Abu Jundal: Prize Catch or a Victim of a turf war? - By Amaresh Misra - Blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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From: Amaresh Misra <misra.amaresh@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Subject: The Abu Jundal case
To: Amaresh Misra <misra.amaresh@gmail.com>

     http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/the-mainstream-maverick/entry/abu-jundal-prize-catch-or-a-victim-of-a-turf-war    

 

 

 Abu Jundal: Prize Catch or a Victim of a turf war?       

                                                                   By Amaresh Misra

While the Delhi Police is patting itself on the back for the deportation and subsequent arrest of Abu Jundal, one of the alleged 26/11 mastermind, whose voice apparently was instructing the terrorists on the fateful day of the attack on Mumbai, sections within the Maharashtra Police, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other security agencies do not think Abu Jundal is a prize catch.

“Abu Jundal’s arrest is a sham. He has nothing to do with 26/11. He is either an informer of the Mumbai Crime Branch or the Maharashtra ATS or any other agency connected with the Maharashtra Police. He helped the Police in the Aurangabad arms haul of 2006. The Delhi Police are settling scores with the Maharashtra Police—that’s all”, an IB source revealed on the condition of anonymity.

Another source in the Maharashtra Police said that “there are so many underworld figures living in Saudi Arabia. But they are never deported. To me, it seems that Abu Jundal’s story is a frame-up. It is designed to enforce an Indian link in the 26/11 attacks”.

This indeed is a serious allegation. Pakistan is already  talking of an Indian link in 26/11. This goes against the Indian case—buttressed by revelations made by David Headley—that the 26/11 conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan, by Pakistanis—with or without the knowledge of ISI, Mossad and CIA—with sections within the Pakistani establishment keeping the Government of Pakistan probably in the dark.

It is incredible that some major figures of the Indian establishment are gleefully rejoicing at Abu Jundal’s deportation. In fact, the incident might end up helping Pakistan to establish an Indian hand in 26/11 and thus, wash their hands off the entire affair.       

Let us expand this argument further: the Indian Government is trying hard to get to the truth in the murky 26/11 saga. Till now, on the basis of revelations made by David Headley and Ajmal Kasab, it was assumed that during the 26/11 attack, Pakistani handlers were talking to terrorists fighting Indian Police and commandoes in Mumbai. Kasab had allegedly taken the name of one Abu Humza, whose voice was supposedly heard on the transmissions during the 26/11 attacks—Abu Hamza’s identity was till now not clear; most security analysts had painted him either as a Pakistani national or an ISI mole gone rogue.

Now suddenly, out of nowhere Abu Jundal, a native of Beed and an Indian national—whose real name is Zabiuddin Ansari and who has an established, positive connection with the Maharashtra Police—emerges whose voice samples are supposed to match those of Abu Hamza! So at least for now, officially as per the Delhi Police Special Cell, Abu Jundal is Abu Humza!

To understand the counter view that Abu Jundal’s arrest has nothing to do with 26/11—and that it is related to the intense turf war currently being waged between various Indian security agencies—one has to bring in two more personalities—Naquee Ahmed and Qateel Siddiqui—into the equation.

On January 2012, the Maharashtra ATS arrested Naquee Ahmed, a resident of Bihar, in connection with the July, 2011 blasts in Mumbai. The Delhi Police Special Cell protested officially claiming that Naquee was their man—their source—who was helping them nab Yasin Bhatkal, an alleged  IM operative, wanted in several terror related cases, including the 2011 Mumbai blasts. The Home Secretary went on record to say that though Naquee could have been a Delhi Police Special Cell informer, it is more likely that he is also a terrorist who got caught by the Maharashtra ATS.

What is going on? A Delhi Police Special Cell informer is arrested as a terrorist! The Home Secretary does not rule out the possibility of him being a Police informer! Going strictly as per the statements of the Home Secretary himself, Indian Police forces are actually harbouring terrorists as informers—if that indeed is true, why wasn’t any action taken against the handlers of Naquee in the Delhi Police Special Cell? Home Ministry officials cannot have their cake and eat it too—it is unethical to say that Naquee was a Police informer and a terrorist.     

Now, during the David Headley saga, US authorities too claimed that Headley might have been “their man” who then went rogue and helped Lashkar-e-Toiba in executing 26/11 attacks!

As mentioned above, Abu Jundal too is being seen as a Police informer who turned roque!

Are we ordinary Indians fools? Can’t we see through the game being played here by Indian security agencies, US authorities, ISI, Mossad and God knows who all?

