SACW | 16-17 July 2006 | July 11 Bombay derails Indo Pak peace process
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Jul 16 19:07:44 CDT 2006
South Asia Citizens Wire | 16-17 July, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2274
Impact of Events of July 11 - Bombay derail Indo
Pak peace process - Human Rights take a hit
[1] India-Pakistan: Knee-jerk reaction (Editorial, Kashmir Times)
[2] India-Pakistan: A sad aftermath (Editorial, Dawn)
[3] Limit to tolerance, but options are limited too (Siddharth Varadarajan)
[4] India: Will there be another Gujarat after Mumbai? (Foqia Sadiq Khan)
[5] India: Terror Tales (Ram Puniyani)
[6] India: Battalion Tactics (Seema Mustafa)
[7] India: The Mass Murderer Modi in Mumbai (I.K.Shukla)
[8] The Mumbai Train Blasts - a SANSAD Public Statement
_____
[1]
Kashmir Times
July 17, 2006
Editorial
KNEE-JERK REACTION
OMINOUS SIGNS OF PEACE PROCESS GOING OFF RAILS
When, on a single day, around 200 are killed at
Mumbai and 8 at Srinagar, leaving nearly 800
injured, in all, it is but natural that the vocal
population will cry for the retaliatory response.
The people will not tolerate the sight of the
authorities sitting smug and behaving as if
nothing shocking has happened. But, the question
is, what should be India's reaction to what has
happened? Should authorities crack down on a
particular community, pass more Draconian laws
and come down on the suspected neighbour with
fire and brimstone and thereby play into the
hands of the terrorists and their allies who are
opposed to the ongoing peace process and are
determined to tear apart the fragile fabric of
India's liberal secular democracy? Or, should we
prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their
nefarious designs by callibrating Indian response
with care and restraint? India can prevent them
from reaping the harvest of their heinous effort
by frustrating their designs to subvent the peace
process, vitiate communal atmosphere and disturb
peace and tranquility. But, alas, it seems that
New Delhi has decided to play to the gallery of
the voters and dance to the tune of the
perpetrators of violence by behaving the way it
wanted it to do.
In varying language and tone the prime minister,
defence minister, the leader of the opposition in
the Lok Sabha and the president of the BJP have
brushed aside Pak denials and offer of
cooperation and have held it responsible for what
had happened in Mumbai on that 'terrible
Tuesday'. Reportedly, the PM is going to attend
the G-8 meeting at St. Petersburg with the
express intention of pin-pointing Pakistan as the
ultimate source of terrorism round the world. New
Delhi has already announced that the two Indian
MPs scheduled to attend the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association seminar at Islamabad
would not go there. The proposed meeting of the
foreign secretaries on the 21st and 22nd has also
been called off. By their statements Indian
authorities have chosen to hold the Indo-Pak
talks hostage to good behaviour of the
terrorists, ignoring Pak foreign minister's
confession that Islamabad might have some
influence over them, but no control. If India
really chooses to suspend or slow-down the
on-going process, in response to the atavistic
demands for a revengeful response, then it shall
be surrendering to the terrorists' dictate,
despite the PM's assertion to the contrary. There
are strong vested interests on both the sides of
the border who are opposed to the peace process
and are going to win the first round.
The BJP too has not done the right thing by
selecting, of all persons, the highly
controversial Narendra Modi as their mascot for
peace and security in Mumbai. Along with Pakistan
the Muslim leadership of India, have stood side
by side with the Hindus in condemning these
heinous deeds. So, anti-terrorist marches in
Mumbai, or for that matter any where else, should
be led by a generally acceptable face and not by
any highly controversial one. Even, in its search
for clues and culprits the police should be
extremely cautious and careful. Already, around
250 have been taken into custody near the railway
station of Mahim, in Mumbai, alone. Many more
have been rounded up in other parts of
Maharastra, also and by definition they are all
Muslims. Aurangabad is already having a khaki
look, because of the heavy presence of the
police. Now, know what it means to be
interrogated by the police. So, one can easily
imagine the reaction of innocents when they are
subjected to such humiliation and torture for no
fault of theirs, except for being a Muslim in
Hindu-dominated India. We know the police have to
do their duty the way they have been trained, but
we should also know what the consequences are
when they try to be too thorough by casting their
net very wide. The danger of charge-sheeting some
innocents, in the absence of the real culprits,
who might have fled the country already, is also
there. Nabbing the culprits is important, but
what is far more important is to ensure the
failure of their mission. Attack on a mosque at
Surat is not the right response in this hour, nor
are the suggestions for 'hot pursuit'.
_____
[2]
Dawn
July 16, 2006
Editorial
A SAD AFTERMATH
THE Indian government's decision to call off the
foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan next
week will not improve the prospects of the
composite dialogue between the two countries.
Immediately after the Mumbai blasts, New Delhi
adopted a constructive stance that encouraged
people to believe that the two countries would
address the issue of terrorism in a levelheaded
manner. After throwing broad hints for three
days, official circles in India have changed
their stance and have let it be known that they
suspect a Pakistani hand behind the blasts and
now they do not want to continue the dialogue.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even warned that
the negotiations could not continue until
terrorism stopped. Mercifully, he held out the
assurance that this did not spell the death of
the peace process. These are obviously semantics
and the message is loud and clear. The talks have
been stalled for the moment, which indicates a
change in the Indian policy of engaging with
Pakistan.
