drug trafficking. The National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan had stated, on July 28, 2006, that Indian security and nuclear installations are under "very serious threat" from the LeT, which may be planning a "major assault".
Worse, terrorist attacks by Pakistan-backed groups have occurred in places as far as Delhi, Mumbai, Malegaon, and Varanasi in 2006. Terrorist attacks in places like Mumbai and Varanasi in 2006 and earlier at Bangalore (December 28, 2005) and New Delhi (October 29, 2005) are only the more visible evidence of a long-term war of attrition by Pakistani state agencies and their jihadi surrogates, intended to undermine India’s political stability, by increasingly attacking its economic, scientific and technological strengths. The frequency, spread and, in some cases, intensity of these operations in other parts of the country has seen some escalation in the past years, as international pressure on Pakistan to end terrorism in J&K has diminished levels of ‘deniable’ engagement in that theatre, and as violence in J&K demonstrates a continuous secular decline since the events of September 11, 2001 in the US.
It is important to note, however, that despite occasional and inevitable terrorist ‘successes’, this relentless strategy – which has targeted virtually every concentration of Muslim populations in India for decades – has overwhelmingly failed to secure a base within the community, beyond a minuscule radical fringe. Further, the record of intelligence and security agency successes against such subversion and terror, although lacking the visibility and drama of a terrorist strike, is immensely greater than the record of the successes of this strategy.

http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/index.html

Latest on satp: http://satp.org/satporgtp/latest/index.html

Related links
All links are from: http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/Archives/5_25.htm
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http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume2/Fault2-JafaF.htm
· Darkness and Light - - Kanchan Lakshman, SAIR
· Ends and Beginnings -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Populist Follies, Confounded State -- Saji Cherian, SAIR
· Terror, Migrants and Politics -- Bibhu Prasad routray, SAIR
· No Surprises in Bangalore -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Reframing 'Strategic Depth' -- Kanchan Lakshman, SAIR
· Shadow Over the festival of Light -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Belated Adventures -- Bibhu Prasad Routray,SAIR
· Another 'Module' Implodes -- K.P.S. Gill, SAIR
· A Prime Minister Speaks: Finally, a Clear Voice on Terror -- K. P. S. Gill, SAIR
· Maoist Insurgencies: The Eclipse of Governance -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Naxalites: While We Were Sleeping -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· "Food for Thought" -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Salvaging a Relationship -- E.N. Rammohan, SAIR
· Bad Medicine for a Red Epidemic -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· The Chasm between Rhetoric and Reality -- G. Parthasarathy, SAIR
· Terror and Democratic Resilience -- Kanchan Lakshman, SAIR
· Left Wing Rampage -- Saji Cherian, SAIR
· Terrorism & Legal Policy in India - Saji Cherian, Faultlines
· Pakistan Explores a Political End-Game -- Praveen Swami, SAIR
· Stumbling out of the Bind -- K.P.S. Gill, SAIR
· Mounting Tensions over Illegal Migrants and Terror Bases -- Sanjay K. Jha, SAIR
· Strategic Realignment -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Rare Justice -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Leftist Carnage -- Sanjay K Jha, SAIR
· The Delhi Declaration: Convergence on Terror -- Ajai Sahni, SAIR
· Bihar: Expanding Left-Wing Violence -- Sanjay K. Jha, SAIR
· Running Guns in India's Northeast -- Bibhu Prasad Routray, SAIR
· The Maoist Maze -- Sanjay K. Jha, SAIR
· Anti-terror Law Agitates an Indian Frontier -- Wasbir Hussain, SAIR
· New Theatre of Islamist Terror -- K P S Gill, SAIR
· The Privatisation of Terror -- Sanjay K. Jha, SAIR
· Diplomatic Tourism: Powell in South Asia... Again -- K.P.S. Gill, SAIR
· Combating Organised Crime: A Case Study of Mumbai City - Sumita Sarkar & Arvind Tiwari, Faultlines
· Survey of Conflicts & Resolution in India's Northeast -- Ajai Sahni, Faultlines
· 'Networking' the Northeast: Partners in Terror -- P. V. Ramana, Faultlines
· The Siliguri Corrider: Question Mark on Security-- Pinaki Bhattacharya, Faultlines
· Three Matryoshkas: Ethnicity, Autonomy and Governance -- Sushil K. Pillai, Faultlines
· Violence & Hope in India's Northeast -- S.K. Sinha, Faultlines
· The Terrorist Economy in India's Northeast: Preliminary Explorations -- Ajai Sahni, Faultlines
· Cross-Border Human Traffic in South Asia: Demographic Invasion, Anxiety and Anger in India's Northeast -- Wasbir Hussain, Faultlines
· India and Pakistan in a Quagmire: Superpower Games & Human Tragedies -- Vijendra Singh Jafa, Faultlines
· India's Northeast: Rejuvenating a Conflict-riven Economy -- Gulshan Sachdeva, Faultlines
· The ISI Reaches East: Anatomy of a Conspiracy -- Jaideep Saikia, Faultlines
· An Indian assessment: Low Intensity Conflict & High Intensity Crime -- Prakash Singh, Faultlines
· India: Towards a Political Economy of Intra-State Conflict -- Rakesh Gupta, Faultlines
· 'Naxalism': The Retreat of Civil Governance -- Ajai Sahni, Faultlines
· The Myth of Tranquility -- Mamang Dai, Faultlines
· Ten O'clock to bed: Insouciance in the face of Terror -- Vijendra Singh Jafa, Faultlines
· Contours of Non-military Intervention -- Vijendra Singh Jafa, Faultlines
· Security & Development in India's Northeast: An Alternative Perspective -- Ajai Sahni & J. George, Faultlines
· Terrorism, Institutional Collapse & Emergency Response Protocols -- K.P.S. Gill, Faultlines
· On Justice Delayed -- M.L. Sharma, Faultlines
· Caste, Politics & the Cycle of Strife -- Mammen Matthew, Faultlines
· Counterinsurgency Warfare: The Use & Abuse of Military Force-- Virendra Singh Jafa, Faultlines
· Administrative Policies & Ethnic Disintegration: Engineering Conflict in India's North East -- Vijendra Singh Jafa, Faultline

Video: terror in Kashmir, 1990

Video: terror in Kashmir, 1990
http://rameshnaidoo.blogspot.com/2008/08/terror-on-kashmiri-minorities-yahoo.html

Fasadi, not jihadi

Fasadi, not Jihadi
10 Aug 2008, 0043 hrs IST,TNN


It is safe to assume that the Indian Mujahideen, which prides itself on being a terrorist organization, killed innocents in Gujarat, uses a logo displaying guns on either side of the Holy Book, sends threatening email signed by a split personality (both "Al Arbi" and "Al Hindi"), would like to be judged by Quranic law.

