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Why do terrorist uncles kill, Aishwarya? The world owes an answer to Aishwarya's observation and to make the globe safe for her and future generations. The most poignant statement to come out of the 26/11 Mumbai terror is that of a Class VII student: 'The terrorist uncle was shooting.' Why does the uncle terrorist shoot to kill? This fundamental question has to be answered first before appropriate remedies are worked out by the civilized world which the innocent Aishwarya Gaekwad represents. Why does an islamist jihadi terrorist kill innocent citizens? What is the message he is trying to convey after getting trained in handling weapons of death? Why does an army without a state (Pakistan) allow the training of such terrorists? Is it because Pakistan itself was born out of the same fundamentalist religious dogma represented by wahhabi world-view that every non-believer (kufr) is fit only to be killed? Surely, many pundits will have many analyses and many answers and even brilliant solutions to offer. Nazi terror had its roots in sowing hatred in the minds of youth. Islamist jihadi terror also has its roots in sowing hatred in the minds of youth. Until the islamist jihadi foundation which is interpreted to justify killing innocent citizens is eradicated from the face of the globe, the uncle terrorists will continue to kill, Aishwarya. As you grow up, let us hope that the pundits of the present generation will do well to leave a peaceful world for you to live in. It is simply a fundamental philosophical problem of the meaning of life. The islamist jihadi uncle finds the meaning in death. The terrorist uncles seem to think that the non-believers have no right to life and that the terrorist uncle has a responsibility to kill and an ordained duty to create a globe full of 'believers'. Uncle terrorist ain't no uncle, Aishwarya. He is an indoctrinated animal masquerading as human.
Is there hope that Obama will be the transformational leader in-charge of the super-cop country and work with Hindusthan to rid the world of jihadist terror? Step 1 is to enrol Hindusthan as a partner in eliminating the terror central in Hindusthan's borders and to break up Pakistan. Hindusthan herself should mend her ways of cuddling terrorists and make a resolve to eliminate terror from the globe. Let there be a Step 1 in Hindusthan to enact a Patriot Act as in USA and to build a Martyrs' Memorial (comparable to the Holocaust Museum) to honour the brave aatman who have laid down their lives in support of freedom and dharma. kalyanaraman
'Mumbai has become Kashmir'
Archana Masih in Mumbai | November 28, 2008 | 19:32 IST
The Batliwala chawl is opposite Nariman House, where commandos have waged a 40-hour battle against terrorists. Last night, its residents were evacuated as the operation intensified. "The terrorist uncle was shooting. I could hear the guns and was terrified. I also saw one uncle climb up the pipe," says Aishwarya Gaekwad, a Class VII student, innocently. The residents of the chawl spent the first night and the next day, huddled together. They were too afraid to sleep, or look out of the window. As evening fell, they were evacuated. While others went to stay with family and friends, a group of families from Batliwala chawl, took refuge at a Shiv Sena shakha nearby. Over a lunch of rice and curried vegetable provided for them, they say Nariman House was regularly visited by foreigners. But never did they think it would become the epicentre of a battle with terrorists. They do not know when the ordeal will be over, when their lane will be secure and when things will be normal again. The last two days have left the residents of this busy Colaba market area in extended disbelief. "I used to walk home every night through this lane outside Nariman House and look what is happening there now?" says Rahul Rakh who works at a cyber cafe nearby. He hasn't gone for work for two days, because the cyber cafe along with other shops in the cordoned area has been closed. He feels he has a sort of unexplainable proximity to the horror that has unfolded around him. "I feel so weird, terrorists took over a building near my home and work place -- and Cama hospital, which became a target of their attack, was where I was born." Just like many others in the maze of lanes around Nariman House, Rahul and his friends have been trying to get as close as the police would allow them to see what is happening. Often personnel from the Rapid Action Force, clear them off and prevent them from assembling in groups but curious onlookers keep on coming. Vikram Singh and his friends have come from Matunga in north-central Mumbai to see what is happening. Yesterday, they went to all the other spots of the attacks -- VT, Taj, Oberoi, Cama -- "Do you want to see the firing?" he asks, "I can take you through the back lanes and show you." Explaining his presence, he says he has come to help but does not know exactly what to do. "For my country I can do