This is a pity for two reasons. First, it is not
possible for Indian intelligence and
investigators to have established the identity of
the perpetrators of the terrorist acts in Mumbai
so soon. Without any hard evidence on this count,
this was an overly hasty and drastic step to take
which New Delhi should have avoided at this
moment when passions are running high. Secondly,
these issues could have been discussed quietly
across the table. The way they have been taken up
at the moment can have negative repercussions.
The two sides have started blaming each other
through the media which will only embitter
relations between them - something most
undesirable at the moment. Given the sensitive
nature of India-Pakistan relations, the two sides
will have to be extra careful about how they
manage the peace process. If need be, the
secretary-level talks can be moved to a later
date and the issue of terrorism can be discussed
between the representatives of the two foreign
offices without bringing it in the glare of the
media limelight. It should be remembered that
Pakistan too is a victim of violence unleashed by
terrorists many of whom use Pakistani territory
for their foul deeds. The two governments need to
cooperate in fighting these elements rather than
indulge in a blame game.
_____
[3]
The Hindu
July 17, 2006
LIMIT TO TOLERANCE, BUT OPTIONS ARE LIMITED TOO
Siddharth Varadarajan
Despite the Musharraf regime's equivocation on
terrorism, India will gain nothing by allowing
the authors of the Mumbai blasts to disrupt the
peace process with Pakistan.
THE WELL-COORDINATED terrorist attacks on
commuters in Mumbai on July 11 have paved the way
for the re-emergence of two facile arguments,
neither of which offers a convincing way of
ending this mindless, criminal violence once and
for all. In India, the blasts have led the
opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and many
security analysts to fault the Manmohan Singh
Government for engaging in a peace process with
Pakistan, whose military regime has clearly not
lived up to its promise of preventing terrorist
organisations from operating from its territory.
These critics also find fault with the repeal of
the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), claiming
the police have been demoralised as a result.
According to this discourse, most terrorist acts
are a product of Pakistan's intelligence
agencies; and India is a victim because of the
government's inability to take Islamabad to task
and allow tough measures against those suspected
of involvement in terrorism. The BJP has also
sought to communalise the debate by linking the
"soft on terror" charge to "vote bank politics"
and the so-called "appeasement" of Muslims,
ignoring the fact that people from all faiths and
regions in India sought the repeal of POTA
because it was used against innocent persons.
The second, equally problematic, argument
revolves around the need to solve the so-called
"root cause" of terrorism. Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri,
Foreign Minister of Pakistan, provided one
variant of this when he suggested that the Mumbai
blasts were linked to India's failure to resolve
the Kashmir dispute. "I think the Mumbai incident
- however tragic it may be and it is undoubtedly
very tragic - underlines the need for the two
countries to work together to control this
environment, but they can only do so if they
resolve their disputes," he told Reuters on
Wednesday. His remarks drew a sharp rejoinder
from India.
At a philosophical level, the idea that a
lingering dispute can lead to violence is
unexceptionable. Also unexceptionable would be
the suggestion - though Mr. Kasuri did not make
it - that the "collateral" victims of the Indian
government's counter-insurgency campaign in
Kashmir might feel driven to commit desperate
acts of terror. But what Mr. Kasuri and other
root cause-wallahs fail to appreciate is the
nihilist nature of the premeditated attack on
Mumbai's commuters. Like the London and Madrid
bombings, and the atrocious attack on the World
Trade Centre, the Mumbai bombings were a
deliberate attempt to target non-combatants. The
perpetrators do not feel the need to issue a
statement or broadcast a charter of demands
because the motive of the attack is not the
redress of a grievance or the settlement of a
dispute, but the creation of one. The motive is
to provoke more violence and insecurity and
reduce the space that exists for dialogue,
debate, and dissent in favour of the hawkish
certitudes of the security establishment.
Though there is no evidence yet, Mr. Kasuri has
chosen to make the link between Mumbai and
Kashmir. But what he ought to have said is that
those who have taken up arms in the name of a
"freedom struggle" or jihad have no right to wage
war against unarmed people. Political or
religious-oriented groups that claim to resist
oppression have as much of a responsibility to
conduct their "struggle" according to the laws of
war as do the security forces. No unresolved
dispute, no human rights violation can ever give
an individual - even if he or she happens to be a
victim of injustice - the right to blow up
innocent civilians on a train or elsewhere. "Root
causes" are important and should be debated and
addressed but the first priority has to be good
police work, forensics, and intelligence so that
the perpetrators are arrested. On their part, Mr.
Kasuri and his colleagues in Pakistan need to
speak out against such acts of terrorism. They
must not seek refuge - as they often do - in the
dishonest innuendo that terror that targets
civilians is really the handiwork of agents
provocateurs or the Indian intelligence agencies.
