Friday, October 30, 2009

A PLOT FROM A PIPE - Were youths in Vadodara building a rocket launcher? - By Sanjana - TEHELKA MAGAZINE -INDIA

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne071109a_plot.asp




From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 44, Dated November 07, 2009
CURRENT AFFAIRS 
terrorism
A Plot From A Pipe


WERE YOUTHS IN VADODARA BUILDING A ROCKET LAUNCHER?


In a case flawed with broad incongruity and marred by deep prejudice, SANJANA speaks to an accused in another alleged terrorist plot in Gujarat
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Pictures and Frames Mehrunnissa Ismail holds up photos of her arrested husband and missing son
PHOTOS: GAURAV SHAH
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Samina Iqbal with her children shows a photo of Iqbal Shaikh
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Shabina Usmangani with a photo of her husband Usmangani Nawab


AN SMS joke that surfaces frequently talks about three possible ways to catch a tiger. Plan A: Ambush the tiger; shoot it dead. Plan B: Lay a trap; capture the tiger alive. Plan C (known as the IPP – Indian Police Plan): capture a cat; beat it till it confesses to being a tiger in disguise. Then, proclaim you have captured a tiger alive.
For anyone who has taken a closer look at police arrests of suspected terrorists across India, the message can evoke only hollow laughter. In the recent spate of arrests of suspected terrorists by the Gujarat Police, life imitates (SMS) art.
On September, 6 Rakesh Sharma, ACP of Vadodara called a press conference to announce the arrest of five men — Usmangani Nawab, Ameen Razaak Shaikh, Iqbal Shaikh, Mushtaq Ismail Shaikh and Zaheer Abbas Shaikh — from the Hathikhana locality in the city. The police claimed that the five had planned to bomb the Ganesh Visarjan Yatra, an annual religious procession. The explosions, the police say, were meant to injure Hindus and trigger communal riots.
Sharma named 23-year-old Zaheer Abbas, the youngest among the five, as the mastermind. Zaheer’s confessions, Sharma said, not only led the police to the others but also helped them recover a rocket launcher, fivesutli or rope bombs, a packet of grey powder, some nails and tiny iron balls. The FIR registered on 5 September stated that the men were being arrested under the Explosives Act and the Arms Act for possession of explosives and the Indian Penal Code provisions that punished criminal conspiracy and the promotion of enmity between two religious communities. Sharma also talked of how the five were responsible for a crude bomb explosion in October 2008 on the eve of Dussehra. In the riot that followed, no one died but several shops owned by Muslims were looted and burnt. Frustrated by the minimal destruction, Sharma said, the group planned to fire a rocket at the particapant of this year’s Ganesh Visarjan Yatra, hoping to cause the maximum damage. On September, 23 the police announced the arrest of two others — Kalu Ismail Malik and Raees Rashid Shaikh — bringing the total arrested in the ‘rocket launcher case’ to seven.
A detailed examination of the FIRs, police custody remand requests and court documents reveal insurmountable flaws in the police version of events.
According to the FIR, the desi rocket launcher is described as a “hollow iron pipe with a diameter of 1 inch” that “could possibly be a rocket launcher.” At one end of the pipe was a coupling, says the FIR. Besides the pipe, the FIR describes a packet of grey powder that “look[ed]” like gunpowder. The police have sent a sample to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Ahmedabad to verify the contents. A couple of nails and tiny iron balls were found next to the packet. Five sutli (rope) bombs were also found amidst these.
An inch-thick pipe and a packet of grey powder that ‘looked’ like gunpowder were seized
The FIR goes on to describe the location where these items were found. IU Patel, a Vadodara-based advocate whose arguments secured bail for one of the seven, says that the police description of the rocket launcher was a far cry from a real one. “Even if it was a rocket launcher, it was not assembled and could not have been fired at all. The FIR states that these were found on top of an abandoned pushcart in the busy Hathikhana market area. Where was the igniter to fire a rocket from this launcher? And would anyone assemble it in the market?” asks Patel incredulously. In court, these arguments secured bail for Ameen Razaak Shaikh. Perhaps afraid that the rest of the bail applications would also be similarly accepted, the police then claimed they found three witnesses who had overheard the men talk of launching a rocket and had seen them place the material on the pushcart. Mohammed Hanif Shaikh, representing the accused along with Patel, says that the witnesses have been propped up by the police. “The witness’ statements are being recorded before a magistrate. They told me they were surprised to hear their names announced by the police. Let’s see what they have to say in court,” says Mohammed Hanif. He has filed an affidavit asking the police to investigate if the materials seized are available freely in the open market. “There are other questions to be asked,” he says, “The police claim that the arrest foiled the plot to bomb the Yatra. The Yatra took place on September 3. If the men were arrested after the Yatra on September 5, why wasn’t there an explosion, as per their plan?” Besides lessthan- ironclad grounds of arrest, there are allegations of illegal detention and torture levelled against the Gujarat Police which the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has taken note of.