anything, if I had a gun and was allowed to go in, I would have also gone and taken on terrorists," he says vehemently and goes on vent his disappointment at the Mumbai police. "They can only pull you over and bully you, they are such a failure when it comes ensuring security. They need young cops, better weapons and good training." Mumbai is beloved to him and its repeated destruction anguishes him. He says he sees his beloved city lurch from one terror strike to another with no government plan to confront it. "Mumbai has become Kashmir, it is so tragic" he says, getting ready to ride pillion on his friend's bike to go to another terror spot. http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/nov/28-mumbai-has-become-kashmir.htm Scotland Yard team to probe British link in terror attack
November 28, 2008 | 20:23 IST The United Kingdom will investigate the reports claiming two of the eight terrorists arrested in the Mumbai terror attack are British nationals. A nine-member team from Scotland Yard has left for Mumbai to probe the British links of the arrested terrorists.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had told a TV channel on Friday that two arrested terrorists were 'British citizens of Pakistani origin'. The attack, in which the terrorists unleashed terror in 13 places across South Mumbai before taking over two luxury hotels and a building inhabited by Israelis, has already claimed 155 lives. Reacting to the reports, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not be drawn into early conclusions, reports The Telegraph. Terming the terror attacks 'atrocious', Brown told Sky News, "Obviously when you have terrorists operating in one country, they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country, and it is very important that we strengthen the co-operation between India and Britain in dealing with these instances of terrorist attacks."
He is expected to call up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the situation in Mumbai later today.
One British citizen, Andreas Liveras, has been killed in the terror attack while seven have are reportedly injured. http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/nov/28scotland-yard-team-to-probe-british-link-in-terror-attack.htm Arrested terrorist says gang hoped to get away 29 Nov 2008, 0515 hrs IST, TNN NEW DELHI: The gang of terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai for three days were made to believe by their Lashkar bosses that they were not being sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.
In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline.
This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal.
Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai.
Ajmal made another important disclosure: that all terrorists were trained in marine warfare along with the special course Daura-e-Shifa conducted by the Lashkar-e-Toiba in what at once transforms the nature of the planning from a routine terror strike and into a specialized raid by commandos.
Battle-hardened ATS officials are surprised by the details of the training the terrorists were put through before being despatched for the macabre mission. This was very different from a terrorist attack, and amounted to an offensive from the seam, said a source.
Ajmal has revealed the name of his fellow jihadis all Pakistani citizens as Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bara) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota).
The account of Ajmal also strengthens the doubt of the complicity of powerful elements in the Pakistani establishment. According to him, the group set off on November 21 from an isolated creek near Karachi without the deadly cargo of arms and ammunition they were to use against the innocents in Mumbai. The group received arms and ammunition on board a large Pakistani vessel which picked them up the following day. The vessel, whose ownership is now the subject of an international probe, had four Pakistanis apart from the crew.
A day later, they came across an Indian-owned trawler, Kuber, which was promptly commandeered on the seas. Four of the fishermen who were on the trawler were killed, but its skipper, or tandel in fishermen lingo, Amarjit Singh, was forced to proceed towards India. Amarjit was killed the next day, and Ismail the terrorist who was killed at Girgaum Chowpaty took the wheel.
A trained sailor, Ismail used the GPS to reach Mumbai coast on November 26. The group, however, slowed down its advance as they had reached during the day time while the landing was planned after dusk. The group shifted to inflatable boats, before disembarking at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade.
From there, they mandated to kill indiscriminately, particularly white foreign tourists, and spare Muslims split up into five batches. Two of them Ismail and Ajmal took a taxi to Victoria Terminus. Three other batches of two each headed for Oberoi Hotel, Cafe Leopold and Nariman House. The remaining four went to Taj Hotel.