In the case of Pakistan, there is a
responsibility not only to condemn such incidents
but also to act. In January 2004, General Pervez
Musharraf promised his government would not allow
individuals and organisations in Pakistan to
plot, finance or launch acts of terrorism against
India. Since then, cross-border infiltration by
armed insurgents in Kashmir is down, as indicated
by official Indian figures. At the same time, the
Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed - though
banned in Pakistan - operate under a variety of
assumed names. Both groups sprang to life in the
aftermath of last year's earthquake in Kashmir
and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to
suggest they continue to have links with the
Pakistani military establishment.
As the Manmohan Government ponders over its
options as far as engagement with Pakistan is
concerned, it must ask itself two questions.
First, can anything be done to get the Pakistani
establishment to convert its half-hearted efforts
against terrorism into a wholehearted one? And
secondly, has India conceded anything in the
composite dialogue that makes the country more
vulnerable on the security front?
My answer is `no' to both but for all their
criticism of the peace process, the BJP and its
supporters do not have clear-cut answers to
either question. From the mawkishness of Lahore
to the hawkishness of Operation Parakram, the
erstwhile Vajpayee Government tried it all.
Despite the deployment of troops on full alert
for 10 months and half-baked theories of
"coercive diplomacy," "surgical strikes," and
"limited war," it became clear that there was no
military solution to the problem of terrorists
basing themselves in Pakistan. But if the threat
of military action will not produce results, how
can putting the peace process on hold or delaying
a meeting of the two Foreign Secretaries do the
trick? In any case, the peace process so far has
been extremely positive from India's point of
view. A number of confidence-building measures
have been introduced, which allows India to
bypass Gen. Musharraf and the army and build a
constituency for peace in Pakistan's civil
society, including its business community. And on
Kashmir, the two sides have begun to articulate a
common approach that acknowledges that borders
cannot be redrawn. Based on the record so far,
India has nothing to lose from this process going
ahead uninterrupted. If anything, it is in
Pakistan that one hears concerns about the "CBM
trap" India has laid to postpone a settlement on
Kashmir.
Three scenarios
This conclusion is independent of the identity of
the perpetrators of the Mumbai blasts. Broadly
speaking, there are three possibilities. First,
Al-Qaeda - or some organisation linked to it -
which is as much at war with the Musharraf
Government as it is with India. The motive would
be disrupt the peace process, foment a communal
backlash by giving a boost to the sangh parivar,
and send a message to the world, and the U.S. in
particular, that the `war on terror' is far from
over. Under such circumstances, surely the
optimal Indian response would be to not hand the
terrorists veto power over the peace process.
What if the authors of the blast turn out to be
the LeT or JeM, operating in collusion with some
section of the Pakistani state? If at all the
government of Pakistan or one of its agencies is
linked to the Mumbai blasts, this can only be
because Islamabad is dissatisfied with the way
the peace process is going. Perhaps the Mumbai
blasts were designed to put pressure on India to
make concessions on Kashmir. But the ISI must
surely know that what little concessions India
appears ready to make are largely the brainchild
of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and are being
opposed tooth and nail by the bureaucratic and
security establishment. If anything, then, the
Mumbai blasts make it even more difficult for the
political leadership to grant concessions.
There is another point Indian policymakers should
consider when assessing whether the Pakistani
military establishment might have had a hand in
the blasts. Pakistan claims a firewall exists
between the anti-American, Al-Qaeda-linked
extremists and the anti-India groups such as LeT
and JeM. But the Mumbai blasts - their serial
nature, the choice of public transport, their
proximity to the anniversary of the London
bombings - serve to strengthen the link between
Kashmir and the `global war on terror' as far as
the international community is concerned. They
can only lead to even greater pressure on
Islamabad to crack down on Kashmir-linked
insurgents. It is hard to see how such an outcome
- which would have been perfectly predictable to
the terrorists who planned the Mumbai bombings -
would serve the interests of the Musharraf regime
or ISI.
Even so, assuming some element of official
Pakistani complicity, India really has few
options as far as mounting pressure on Pakistan
is concerned. If there are areas where the peace
process might make the country more vulnerable -
the Army would argue Siachen is one such area -
an unstated go-slow might be justified. But on
other fronts, the process is clearly working to
India's advantage and there is no sense in
scuppering the gains.
There is a third scenario too, that the
terrorists are neither Al-Qaeda nor
Pakistan-backed but homegrown fanatics, whether
Muslim, Hindu or of some other religious or
political persuasion. But again, taking our
national anger out on the composite dialogue
process would be illogical. Under all three
scenarios, the most pressing task is to conduct a
swift and professional investigation. Primary
reliance must be on forensics and good detective
work and not on knee-jerk crackdowns and special
laws. In the Parliament attack case, the police
produced spectacular arrests and `confessions'
with ease but the real masterminds remained
undetected. Mumbai must not go the same way.
_____
[4]
The News International
July 16, 2006
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER GUJARAT AFTER MUMBAI?
Foqia Sadiq Khan
The camera was moving from one room to the other,
from the gate to the courtyard. Walls were
splashed with blood and holed by assailants'
weapons. The documentary was showing the haunted
house of a former Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri
where more than 200 people were brutally killed.
