What does Islam say about Terrorism?
One of the distinctive characteristics of the times we live in is the overwhelming presence of violence in our societies. Whether it is a bomb going off in a market place, or the hijacking of an aircraft where innocent people are held at ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age, where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become commonplace.
Such is the all-pervasive nature of indiscriminate violence, that “terrorism” is considered as one of the prime threats to peace and security in our societies.
The word terrorism came into wide usage only a few decades ago. One of the unfortunate results of this new terminology is that it limits the definition of terrorism to that perpetrated by small groups or individuals. Terrorism, in fact, spans the entire world, and manifests itself in various forms. Its perpetrators do not fit any stereotype. Those who hold human lives cheap, and have the power to expend human lives, appear at different levels in our societies. The frustrated employee who kills his colleagues in cold-blood or the oppressed citizen of an occupied land who vents his anger by blowing up a school bus are terrorists who provoke our anger and revulsion. Ironically however, the politician who uses age-old ethnic animosities between peoples to consolidate his position, the head of state who orders “carpet bombing” of entire cities, the exalted councils that choke millions of civilians to death by wielding the insidious weapon of sanctions, are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity.
It is this narrow definition of terrorism that implicates only individuals and groups, that has caused Muslims to be associated with acts of destruction and terror, and as a result, to become victims of hate violence and terror themselves. Sometimes the religion of Islam is held responsible for the acts of a handful of Muslims, and often for the acts of non-Muslims!
Could it be possible that Islam, whose light ended the Dark Ages in Europe, now propound the advent of an age of terror? Could a faith that has over 1.2 billion followers the world over, and over 7 million in America, actually advocate the killing and maiming of innocent people? Could Islam, whose name itself stands for “peace” and “submission to God”, encourage its adherents to work for death and destruction?
For too long, have we relied on popular images in the media and in Hollywood films, for answers to these pertinent questions. It is now time to look at the sources of Islam, and its history to determine whether Islam does indeed advocate violence.
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
The Glorious Qur’an says:
“…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.”
[Al-Qur’an 6:151]
Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded a special place. The first and the foremost basic right of a human being is the right to live. The Glorious Qur’an says:
“…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
[Al-Qur’an 5:32]
Such is the value of a single human life, that the Qur’an equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with killing all of humanity. Thus, the Qur’an prohibits homicide in clear terms. The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to administer justice is required to uphold the rule of law, and the peace and security of the society. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has forfeited his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.
ETHICS OF WAR
Even in a state of war, Islam enjoins that one deals with the enemy nobly on the battlefield. Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. As far as the non-combatant population is concerned such as women, children, the old and the infirm, etc., the instructions of the Prophet are as follows: "Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman"[1]. "Do not kill the monks in monasteries" or "Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship."[2] During a war, the Prophet saw the corpse of a woman lying on the ground and observed: "She was not fighting. How then she came to be killed?" Thus non-combatants are guaranteed security of life even if their state is at war with an Islamic state.
JIHAD
While Islam in general is misunderstood in the western world, perhaps no other Islamic term evokes such strong reactions as the word ‘jihad’. The term ‘jihad’ has been much abused, to conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims, forcing people to submit at the point of the sword. This myth was perpetuated throughout the centuries of mistrust during and after the Crusades. Unfortunately, it survives to this day.
The word Jihad comes from the root word jahada, which means to struggle. So jihad is literally an act of struggling. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with the insidious suggestions of one’s own soul. Thus jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.
Secondarily, jihad refers to struggle against injustice. Islam, like many other religions, allows for armed self-defense, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression. The Glorious Qur’an says:
“And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? - Men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!"
[Al-Qur’an 4:75]
Thus Islam enjoins upon its believers to strive utmost, in purifying themselves, as well as in establishing peace and justice in the society. A Muslim can never be at rest when she sees injustice and oppression around her. As Martin Luther King Jr. said:
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
Islam enjoins upon all Muslims to work actively to maintain the balance in which God created everything. However, regardless of how legitimate the cause may be, the Glorious Qur’an never condones the killing of innocent people. Terrorizing the civilian population can never be termed as jihad and can never be reconciled with the teachings of Islam.