He may have been motivated enough to kill innocents indiscriminately. In police custody, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who was caught alive by the Mumbai police at Girgaum Chowpatty, has been forthcoming with details about the attack on Mumbai and his accomplices, all suspected Lashkar operatives from Pakistan.
Kasab, who sustained minor injuries in the police firing that killed his partner Abu Ismail (25) on Wednesday night, was produced before the Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate on Friday. The magistrate remanded him to police custody till December 8. Incidentally, Kasab and Ismail were the two who gunned down ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional CP Ashok Kamthe and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
Kasab told the police that he and 9 others got off a vessel about 10 nautical miles from Mumbai and shifted to two boats hijacked from fishermen.
One source in ATS familiar with the details of the interrogation quoted him saying that in all 16 fidayeens came to Mumbai on Wednesday. A native of Faridkot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 21-year-old Kasab told police they had done a reccee of Mumbai few months ago. He said he had come along with eight of the operatives to Mumbai as students and lived in a rented room at Colaba market, a stone's throw away from Nariman House.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3771598,prtpage-1.cms PM's terror stand comes back to haunt him 29 Nov 2008, 0308 hrs IST, TNN NEW DELHI: Of all his formulations, the one that has returned most often to haunt Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the assertion that Pakistan too, like India, was a victim of terrorism. The macabre irony embedded in the peculiar hypenation plays itself out in a ghastly re-run with every terror strike.
The PM's remark, made before a meeting with Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf in September 2006, indicated a singular failure to appreciate the nature of the terror threat and Islamabad's role in ensuring India remains in a near-permanent state of fearful expectation. In a stroke, the wolf had been turned into a lamb.
Not only do wolves usually don't really change colours, what was remarkable about Singh's statement was it came barely two months after the 11/7 Mumbai train bombings where the government saw a Pakistani hand. Yet, a yo-yo response â" just a month earlier he said the peace process with Pakistan was under threat â" has marked the PM's approach to terror.
His tough-sounding words after the massive November 26 attack on Mumbai â" that he would "take up" with neighbours the use of their territory for launching strikes against India and that "individuals and organisations" behind the outrage would be hunted down â" sound like a tinny, worn out record. Even the PM's aides might find the cowboy act a little hard to swallow.
Politics can be an unforgiving line of work but the PM has chosen to ignore the perils of not learning from mistakes. Soon after serials blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi shook the country, Singh told a governors conference that he was not opposed to tightening anti-terror laws.
The point really is whether the government is flexible to the point of bending before every storm. Soon, after Congress's political calculations ruled out special anti-terror laws, the PM developed an amnesia that afflicts politicians. Until the fidayeen struck Mumbai. "Existing laws will be tightened to ensure there are no loopholes for terrorists to escape," the PM intoned on Thursday. Disbelief wrestled with incredulity.
No one really believes any laws will be added or changed. The promise of a federal investigative agency has been part of a file in PMO for many months now.
After having bought into the political argument that anti-terror laws "target" minorities, Congress has found it difficult to retrace its steps. Yet, with each succeeding terrorist atrocity, the pressure to be seen to be doing something has increased. But the PM has sought to make concessions that Congress is not prepared to underwrite.