Jaffri came out of the house to surrender and beg
mercy for co-religionists who had taken refuge in
his house. Before surrendering, he called state
functionaries and politicians in Gujarat and
Delhi, sent frantic faxes across the country but
got no support from anywhere. All he could do was
wait for a cruel death. Time was up for him and
his people. This was Gujarat in 2002. The skyline
of Ahmedabad was filled with smoke as Muslim
households, buildings and shops were set on fire
by rioting mobs.
Will the horrendous attacks on Mumbai's Western
railway line mimic the Gujarat carnage abetted by
BJP chief minister Narendra Modi? The signs so
far are encouraging. Mumbai's police commissioner
quickly made an appeal to the people to stay
'calm'. In his address to nation, Manmohan Singh
further emphasised, "Do not be provoked by
rumours. Do not let anyone divide us. Our
strength lies in our unity." The real test is to
see whether communal hatred will be whipped once
dust from Mahim, Bandra, Matunga, Borivili, Mira
Road, Jogeshwari and Khar railway tracks settles.
An obvious reaction to Mumbai blasts could be a
backlash against Muslims in the state of
Maharashtra. It seems that the perpetrators of
the bomb blasts were not bothered about the
fallout of their actions on Indian Muslims. It
falls into the pattern where Muslims have
regularly been killed in terrorist attacks within
Muslim countries and outside. A political end of
terrorism justifies the means, no matter what
they are. If Hindu extremist groups such as the
Shiv Sena were successful in turning anger over
an awful tragedy into a communal frenzy, how
effective will official pronouncements be in this
situation?
What are terrorists trying to achieve by killing
and maiming innocent commuters in the financial
hub of India? A number of conjectures are
floating: a) senseless violence, b) Muslim
extremist groups with Kashmir connection such as
the Lashkar-e-Taiba trying to destabilise the
Indo-Pakistan peace process, c) the Mumbai
under-world launching an assault with the help of
a transnational terror network. Coordinated bomb
blasts on Mumbai's railway resonate attacks on
the financial hub of New York and London. If
these attacks allow terrorists to let off
frustration, they are not going to destabilise
Mumbai or India. Mumbai has already bounced back;
its stock exchange has surged, its railway was
back on wheels the very next day.
However, the Mumbai attacks could lead to the
slowing down of the peace process between India
and Pakistan, if not derailment. Though India has
not blamed Pakistan for this violence and
Pakistan has condemned the attacks unequivocally,
there is a visible uneasiness between the two
governments. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid
Kasuri has reportedly linked the Mumbai attacks
to the lack of progress in the resolution of the
Kashmir dispute. Though the link is rather
obvious to all and sundry, it is imprudent of
Kasuri to have made such brusque proclamation
while Mumbai is picking up bodies from the
tracks. The Indian government has rebuffed these
claims, asked Pakistan not to make
Kashmir-oriented linkages and concentrate on
rooting out terrorism from its soil.
Terrorist attacks such as the one in Mumbai
expose the 'clash of civilisations' myth. The
clash is evident within nations rather than
across so-called civilisations. In the Muslim
world, there is a deeply entrenched feeling of
being wronged by the world powers and injustices
being done to Muslims in Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq
and other places. However, moderate and extremist
Muslims sharply differ in their response to
injustices. Extremists resort to violence within
the Muslim countries and outside. Moderates are
largely for non-violent means to address
grievances. Simplistically speaking, moderates
are for 'modernity' and economic development. In
Pakistan they are, by and large, for improving
relations between India and Pakistan. On the
other side, saffronised extremist Hindus and
secular Indians fiercely differ in their communal
politics, among other things. Clash of ideologies
within nations is spreading its tentacles.
If the Mumbai attacks were indeed carried out by
pro-Kashmir Muslim extremists, they have done a
great favour to Hindu extremists such as Shiv
Shena. Thackeray could not have asked for a more
appropriate action than an attack on Mumbai
trains to reinforce Shiv Shena's fledging
popularity. Extremists from both sides are mirror
images of each other and they boost the 'other'
side by their attacks against innocent civilians.
Notwithstanding the electoral victory of
religious parties in the NWFP and Balochistan in
2002, extremists are a small minority in
Pakistan. Despite having some linkages in the
corridors of power, they are largely voiceless.
Hence, they speak through their terror by
emulating the Reagan era driven by a so-called
transnational jihadi culture. Hindu extremists
have ruled India in the recent past and are a
political force to reckon with even now.
In the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts, India and
Pakistan need to take long-term measures.
Moderates on both sides of the border need to
claim more space in the state institutions
(including the military) and civil society to
assert themselves better. Linked to it is the
necessity of greater effort in Pakistan to deal
with the terrorist network. India is required to
break free from its fossilised realpolitik and
effectively address issues of justice such as
suppression of the Kashmiri people. However, the
immediate measure is to prevent a Gujrat like
backlash against Muslims in India. The Indian
government, human rights groups and international
community need to do all it can to stop a
massacre, if such a situation arises. If the
Western governments can launch a war to halt
murder of citizens in Bosnia and Kosovo, it can
exert pressure on India to avert bloodletting of
its Muslim minority.