I presume they would not suggest the application of Sharia to non-Muslims. We Indians are unique in many ways: include among them the depressing fact that we have had terrorists from four major faiths - Muslims in Kashmir, Christians in Nagaland, Sikhs in Punjab and Hindus in Assam’s ULFA. Terror has been a constant weapon of Maoists and Naxalites, none of them waving a green banner.

The Quran makes a very clear distinction between legitimate war, a jihad, and illegitimate violence that spreads havoc among the innocent, a fasad. A fasadi is one who "spreads mischief through the land". The Quranic word entered our language and is used commonly for a communal riot. The Urdu-English dictionary in my office lists some of its meanings as "disturbance, trouble, outbreak of rebellion, dissension, mischief...."

It appears in the Quran, in Verse 32 of Surah 5, in the context of the first murder, when Cain killed Abel, his brother, who had done no harm. The verse is a powerful indictment of anyone who kills innocents: "That if anyone slew a person (through fasad) it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people." An innocent’s death kills something in the whole community; protecting an innocent individual is akin to saving the whole. The worst mischief is, in the words of Abdullah Yusuf Ali, "treason against the state, combined with treason against Allah, as shown by overt crimes." For this crime, "four alternative punishments are mentioned, any one of which is to be applied according to circumstances, viz., execution, crucifixion, maiming or exile". I have used Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation and notes because they are accepted internationally. The message is supplemented by other verses (as for instance Surah 30:41).

It is instructive to note how the two most Islamic states, Saudi Arabia and Iran, one Sunni and the other Shia, punish Muslim terrorists. Saudi toughness is now exemplary to those who believe in tough methods. On Tuesday, August 5, Iran executed Yaghoob Mirnehad in the city of Zahedan because he was found guilty of involvement in Jundallah, an armed group operating along the Iran-Pakistan border along Baluchistan. Afzal Guru would not stand much of a chance in either Saudi Arabia or Iran.

When a fasadi calls himself a jihadi, it is an attempt to gain legitimacy among Muslims. The intermittent use of Quranic verses by the Indian Mujahideen is designed to reinforce the impression of Quranic sanction. Even a cursory examination shows how this terrorist group has snatched text out of context. Take the deliberately provocative quotation in one of their emails: "We are guiltless of you and whatever you worship besides Allah: we have rejected you and there has arisen between us and you enmity and hatred forever - unless you believe in Allah and Him alone." The idea clearly is to establish a Quranic sanction for hatred and enmity between Hindus and Muslims. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to reach this conclusion.

They have arbitrarily plucked out lines from a much longer verse about the great patriarch Abraham, who left home after his father began to worship many gods instead of the One Allah. But the "hatred" is for apostasy, not the person. Where the Indian Mujahideen have put a full stop, there is only a colon in the original. Abraham also says that he will pray for his father. He does not threaten to murder his father in the name of Allah, which the Indian Mujahideen seem to believe is their wanton right.

The Quran insists that that while there are differences among faiths, it is up to Allah, and not man, to be the judge. For man, there is a clear principle (Surah 2:256): "La iqra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion)." (This instruction, incidentally, comes just after Ayat ul Kursi, a magnificent evocation to the power of Allah and his protection of man.) A second principle is equally unambiguous: "Lakum deen-e kum wal ya deen (Your religion for you and my religion for me)." It was not an accident that Ottoman Sultans gave shelter to Spanish Jews after they were driven out by the Catholic Inquisition.

Every jihad is a war fought by a Muslim, but every war fought by a Muslim is not a jihad. Yusuf Ali explains in his note on Surah 9:20: "It may require fighting in Allah’s cause, as a form of self-sacrifice. But its (jihad’s) essence consists in a true and sincere Faith, which so fixes its gaze on Allah, that all selfish or worldly motives seem paltry and fade away...Mere brutal fighting is opposed to the whole spirit of jihad, while the sincere scholar’s pen or preacher’s voice or wealthy man’s contributions may be the most valuable forms of jihad." The Jihad-e-Akbar, or the greater jihad is a struggle to cleanse oneself; war is only the Jihad-e-Asghar, or the lesser jihad.

However, if jihad were only an internal struggle for purification, we would not be discussing it. Islam sanctions war, but with very strict rules. The call for a jihad cannot be given by a maverick. The killing of innocents, women and children is strictly forbidden. The first Caliph, Abu Bakr, laid down the rules when he sent the first armies out to battle:

a jihadi could not betray a trust, misappropriate booty, mutilate a body, kill the old, women or children; he could not even destroy trees or slaughter an animal except for food. Terrorism has no place in jihad.

There is one justification, in Islamic law, for jihad: when a nation becomes a Dar ul Harb (House of War) rather than a Dar ul Islam (House of Islam). Can India be declared a Dar ul Harb?

A Big 19th Century Question has seeped into the 21st.

The collapse of the Mughals from around 1720 witnessed the rise of regional powers, and substantial Muslim populations began living under the rule of Marathas and Rajputs. In 1803, the British broke through Maratha resistance and reached Delhi, where the wobbly Mughals became a protected species. That year, Shah Abdul Aziz, heir of Shah Waliullah and the most respected theologian of his time, declared India a Dar ul Harb because British law would prevail over the law of Islam. This inspired a jihad by his disciples (principally Ahmad Saeed Barelvi and his successors) that lasted till the last quarter of the century; 1857 was only one episode in a long war.