A man accused of involvement in the October 2008 riots was allegedly in London at the time
This correspondent met Iqbal Shaikh at the Vadodara Central Jail on October 21 along with his children, wife, sisters and mother on their weekly visit. A police constable recorded every word exchanged. Despite the constable’s presence, Iqbal talked, in a voice that could barely hold back pain. Disputing the fact that they were all arrested on September 5, the date the FIR was registered, Iqbal talks of being illegally detained and tortured for five days. “I was taken away by the police on September 1 at 4 pm. I was blindfolded, hooded and driven to a house out of the city. No one told me where I was being taken or why. In the five days they kept me there, I was mercilessly beaten with iron rods, tied upside down, flogged and administered electric shock several times a day. Live electric wires were attached to our feet and private parts,” says Iqbal. His voice was steady and he never looked away – not even for a second. “Ever since I was handed over to the jail authorities, I have been asking for medical treatment. All I am given are painkillers and sleeping pills,” says Iqbal. Throughout the visit, unable to stand, he chooses to squat on a ledge adjoining the prison grill. There is a lot more to be shared, but time is precious. He wants to spend the remaining visit time with his family. A few days later, Iqbal repeats his account of torture and illegal detention before a magistrate.
IQBAL’S FAMILY members validate his account. For six weeks now, they have heard horrific tales of torture during their visits. Zaheer Abbas talked to his brother of having his hands tied to the handlebars of two motorbikes and being forced to run to keep pace with them. If he faltered, a policeman behind him would beat him. “Zaheer has a terrible skin allergy that is aggravated by direct exposure to the sun. We rarely allowed him outside. He stopped school after Class 10, unable to stand the sun. He went to pray at the mosque only in the evenings. The whole day he would stay at home with me,” says mother Rahima Amiruddin Shaikh. “According to the police, this is the group’s mastermind!”
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Crime scene? Zaheer’s relatives asks why the ‘rocket launcher’ materials were allegedly stored above and not in the pushcart
Between September 1 and September 5, the families went from one police station to another to trace their men. “We met the police commissioner on September 4. He told us that the police had taken them away since their lives were in danger. We were asked to return the next day,” says Zaheer Abbas’ eldest brother, Moinuddin Shaikh. Records of their visit are in the police visitor diary, says Moinuddin. The next day, the 5th, the families were allowed to see their men. “None of them could walk. They were held up by at least two policemen. Their feet dragged across the floor, their hands were limp,” says Shabina Usmangani, whose husband Usmangani Nawab was one of the five arrested. A day later, on September 6, the police announced their arrest at a press conference.
This was not the only discrepancy. On September 23, the police claimed that they arrested Kalu Ismail Malik. But this was 12 days after Kalu Malik presented himself to the Ahmedabad Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). Kalu’s wife Mehrunnisa tells TEHELKA that at least four people were with her husband when he surrendered in Ahmedabad. The police, she says, are also looking for her eldest son, Sajid. “He has run away from home. Considering what they did to his father, an innocent man who presented himself voluntarily to the police only to be beaten up, why would Sajid turn himself in?” she asks.
A week after the families deposed before the NCM in New Delhi, alleging illegal detention and torture, pressure on the families began to mount. Police informers, the families claim, are pressurising them to sign blank statements and not talk to the media. “They have even offered us money to keep quiet,” says a near hysterical Shabina Usmangani. “I will pay them if they provide proper medical treatment to my husband. I am not asking them to drop the case against them. I am confident of my husband’s innocence,” she says categorically. An hour later, Iqbal Shaikh’s brother Javed comes up with a startling revelation. “The police accused my brother of being involved in the October 2008 violence. In October 2008, my brother was working in London as a tailor. He returned to India on June 21, 2009,” says Javed. In his hands are photographs of Iqbal and his wife posing before the Tower of London. “Are they going to torture people to confess to crimes they have not committed?” asks Javed.
A resurrection of Plan C from the SMS joke?
WRITER’S EMAIL
sanjana@tehelka.com