The writer is a social science researcher currently in Islamabad.
_____
[5]
Issues in Secular Politics
July 2006 II
TERROR TALES
by Ram Puniyani
July 11, 2006, witnessed one of the worst
disasters which the city of Mumbai has seen. In a
series of explosions nearly 200 precious,
innocents lives were lost in the senseless act of
terror. This is the third major terrorist attack
on this metropolis known for a modern and
progressive profile. The first such attack was in
the aftermath of Mumbai riots in which nearly
thousand innocent lives were lost, majority of
them Muslim. In the wake of Gujarat carnage four
blasts shook the city and took the toll of
several lives. This, latest one is again severe
in its extent and various theses are going on
about whodunit? The 1993 blasts were masterminded
by the underworld in collaboration with local
elements that were deeply hurt and mauled by the
anti Muslim nature of the violence led by Shiva
Sena and assisted by the local administration.
While the accused of the blasts are rotting in
jails for over a decade awaiting the judgment,
those named in Shrikrishna report have neither
been convicted nor are in jails. As a matter of
fact several of them were promoted in status,
like Bala Saheb Thackeray promoted himself to
Hindu Hridaya Samrat (Emperor of Hindu hearts)
and the R.D. Tyagi the one who led the killings
of several Muslims in the Suleiman Bakery was
promoted a few notches up.
The responsibility of post 2002 Gujarat genocide
was taken by a group, Gujarat Muslim Revenge
group, which came into being after the Gujarat
genocide led by Modi. Incidentally here also
while the blast accused are behind the bars, Modi
has had a promotion to the much exalted status of
Hindu Hriday Samrat II, with Mumbai's Balasaheb
having the distinction of being the first one to
assume this throne. Here again as the state
itself was actively involved in the carnage, many
a state officials have moved upwards like P.C.
Pandey who was ‘good' enough to act as per Modi's
bidding. In the present one various theories are
floating, but nothing definitive has emerged, as
only a non descript terrorist group has taken the
responsibility of the same. While the major one's
like Al Qaeda has expressed happiness over the
tragedy without owning it, and some of them have
expressed sorrow over the incident. The other
suspect SIMI, the outlawed right wing Islamic
students group has not issued any statement so
far.
Before trying to understand the direction of
needle of suspicion, it will be imperative to see
the state of affairs in Gujarat after the carnage
and also what has been happening here. After the
carnage, Gujarat Muslims have been ghettoized to
the worst possible level and the division in the
society along communal lines has reached
unimaginable proportions, where the prefix of
Hindu and Muslim has to accompany before every
persons name. The isolation and boycott of
Muslims in social life is intense, the guilty of
the carnage are roaming freely and even adequate
and just compensation has not been paid to the
victims. In Maharashtra, in a interior remote
place called Nanded, two Bajrang dal activists
were killed while making an explosive device and
the diary with the bomb making tips was found on
the location along with the artificial moustache
and beard. The place belonged to an RSS
sympathizer and saffron flag adorned the top of
the house. After this, huge piles of explosives
were detected in the nearby places and later
three alleged terrorists were killed by the
police in an encounter near the RSS head office
in Nagpur. An investigation team under the
chairmanship of a retired Judge of Mumbai High
Court went into the matter facing the full
hostility from the police, and came out with a
report which pointed out several holes in the
police version of the encounter. There was no eye
witness to the act of police. As usual the
necessary diary with the names and addresses of
the ‘terrorists' was found on the bodies of slain
terrorist to ease the work of the police to
identify the links of the terrorists. Lately, in
Bhivandi, in the scuffle between police and local
Muslim groups, who were opposing the police move
to build a police station near or on the land of
graveyard, led to the killing of two policemen
and few Muslims. Shiv Sena was hyperactive in
taking the cudgels against the Muslim leadership.
Close on the heels of it, the Shiv Sainiks all
over Maharashtra burnt buses and indulged in
hooliganism, after the defilement of the statue
of the wife of their supremo, Balsaheb Thackeray.
To build a conclusion from these antecedents is
very difficult. For the investigating authorities
all angels are important but the one related to
Nanded blasts by RSS affiliates has been put
under the carpet. While the civic society and
social groups rose to the occasion to lend a
helping hand to the victims of violence, by
offering prayers for peace and the Muslim
leadership went overboard to condemn the blasts.
One can understand the hyper response of Muslim
political and religious leadership in condemning
this and meeting the state authorities to urge
upon them not to harass the innocent Muslim youth
as is the wont of the police for whom Muslim
youth are equal to criminals and terrorists, and
so no proof is needed to put them behind the
bars. Incidentally it also comes as an easy
option to prove that police are working.
For BJP this occasion is serving multiple
purposes. On one hand it has got the opportunity
to come out from the oblivion. This tragedy is
being seen as an opportunity and the rallies are
being organized against the terrorism. Who are
they opposing, a faceless enemy, and an insane
organization, which is already illegal. At such
times the only possible message comes from a
white ribbon or a rose. Also its accusation that
lifting of POTA and soft policies of the UPA are
responsible for the acts of terrorists hold no
water as the nation has seen that the terror acts
were no lesser when POTA was operative and when
the NDA was ruling.