HISTORY OF TOLERANCE
Even Western scholars have repudiated the myth of Muslims coercing others to convert. The great historian De Lacy O'Leary wrote:
"History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims, sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated."[3]
Muslims ruled Spain for roughly 800 years. During this time, and up until they were finally forced out, the non-Muslims there were alive and flourishing. Additionally, Christian and Jewish minorities have survived in the Muslim lands of the Middle East for centuries. Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all have significant Christian and/or Jewish populations.
This is not surprising to a Muslim, for his faith prohibits him from forcing others to see his point of view. The Glorious Qur’an says:
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.”
[Al-Qur’an 2:256]
ISLAM - THE GREAT UNIFIER
Far from being a militant dogma, Islam is a way of life that transcends race and ethnicity. The Glorious Qur’an repeatedly reminds us of our common origin:
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).”
[Al-Qur’an 49:13]
Thus, it is the universality of its teachings that makes Islam the fastest growing religion in the world. In a world full of conflicts and deep schisms between human beings, a world that is threatened with terrorism, perpetrated by individuals and states, Islam is a beacon of light that offers hope for the future.
www.whyislam.org
(as rahul vallamber got the confirmation email to use this article from the "TEAM at WHY ISLAM")
Keya Acharya
Journalist Bangalore, INDIA
POLITICS-INDIA: Exploiting Terrorism
 BANGALORE, Aug 13 (IPS) - In the aftermath of the spate of serial bomb blasts that rocked Ahmedabad in western India and the southern city of Bangalore, late July, prominent civil rights activists, advocates and experts have criticised the government, for political interference in and misuse of the country’s counter-terrorism laws.
Teesta Setalvad, well-known activist for civil rights for victims and alleged suspects of terror in India, especially in Gujarat and Kashmir, says terrorist attacks in India are routinely exploited by politicians.
"The deep rooted politicisation of India's battle with terror can be understood by how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the major right wing party, has used political and religious tensions in Jammu and Kashmir during electoral battles over the past 20 years, the manner in which the issue of illegal immigrants, (read
Bangladeshis, Muslims) has been whipped up by them to polarise sentiments and win elections and now how the issue of recent terror attacks is likely to be used in future" Setalavad told IPS.
After the blasts in the two cities, both the BJP and the ruling Congress coalition traded insults and accusations. Lost in the din was the fact that the series of 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, on Jul. 26, left 56 people dead. The Bangalore blasts, a day earlier, left two dead. Political reactions were true to Setalvad’s comment, holding deep implications to claims by both parties over who provides more safety and support for India’s minority
Muslim populations.
\
Setalvad also accused the BJP of a ‘symbiotic relationship’ with violent and fanatic outfits that ‘’generate terror’’, like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, using them to generate communal divisiveness in states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP is the locally ruling party.
In India’s sensitive, multi-religious society, the fear psychosis around bomb blasts are said to have become easy pickings for vested political interests, while effective legal action to apprehend and punish those responsible is missing.
Existing counter-terrorism laws in India, stringent and sweeping in their powers, have a history of being misused. "It is these draconian laws that are causing terrorism in the country", charges respected Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan.
India’s first counter-terrorism law, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1985 (TADA), detained 59,509 people without charges and managed to convict just 725 of those held. The overwhelming majority of TADA detainees belonged to religious minorities, mainly Muslims.
TADA was also controversially used to harass journalists and extorted confessions amongst other misuses. TADA subsequently collapsed in the face of several arbitrary cases, amidst opposition by the BJP in 1995 which then went on to create yet another harsh law in its place, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) 2002. This too was flagrantly misused because of its similarity to TADA’s sweeping police powers.
Controversial and high-profile cases under POTA have involved an academic and two opposition party politicians, both subsequently acquitted for lack of evidence.
The highest number of POTA cases were registered not in Kashmir or the northeastern states where armed insurgencies were active, but in the central Indian, tribal-dominated State of Jharkand, where POTA arrests included, a 12-year old boy and an 84-year-old man. In Gujarat, barring one individual, all POTA detainees were Muslim and most arrests by the earlier law, TADA, were made in this state which had no record of terrorism till the brutal Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002.
Advocate Bhushan says the large-scale misuse of both TADA and POTA, especially in Gujarat have ‘turned normal people into terrorists’. "If police officers kill innocent people in fake encounters and if this and other misuse happens on a large scale, then the inevitable consequence of that is to turn ordinary people into terrorists", Bhushan told IPS.