So many innocent and precious lives were lost during the 26/11 attacks. So many Indians have died in innumerable bomb blasts and terrorist activities. Whomsoever, is arrested, emerges as an informer of some agency or the other. So, even if we go by official versions, most blasts and terrorist actions are being undertaken by people known to security forces and various state police forces. So basically, our brothers, sisters and children are being  butchered mercilessly by these modern bhasmasurs—demons created by security agencies who then turn against their creators—but wait—no, not against their creators but the ordinary people of India! At least, I have not heard till date of any near relative of a security official dying in a major terror incident!

But then there is the other angle—it can also be said that these bhasmasurs are only paper tigers—that, instead of going after the real perpetrators, Indian security agencies have made it a habit to implicate their own informers in terror related cases!

Some years back, a Delhi Court ordered a CBI enquiry into a case where the Delhi Police had claimed that it caught two terrorists (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-03/delhi/28269295_1_hc-notice-qamar-and-ali-trial-courts).     The CBI enquiry confirmed what the accused had been saying all along—that they were not terrorists but informers for the Delhi Police!

In the December 2000 Red Fort attack case too, the man who was held guilty went on record stating that he was actually a Pakistani citizen working for RAW who was implicated, in the Red Fort case simply out of nowhere (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main34.asp?filename=Ne131007WRONG.asp)! The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) also took up this case (http://www.pudr.org/content/pudr-releases-its-report-unfair-verdict-trial-court%E2%80%99s-judgement-red-fort-attack).  

The icing in the case of course concerns Qateel Siddiqui, the alleged IM operative belonging to the so called “Darbangha module”. Officially Qateel was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell, made an accused in the Jama Masjid firing and other terror incidents. Then the Maharashtra ATS sought his custody. Subsequently, Qateel was murdered inside the Pune Yerwada Jail premises.

The manner, in which Qateel was bumped off, through Hindu underworld figures, carries the unmistakeable stamp of some high ranking Mumbai Police officers, including Rakesh Maria, the current Maharashtra ATS chief. It is well known that as many as seven Muslim accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts were assassinated extra-judicially by members of the Chota Rajan gang. This gang supposedly split away from Dawood after the 1993 blasts on “patriotic grounds”.   Then it went on a killing spree.

Sources in Mumbai Police allege that Chota Rajan’s killing spree had the blessings of officers like Rakesh Maria who is credited with cracking the 93’ blasts case. Salim Khan Durrani, one of the accused in the 93’ blasts—later exonerated of the charges of conspiracy and harbouring by the TADA special court—is on record for having stated that in 1994, he too, like Qateel in 2012, was lodged in the anda (high security) cell of a Maharashtra prison (Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai). In 2012, the entry to Qateel’s cell in Pune Yerwada jail was left unguarded and he was murdered by Mohol and Bhalerao, two heinous criminals. In 1994, the jail authorities `forgot’ to lock the inner gate of Salim Khan’s cell. Members of the dreaded Ashwin Naik gang tried attacking Salim Khan at night. He was saved literally by divine intervention as his screams attracted other inmates.

Rakesh Maria has been accused of horrifying human rights violations, including parading Muslim women naked, making men drink urine and eat human faeces’  and forcing incest during interrogations (http://sixthpaycommissionrecommendations.blogspot.in/2008/11/blast-from-past-hiddentortureframe-up.html).  

All of this is documented in a book called `Voices’ written by an anonymous victim of what Amnesty International termed then as fourth degree tortures (far more brutal than the horrible third degree torture, the usual norm in Indian jails!).  

 But why was Qateel killed? A possible answer might lie in the turf war between the IB and the Delhi Police Special Cell. Sometime in 2010, some IB officers were probing a fake currency international network (FCIN) network in West Bengal. They were looking for a person named Qateel Siddiqui, whom they thought was a key person in the network.  

The IB took help of the West Bengal Police in this operation. They raided Qateel’s house in Darbhanga in Bihar once, but he managed to escape. Later they kept watch on certain mobile numbers from the FCIN operators. Success followed as some persons associated with the FCIN were arrested in 2010. One of them happened to be Yasin Bhatkal—the most wanted IM operative. But as per the official version, as Yasin’s pictures were not available then, the IM operative was jailed for a while in the fake currency case and later released.