Apart from the India-US nuclear deal, the PM has tended to see peace with Pakistan as part of his legacy. But even as he built useful CBMs with Musharraf, the bid to de-militarise Siachen shocked the armed forces which felt the plan was ill considered. Today, the "mountain of peace" line seems more tacky than it ever did. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3771339,prtpage-1.cms November 28, 2008 Press Statement by Shri L.K. Advani,
Leader of the opposition (Lok Sabha) On His Visit To Mumbai After The November 26 Terror Attack I visited terror-struck Mumbai on the evening of Thursday 27 November, accompanied by my colleague Shri Jaswant Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. I visited the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT) Railway Station, where terrorists had fired indiscriminately at innocent rail users and exploded several hand grenades causing massive panic and killing more than 50 persons last night. Later I went to JJ Hospital where 102 victims of Wednesday's mayhem are lying in various states of injury. It was painful to hear the victims' narrate their tale of misfortune. Sadly, over the last few years I have had to visit many such hospitals in the aftermath of terror attacks that have now become alarmingly frequent. Thereafter, I visited King George Memorial (KGM) Hospital to commend the valour of Assistant Commissioner of Police Sadanand Date, who volunteered to join the police action in South Mumbai although he was posted elsewhere. He has suffered several injuries from grenade shrapnel including one in his eye. But I marvelled at his grit and determination even in this condition. As I left his bedside, he said to me, "Don't worry, we'll get them". It is this spirit of our security officials that gives me confidence that despite the Government's pussyfooting and its politically-motivated refusal to arm the security agencies with appropriately tough anti-terror laws, we shall overcome the terrorist challenge in the end. It is a curious coincidence that starting with the attack on kar sevaks on board Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 26, 2002 almost every major terror strike in India has happened on the 13th or 26th of the month. This year alone, the Jaipur blast took place on May 13, Ahmedabad followed on July 26, Delhi on September 13 and now Mumbai on November 26. It appears the terrorists have made it a pattern to strike on the 13th or 26th of every alternate month. I wonder whether we will have to resort to numerology rather than firm intelligence to anticipate terror attacks. The Government's non-serious approach in this regard is reinforced by reports that the Mumbai attackers arrived in the city from the sea. Official agencies had been warning the Home Ministry for some time about such a possibility, but the Government did nothing to bolster the Navy or the Coast Guard's capacity to intercept rogue boats. As a result, two mother ships are reported to have dropped the Mumbai terrorists off some 15 nautical miles from the Mumbai shoreline and they managed to reach their destination uninterrupted. It hardly bears reiterating that apart from strengthening and streamlining the intelligence network, the Government needs to take whatever intelligence inputs it receives seriously and act on it. Before leaving for Mumbai I had told mediapersons in Delhi that I suspected that the degree of planning and quantum of ammunition used, indicated that the terrorists were probably not homegrown. My suspicions been confirmed with Maharashtra Government officials telling me that the one terrorist arrested has admitted arriving by the sea route. It now appears that a mobile phone on a terrorist's person is of Pakistani origin. This reinforces what I told the media yesterday about the intelligence agencies' energies being diverted to nail so-called Hindu terror, which evidently enabled the Mumbai attackers plot away undetected. I said in my statement yesterday morning that the Prime Minister suggested that he and I should go to Mumbai together later in the day. I had readily agreed, deferring my own departure plan. However, in the afternoon I was told that it would be better if we went on Friday, as the commando operation was not over. Since my campaign schedule for Rajasthan could not be altered at such a late hour, I expressed my inability to delay visiting Mumbai by a whole day, but assured the Home Minister that I would not visit the areas where action was still underway. Just before leaving for Mumbai at 4 pm, I was told the Prime Minister had changed his mind and would follow a little later. I then suggested we could meet at a pre-arranged spot during our respective visits so that my appeal for a united response to the terrorist challenge could become a visible message to the people. Although I was told that we would be informed about the venue of such a meeting in Mumbai I received no word thereafter. I continue to hope that the Government will even at this late stage of its tenure devise a robust and zero-tolerance response to terrorism. To begin with, I again urge the Prime Minister to summon a conference of Chief Ministers of all States on the western coastline to activate a firm strategy to deal with the new threat of sea-borne terror. http://bjp.org/Press/nov_2008/nov_2808_p.htm Saturday, November 29, 2008 | Email | Print | ![]()
26/11: Fits the chilling Lashkar pattern
Wilson John
There is nothing 'new' about the style of the latest Mumbai terror strike. In scale and desperation it carries the ISI signature
The two-day- long siege of Mumbai by over two dozen terrorists, which killed over 125 and turned the commercial soul of India into an island of fear, was part of a global jihadi conspiracy to turn the region into a cauldron of violence and establish a pan-Islamic network over Asia.