Bhushan points to Iraq as an illustrative international example, where stringent laws and total control by the military ‘without any accountability’ have aggravated its citizens so much that it is now the ‘worse-affected terrorism-country in the world’.
In Tamil Nadu, POTA was used as a political weapon for arresting opposition politician, Vaiko (one name) for his praise of the Sri Lankan ‘Tamil Tiger’ rebels, while in the northern State of Uttar Pradesh it was used against dalits, the lowest group in India’s social rung.
Though POTA too has now been annulled, India’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), amended in 2004 is now, yet again, being misused by the authorities in their bid to apprehend the culprits of the Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts, charged by the government as being members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Last fortnight, a Delhi High Court special tribunal outlawed the government’s banning of SIMI, on grounds of insufficient clinching evidence of the rganisation’s current terrorist actitivites. India’s Home Ministry has since obtained a Supreme Court time-bound stay on the tribunal’s judgement to produce concrete evidence of SIMI’s terrorist-activities by September 2008.
A former Indian anti-terrorism squad chief, K.P.S. Raghuvanshi, has been reported saying that SIMI executes jobs for the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a militant organisation based in Pakistan, but the government has not been able to back that charge with solid evidence in several terror cases in recent years.
"I don’t think any law will have the slightest effect on curbing terrorism,’’ Maja Daruwala, director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in India, told IPS, " Not unless the entire network of agencies involved in preventing, investigating and apprehending terrorism is substantially improved. "
Given that the Indian police have practically no training in forensics, are currently more adept at VIP (very important people) security than scientific investigation and have just one central forensic laboratory in India, the possibility of good investigation seems remote.
"If the average policing is anything to go by, the police depend mostly on tip-offs, they appear to have no other means at their disposal,’’ says Daruwala.
Daruwala says the police need to be " de-politicised, held to a professional standard and given internal management systems that are run on competent technology and skills, not on patronage’’. "The deeprooted politicisation of India’s intelligence agencies in all blasts investigations has succeeded in investigations not leading to the guilty", says Setalvad.
Unfortunately for India, says Daruwala, there is ‘arrant disregard’ of good suggestions by politicians and bureaucrats alike who use the police force as a ‘tool for wielding power’.
Daruwala says as many as seven Supreme Court recommendations on institutional reform in the police sector have either been diluted or ‘subverted’ by the relevant authorities.
All three experts, Daruwala, Setalvad and Bhushan say that India needs to urgently address the root cause of terrorism.
Daruwala thinks the system has to get streamlined so that ordinary people get quick, efficient justice. " We need change right down to the core", commented Daruwala.
By Keya Acharya
(As sent a Email to rahul vallamber)
Enough is Enough
Says who to whom?
I
 My skimpy acquaintance with the Taj hotel in what was then Bombay goes back to 1962.
I had been selected as a rookie sales executive by the then world's largest corporate house, Standard Oil, whose Asia division was called ESSO.
Our offices, also then the only air-conditioned building in Bombay, was at Nariman point.
Such was the nature of my job that on two or three occasions I had to be inside the Taj, full of smiles and business.
Some three years later I decided I wasn't going to sell oil for the next forty years, and I quit cold turkey to return happily to an academic life, liberally enlivened with activist involvements.
In short, the Taj hotel is truly a magnificent structure, although those days it made me happier to look at its magnificence from the outside than wheeling-dealing inside.
Like every other Indian, therefore, I am deeply saddened both by the insane loss of life, notable and ordinary, and by the damage done to this edifice. Especially when I recall that the Taj was the result of a laudable anti-colonial impulse, since Jamshedji had been refused entrance to another hotel reserved exclusively for the British.
II
My thoughts are here occasioned by a programme that one premier English-language electronic channel has been running since last night.
It is captioned "enough is enough."
As I have listened to the outrage pouring out from a diverse assortment of some celebrity Mumbai citizens whose haunts habitually remain restricted to the affluent South Mumbai—a zone of peace and prosperity that has had its first rite of passage to the ugliness that afflicts the rest of the city, indeed the rest of India, and rest of the world—I find myself asking the question "who is it saying ‘enough is enough', to whom, and why now"?
And how credible is the slogan of unity- at- any -cost that now so invigorates the fortunate classes in the wake of this traumatic experience?