The interesting point is that there had never been a similar fatwa against any Hindu ruler of India, and the Barelvis sought and received help from the Marathas. Muslims never considered living under Hindu rulers a cause for jihad because Hindu rulers respected their right to practise their faith as they wished.

As late as in 1871, Sir William Hunter, the famous ICS officer, was attempting to answer the question, "Are the Indian Mussalmans bound by their Religion to rebel against the Queen?" He recorded the considered views of a number of alim. The answer, in essence, was that if a Muslim was permitted to live by his own law, the Raj could be considered a House of Islam. Muslim personal law was incorporated into the Raj code. Free India, through Constitutional statute and practice, permits Indian Muslims full rights to the exercise of their faith. You may not be able to hear the amplified azaan in London or Washington, but you can in Delhi.

Aberrations like riots do not change this fundamental reality. If that were so, Pakistani Shias would be entitled to declare a jihad against Pakistan since they have repeatedly suffered from communal violence.

Justice and equality are the heart and soul of the Quran, and the Holy Book knows what justice would do to a fasadi.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Fasadi_not_Jihadi/articleshow/3346781.cms

In chamcha country, peanut republic, anything goes including jihadi terror to stay in satta

In chamcha country, peanut republic, anything goes including jihadi terror to stay in satta

I suppose Sushma Swaraj’s allegation are meant to shock the nation that conspiring empress’ chamchas can go to any extent, including the use of suitcase votes to stay in sattaa. I wish every success to Sushma’s endeavors to prove the charges and send the chamchas to Luciana together with the empress. Innocent lives to complement suitcase votes? Shocking, beyond compare.

When there is death of outrage in the state, how to shock a nation? Sushma has tried. I hope she will succeed. The state is in total disarray with no rule of law in operation. Constitution and rules of procedures in the houses of Parliament have become laughing stocks, exemplified by the laughter of Somnath Chatterjee as he admonishes the shouting MPs. What to say of Somnath clining to power as MP when he has been expelled from his party? I suppose he is not beyond the law. But then, he may think he makes the law having studied for barrister-at-law and being a bhadralok Somnathda.

The problem is that these politico-s have lost all sense of shame and are immune to anything but suitcases seem to make them salivate.

kalyanaraman

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2462911/Muslim-students-back-killing-in-the-name-of-Islam.html

Muslim students back killing in the name of Islam
By Duncan Gardham,Telegraph.uk
July 27, 2008

A third of Muslim university students believe killing in the name of religion can be justified, a survey has revealed.

A study on the attitudes of students has found that 28 per cent said killing could be justified if the religion was under attack and another four per cent supported killing in order to "promote and preserve" the religion.

Over half of Muslims, 53 per cent, said killing in the name of religion was never justifiable but among non-Muslim students that figure was 94 per cent.

While most students showed a typical generation gap where their parents were more religious than they were – 72 per cent – a significant 18 per cent said they were more strict in their religious observance than their parents.

The importance of sharia law to most Muslim was underlined by the 40 per cent who said they supported its introduction into law for Muslims in Britain, although 37 per cent opposed it.

A third of those surveyed supported the creation of a worldwide Muslim caliphate but 25 per cent opposed it and 42 per cent said they were not sure.

Half of the students said they would not be supportive of a friend who wanted to leave Islam.

Hannah Stuart, from the Centre for Social Cohesion, co-author of the report, said: "These findings are deeply alarming. Students in higher education are the future leaders of their communities yet significant numbers of them appear to hold beliefs which contravene liberal, democratic values.

"In addition there are signs of growing religious segregation on campus. These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said that there is no extremism in British universities."

There are 90,000 Muslims among Britain's 2.3 million students in high education and the online survey asked 600 Muslims and 800 non-Muslims for their views on the religion.

Radicalisation among students has been a problem since the 1990s, with three of the July 7 bombers having attended university, along with most of the gang which planned a fertilizer bomb attack on the Bluewater shopping centre and the Ministry of Sound night club.

Ahmed Omar Sheikh, convicted of the kidnap and murder of the journalist Daniel Pearl, was a former student at LSE and Waseem Mughal, convicted of running a website for al-Qaeda in Iraq, was a former biochemistry student at Leicester University.

Mughal was a member of the university Islamic society, and the fertilizer bomber Jawad Akbar attended Islamic society meetings at Brunel University, while Yassin Nassari, convicted of smuggling plans for a Qassam rocket into Britain, was president of the University of Westminster's Islamic society at its Harrow campus in Northwest London.

The Government has attempted to encourage lecturers to report students they suspect of radical behaviour but the University and College Union has refused to do so.

A quarter of those surveyed were members of their Islamic society – compared with six per cent for other faiths - but only a third said the societies promoted interfaith activities.

Over a third of students said they used the campus prayer room regularly and 42 per cent said they regularly attended Friday prayers, although only a small proportion attending prayers were female.

None of the students admitted to being gay or lesbian and 25 per cent said they had little or no respect for others who were.

When it came to wearing the hijab or headscarf, 59 per cent said it was important, with more women than men agreeing, but 31 per cent said it was not and 10 per cent said they were not sure, with more men than women being uncertain.

A quarter of students said men and women were not equal in the eyes of Allah and seven per cent were not sure, with more women than men feeling unequal.

By contrast 76 per cent of non-muslim believed that men and women were not equal in Islam.

Nearly half of women and 36 per cent of men believe that the "free mixing" of sexes is not acceptable, while nine per cent of women and 17 per cent of men are unsure.

Despite their adherence to religion it did not stop most Muslim from mixing with other religions – 37 per cent said they had friends at university from all sorts of different backgrounds and 38 per cent said religion was not an issue when choosing friends and only eight per cent said most of their friends at university were Muslim.
More than two thirds of the students said Islam was compatible with the Western notion of democracy, and only 13 per cent said it was not, although 19 per cent were not sure. Half of non-Muslim students thought the two were incompatible.