A key catalyst of this plan is Pakistan and its agencies like the Army and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate which have been spawning and promoting terrorist and extremist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), all of which have recruiting cadres for the al-Qaida since 2001.
There is evidence of a cabal within the ISI, which noted Pakistani scholar Ahmed Rashid calls `a ISI within ISI`. This body may be primarily responsible for formulating and executing the Pakistani State's jihadi strategy in Afghanistan and India ,while giving the cover of deniability to the Army and civilian establishment. This group has close associations with terrorist entities like the LeT, which has been used in several terror attacks in India in the past. In fact, according to the present Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, ISI had given a `severance pay` to LeT chief Hafiz Saeed after the US leaned heavily on Pakistan to keep a check on terror outfits after 9/11.
For this cabal, Mumbai has been top of the list of targets in India primarily because of its economic importance, availability of foot soldiers among the D-Company, and the lucre of achieving a global impact. For the ISI, crippling Mumbai is part of the strategy to force India to compromise on Kashmir. This group has been successful in their first phaseâ"using proxy war in Kashmir to force India to come to the negotiating table.
There are several other references which can be drawn from the 11 coordinated attacks, which began on November 27 and continued until late the next day, killing over 130 persons and drawing more than a 1000 men from the Indian Army, Marine Commandos, the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos besides the local police to neutralise about two dozen young, well-armed terrorists. It is one of the most audacious attacks on India and reveals the maturing of a strongly networked terror coalition with links to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Two other attacks of similar nature were the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and the December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. The latest Mumbai attack, in a way, had operational strategies drawn from both the attacks.
The attacks point at the inevitable expansion of the radical fringe within the 150-million strong Muslim community and the increasing influence of the al-Qaida or its allies like the LeT on such men spread out across India, particularly in western and southern India.
The involvement of the criminal underworld in Mumbai in carrying out the attacks is strongly suspected. The 1993 blasts were carried out by the members of the D-Company. The latest attack, carried out by a well-trained, indoctrinated cluster of young jihadis, had other similarities with the 1993 serial blasts and the Parliament attack. The objectives, for instance, were more or less the same. ï· Draw international attention ï· Cripple the economic hub of India ï· Paralyse the government/political process ï· Provoke communal backlash ï· Invite more recruits
The 1993 operation had targeted some of the well-known landmarks of southern Mumbai, including The Taj and cinema theatres like Metro. There were plans to hold political leaders hostage after entering the Mantralaya (secretariat).
A few conclusions can be drawn about the nature and strength of the group involved in the Mumbai 2008 attack.
1. The number of terrorists involved in the attack (no less than 24) and the high level of coordination and determination they showed in holding ground for more than 30 hours against one of the world's most experienced soliders and commandoes point to the involvement of a well-established and highly networked terrorist group or alliance like the LeT.
2. The LeT has been involved in operations like the Red Fort attack of 2000, Parliament 2001, Akshardham 2002 and Bangalore IIM 2005. The modus operandi was similar to Mumbai 2008â"open attack with assault rifles.
3. The terrorists involved in the attack, as in the past cases, are likely to be `volunteers` and not members of the suspect terrorist groups. This is the strategy that the al-Qaida has been utilising over the past seven years.
4. The attack was carefully planned, and most likely monitored closely by the masterminds from safe distances. The targets were selected for their visibility, impact, lax security, easy accessibility, hostage taking, and to find convenient fortifications to counter police action.
5. The attack of this magnitude need to be rehearsed and the target locations recceed several times. Most likely, the targets were recceed on the morning of the attack.
6. The attack could not have taken place without a local support base, most likely involving the substantial criminal underworld of Mumbai.
7. The use of assault rifles and hand grenades point to the involvement of the Mumbai underworld, likely to be the one controlled by Karachi-based Dawood Ibrahim whose association with ISI is well known.