Comments posted on Facebook on the Status of Tarek Fateh




Ghulam Muhammed
 Tarek, I find so many similarities in conditions prevailing in the US post-9/11 and in India post Babri Masjid Demolition and the Bombay Riots followed by Bombay Blasts in 1992-93.

I have lived through the period, just as you are a witness in these troubled times. You will be surprised how Indian police and communal elements in Indian government hounded Muslims, religious or irreligious and murdered them and their families. Only their names had to be Muslims. Rioters went through voters lists and other local directories to single out Muslim names and go hunting. Famous liberals, who swore they never went to any Masjid all their lives, had to face the brutalities of the mobs as well as the communalized police.

I must admit that Left liberals, especially in English media, were in the forefront of fighting these communal crimes. And some of them are still resolutely fighting communalism.


However, it is only now, 20 years later, the real face of Hindutva terror has been exposed through the single-minded professional work of Anti-Terrorist Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, (who was among the first shot dead in the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai), that Hindutva terror group were identified and exposed. A long list of Muslims who have been incarcerated in the intervening years, due to no fault of theirs except carrying a Muslim name, are still to be released. The persecution rate of all Muslims in jail is less than 10% or even less.

I find the same persecution of innocent Muslims being callously inflicted in the aftermath of 9/11 and simple minded people like you with a chip on their shoulder, are making their work so much easier. Go through Google under police encounters in India. They shoot first and brand the victims terrorists. I see the pattern emerging in the USA. And there is no organised group of civil libertarian who can challenge the bona-fide of such summary executions. People like Tarek Fateh are so engrossed in their own war, they are not aware what is happening in their own backyard.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Taliban Chief Blames Blackwater for Peshawar Blast - OUTLOOK.INDIA.COM

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?668599



Taliban Chief Blames Blackwater for Peshawar Blast
ISLAMABAD | OCT 29, 2009
PRINTSHAREClick to ShareCOMMENTS

Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has claimed that the controversial American security firm Blackwater was behind the deadly bomb attack on a market in Peshawar that killed over 100 people.

Hakimullah questioned why the Taliban should target the public when it was capable of carrying out attacks in Islamabad and targeting the army's General Headquarters.

In an interview with
 BBC Urdu, he claimed Blackwater and "Pakistani agencies" were involved in attacks in public places to discredit the militants.

A powerful car bomb exploded at a crowded market in Peshawar yesterday, killing more than 100 and injuring 200 more. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had earlier said it was behind an attack on the army's headquarters earlier this month.

About 15 people were killed during that attack. A group of militants took nearly 50 people hostage before they were gunned down or blew themselves up.

Reports in the Pakistani media have claimed that Blackwater has established a presence in the country by tying up with local security firms but these allegations have been rejected by the US administration.

When Hakimullah was asked about the perception among people that militants are involved in attacks on public places, he said: "Our war is against the government and the security forces and not against the people. We are not involved in blasts."

Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, who was present along with Hakimullah, warned that the militants could target media organisations that are "defaming" the Taliban.

North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas have blamed militants for the blast in Peshawar.

They said militants are targeting the people because they are facing defeat in South Waziristan tribal region, where the army has launched a major ground offensive.

FILED AT: OCT 29, 2009 20:45 IST 
FILED IN: PAKISTAN ,  TERROR GROUPS ,  TALIBAN
© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

« View all web results for Who killed Karkare - Google News



Google News

Ex-top cop sniffs conspiracy in Karkare death

India Today - ‎Oct 26, 2009‎
Mushrif has written a book, Who killed Karkare?, wherein he points fingers at the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He claims in his book that since independence, ...

26/11 martyr's wife gets RTI order to seek police record

Times of India - ‎Oct 24, 2009‎
Ashok Kamte and two other police officers, Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar, were shot dead on November 26 last year. Vinita Kamte said that "there were ...

Ex-Maharashtra IG smashes India's “Islamic terrorism” myth in a new book

TwoCircles.net - ‎Oct 23, 2009‎
By M Zeyaul Haque, A new book curiously titled Who Killed Karkare? says a nationwide network of Hindutva terror that has its tentacles spread up to Nepal ...

Terrorism And The New Line Of Investigation

CounterCurrents.org - Mustafa Khan - ‎Oct 27, 2009‎
Could all this add up to what SM Mushrif argues in his book "Who Killed Karkare: the real face of terrorism in India", that the driving force of Hindu right ...

Blast in Goa

Tehelka - ‎Oct 23, 2009‎
It is same Karkare who got killed in the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai prompting the then Minorities Affairs minister AR Antuley to state that there may ...

Be ready for surprise attacks, Virk tells police

Daily News & Analysis - Manish K Pathak - ‎Oct 21, 2009‎
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, Kavita Karkare, wife of slain anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare, Smita Salaskar, widow of encounter specialist Vijay ...

Goa heat on Hindu outfit

India Today - ‎Oct 19, 2009‎
Police sources said after two blasts in the state in 2007, the then Maharashtra antiterrorism squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 ...

26/11 hero Ashok Kamte's father not on city police's Martyrs' Day guest list ...

Pune Mirror - Payal Banerjee - ‎Oct 21, 2009‎
Seventy-one other police heroes were also honoured with 21-gun salutes, prominent among them being Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar. ...

I am not a boot-licker: Dr. Ejaz Ali

TwoCircles.net - Manzar Bilal - ‎Oct 25, 2009‎
... killed. It left suspicion in minds of millions of people. AR Antulay raised the question in Lok Sabha on the matter and demanded that death of Karkare ...

Goa govt forms SIT to probe Margao blast

Indian Express - ‎Oct 18, 2009‎
Goa has already faced a bad tourism year last year and dont need these goons to blacken our faces in the world once again. Hemant Karkare's death cannot go ...

Give ACP Ashok Kamte's wife 26/11 records, cops ordered

Pune Mirror - Aneesh Phadnis - ‎Oct 22, 2009‎
Additional Commissioner of Police Kamte, along with ATS chief Hemant Karkare and Crime Branch Inspector Vijay Salaskar, was killed in gunfire with the ...

Is it a Crime to be born a Muslim in India?

ummid.com - ‎Oct 11, 2009‎
While such enthusiasm in arresting Muslim youth is there for all to see, those arrested by Hemant Karkare's ATS in Malegaon blast case, are currently being ...