Three quarters of the students also said that it is possible to be both Muslim and British equally, although only three per cent said being British came first. Nearly half said they were not bothered whether they married a British partner or not.

On the other hand 57 per cent of the students said Muslims serving in the armed forces should have the right to opt out of the army if they are required to fight in Muslim countries and 25 per cent said they were not sure.

The National Union of Students said: "We know there is concern about the serious issue of violent extremism on campus, but there is a wealth of evidence to show that this is not widespread. This report actually undermines cohesion and the joint efforts of students, institutions and government in tackling violent extremism."

Related story:

Vow to raise Holy War Kids @ http://worldmonitor.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/vow-to-raise-kids-for-holy-war/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/turkey2/print

Istanbul rocked by bomb attacks

Robert Tait in Ankara

guardian.co.uk,

Monday July 28 2008

An injured man is taken to hospital following the explosions in Istanbul. Photograph: AFP/Getty images

Turkey's political landscape was plunged further into turmoil last night when two bombs exploded in a packed pedestrian square in Istanbul, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 150, in what officials called a terrorist attack.

In the deadliest bomb attacks in the country for almost five years, the two explosions, a few metres apart, were detonated within minutes of each other.

They were set off by devices left in rubbish bins in a busy shopping street in Gungoren, a working-class neighbourhood in the west of the city.

The prime minister, Recip Tayyip Erdogan, today cancelled his weekly cabinet meeting in Ankara and travelled to the area hit by the bombs.

The blasts underscored the divisions cutting through the country as a power struggle between secularists and the Islamist-leaning government comes to a head.

The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) faces possible closure by the constitutional court for alleged anti-secularism in a hearing that begins today. Separately, 86 militant secularists were indicted last week for allegedly plotting to unseat the AKP in a violent coup.

The first bomb went off at about 10pm local time. It exploded near a telephone booth, throwing flying glass and debris into crowds that left several people dead or wounded.

As people gathered to help the injured or to see what had happened, a second device went off near a car, killing and maiming more people.

"We know it is a terrorist attack, but which organisation is responsible - we don't yet have that information," said Hayati Yazici, the deputy prime minister.

Early suspicion fell on Kurdish rebels, who have been responsible for countless bomb attacks over the past 25 years.

Islamist radicals have also bombed targets in Turkey; less than three weeks ago they attacked the US consulate in Istanbul.
TV footage last night showed several people lying in pools of blood around the blast site. "Tens of people were scattered around. People's heads and arms were flying in the air," Reuters quoted one witness as saying.

Police said the casualties from the second explosion were increased by the numbers drawn to the scene of the earlier blast.

Huseyin Senturk, who owns a shoe shop near the scene, said: "The first explosion was not very strong. Several people came to see what was going on. That's when the second explosion occurred and it injured many onlookers."

There was early speculation that the explosions may have been caused by a gas leak but Istanbul's governor, Muammer Guler, labelled them a terror attack. He said the explosions had occurred within 12 minutes of each other and that CCTV cameras had filmed the devices being planted.

"This was a heinous attack aimed against innocent citizens and the security of our people," Guler said.

"It did not discriminate between young and old, men or women. There is no doubt this is a terror attack. The fact that there was a crowd in the area has increased the number of casualties."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Turkish TV quoted police sources as saying they had received intelligence of planned attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been blamed for previous incidents.

The PKK today denied any involvement in the bombing. "The Kurdish freedom movement has nothing to do with this event. This cannot be linked to the PKK," Zubeyir Aydar, a rebel leader, said.

The Turkish army last week stepped up attacks on PKK bases in northern Iraq. More than 40,000 people have died in clashes between the army and the PKK since 1984.

Yesterday's bombings were Turkey's second attack this month and the worst since November 2003, when 60 people were killed in Istanbul in four blasts, blamed on al-Qaida. Gunmen killed three police officers outside the US consulate in Istanbul three weeks ago before they were shot dead.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/turkey

Analysis
Tension between secular state and religious faith
Robert Tait

The Guardian,

Monday July 28 2008

Bomb attacks, blamed principally on Kurdish guerrillas but also perpetrated by Islamist extremists, have killed hundreds and brought carnage to Turkish cities, resorts and military targets for a generation.

But the tension between moderate Islam and the state goes back further, to the foundation of the modern secular Turkish state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk more than 80 years ago.

Islam may have been removed from the offices of state, but it has remained the majority culture, and moderate Islamist parties have proven popular. The AKP's forerunner, the Islamic Welfare party, won power in 1996, only to be driven out a year later on similar charges to those now facing the AKP.

The attempt to close the AKP was triggered in February by a constitutional amendment - since annulled - lifting the universities' ban on the female headscarf, long suspected by the secular establishment as a symbol of political Islam.

But a 161-page indictment compiled by the chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, alleges numerous other anti-secular moves, including attempts to clamp down on alcohol by local authorities.

Proposals to bring in halal food standards were never enacted but have led to many firms feeling obliged to apply them, prosecutors say.

Some teachers point to a surge in religious education. Health professionals have also reported a rise in cases of religious female doctors declining to treat male patients, and husbands refusing to allow their wives to be treated by male doctors.

Alevis, a heterodox sect that shuns many traditional Islamic practices, complain of being subjected to "neighbourhood pressure" - with devout locals checking to see if they are fasting during Ramadan and inviting women to Qur'an-reading sessions at which they must wear headscarves.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/turkey.islam

Islam: Secularists raise tension as Turkish court prepares landmark judgment on ruling AKP
· Leading prosecutor wants Islamist party shut down
· EU officials condemn move as anti-democratic


Robert Tait in Ankara

The Guardian,

Monday July 28 2008


A senior Turkish prosecutor has raised tensions on the eve of a landmark court case that could leave Turkey without a government and deeply divided by warning that it is in danger of an "intolerant" Islamic takeover.