Given these factors and similarities in modus operandi, selection of targets and use of sophisticated weapons and explosives, the involvement of similar groups with links to ISI becomes highly probable. The suspicion also gathers strength from the role of the ISI in carrying out suicide bombing against the Indian Embassy in Kabul in July 2008. The suicide bomber was a LeT operative. The LeT has been operating several training camps in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where, according to Heraldmagazine, recruits from Pakistan and other countries have been training in fidayeen or suicide missions since 2006.
The LeT operates a huge empire of schools and charity organisations under the camouflage of a social and religious organisation, Jamaat-ud Dawa, based in Lahore. LeT chief Hafiz Saeed has been promoting anti-India and anti-Western feelings during his Friday prayers. As recent as October 13, 2008, he told his audience:``India understand only one language â" Jihad``. He charged that ``India has blocked the water of River Chenab and constructed the Baglihar Dam. Pakistan has failed to stop India from doing so. India understands only one language i.e. the language of jihadâ¦.jihad cannot be suppressed. In fact, with little support, it can break apart India just like the former USSR.'
The LeT is pro-Wahhabi and has been a key instrument of the ISI's plan to sideline different Deobandi terrorist groups active in India for the past few years. One of the founding members of LeT has been Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian jihad ideologue, more famous as the teacher of Osama bin Laden, the founder of the al Qaida.
-- The writer is Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation. http://dailypioneer.com/137555/26/11-Fits-the-chilling-Lashkar-pattern.html The Hindu, 28 Nov. 2008 "President-elect Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India," said his chief national security spokesperson Brooke Anderson. "These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism," he said. "The United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks. We stand with the people of India, whose democracy will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks," added Mr. Anderson. Offer to help The U.S. government convened counter-terrorism and intelligence officials and offered help to Indian authorities as U.S. President George W. Bush condemned the attacks. "President Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks in Mumbai, India," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino in a statement on Wednesday. "The United States condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy," she said adding, Mr. Bush who had left for the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for the Thanksgiving holiday "has been updated regularly." http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112857661500.htm
Heroes of Mumbai
The Pioneer Edit Desk November 29, 2008
Nation salutes the security forces
Although the operation to neutralise all the terrorists who took over Mumbai's iconic hotel, Taj Mahal Palace, on Wednesday night is not yet over, the security forces, namely the National Security Guards, deserve to be commended for their outstanding role during the entire crisis. The Mumbai Police, whose personnel were the first to rush to the virtual warzone at multiple locations, has shown exemplary bravery. Despite suffering casualties, the police held the fort, so to say, till Army and Navy commandos arrived on the scene, later replaced by NSG commandos. We salute the three brave police officers, among them ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who led the counter-assault and laid down their lives battling the fidayeen, as well as the policemen who were killed in action. We also salute Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan of the NSG and Omkar Chander, a commando of the elite force, who have died in the ongoing operation. Their valour and their sacrifice will serve to enthuse those who value liberty and democracy; they join the pantheon of heroes who have fought and died for India. The cynical among us may be tempted to point out that there must be something awfully wrong if a handful of fidayeen can put up such a stiff fight against hundreds of commandos. But such cynicism is best ignored; if at all it is to be addressed, we should point out that terrorists wage an asymmetrical war in which they enjoy a clear advantage over forces of the state. Their actions are not restricted by concerns of collateral damage â" in Mumbai the fidayeen have slaughtered scores of men and women (it will be some time before we are able to figure out the death toll) making a mockery of Islam's much publicised injunction that pulpit propagandists claim prohibits Muslims from shedding the blood of innocent people. The killers were not particularly bothered about this claim; we cannot say they were equally indifferent about or not motivated by their faith. In sharp contrast, our security forces are motivated by their twin responsibilities of defending the nation from aggression and protecting the lives of innocent civilians: Unlike the 'soldiers of god', they do not shoot to kill at random or for pleasure; they operate within moral and legal restrictions which often place them at a disadvantage vis-Ã -vis their adversaries.