And why should these imperious syllables calculated to shut off debate be received with unquestioning compliance when the mind is wracked by instances when South Mumbai-India has failed to employ the same "single eye" to pronounce on other murderous and murderously divisive events?
Today, thanks to the exemplary courage and discipline of India's security forces, the Taj may have been disfigured and damaged, however brutally, but not demolished—something that seemed to have been the intent of the terrorist attack.
But, alas, some sixteen years ago a four-hundred year old iconic mosque was axed and hatcheted out of existence while the forces stood and watched, as did the whole nation on television.
Neither that fateful day, nor once in the last sixteen years, has the cry gone up "enough is enough" on behalf of those that are now so outraged. Educated noises have been made, which is not the same thing as saying never again should this country countenance social forces that brought that watershed calamity about.
Only conscientious citizens have struggled since to bring succour and justice to the victims, often suffering opprobrium from elite India that sees them as busybodies.
Indeed, the worthies that were visibly culpable in inflicting that blood-thirsty catastrophe on the nation continue to remain in good favour with influential sections of the corporate media which may have carried on a debate on the issue but never admonished "enough is enough."
Some two hundred lives have been lost to the terrorist attack in Mumbai. Yet when, following the demolition of the Babri mosque, our own people killed a thousand or so of our own people in the very same Mumbai, the debate never ceased, and has not to this day.
Nor has the same terminal urgency that is now in evidence informed elite comment as to why those found guilty in that massacre (1992-93) by a high-powered Commission of Enquiry have not been given their due deserts
And what of the Gujarat massacres of 2002? No terrorists from outside there too, but our own good citizens, secure in the knowledge that they had the blessings of the top man in the job. The very top man who continues to be the darling of many elites who do not fight shy of drooling over what a wonderful chief executive he would make for the whole country, full of "development" and profit maximization.
No wonder that Mr.Modi should have been the first to hold a press briefing outside "ground zero" (am I sick of that copy-cat phrase) even while the bullets were flying, making it an occasion to deride no less than the Prime Minister.
The same Mr.Modi who until the other day publicly vented his strongest barbs at the ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) for daring to enquire into cases of Hindutva terrorism.
Narry an "enough is enough" there; only a shamefaced disapproval barely audible on the channels.
Indeed, should you ask me, I might say that the most heroic vignette during the current imbroglio has been the refusal of the widow of the slain Karkare, erstwhile head of the ATS, to accept Modi's devious offer of money.
As also an SMS doing the rounds, asking where Raj Thackeray, the great divisive champion of Marathi interests, has been while Mumbai was being butchered? And did he know that it was security personnel drawn from all over the country, including overwhelmingly from the north and the south, who were dying to save his Marathi manoos as much as anyone else in the city?
The same Thackeray clan to whom South Mumbai never seems to say "enough is enough," cannily remembering that in time of trouble they may after all have no recourse but to their lumpen mercy.
And how ironic that we should then lament how the spirit of a grand unity so eludes us ?
In one brief word, why do we not ever hear an unequivocal "enough is enough" in relation to the politics of fascist communalism? Or an unequivocal recognition of its intimate bearing on terrorism? Why do these realities remain subjects of TV debates from endless week to endless week wherein the culprits are afforded more than equal time?
III
Speaking of unity, there are other fissures we refuse to acknowledge, not to talk of battle, fissures that reveal equally blatantly the mote in our jaundiced eye.
A former Prime Minister of India died the very morning that Mumbai was attacked.
Not once through these days have I noticed the slightest mention even in a ticker tape on any channel but one. I mean not even the news of his passing.
And not just because our elite channels were so engrossed in bringing to the nation every second of the attack on the Taj and the Oberoi.
Let me say this: had it not been him but another former Prime Minister who is still happily with us, although ill and sidelined by his own party, the channels would at the least have divided their time equally between him and the events in Mumbai.
So why was Vishwanath Pratap Singh so rudely and with such vulgar disdain ignored even in his passing?
Because, I venture to say, there has been no more a hated figure for South-Mumbai India than him who was not merely a man of integrity next only to Nehru, and secular to the same timbre, but perhaps the most imaginative political mind of India since Nehru.
And he was hated because he had the vision and the courage to implement the Mandal Commission Report which recommended reservations in jobs and education for what the Constitution calls India's "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs). All in consonance with explicit injunctions made by the Constitution itself.