In an interview with the Guardian, Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu, chairman of the association of judges and prosecutors (Yarsav) and deputy to Turkey's chief prosecutor, said the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) was seeking a system of sharia law that would destroy the country's secular system and transform it into an Islamic state.

He claimed the government had exposed its true agenda in a series of measures, including attempts to establish halal standards in food production, signing bilateral agreements underwritten by "Islamic laws" with fellow Muslim countries, increasing religious education at state schools and trying to allow female students to wear headscarves at university.

The moves were aimed at reviving an Islamic consciousness dormant since the end of the Ottoman Empire, Eminagaoglu warned, leading to a religious society where secular lifestyles were discouraged and women denied equal status.

"The basis of the case against the AKP is intolerance," he said.

"A sharia system is, by its nature, intolerant of other thoughts, beliefs and practices. Just like fascism in Italy or nazism in Germany, sharia is a sensitive issue in Turkey. With a small spark it can turn into a social movement. We had a sharia-based system during Ottoman times and our society still has traces of it. We don't want to go back to that."

The comments came as the constitutional court prepares to open hearings today that could result in the AKP's dissolution. The court's 11 judges will consider an application by the chief prosecutor, Aburrahman Yalcinkaya - Eminagaoglu's immediate boss at the supreme court of appeals - to close the party and ban 71 senior members, including the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the president Abdullah Gul, from party politics for anti-secularism.

A decision is expected this week. If the party is closed and its leaders banned, it could lead to early elections, with the AKP competing under a different banner and figures such as Erdogan running as independents.

Eminagaoglu's remarks appeared timed to counter fears among Turkey's secular establishment that the AKP is winning a PR battle at home and abroad to depict itself as innocent. The party, which has held power since 2002 and was re-elected last July with 47% of the vote, denies the accusations against it and claims it is the victim of a "judicial coup". It has won the backing of senior European officials, who have condemned the attempted closure as anti-democratic and warned that it could damage Turkey's EU membership bid.

However, Eminagaoglu insisted the case heeded EU regulations and said European critics understood neither Turkey nor Islam. "Islam is not like Christianity. It doesn't just aim to be practised in the realm of belief but also to regulate and rule the state," he said.

"If you look at Islamic countries, the headscarf isn't an expression of religious belief but the symbol of an Islamic regime. Turkey isn't an Islamic country, it's a democratic country. For Europe to be correctly informed, its officials should talk not just to the governing party, which is engaged in anti-secular activity, but to other institutions in Turkey."

The blunt remarks contrasted with the conciliatory tone struck by Erdogan, who called at the weekend for national unity. He told the pro-secularist newspaper, Hurriyet, that the impasse had been created by an "elitist group" who wanted to govern in their own interests.

However, senior AKP figures privately admit that the party needlessly alarmed opponents by reforming the law banning headscarves at universities and by pushing Gul's presidential candidacy last year, despite the military's opposition because of his Islamist past.

"There are ordinary men and women on the street who do not want to change their lifestyles and are opposed to our party," said Yasar Yakis, an AKP MP and former foreign minister. "We should have done something to dissipate the worries of those who believe we will bring in sharia law."

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, July 28, 2008
First Published: 18:49 IST(28/7/2008)
Last Updated: 20:28 IST(28/7/2008)
Blasts in B'lore, Ahmedabad a conspiracy: BJP
BJP on Monday made a surprise allegation that the weekend blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad were a conspiracy to divert attention from the 'cash-for-votes' scandal.
The party also claimed that the blasts in two states ruled by it also made it believe that there was something more than meets the eye.
"The blasts are a conspiracy to divert attention from the cash-for-votes scandal," party leader Sushma Swaraj said in a press conference in New Delhi claiming that the incidents took place just a few days after the government won the trust vote.
"These are not off-the-cuff remarks. I mean what I say," she added.
When asked if she was pointing towards the Centre and alleging that the Congress-led UPA government had a role in the blasts, she said, "I have said what I wanted, it is for you all to interpret the rest."
The senior BJP leader also alleged that the blasts were an "attempt to win-over the Muslim votes which got divided after the pro-American deal pursued by the government."
Swaraj claimed that the blasts and its locations had enough "circumstantial evidence" to support her charge.
"Attacks in two BJP-ruled states in a span of two days and within four days of the UPA government winning the confidence vote has some meaning and what I am saying is proved by enough circumstantial evidence," she said.
She said absence of an anti-terror law like that of the POTA was the prime reason for the increased terrorist activity in the country.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=cc5386c6-fb16-46c8-aeba-c12f5e8cf68d

BJP points finger at government for terror blasts
July 28th, 2008 - 9:36 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post
New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) The terror blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad are a “conspiracy to divert attention from the cash-for-votes scandal”, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj alleged Monday and claimed the party has “enough circumstantial evidence” to prove it. “The blasts are a conspiracy to divert attention from the cash-for-votes scandal. It is not a off-the-cuff remark. I mean what I say,” Swaraj told reporters here.
“Attacks in two BJP-ruled states in a span of two days and within four days of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government winning the trust vote has some meaning, and what I am saying is proved by enough circumstantial evidence,” Swaraj said.
In the serial bombings in Bangalore Friday, eight bomb blasts ripped through the city, killing one person and injuring seven others. In the Ahmedabad bombings Saturday, 21 blasts tore through the city, killing 50 people and injuring over 200 people. Both Karnataka and Gujarat are BJP-ruled states.
When asked if she was pointing fingers at the Manmohan Singh government as being behind the blasts, she said: “I have said what I wanted, it is for you all to interpret the rest.”
Three BJP MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora - alleged on the day of the trust vote July 22 that Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel had bribed them to abstain from the crucial floor test.
The three waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha and alleged they had been offered Rs.90 million each to abstain during the trust vote and been paid an advance of Rs.10 million each.
While both Amar Singh and Patel have denied the charges, a seven-member committee has been formed to probe the matter.
Swaraj said the blasts were an “attempt to win-over the Muslim votes after the pro-American deal pursued by the government” - referring to the India-US civil nuclear deal.
She said the absence of an anti-terror law like POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act) was the prime reason for the increased terrorist activity in the country.
“Let them replace the name and not call it POTA, but the country today badly needs an anti-terror law. There is this misconception that POTA is against the Muslims, it is in fact against the mujrims (culprits),” she said.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/bjp-points-finger-at-government-for-terror-blasts_10076988.html

BJP, Congress disunited in war against terror

CNN-IBN (July 28, 2008 20;23)

SCATHING ATTACK: Sushma hints at a conspiracy to the fact that two BJP ruled states were attacked within 24 hours.