Ex-top cop sniffs conspiracy in Karkare death - INDIA TODAY

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=111&id=68024&Itemid=1&sectionid=114


Ex-top cop sniffs conspiracy in Karkare death


A book written by a former inspector general (IG) in Maharashtra is generating fresh controversy on the death of anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and other police officers on 26/11.
Karkare was killed by Pakistani terrorists Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman Qasab and Abu Ismail. But if S.M. Mushrif is to be believed, then there is more to the murders than meets the eye.
Mushrif has written a book, Who killed Karkare?, wherein he points fingers at the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He claims in his book that since independence, the IB has been repeatedly ignoring incidents of Hindu hardliners who have caused violence and instead focusing on Islamic terrorists.
The former top cop also paints current Maharashtra ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi as a communal officer and has even hinted that Karkare was killed because Raghuvanshi, who was present at the spot on 26/11, gave him wrong directions to the location of the two terrorists.
Interestingly, the wives of the slain police officers have never alleged that their husbands were killed as part of a rightwing conspiracy.
Mushrif, however, is not perturbed. "I can understand their psychological condition, but I am a cop and I have done my own investigation in this," he said.
When contacted, Karkare's wife Kavita said, "I cannot comment, as I haven't read the book." Vinita Kamte, wife of additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte, said, "I cannot comment on a book which I have not read and which you claim is based on media reports." What one would find shocking is that Mushrif has based all these conspiracy 'theories' on stories and articles published in newspapers after 26/11. That a book on such a controversial and sensitive topic has been published just on the basis of reports is surely going to stir a hornet's nest.
"The book is based on newspaper reports and my own investigation," Mushrif said.
He defended himself when pointed out that newspaper reports could be wrong.
"The reports have been taken from reputed national dailies. I acknowledge that all such reports appearing in news papers are not 100 per cent correct but then, one cannot say that all of them are wrong too. If the reports are wrong, then those who wrote them should be prosecuted," Mushrif said.
When pointed out how different are his questions than that of former Union minister A.R. Antulay, Mushrif shot back: "He (Antulay) was speaking through his hat." The former IG said he has written the book based on an "alternative theory" as there was something fishy in the death of the former ATS officer and that the whole incident should be re-investigated.
Courtesy: Mail Today

Monday, October 26, 2009

HINDUS LEARN SANSKRIT IN MADRASSAS! - UNICEF REPORT - THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL - MUMBAI

http://www.freepressjournal.in/FPJ/FPJ/2009/10/26/ArticleHtmls/26_10_2009_002_015.shtml?Mode=1


SCHOOL OF THOUGHT - HINDUS LEARN SANSKRIT IN MADRASSAS!

NEW DELHI

Reveals a research conducted by UNICEF to understand the role of religious minority institutions


A UNICEF sponsored study has found that a sizable number of Islamic seminaries in Uttar Pradesh (UP) were not only enrolling Hindus, but also teach them Sanskrit.

The study found a large number of Hindu students in Madrassa Islamiya Arabia Alim-UlUlum in Devgaon of Barabanki district of the state.


It also found that Hindus would prefer madrassa to local government primary school. The study was conducted by Lucknow-based BETI (Better Education Through Innovation) Foundation, for the UNICEF.


The research was aimed to understand the role of religious minority institutions. All the five madrassas under study were operating only with the community support and no government or any other fund was available to them. Their day-to-day expenses were incurred through donations and fees charged from students. "Out of the five, three madrassas are already teaching other subjects besides the religious education," the study found.


Unlike the popular conception that madrassas were not open to modern education it was observed that most of the staff and students realised the importance of modern education. The madrassa management lamented that the certificates issued by their institutions were not recognised by the government.


"These madrassas provides a wholesome environment for children. This is vital for right growth of mind and body. I find it the most interesting study and one that will help clear a lot of doubts," said Vinoba Gautam, UNICEF education specialist, who was part of the study team.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

FEEDING THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED

FEEDING THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED

http://www.akshayatrust.org/

I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money,' says N Krishnan who has been feeding them thrice a day for the past seven years.


 
05extor1
Left 5-star job to feed the mentally ill
 


N Krishnan feeds 400 mentally ill people on the streets of Madurai three times a day, every day, all 365 days of the year. 


The 28-year-old has been doing this for seven years via a charity called the Akshaya Trust.