That measure was not seen by India's habitually-ruling upper castes as one intended to bring the neglected into the life of the nation—indeed to cement a more unified nation—but as one deviously calculated to divide the polity. And they never forgave him.
It is another matter that as the years have gone by, that measure has been endorsed, indeed taken to heart, by the very forces that reviled it violently on the streets at the time. No more far-reaching tribute to the historical imperative that he then embraced.
And those whose hands have the blood of the aftermath of the mosque demolition and of the Gujarat massacre on them saw him as the Muslim-loving, "anti-national" villain whose object it was to divide Hindus.
As though Hindus were not divided already for millennia on end.
No surprise that as V.P.Singh was cremated today, the only political leadership one saw there in attendance belonged to the OBCs and Dalits! If there was any local or low-level representation of other parties, who cares. None of that could make up for what the occasion said about the current elite outrage that India must look at India with a "single eye."
I surfed all the channels when the last rites were in progress. Not a single channel other than Doordarshan, the official TV outlet, covered the event!
And, it bears repeating, that had it been the other former Prime Minister, I can bet you my last penny they would all have been there.
So much then for the call for unity.
IV
Lastly, I have a message for the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.
They have circulated an email in which they claim that, among other objectives—killing Americans, Britishers, Zionists—they are acting on behalf of India's Muslims.
I say to them that in doing what they have done, they have committed the most grievous and heinous disservice to Indian Muslims.
There may well be an Indian Muslim here or there who resonates to the violent politics of revenge, as do members of other religious communities, but the great mass of Indian Muslims, as indeed the great mass of Muslims in Pakistan, have been making it abundantly known that instances of such violence and carnage perpetrated on their behalf not only run counter to what they want from life but damage their strenuous efforts to pursue those ends fatally.
Indeed, Indian Muslims have come to recognize, a recognition they have been at pains to voice repeatedly from every conceivable organized public forum, that those who perpetrate terrorist violence are no Muslims in the first place.
In the name of Allah, then, whom you never tire of invoking, desist and do something more useful and humane with your lives, something that true religion might indeed approve of.
Nor must you think that the course you pursue is about to dethrone global imperialism.
If that be your objective, there is no substitute for democratic, mass mobilization, and for an informed and argued strengthening of opinion within what nations you belong to.
In any case, do not involve Indian Muslims in any of your global concerns. And Pakistani Muslims as well.
A fine future awaits them. And many thousands to fight for their cause. Do not be their enemies.
And to South-Mumbai India we say, ask yourself what sort of unity you are looking for? Such as allows you peaceably and happily to continue to cream off India, or a just unity that, seeing with a "single eye" everywhere, gives in due measure? And a "single eye" that condemns evil in whatever shade it appears, be it green, red, or saffron. And, most of all, that turns that "single eye" periodically inward to condemn, foremost, the gluttony that resides there.
Speech by LT.GEN.(RETD) S.K. SINHA
I feel privileged to be invited to address this conference on two important issues, with which I have a very long association. These are emoluments of Army officers and the violence in Assam.
Emoluments of Army Officers
 In his address to West Point, President Eisenhower said, " When diplomats fail to maintain peace the soldier is called out to restore peace. When the civil administration fails to maintain order the soldier is called out to restore order. As the Nation's final safeguard, the Army cannot afford a failure in either circumstance. Failure of the Army can lead to national catastrophe, endangering the survival of the Nation." I would urge our decision-makers to ponder over this statement of Eisenhower.
As one who served in the Indian Army both before and after Independence, I would like to apprise you how the emoluments and status of Army officers have been persistently lowered since Independence.
Before Independence, the Army got emoluments at par with the ICS and at some points higher than the latter.
After Independence the Government brought down the salary of Army officers to the level of IPS officers, with a slight edge for the former. This resulted in our salaries getting considerably slashed.
At the time of Independence, I was drawing a salary of Rs 1300 a month which overnight got reduced to Rs 770. Never before or after, have salaries of serving personnel been reduced so arbitrarily.. The old salaries of our contemporaries in the ICS and IP were duly protected. No one from the Army went to court or launched any agitation. We accepted this blatant injustice with a stiff upper lip and enthusiastically went to war in Kashmir in which many of my colleagues got martyred. That was in 1947. We must accept that India of today is very different.