New Delhi: The war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress over the serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad has intensified.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has raised an accusing finger at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government for the blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

"The blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad reek of a conspiracy to divert attention from the cash for vote allegations and also to bring back the Muslim vote which the Government has lost due to the nuclear deal," Sushma alleged.

Sushma also hinting at a conspiracy to the fact that two BJP ruled states came under attack in 24 hours.

"The attacks in two BJP-ruled states in a span of two days and within four days of the UPA Government winning the confidence vote has some meaning and what I am saying is proved by enough circumstantial evidence," she said.

The Congress reacted strongly to Sushma's charge.

Congress Spokesperson Manish Tiwari said the party would be responding legally to BJP's charge.

"How can she make such an irresponsible statement? We will take legal recourse," Tiwari said.

Congress media cell chief M Veerappa Moily, too, reacted angrily to BJP's accusations.

"Sushma Swaraj's words are outrageous and full of venom against the Congress. The BJP has forgotten the tenets of dharma after losing the trust vote. They are linking the terror attacks with the loss in the trust vote. This matter is above politics and above religion. We will take d matter to the court if required," Moily said.

Meanwhile, the UPA is reported to be considering postponing the Monsoon Session of Parliament from August to November.

The ruling alliance is believed to be worried about being hit by criticism from the Opposition over the terror strikes in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and the cash for votes allegations.

The National Democratic Alliance met on Monday and is reportedly planning about bringing a No Confidence Motion against the Central Government. It is upset with reports about a possible postponement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.


http://www.ibnlive.com/printpage.php?id=69782§ion_id=3

Jihadi terror and the farce of war on terror in Hindusthan

Jihadi terror and the farce of war on terror in Hindusthan

We get sporadic reports of the type listed below and then life goes back to poverty as usual. Smas’aana vairaagyam. There is no concerted and sincere effort to realize that this is a war on jihadism and this has to be fought relentlessly as a war on jihadism and fought to win.

Empress’ chamchas provide periodic sound bytes and go back to their corruption chores. Empress is secure in 10 Janpath and this seems to be the be-all and end-all of ensuring national security, ensuring security for the helpless child in a marketplace who is targeted by the jihadi terrorists. Columnists and security analysts keep guessing what the message of jihadi terrorists is. It is simple, straightforward: it is ok to kill non-believers to achieve jihad. Read the texts which the jihadis believe in to realize this truth.

Kalyanaraman

Two suspected terrorists held in Chennai
28 Jul 2008, 1311 hrs IST,IANS

CHENNAI: The Chennai police on Monday arrested two suspected terrorists believed to be involved in serial bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad during the weekend.

The suspects, Qazi Rahim, 31, and K Abdul Kader, 27, were named by Sheikh Abdul Ghaffoor, who was arrested on Sunday in Tirunelveli, 600 km from Chennai.

Ghafoor was planning blasts in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India on Independence Day, police officials said.

According to the officials, on initial interrogation Ghafoor revealed that he was an operative of a terrorist ring that calls itself "believers in one god", whose kingpin is said to be Pakistan-trained P Ali Abdullah, arrested in 2003 and lodged in high security Puzhal prison, 20 km from here.

Police officials reckon this ring had worked out logistics of the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The back-to-back synchronised bomb blasts hit the cities Friday and Saturday. The attacks claimed the lives of 46 people and left over 150 injured.

While Rahim is from Tirunelveli, Kader is from Chennai. The two were being taken to Tirunelveli for further questioning, the officials added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/2_suspected_terrorists_held_in_TN/articleshow/3295751.cms

7 kg of explosives recovered in Channapatna
Karnataka Bureau (The Hindu, July 28, 2008)
Several persons detained for questioning in connection with blasts in Bangalore

Samples collected at blast sites sent for tests
Bangalore police alert their Kerala counterparts
BANGALORE: Even as the Bangalore police have detained several persons for questioning in connection with the explosions that rocked the city on Friday, the Channapatna police have recovered 7 kg. of explosive material from a blast site.
Though the explosion took place at Channapatna in Ramanagaram district on Thursday, no alert was sounded in Ramanagaram district or other parts of the State.
Director general and Inspector general of Police R. Sri Kumar, who visited the blast sites in the city on Sunday, said that the police were examining the explosive material recovered in Channapatna.
“Many persons are being questioned and we are in the process of gathering information from them. The investigations are progressing satisfactorily,” Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari told presspersons here on Sunday. Mr. Bidari said samples collected at the blast sites had been sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory.
The police have found that the explosives used in Bangalore and Channapatna were similar.
The Bangalore police have alerted their Kerala counterparts after a reporter of a local TV channel received a call from a person speaking Hindi who warned that Kerala was the next target and bombs were likely to explode across the State after 7 p.m. on Sunday.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/28/stories/2008072855460100.htm


Sleeper cells make all the difference to terror strikes

Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru | July 28, 2008 | 07:00 IST