The IB team chasing Qateel was not aware of this. In October 2011, the team managed to get leads about Qateel and found out that he was holed up in Delhi. Naturally, the IB team sought help from the Delhi Police Special Cell. This innocuous request made to the Delhi Police proved costly for the West Bengal police and the IB officers.

Initially, according to sources, the Delhi Police Special Cell detained Qateel Siddiqui as a person wanted by West Bengal police. But after a brief interrogation Qateel became an IM operative with an association to Yasin Bhatkal! The Delhi Police arrested seven IM suspects from Darbhanga, keeping the West Bengal police in dark.

Not just that, local media in Delhi carried reports, apparently leaked by Delhi Police, on how West Bengal police let Yasin Bhatkal escape. This was a blow which was difficult to digest for the West Bengal police and the IB group associated with them. They now started looking for an opportunity to teach Delhi Police a lesson. The Mumbai operation of the Delhi Police (the Naquee Ahmed affair cited above) came in handy.

It is equally interesting to understand why the West Bengal police and a section of the IB, decided to pit Maharashtra ATS against the Delhi Police Special Cell. The Maharashtra ATS comprising of some former senior officers of the Mumbai crime branch do not see eye to eye with the Delhi Police Special Cell.

Seeds of distrust were sown far back, as Mumbai crime branch did not take Delhi Police in confidence while looking for fugitive IM leaders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal when they were holed up in Delhi in 2008. When the Delhi Police came to know that a prized catch was holed up in their domain,  they launched the notorious Batla house encounter in which some`terrorists’ were killed but the Bhatkal brothers were nowhere in the picture! Mumbai Police has since blamed the Delhi Police of highhandedness and spoiling their operation.

Of late, just before Abu Jundal’s arrest, Delhi Police blamed the Maharashtra Police of circulating pictures of dreaded Pakistani terrorists who later turned out to be Lahore based traders!

 Several lessons can be drawn from the Abu Jundal and related operations:

1.   It is obvious that a strange anti-terrorism competitiveness (the race to catch an alleged terrorist) between various Police organs of different States, is violating all constitutional procedures and penal codes of Indian law. This race has reached absurd proportions.

2.   The unhealthy competitiveness is producing a phenomenon where in a game of one-upmanship, the various security forces are arresting innocents, particularly Muslim boys, often their informants, and showcasing them as terrorists.

3.   A lot the tax payer money is thus being wasted while ordinary Indian citizens are getting killed frequently. There is no accountability on part of the security agencies.

4.   Indian security agencies cannot be trusted. The Police charge-sheet filed in Sadhvi Pragya/Raj Kumar Purohit 2008 Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blast case shows that Mossad and ISI have penetrated Indian security forces with the help of RSS type organizations (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ne310109malegaon_files.asp).

5.   The Maharashtra ATS arrested Naquee Ahmed, an informant of the Delhi Police. So has the Delhi Police done a tit for tat by arresting Zabuiddin Ansari, an informer of the Maharashtra Police, and presenting him as Abu Jundal, the terrorist?

6.    An impartial, judicial enquiry should be set up to probe the Naquee Ahmed/Qateel Siddiqui/Abu Jundal cases.

7.   The focus ought to shift back to the line taken by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), wherein the hand of Sangh Parivar related terrorists was found in major blasts and terror attacks that shook India. The NIA probe was leading to the involvement of Indresh, a high ranking RSS functionary—why has this line of investigation not progressed? Is it because the current Home Minister is being blackmailed by the BJP-RSS (to shift the limelight away from Sangh Parivar terrorism back to innocent Muslim boys) in exchange for letting the Home Minister breathe easy in the 2G case and other allegations of corruption against his family members? If BJP-RSS are actually tolerating corruption where the Home Minister is involved, only to save their skins in terror cases, the Sangh Parivar hypocrisy needs to be exposed.         

        

Finally, there can be no compromise on National Security. Hindu/Muslim/Sangh Parivar or any x, y, z entity, cannot be forgiven. Neither can one community (in this case the Muslims) be singled out for persecution. WE—HINDUS, MUSLIMS, CHRISTIAN, PARSEES, JAINS—AS A PEOPLE—HAVE LOST OUR DEAR ONES IN BLASTS AND TERROR CASES. WE CANNOT TOLERATE THE BUFFONERY OF OUR MAJOR SECURITY FORCES. WE CANNOT BE HELD HOSTAGE TO TURF WARS AND SECRET DEALS BETWEEN THE HOME MINISTER AND THE BJP-RSS. WE DESERVE THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.  