The pay equation between Army and Police officers was maintained till the Fourth Pay Commission, when this started being altered to the disadvantage of Army officers. I compliment the three Service Chiefs for
doing their bounden duty in taking up the case of the emoluments of Lt Cols and Lt Gens at the highest level. I am surprised that some journalists, ignorant of facts have been critical of the Army and the Chiefs on this score.
I do not wish to bother you with details. I understand that to scuttle the case of Lt Cols, a red herring of comparing them with Deputy Commandants of Para Military Forces, has been raised. The latter till
recently were Class 2 officers and even today are not at par with IPS officers. Moreover, the role and responsibility of the Army is different from that of the Para Military. As for Lt Gens, they got higher emoluments and held higher status than the Chief of Police of a State. That equation is also now sought to be altered to the disadvantage of the Army.
In 1973 Manekshaw was appointed Field Marshal. As Adjutant General I took up the case of the salary of Field Marshal with the Government. It took the Babus 33 years to take a decision and finally Manekshaw got his arrears of Rs 1.2 crores in 2007. The Defence Secretary handed over a cheque for that amount to him. Soon after, I met Manekshaw in the hospital, when he was on a ventilator. I congratulated him. He smiled and in his imitable way said that a Babu had given him a cheque but he was not sure if that cheque would be honoured.
Not only in terms of emoluments but also protocol, the position of Army officers has been persistently lowered after Independence. This applies to the Army Chief downwards and often this has been done after the Army
has fought a war successfully. The protocol status of a Field Marshal has not yet been fixed in the Table of Precedence because Babudom wants to preserve the higher status of the ' Bara Babu ', the ' Cabinet
Secretary '. When our first Field Marshal passed away recently, only a Minister of State attended the funeral. When the first British Field Marshal, the Duke of Wellington, passed away, Heads of States , Ambassadors, Prime Minister and Ministers attended his funeral. Such a cavalier approach of our rulers to the Army, aptly described by Eisenhower as the Nattion's ultimate weapon, is not in our national interest.
Assam
The shocking serial bomb blasts in Assam, the other day, in which over 81 innocent people got killed is a sad reflection on the functioning of the Government which has reduced India to a very soft State. Terrorists
have been attacking city after city and our rulers issue only inane statements. In the case of Assam, the Nation is being made to suffer self-inflicted wounds.
Way back in the Sixties, forty years ago the then Governor of Assam, B K Nehru, and his Chief Minister B P Chaliha wanted to take measures against the influx of illegal migrants and took up the matter with the Centre. They were told to stop the nonsense.
B K Nehru was from the dynasty, a cousin of Indira Gandhi. In his autobiography, ' Nice Guys Finish Second ', he wrote that Chaliha belonged to an earlier generation of Congressmen that had a different set of values. They considered national interest above party interests which was now not so with the present generation of Congressmen. This was a clear indictment of vote bank politics.
Thirty years later, as Governor of Assam, I also took up this issue. I submitted a 42 page report to the President of India. I made 15 specific recommendations to check the danger posed by the unabated influx of illegal migrants from Assam not only to the demography of Assam but also to the Nation's security. These recommendations included the repeal of IMDT Act, border fencing, introducing photo identity cards at least in the border districts and updating national register of citizens. My recommendations were ignored. Congress legislators in Assam appealed to the President calling for my recall. Ultimately, the IMDT Act was struck down by the Supreme Court quoting extensively from my report but the Government brought it back through the backdoor, by amending the Foreigner's Act. The fencing of the 260 kilometer land border in Assam supposed to have started in 1985, is not yet fully complete.
While I was Governor of J & K, the Army completed a much more sophisticated fencing of 750 kilometers of the border, in far more difficult terrain. As for photo identity cards and national registere of citizens, no action whatsoever has been taken.
There has been total lack of political will to take any action to stop the demographic aggression in Assam due to vote bank considerations.
On 10 April 1992, Hiteshwar Saikia the then Chief Minister of Assam stated in the State Assembly that there were 3 million illegal immigrants in Assam. Two days later he was pressurized to say to the Press that there were no illegal immigrants in Assam.
On 6 May 1997 the then Union Home Minister, Indrajit Gupta, told the Parliament that there were 1 crore illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India.