Friday's serial blasts in Bengaluru and a day later in Ahmedabad are an indication that terror outfits are able to strike at will. And providing this capability, is a network of sleeper cells, say agencies involved with the probe.
The Intelligence Bureau says all terror strikes are executed through sleeper cells, with the latter either directly involved in the attacks or, two, by providing logistical support to those who carry out the attacks.
The IB provides the example of Afsar Pasha, a terror suspect arrested in Karnataka who disclosed a plan to blast the Vidhan Soudha and other key installations in Karnataka, to explain how the network operates.
Pasha was the member of a sleeper cell in Karwar, coastal Karnataka, and worked as a mechanic. The IB says most sleeper cell operatives hold a regular job for most part of the year. Arrests across the country show that most of the youth who are part of sleeper cells work as mechanics, STD booth operators and, in some cases, insurance agents.
The IB points out that these jobs involve meeting a lot of people which in turn helps them gather data. Of late, there is also an increasing trend to recruit educated youth. However, their role is largely restricted to data collection and improvising techniques during terror strikes, says IB.
Mechanic Afsar Pasha revealed during his interrogation that his initial job was largely confined to gathering data and providing logistical support. However, as he gained more experience, he was directed to take part in field activities, meaning he had to actively take part in terror strikes.
The IB says based on the interrogation of several terrorists they have gathered considerable information regarding the working of sleeper cells. For the most part they remain inactive, apart from collecting data, training cadres and doing recruitments. The data is passed on to their supervisors through e-mail and/or on the telephone.
Once the decision is taken to strike, a couple of members from the sleeper cells are chosen to carry out the attack. The persons undertaking the attack are known as foot soldiers, the IB says.
A set pattern is that members of local sleeper cells are usually not the ones who carry out an attack in their jurisdiction. A person from another sleeper cell is sent in for this, with the local member only providing logistical support.
The IB also says members of sleeper cells work as a close-knit group. Normally, in a serial terror strike, nearly 10 people are involved. While a team of five would plant the bombs, two work as a back-up and the rest would provide data.
The IB says there is a general belief that the sleeper cells are housed away from the main city or town area, and in busy market areas so that the members can blend in with the crowds. An IB document states, 'It is not necessary for visiting terrorists to make a beeline to the... (local rendezvous points). The handlers from their intelligence agencies provide them with a blueprint of hubs or cells.'
The IB further states that the sleeper cells which are patronised by Pakistan are mainly involved in collection of geographical and geo-strategic information. Until a few years back these cells only undertook intelligence-related work, but with the Indianisation of jihad gaining ground, sleeper cells have been directed to carry out the attacks.
The IB says the functioning of sleeper cells could be summed up as:
 Evaluation of intelligence input
 Selection of target
 Selection of volunteers
 Preparation of bomb squads, usually three of them
 Identification of targets in India
 In case outsiders are doing the strike, their transportation
 Providing safe houses
 Putting together the explosives
 Identifying talent within the cell to plant the device
 Dispersal and evacuation
http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/jul/28vicky.htm

'Terrorists have sent a message that the claim of security is hollow'

Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad | July 28, 2008 | 11:23 IST

"We expected it earlier when other cities like Hyderabad and Jaipur were hit by terrorists," says poet Chinu Modi about the Ahmedabad blasts.
The surprise element was missing when Ahmedabad was rocked by 17 bomb explosions because at the back of people's mind many knew that the Gujarat riots of 2002 may lead to such a violent reaction.
Yet, the blasts of July 26 carry something more than the element of surprise. The act is shocking and incomprehensible because of the mastery of the strategic planning, the perfection of the execution and the bloody impact in terms of the political message it has left behind.
Since the blasts, Ahmedabadis are debating three issues:
1. Experts and common people are stumped to see the selection of the locations for planting the bombs.
2. The blasts were executed when a 'red alert' was declared in Ahmedabad after the blasts in Bangalore.
3. The extent of the involvement of local people and the secrecy maintained by the perpetrators of the act has shocked the residents of the city, which is still known as an 'overgrown village.'
"The blasts are part of the pan-Indian phenomenon and it is also aimed at the Bharatiya Janata Party government," believes Ghanshyam Shah, a former professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an authority on communal riots in Gujarat.
He argues that these blasts may not be exclusively connected to the riots of 2002 when more than 1,000 Muslims died in widespread communal riots after the Sabarmati Express was set on fire burning 59 Hindu passengers at the Godhra railway station.
Professor Shah says there was a surprise when after the violence of the majority, the minority community did not show their anger "in natural process."
He attributes it to the fact that the Muslims of Gujarat are diffident. "I see more and more diffidence in them. Muslims in Gujarat have realised that there is no solution of the issue (communal politics)."
However, he is not denying the involvement of Gujarati Muslims in the serial blasts. "The large terrorist group must have taken the support of local people. But I don't see the widespread support of Gujarati Muslims to such violence at all," he says.
To further support his argument that Gujarati Muslims by and large do not support the blasts to avenge the riots of 2002, he says, "In 1992, Surat witnessed communal riots (some Muslims were then burnt alive). Soon after, the plague spread in the city. At that time, Surti Muslims in the city were heard saying, 'Khuda e sajha kari' (God has punished them). But after the 2002 riots, I see an unusually high level of diffidence in them and we don't hear such remarks."
Professor Shah argues that when the Muslim community lives in isolation and in ghettos, it is easier for outsiders to get a handful of people to support their activity.
One of the surprises of Saturday's blasts was that except one blast in Sarkhej, all the blasts were executed in East Ahmedabad, which includes the highly communally sensitive walled city area. The accuracy of the planning suggests that a person with a complete grip on the social-political mindset of the city and its communal geography must be behind the blasts.
No one in this shaken city doubts that these blasts were planned by someone who has a thorough knowledge of the past 25 years history of communally sensitive areas and the Sangh Parivar's role in it.
The terrorists have targeted the constituencies of four veteran leaders belonging to the saffron brigade. Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Ashok Bhatt, one of the oldest faces of the communal friction in the city, and Dr Pravin Togadia, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader.
Four blasts occurred in Modi's constituency -- Maninagar. Sarkhej is in Shah's constituency while the Dhanvantri hospital in Bapunagar has been run by Dr Togadia for many decades. The blast in Raipur was right at the spot where Bhatt has held daily meetings with his supporters for the last 40 years.
"The planners knew where the victims would go for emergency treatment and they hit those hospitals. L G hospital was targeted because victims from the Maninagar blasts would obviously go there because it is close by. They knew the social geography very well," says Achyut Yagnik, the Ahmedabad-based socio-political thinker.
Yagnik is writing a book on Ahmedabad -- which will complete 600 years in 2011 -- along with fellow writer Suchitra Sheth. He points out that blasts were carried out in BJP-dominated areas of the working class and not in posh or middle class areas.
Secondly, the bombs were planted in places where Dalit and Muslims live side by side. Those well-versed with the communal history of Ahmedabad know how the Dalits and Muslims have been at loggerheads in these areas.
Bapunagar, Raipur, Sarangpur are areas that have seen communal tension in 1985, 1990-1992 and also during the 2002 riots.
"There is no doubt that Hindu-Muslim neighbourhoods have been targeted in these serial blasts," says Yagnik.
In Ahmedabad, the political movement to capture Hindu and Muslim minds is carried on by political parties inside these areas where Dalits and Muslims co-exist side by side. It is not difficult to decipher why these areas and hospitals have been hit by the terrorists.
"The terrorists have served twin goals. By hitting BJP-dominated areas, they have sent the message to the chief minister that his claim of security is hollow. In spite of a red alert in the city, they have shown their capacity to strike at places they want. Second, by hitting hospitals in a cruel and dastardly manner they have caused the maximum damage."
http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/jul/28ahd4.htm