An open letter to RSS Sarsanghchalak, Shri Mohan Bhagwat on why a Hindutvadi should not be the Prime Minister of India

An open letter to RSS Sarsanghchalak, Shri Mohan Bhagwat on why a Hindutvadi should not be the Prime Minister of India.

To,                                                                                              

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak, Shri Mohan Bhagwat ji,

Namaskar.

 

I was not surprised to read your comments in newspapers that it was not necessary to be a secular person to occupy the office of Prime Minister in a Democratic-Secular India. As per the press reports you wondered why a Hinduwadi could not become PM of India.[i] I am sure you understand better than me that being a Hinduwadi is not the same as professing Hindu religion. Our national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhashchander Bose, Rammanohar Lohia, Rajguru, Sukhdev and many-many more were Hindu by faith but not Hinduwadi.  In fact, Mahatma Gandhi, a great practitioner of Hind religion, was brutally assassinated for not being a Hinduwadi by a gang having allegiance to Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. Surely, by Hinduwadi you mean a believer in Hindutva, a kind of political Hinduism, outlined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar ji in his book Hindutva[ii] and later developed by RSS ideologues like M. S. Golwalkar. You will agree with me that RSS, under your command currently, has been a prominent flag-bearer of Hindutva since its inception in 1925.

I feel before arriving at the conclusion that there is no harm in allowing person/s who believes in Hindutva to become PM of India we will have to understand what Hindutva is. You will agree with me that we need to understand whether Hindutva is compatible with principles of Democracy, Justice, Egalitarianism &Secularism.  In this connection, please, allow me to scrutinize some of the original documents and sources which legitimately belong to the RSS or its brother organizations like Hindu Mahasabha. If you find that I am dishonest in referring to these or misrepresenting facts, you will be at liberty to initiate defamation process against me.

DOES HINDUTVA STAND FOR A TWO-NATION THEORY?

Bhagwat ji! I would like to refresh your memory that both the originator of Hindutva, V. D. Savarkar ji and its flag-bearer, RSS earlier and under your command too had and have unequivocal faith in in Two-nation theory; that Hindus and Muslims are two different nations. While Muslim League under the leadership of Mohammed Ali Jinnah resolved to have a separate homeland for Muslims of India in the form of Pakistan in 1940, Savarkar propagated as early as 1937 that Hindus and Muslims were two different nations.  While delivering presidential address to the 19th Hindu Mahasabha session at Ahmedabad Savarkar ji unequivocally declared:

“As it is, there are two antagonistic nations living side by side in India, several infantile politicians commit the serious mistake in supposing that India is already welded into a harmonious nation, or that it could be welded thus for the mere wish to do so. These were well meaning but unthinking friends take their dreams for realities. That is why they are impatient of communal tangles and attribute them to communal organizations. But the solid fact is that the so-called communal questions are but a legacy handed down to us by centuries of cultural, religious and national antagonism between the Hindus and Moslems...Let us bravely face unpleasant facts as they are. India cannot be assumed today to be a unitarian and homogenous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main: the Hindus and the Moslems, in India.”[iii]

Sir! Has it not been the cardinal principle of your organization also? The RSS following into the foot-steps of Savarkar ji, always rejected the idea that Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians together constituted a nation. Your English organ,Organizer, on the very eve of Independence, (August 14, 1947) editorially (titledWhither) underlined its belief in Two-Nation theory once again in the following words:

0 

“Let us no longer allow ourselves to be influenced by false notions of nationhood. Much of the mental confusion and the present and future troubles can be removed by the ready recognition of the simple fact that in Hindusthan only the Hindus form the nation and the national structure must be built on that safe and sound foundation…the nation itself must be built up of Hindus, on Hindu traditions, culture, ideas and aspirations.”

Bhagwat ji! Please, help our country to understand how the believers in Hindutva are different from pre-partition Muslim Leaguers who once played prominent role in dismembering India.

DOES HINDUTVA RESPECT NATIONAL FLAG AND DEMOCRACY?

Sir, it may not be out of context to know your attitude towards National Flag which represents a Democratic-Secular India. It is important to know it from the head of organizations which swears by Hindutva. I would like to draw your attention to the following statement which appeared in the English organOrganizer, again on the eve of Independence:

“The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the Tricolour but it never [sic] be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.” [iv]

Can those who denigrate the National Flag in such foul language be allowed to rule this country?