On 15 July 2004 K P Jaiswal the Minister of State for Home told the Parliament that there were 1.2 crore illegal immigrants in the country. The following day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in Guwahati.
Obviously under the influence of local Congressmen, he stated that the figures mentioned by his junior Minister in the Parliament were not authentic. A week later Jaiswal told the Parliament that he had quoted
figures on the basis of hearsay.
The root cause of militancy and Jehadi violence in Assam has been illegal migration from Bangladesh. For the sake of votes, the ruling party has not only been turning a Nelson's eye to the problem but has been encouraging it.
The influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam continues unabated. The demographic contour of all the border districts, particularly in Lower Assam has changed radically. In many of these districts Bangladeshis are now in a majority.
The district of Dhubri which abuts the sensitive Siliguri corridor, called the Chicken Neck, has a 70% Bangladeshi Muslim population. The consequence of this for the entire land mass of the North East can be
most serious. It vitally affects not only the people of Assam but the entire Nation. Apart from the Government required totake stringent measures against Jehadi terrorism all the country, it must take prompt
concrete measures on a war footing, to counter the unabated influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam.
Speech by LT.GEN.(RETD) S.K. SINHA
Frankly I am tired of all this political nonsense. A lot of politicians of every political party are all jockeying for position and power.
Has anyone ever asked as to how these politicians, their families and their buddies are now amongst the richest in the country? And, how many of them have had any educational background or 'old' money to reach where
they are? Or, doesn't that count?
No one has thought of the country first, always for themselves and then their party - but never for the country. Most politicians have used religion to climb up the steps to power etc.
It is our generation that has been spineless and impotent and have permitted the country to reach the nadir of our collective existence. Forget the economic stats - meaningless in the real world of quality of
life which is degenerating into chaos.
And you know what? It is not going to change in a hurry unless we stand up and be counted, - for a change!
You want a change? Then, you've got to do something positive - instead of just participating in this continual armchairing rhetoric? You can start now by simply organising to socially boycott people that you suspect have
corrupted the system be it in the polity, bureaucracy, policing, judiciary, industry, education, media etc. See? Everywhere one looks you will see corruption. But,not everyone is corrupt,- so recognise and honour the people who have helped society.
But can you be balsy enough to do it? Think about it - think about a change in how we view ourselves and our country.
I am tired of the Alva's of the world who demand handouts for their progeny; I am tired of being in a society where 'chalta hai' is our national motto; I am tired of 'convenient' polity bedfellows who can be going for each other's throat publically but collaborate together in business; I am tired of states who profess victory for their state but think little of the country - Jai Hind would be the only slogan worth chanting. Jai Hind! But no one wants to comment on all this.
But I am not tired of helping to change. And, by the way, so should you. If not for yourselves, but for the future.
You can dustbin this note, - or you can sit back and think of how you can effect change. And, then start the process forward.
This note has been forwarded to friends who may want to do something about the way we live - and for the future.
"Ultimately, it's up to each of us to choose how we will live our lives, hold ourselves to high standards, and continually evaluate what's inside the image we see in the mirror.
-- Eric Harvey" - courtesy Walk The Talk.
Story
Little is known about Rahil Abdul Rehman Sheikh, believed to be the principal executor of the Mumbai bombings Since at least February, police in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi have all been attempting to locate the man alleged to be responsible for the second-largest terror strike in Indian history.
Sheikh funnelled funds to field units, and ensured that fresh recruits travelled safely to camps in Pakistan
He was a member of an ultra-conservative religious sect
Sheikh and his accomplices shared an interest in campaigns for moral purification and proselytisation
MUMBAI: `RAHIL ABDUL REHMAN SHEIKH,' reads the text on the top of the dossier on India's most wanted terrorist — the man believed to be the principal executor of the Mumbai serial bombings, which claimed 200 lives. There is no photograph below it: for all of his adult life, Sheikh refused to have one taken, on the ground that graven images were forbidden by Islam.
A picture is not the only thing we do not know about Sheikh's terror career. Since at least February, police in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi have all been attempting to locate the man alleged to be responsible for the second-largest terror strike in Indian history. Indians communications intelligence personnel intercepted conversations between Sheikh and the Lashkar's overall military commander, Azam Cheema
Operates under `Junaid'
Operating under the direct command of a Dhaka-based Lashkar-e-Taiba commander code-named `Junaid' — about whom little is known other than that he is a Pakistani national — Sheikh's principal tasks were to funnel funds to field units, and ensure that fresh recruits could travel safely to training camps in Pakistan. He travelled frequently to Dhaka to meet Junaid.