The reasons for such acts of terror are multiple.
One can not be superficial to think that these
are due to teachings of Islam and due to Muslims.
This is what is being strengthened in the popular
psyche by a section of media and the right
wingers. There are people belonging to different
religions operating on the terrain of terror,
ULFA, Irish Republican Army, LTTE and too far
back in time, the Khalistanis. As far as Muslims
are concerned three major causes of terror
involving them can be specifically pin pointed.
One is the politics of control over oil wells, in
pursuit of which the outfits like Al Qaeda were
floated through the U.S.'s CIA. Even if this
ghastly organization has outlived its original
purpose of throwing out such Soviet armies from
Afghanistan, such terror outfits are like
cancerous growths, which begin from a irritating
point and than even if the original purpose is no
more in existence they perpetuate themselves in
an uncontrolled way like a cancer. In this case
the ideological indoctrination of a political
need of U.S. in the language of Islam, i.e. Al
Qaeda to fight against Soviet armies, has done
immense harm to the Muslims all over the world.
The second one relates to the unresolved Kashmir
issue, which superficially sounds to be the
problem between Pakistan and India, or the one of
Muslim separatism, but surely Pakistan itself has
been small puppet in the hands of imperialists is
forgotten most of the times. Many an institutions
in Pakistan are supra government. So this should
not come in the way of peace process. The third
one can be divided into two parts, one is the
insane thinking of a section of Muslims for
taking the revenge of anti Muslim carnage in
Mumbai and Gujarat. The two previous blasts in
Mumbai showed in a clear-cut manner correlations
to these episodes of violence. In the current one
the additional aspect of Nanded blasts and their
implications have to be thought of, more so in
the light of the fact that Mumbai blasts did not
use the dreaded RDX.
All said and done, at all times, one simple rule
of punish the guilty and protect the innocent has
to be the norm of state authorities. And revenge
has no place in the democratic polity, so the
upholders of Newton's action reaction have to be
outlawed in moral and legal arena. The mandatory
state behavior of implicating Muslim youth in
these acts and making them suffer the long
ordeals till the judgments comes is too harsh a
punishment for belonging to a particular
religion. The demonization of Muslims will be
taken a few steps further by the some political
streams and a section of media. These terrorists
are the worst enemies of Islam and Muslims in
general. While a section of RSS sympathizers
argue that all Muslims are suspect as they give
shelter to these terrorists, one has to recall
that in Punjab, the average Sikh was not giving
shelter to Sikh terrorists due to religious
sameness but due to the threat of bullet piercing
one's chest. While saluting the civic society for
its magnanimity in handling the post terror
situation with grace, one hopes that political
elements also wake up to the fact that demonizing
the Muslims due to this will be against the
teachings of saint tradition of Hinduism.
_____
[6]
The Asian Age
July 14, 2006
BATTALION TACTICS
by Seema Mustafa
The terror blasts left Mumbai bloodied and India
wounded. The nation lit candles and bowed its
head in deep sorrow for those who had been killed
in the attack by those faceless, cowardly men
who show no remorse in taking the lives of
innocent people for a cause that does not exist
except in their perverted and sick minds. There
was not an eye that was not moistened with tears
as the scenes of grieving families crying over
the remains of their loved ones were brought
into every home by the media.
It is necessary, in the face of such grievous
tragedy, for the country to stop and think. For
in the moment of deep emotion, decisions can be
taken and reaction orchestrated in a manner that
might appear justified at the time, but will
eventually play into the hands of the terrorists
and their sinister games. There are vested
interests working to reap political benefits from
the grief and sorrow, there are irresponsible
elements speaking and writing without a sense of
the devastating impact their words can have, and
in the process fires are being created that
might very well destroy the effort by the sober
and concerned people of India to heal and unite.
Ugly Indian Narendra Modi is on his way to
Mumbai to light one big fire.
The rush by the authorities to defend their
incompetence, and the fight between the media to
be the first with the news have created another
such fire. Intelligence agencies are squabbling
with the police, the first insisting that they
had given the information, the second assertive
that there was no intelligence information about
the train blasts. In the process, stories that
have not been verified, information that cannot
be described as facts, are being circulated to
the media that is faithfully reporting
"sources"-based plants without the means to
verify any of this. Two points have emerged
through the government agencies during the last
couple of days. One, of course, is that Pakistan
is involved. But one did not expect any other
information. The second, and stated for the
first time ever, is that local Indian Muslims are
involved. Simi, a fundamentalist group of Muslim
youth, has been identified as the organisation -
through sources, not identifiable
officials - that provided the masterminds with
logistical and other support. Security forces
have rushed into Muslim dominated areas to
arrest all young men and their mentors in an
attempt to "break" the case.