Terror's scary face

The Pioneer Edit Desk

India pays for Congress's folly

Saturday's serial bombings in Ahmedabad, within 24 hours of the terrorist attack on Bangalore, serve to highlight the fact that our internal security situation is rapidly deteriorating even as the Union Government, under the Congress's tutelage and headed by a Prime Minister seemingly indifferent to national concerns, refuses to be distracted from the India-US nuclear deal which has become the symptom of the regime's obsessive compulsive disorder. It is obvious that the bombings -- both in Ahmedabad and Bangalore, and before that in Jaipur -- are aimed at creating panic and spreading fear; those behind the blasts have demonstrated that they can strike anywhere at any time. It is equally obvious that those who planned and carried out these acts of terrorism expect a blowback in the form of communal violence. A third factor which merits mention is that BJP-ruled States are being targeted for murder and mayhem; this perception naturally leads to the conclusion that a larger game is being played whose purpose does not require elaboration. Was the effort to instigate communal riots in Indore during the protest against the Sri Amarnath land issue a part of this conspiracy? In retrospect, it would seem so. Seen against this backdrop, the BJP Governments must rise to the occasion and meet the challenge with unwavering determination: Agent provocateurs will no doubt seek to exploit the situation; they must be spotted, exposed and firmly dealt with. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has rightly described the perpetrators of Saturday's outrage as "enemies of humanity". They must be neutralised and their network of evil should be destroyed.

Strangely, the Union Government has shown little or no interest in last weekend's terrorist strikes, apart from issuing proforma statements condeming the violence and appealing for peace. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who has contributed the most to dismantling the anti-terrorism mechanism put together by the NDA Government, partly on account of the fact that he is unequal to his job and largely to implement the Congress's perverse agenda of appeasing Muslims by pandering to Islamic fanatics who define terrorism as jihad and are at ease with innocent people being slaughtered, has tried to pass the buck to the Governments of Karnataka and Gujarat. According to him, the terrible loss of lives and the resultant disquiet bear testimony to the 'abilities' of local authorities and the police; had he said anything different, there would have been occasion for surprise. The truth is that the chickens of the UPA Government's chicanery are coming home to roost. The Prime Minister and his aides -- among them Mr Patil and a National Security Adviser who, along with intelligence agencies, is busy helping the Congress achieve its political objectives -- have allowed the situation to come to such a sorry pass. They must be held accountable for the consequences; their pious declarations should not distract us from their monumental folly in allowing terrorists to spread their tentacles across the country. Having got rid of POTA and instituted a system that takes a libertine view of terrorism, the UPA Government is now bent upon hobbling the Governments of BJP-ruled States with the intent of preventing them from waging war on terror. Had this not been the case, the UPA Government would not have sat on the laws enacted by the State Assemblies of Rajasthan and Gujarat to combat terrorism and organised crime. Such cynical abuse of power is both a shame and a pity.
http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit1.txt&counter_img=1
Time to question
The Indian Express
Posted online: Monday, July 28, 2008 at 0048 hrs IST

Terror is pathology. But so it seems, in India, is the government’s response to terror. The one score and some serial bombs in Bangalore and Ahmedabad were met with cringe-inducing official harrumphs from Delhi that warnings had been given. It is time to ask what the Union government means when it says warnings were available. Is it the case that the Centre’s, or specifically the home ministry’s, radars are always buzzing efficiently with actionable information that is not acted upon by inefficient state governments? If so, why doesn’t the Centre say it straight? They have a duty to the nation to say it. And if that is not the case, as one strongly suspects is not the case, why take this, to put it bluntly, awful way to pass the parcel? It has to be said, in the context of this trait, that the UPA’s whole approach to terror has been scarily confusing.
The present home minister will demit office as having made a spectacular non-impression as far as his leadership of national security efforts go. It took the prime minister, that too after more than half of the UPA’s term in office was over, to say Naxalites were a high-priority threat to the idea of India. Can you recall the home minister taking political leadership of this national security issue? Can you recall him owning up to his remit as home minister vis-a-vis terror? And let’s remember that while strong and clear political positions are no guarantees against stopping terror, their absence severely weakens the government’s fight against it.
More than four years after the UPA took over, not a single terror attack has been brought to closure in terms of catching the perpetrators and putting them through the mills of justice. There’s investigative failure of a scale that would have in normal circumstances consumed the career of several ministers — but in the UPA the home ministry seems to have acquired immunity from even the most obvious of questions. It’s long been known that security agencies are in part handicapped by a certain absurd notion of political correctness — a notion that implicates the very people it professes to protect. The convenient political assumption in India is that voters don’t punish governments who appear to be ineffective against terror. This government really has pushed that assumption to its limit.
http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/341208.html