Early this year, police in Gujarat discovered Sheikh had organised the attempted bombing of an Ahmedabad-Mumbai train. Soon afterwards, the Delhi Police determined that he had helped send Lashkar operatives Mohammad Ali Chhipa and Feroze Ghaswala to Teheran, from where they had travelled by road to the Lashkar's headquarters in Lahore. Similar tactics were used to train several Lashkar terrorists arrested at Aurangabad in May.
Until his relationship with the Lashkar drew the attention of India's police and intelligence services, Sheikh lived in a one-room flat in a nondescript building near one of Mumbai's oldest landmarks — the Shalimar Talkies, on Grant Road. Established in the 1970s, the movie theatre drew top stars to premieres but, like the neighbourhood around it, has been in decline for the last two decades.
Sheikh, though, appears to have rejected the aggressive cosmopolitanism Mumbai prides itself on. He turned, in his late teens, to the Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadis — an ultra-conservative religious sect which urges its followers to model their lives on a literalist reading of the times and life of the Prophet Muhammad. The Markazi Jamaat Ahl-e-Hadis, the sect's central body in India, endorses the secular state — and condemns terrorism.
Receptive
Much of the Lashkar's cadre, though, has been drawn from amongst the ranks of the organisation, and Sheikh proved receptive to its call. According to authorities, Sheikh began working with the Students Islamic Movement of India before its 1999 convention at Aurangabad, where the organisation's linkages with the Lashkar first manifested themselves. No evidence of actual membership, though, so far exists.
If Sheikh was indeed at that convention, many of the Lashkar operatives he later worked with might well have first made contact with him there. Many of the speeches delivered at the convention were frankly inflammatory. "Islam is our nation, not India," thundered Mohammad Amir Shakeel Ahmad, one of the 11 Aurangabad men arrested in May for harbouring several kilograms of RDX in preparation for a massive bombing in Gujarat.
Little is known about how Sheikh met the two other men alleged to have played a core role in the Mumbai bombing, Beed-based Zulfikar Fayyaz Qazi and Aurangabad resident Zabiuddin Ansari.
However, the three shared an interest in the campaigns for moral purification and proselytisation organised by the Ahl-e-Hadis. Sheikh, some say, attended a 2003 convention of the Ahl-e-Hadis in Srinagar.
Intelligence sources said Sheikh, Qazi and Ansari are most likely hiding in Kathmandu, from where two Pakistani nationals were arrested on June 12. Linked to the 2001 recovery of RDX from the home of Pakistani diplomat Mohammad Arshad Cheema — who is also alleged to have aided the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight 814 — the arrests have again demonstrated the Lashkar's presence in Nepal.
Ahmedabad Bombing
The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, India, on July 26, 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. 56 people were killed and over 200 people were injured.[3][4] Ahmedabad is the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat state, and a large part of western India. The blasts were considered to be of low intensity, and were similar to the Bengaluru blasts which occurred the day before.
Several TV channels said they had received an e-mail from a terror outfit called Indian Mujahideen claiming responsibility for the terror attacks; Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, however, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Gujarat police arrested the suspected mastermind, Mufti Abu Bashir, along with nine others, in connection to the bombings.
These bombings occurred a day after the Bengaluru blasts and a day before a bomb blast in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Warning of attacks through e-mail
Several news agencies reported receiving a 14-page e-mail five minutes before the explosions with the subject line: "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat",apparently referring to the riots of 2002 which took place in Gujarat after the Godhra train burning incident. The e-mail was sent by the group known as “Indian Mujahideen” on July 26 at around 6:41pm IST from an email address alarbi_gujarat@yahoo.com.
The contents of the e-mail warned of attacks in 5 minutes: “In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!”
The e-mail also contained threats against the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, and his deputy, R.R. Patil, with the claim, “We wonder at your memory. Have you forgotten the evening of July 11, 2006 so quickly and so easily?”
Furthermore, the threats went on to warn Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries to “think-twice” before “usurping and building a citadel on a land in Mumbai that belongs to the Waqf board...lest it turns into horrifying memories for you which you will never ever forget.”
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