Suddenly the Gujarat violence is remembered as
being the one reason for large scale
disaffection of the Muslim youth. Theories by
sources have found their way into the pliable
media about how the bombs were planted in first
class compartments as Muslims do not travel in
this class, how the list of victims were
"mostly" Gujaratis (with a particular newspaper
listing precisely four names to insist that the
majority of the 200 killed were from Gujarat and
hence the target!) - all "evidence" to provide
the "evidence" of local involvement. If so much
information was available, as is being suggested
now, why was there a delay in taking action
against Simi or others? This might have averted
the terror attack altogether. Instead, an entire
community is getting damned, and why? One,
because of the very ugly political campaign being
carried out by the top echelons of this
government right down to the Maharashtra
authorities. And two, because of the complete
failure of
the security and intelligence agencies to get
any information identifying individuals involved
in the crime at the local level. So, instead of
admitting that they are clueless, the authorities
are doing what they have done for decades, and
are so perfect at: creating an atmosphere of
suspicion against a target group (read Muslims)
so that they can go in, make arrests, beat the
people into submission, and hope that out of the
hundreds they have arrested (and alienated), they
will stumble upon one with some information. As
a friend said, this is the "battalion approach"
of our security, a reflection of its complete
inability to solve even a murder through
intelligence and forensic information, resulting
in total reliance on large scale arrests,
torture, and then, perhaps, just perhaps, the
truth. Instead, the intelligence apparatus has
been allowed to decay, where policemen are now
doing the work of sleuths, and politics has been
allowed to eat into the system.
Lessons have to be learnt from history, and it
was not so long ago when Sikhs became the
suspects and an entire community was targeted by
the same security forces, the same politicians,
in a manner that led to large-scale alienation.
Buses from Punjab were stopped outside Delhi
before and during the Asian Games, Sikhs
searched and taken off on mere suspicion, and the
results of this disaffection far extended the
reach of the group that had been agitating
(without any support from the villages of Punjab)
for a separate state. Khalistan was almost
achieved, not because of the separatists, but
because the political directive giving a free
hand to the security forces, created deep anger
and frustration amongst the common man in Punjab.
And of course, the Ugly Indians of the time were
there in full strength, capitalising on the
situation to polarise the people on communal
lines.
It is, therefore, imperative not to allow a
repeat, for the results can be disastrous.
Pakistan might be involved. Simi too might be
involved. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba might be the
organisation responsible. Or again the Al Qaeda
could be the real perpetrator as the Indian
government is seen as a close ally of the US and
the country has entered the radar screens of the
international terrorist network. Of course,
there is a certain reluctance by the authorities
to blame the Al Qaeda - it is almost as if it
does not exist in India - for, by blaming the
LeT one can continue to get support for the
government that can then turn to the US for
help; by holding the Al Qaeda responsible, the
government will have to admit that there is some
truth in the Indian concern about getting too
close to Washington, for which even London paid a
price on 7/7.
When governments are urged to take action
against those responsible for promoting communal
strife, it is not because the secularists want to
get some perverse pleasure from seeing the Ugly
Indian cowering behind bars. But because anyone
with a little sense knows that unless the state
acts to punish the guilty, the residue eats into
the foundations of a sensitive body politic.
Those struggling for justice since their
relatives were killed in the barbaric 1984
anti-Sikh violence (there was no terrorist then),
those fighting for justice after Uphaar fire
tragedy, the thousands and millions denied
justice throughout the land, know what this
feeling is all about. The punishment of the
guilty by a responsive state, restores faith and
brings a sense of peace. So just as it was
necessary to get the accused in the Gujarat case
behind bars, it is necessary to find those
responsible for the terror attack in Mumbai. But
this has to be through investigation and specific
arrests; not through propaganda and mass
arrests. The first will restore a sense of
confidence and trust in the system, the second
will create destabilising alienation.
These are words of caution, but no one will listen.
The political class - except for a few who are
still sensitive and responsive - is too
compromised, too illiterate, and too devious to
care. The security forces are straining at the
leash, baying for blood that is now theirs for
the asking. The communalists of all hues are in
the middle, working overtime to consolidate their
constituencies. Samajwadi Party's clean chit to
active fundamentalists does not help, nor does
the BJP's whipping up of communal passion. In
Gujarat, the secular state did not step in, and
the vacuum was filled by fundamentalists. The
Ugly Indian led the Hindutva brigade, and
maulanas of different colours appeared in the
Muslim refugee camps to consolidate in the name
of religion. The state is again confused,
divided and totally incapable of dealing with
this terrible tragedy as anything more than a
security issue.
The responses remain knee-jerk. One day, the
peace process with Pakistan is on. Hours later,
it is off. One minute, government advisers are
writing how necessary it is for the process to
continue. The next minute, the same people are
churning out articles insisting that Pakistan
should be taught a lesson. There is a sense of
déjà vu. One has heard and seen the inadequate
government response so many times before. And if
the latest attack is any indication, this will
not be the last time either. This is not a story
that will go away, it is a story that can go
very very awry in the absence of good leadership
and an inability to lead.
_____
[7]
THE MASS MURDERER MODI IN MUMBAI
by I.K.Shukla (16 July 2006)
Soaked in terrorism and seasoned in treason the
notorious Butcher of Gujarat, with effrontery
abounding, would visit Mumbai and address the
BJP. His exhortations will be: morale-boosting
(launch more communal crimes and light massive
communal fires as behooves the saffronazis), and
the Mumbai blasts, continuing the international
series of Madrid, London ones, are no retaliation
for the Gujarat Genocide of Muslims in 2002.