A look into the kitchen reveals a spotlessly clean room.. Sparkling vessels stacked neatly, groceries and provisions all lined up in rows -- rice, dal, vegetables, spices -- all of the best quality. One would think this was the kitchen of a five star hotel.

Maybe Krishnan achieves that effect because he was once a chef at a five star hotel in Bengaluru.

"Today's lunch is curd rice, with home made pickle, please taste it," he says, serving me on a plate made of dried leaves. 

The food is excellent.

"I change the menu for different days of the week. They will get bored if I serve the same food every day," he says with an enthusiastic and infectious smile.

 
05extor2

Krishnan cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner with the help of two cooks. He takes it himself to his wards on the street each day.

"I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money. They don't move around much too. I find them in the same place every day."

That morning he put the food in a large vessel, the pickle in a smaller one and loaded it into a Maruti van donated by a Madurai philanthropist.

Ten minutes later we stopped near a man lying on the ground by a high wall. Krishnan put the food next to him. The man refused to even look at it, but grabbed the water bottle and drank eagerly. "He will eat the food later, looks like he was very thirsty," said Krishnan.

At the next stop, he laid the dry leaf-plate and served the food. He then scooped some food and started feeding the mentally ill man himself. After two morsels, the man started eating on his own.

We then crossed a crowded traffic signal and stopped the vehicle. On seeing Krishnan, four individuals moved slowly towards the Maruti van. They stood out in the crowd with their dirty, tattered clothes and unshaven beards. 

They knew this Maruti van meant food. But they did not hurry, knowing that Krishnan would wait for them. 
Krishnan served them under a tree and carried water for them. "They are not aware enough to get their own water," he explained.

And thus we went around the city till the akshaya patra was empty. Of course, it would be full again for dinner later in the day. 

05extor3

As we returned, a startling fact hit me. Not a single mentally challenged person had thanked Krishnan. They did not even smile or acknowledge him. Still Krishnan carried on in a world where most of us get offended if someone doesn't say thank you, sometimes even for doing our jobs.

The food costs Rs 8,000 a day, but that doesn't worry him. "I have donors for 22 days. The remaining days, I manage myself. I am sure I will get donors for that too, people who can afford it are generally generous, particularly when they know that their hard earned money is actually going to the poor. That is why I maintain my accounts correctly and scrupulously."

 
He then pulled out a bill from the cabinet and showed it to me. It was a bill for groceries he had bought seven years ago. "This bill has sentimental value. It is the first one after I started Akshaya."

The economic slowdown has resulted in a drop in the number of donors. Earlier, they sustained meals for 25 days. 

Software giants Infosys and TCS were so impressed with his work that they donated three acres of land to him in Madurai . Krishnan hopes to build a home for his wards there. He has built the basement for a woman's block which will house 80 inmates, but work has currently halted due to a lack of funds.


05extor4

This, however, is not the sum of his good deeds. Krishnan also performs the funerals of unclaimed bodies in Madurai . He collects the body, bathes it and gives it a decent burial or cremation as the need may be.

He gets calls, both from the municipal corporation and general hospital for the funerals.

He recalls with a little prompting how one day he saw a mentally ill man eating his excreta. He rushed to the nearest restaurant and bought the man five idlis. The man ate voraciously, and then smiled at him. The smile made Krishnan want to do it again and again.

Krishnan has not married and wonders if anyone would want to marry a man who spends his days cooking food for others. He is firm that his life partner has to agree to this kind of life.

His parents were initially shocked, but are now very supportive of their son. They advise him about the cuisine and also about how he can streamline the process. 

One wonders why he left his job in a five star hotel to bury the dead and feed the mentally ill. To this he just smiles and says, "I like doing it."

 
For more information on N Krishnan's trust, log on to:http://www.akshayatrust.org/ 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Krishnan is doing this

** not for a political motive, because they can't vote

** not to convert them - their "religion" is irrelevant

** not in expectation of a return from them

He is a true dharmi.