Having said this, it would be in order to point out that while the NSG is well equipped to deal with crisis situations as witnessed in Mumbai, our policemen have to make do with antiquated weapons and ineffective protective gear. It is a shame that despite India being a long time victim of terrorism, the Government has not bothered to equip the police in a manner that they can meet challenges as posed by thefidayeen in Mumbai or separatists and Maoists elsewhere. It is possible that Mumbai Police would have suffered fewer casualties had its men been wearing protective gear that can withstand bullets fired from assault rifles. That nobody in authority, especially our politicians and babus who do not have to confront terrorists, has bothered to look into this aspect of counter-terrorism operations is an eloquent comment on their priorities. India does not lack the courage and wherewithal to wage war on terror; its political class lacks determination. A fitting tribute to the heroes of Mumbai would be to deny any credit for defeating the fidayeen to politicians and bureaucrats. Indeed, they are to blame for making this nation a soft target and a happy hunting ground for jihadis and assorted terrorists driven by twisted ideologies.
http://dailypioneer.com/137556/Heroes-of-Mumbai.html Why Terrorists Kill: Explaining the Deadliness of Terrorist Violence "Terrorism varies in its deadliness. The 9/11 attack, for example, killed approximately 2500 people, but other attacks have been bloodless. Why? I hypothesize that the rate at which terrorist organizations kill is inversely related to the amount of competition they face from others. Groups that utilize terror vie with one another for support from the members of society they purport to represent and for new recruits. The more groups contend for support, the more they avoid attacks that might appall backers and push them into rival camps. I test this argument using a sample from the ITERATE data set of international terrorist attacks committed against the state of Israel between 1968 and 2002." Aaron m. Hoffman Full text at http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/0/8/9/pages100896/p100896-1.php http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/0/8/9/p100896_index.html Terrorists kill the man who gave them water Agencies Posted: Nov 27, 2008 at 1944 hrs (Indian Express) Mumbai The terrorists who attacked the Cama Hospital in Mumbai did not spare the life of even their benefactor who had served them water when asked for. After killing two security personnel in the terrace of the hospital, the two ultras escaped to the housing quarters of the hospital where they killed two persons one of whom had served them water when asked for. An eerie calm enveloped the maternity ward at the hospital on Thursday, in stark contrast to the usual cries of newborns there as most of the patients have left the hospital against medical advice. Two terrorists had entered the hospital from the back entrance with hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles at around 0230 hours killing two security personnel, Bhanu Narkar and Baban Ugade, eyewitnesses said. The terrorist duo, while continuing to fire indiscriminately, went up to the fourth and fifth floors, which house the maternity ward at the five-storey hospital. One of the two maternity wards was locked from the inside while the terrorists tried to break into another which had been fastened by the women occupying it using a cloth. Twenty-five women, along with their newborn babies and three other men locked themselves inside a safety room within the maternity ward, refusing to open despite several threats by the terrorists. Continuing to fire while climbing further up, the terrorists reached the terrace of the hospital where they killed a sub-inspector and two constables. http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=391467 Do terrorists kill their publicists? http://www.time.com/time/columnist/poniewozik/article/0,9565,179804,00.html Update 10:23PM-Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch has info posted that the Islamic terrorists may be of Pakistani origin: "...members of Lashkar-e-Toiba- a Pakistan-based group best known for an assault on the Indian parliament in 2001." In addition, been watching the updates on Fox, it appears they also are reluctant to say "Islamic terrorists" and are instead referring only to "militants" or "gunmen." Of course that is due to the power of political correctness, as well as the efforts of Islamic apologists who have succeeded in convincing much of the world that Islam is a "religion of peace", only a few radicals attempting to highjack an otherwise "peaceful" religion. Even President Bush touts that line as well. However, I'm in agreement with Craig Winn, author of the book: Prophet of Doom: Islam's Terrorist Dogma In Muhammad's Own Words http://amerisrael.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/islamic-terrorists-kill-over-a-hundred-innocent-people-in-bombay.htm __._,_.___
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