Thus he will seek to join the global "war on
terror" as an accomplice and supplicant lackey of
Western warlords.
Too, he will raise the voter temperature towards
an electoral win of the saffrofascists in the
Mumbai Corporation elections due soon and state
elections due much later.
All, in the service of Bhagwa, the color of
crimes and corruptions that distinguish and
identify the HinduTaliban and that signify
India's shame and disgrace.
Too, he says he would show concern for the
Gujarati victims of the July 11 tragedy.
He has the criminal's gall and a practiced thug's shamelessness.
So, CMs of other states too should visit Mumbai
to express their sorrow at the loss of lives of
"their people"?
That is, India must go to hell. This is the
message of Modis, Advanis, Joshis, Sudarshans,
and Jaswant Singhs. What a gallery of scoundrels!
His visit is meant to validate the Gujarat
Genocide 2002 that he sponsored and presided over.
But does he have any locus standi in the matter?
He seems to suggest, the Maharashtra Govt. did
not serve and save the people as he did, via mass
murder, rape, rapine, arson?
Whom did Modi serve and save? Gangsters and
hardcore Hindutva assassins, arsonists, rapists
and robbers, thieves and thugs, the seditious and
the subversives, the outlaws and confirmmed
criminals. Unless, of course, he believes all of
Gujarat is peopled by only these cretins, and
only vipers and vermin are born and live there.
Advani must be muzzled for his own good. POTA
could not jail him - prominent among the Babri
Demolition criminals - and he wants POTA brought
back.
Had he dismissed Modi govt in Gujarat? And he
wants UPA to dismiss the govt of Maharashtra.
Nor was he jailed and condignly punished for
lighting a decade-long communal fire in India
that took a toll of thousands of lives in the
wake of his savage yatras and Babri Demolition
besides the destruction of temples in Pakistan
and Bangladesh. Only treason and terrorism mark
his caeer of infamy.
That Joshi and Jaswant Singh have started
shrieking like crows about security of the nation
is a sick and obscene joke. They did all they
could to lower the reputation of India and
imperil its security. They are suffering from
serious lapse of memory.
Before they succeed in deflecting the real issue,
before they plunge the nation in communal fire,
before they impair and pose a serious threat to
national security they must be placed behind bars.
Nothing less can avert the catastrophe they are
hell bent on inflicting on India and bl eding it
to death.
_____
[8]
July 16, 2006
a SANSAD Public Statement
THE MUMBAI TRAIN BLASTS
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
(SANSAD) utterly deplores the bomb blasts in
Mumbai on July 11 that killed some 200 people and
injured more than 700. We express our deepest
condolences for all the bereaved families and
extend our sincere wishes for the early recovery
of all who are injured.
Such well-planned, orchestrated action at
simultaneously seven railway stations could
either be a job of agent provocateurs working for
some powerful masters determined to create
disorder and to lay the groundwork for further
violence; or, of an organized group of callous
crusaders, fanatically blinded with their narrow
mission, and willing to go to any cruel extent,
including killing vast numbers of absolutely
innocent people.
One more time, the good people of Mumbai have
been subjected to a tragedy of huge proportions.
Manmohan Singh government has already pointed the
accusing finger to "cross-border" connections,
obviously refering to the neighboring Pakistan.
We only hope that it has done its investigations
thoroughly before making such standard
accusations. With deep regret we note that the
process of normailzation of India-Pakistan
relations has already been impacted, since the
Foreign Seretary level meeting planned for the
next week has been cancelled. The vast majority
of the people in the two countries want peaceful,
mutually respectful, and normal neighbourly
relations, and we hope that the on-going process
would resume soon.
Over two hundred people in Mumbai, supposedly
belonging to one particular organization, have
already been rounded up for interrogtions. Once
again, we hope that this rounding-up do not
victimize innocent citizens, as has happened many
times before in India, and that the process of
interrogation is carried out following proper
judicial norms.
If the intention of the Mumbai blasters was to
terrorize and demoralize people they have
undoubtedly failed. With great admiration we have
noted that the people of Mumbai have refused to
allow the bomb-blasters any success beyond the
physical damage they have inflicted. They have
come together in solidarity to meet this
challenge: Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Parsee, and
Sikh walking hand in hand, sharing blood and
giving shelter and relief. We hail the spirit of
the people of Mumbai who, refusing to be
terrorized, have maintained their collective and
solemn sobriety. Their resilience and their
humanity make us proud.
We hope that this spirit of pluralism, of shared
humanity, will continue undisturbed. It is
particularly important in view of the disturbing
news that Gujarat's Narendra Modi has decided to
soon come to Mumbai for two days to supposedly
reignite the Hindutava forces. Let the people of
Mumbai succeed in frustrating Modi, and his
likes, in trying to provoke them into narrow
sectarianism.
---30---
SANSAD
Suite 435, 205 - 329 North Road
Coquitlam (Greater Vancouver), B.C., Canada
V3K 6Z8
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
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