Sarsanghchalak ji! Lay persons like me need to know from practitioners of Hindutva like you what you think of Democracy. I would like to draw your attention to a statement made by second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS and its most prominent ideologue till date, M. S. Golwalkar. As per the RSS archives Golwalkar ji while addressing a group of 1350 top level cadres of the RSS in 1940 declared:

“RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land.”[v]

Learned Bhagwat ji! This slogan of one flag, one leader and one ideology was also the battle cry of Fascist and Nazi parties of Europe in the first half of 20^thcentury. What they did to democracy is well-known to this world. Can those who believe in such totalitarian designs be allowed to rule our country?

DOES HINDUTVA STAND FOR CASTEISM?

 

Sarsanghchalak ji! You will agree with me that RSS and its brother organizations who want to have a Hindutva rule in India hated the Constitution of India which was drafted under the guidance of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. When the Constituent Assembly of India had finalized the Constitution of India RSS was not happy. Its organ, Organizer in an editorial on November 30, 1949, complained:

“But in our constitution there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in theManusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”

Bhagwat ji! It may not be a secret to you that Savarkar ji remained a great protagonist of Casteism and worshipper of Manusmriti throughout his life. The institutions of Casteism and Untouchability were the outcome of Manu’s thought about which Savarkar said the following:

“Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worshipable after Vedas for our Hindu Nation and which from ancient times has become the basis of our culture-customs, thought and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Even today the rules which are followed by crores of Hindus in their lives and practice are based on Manusmriti. TodayManusmriti is Hindu Law.”[vi]

Sir! What kind of civilization the RSS under your command and under Hindutva ideology wants to build by enforcing the laws of Manu, can be known by having a glimpse of the laws prescribed by Manu for the Dalits/Untouchables and women. Some of these dehumanizing and degenerate laws, which are presented here, are self-explanatory. 

LAWS OF MANU CONCERNING DALITS/UNTOUCHABLES.

 

(1) For the sake of the prosperity of the worlds (the divine one) caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed from his mouth, his arm, his thighs and his feet.

(2) One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudras, to serve meekly even these (other) three castes.

(3) Once-born man (a Sudra), who insults a twice-born man with gross invective, shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of low origin.

(4) If he mentions the names and castes (gati) of the (twice-born) with contumely, an iron nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth.   

(5) If he arrogantly teaches Brahmanas their duty, the king shall cause hot oil to be poured into his mouth and into his ears.

(6) With whatever limb a man of a low caste does hurt to (a man of the three) highest (castes), even that limb shall be cut off; that is the teaching of Manu.

(7) He who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off.

(8) A low-caste man who tries to place himself on the same seat with a man of a high caste, shall be branded on his hip and be banished, or (the king) shall cause his buttock to be gashed.

(9) Let him never slay a Brahmana, though he have committed all (possible) crimes; let him banish such an (offender), leaving all his property (to him) and (his body) unhurt.

LAWS OF MANU CONCRNING WOMEN

 

1.  Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one’s control.

2.  Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.

3.  Women must particularly be guarded against evil inclinations, however trifling (they may appear); for, if they are not guarded, they will bring sorrow on two families.

4.  Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to guard their wives.

5.  No man can completely guard women by force; but they can be guarded by the employment of the (following) expedients:

6.  Let the (husband) employ his (wife) in the collection and expenditure of his wealth, in keeping (everything) clean, in (the fulfillment of) religious duties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking after the household utensils.

7.  Women, confined in the house under trustworthy and obedient servants, are not (well) guarded; but those who of their own accord keep guard over themselves, are well guarded.

8.  Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), ‘(It is enough that) he is a man,’ they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly.

9.  Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this (world).

10.     (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct.

11.     For women no (sacramental) rite (is performed) with sacred texts, thus the law is settled; women (whoare) destitute of strength and destitute of (the knowledge of) Vedic texts, (are as impure as) falsehood (itself), that is a fixed rule.

I would like to remind you that a copy of Manusmriti was burnt as a protest in the presence of Dr. BR Ambedkar during historic Mahad agitation in December, 1927.

Sir! You will agree with me that Golwalkar ji was the most prominent theorist of the RSS and he like Savarkar ji, believed that Casteism was a natural integral part of Hinduism. In fact, Golwalkar went to the extent of declaring that Casteism was synonymous with the Hindu nation. According to him, the Hindu people are none else but

The Virat Purusha, the Almighty manifesting himself […] [according to purusha sukta] sun and moon are his eyes, the stars and the skies are created from hisnabhi [navel] and Brahmin is the head, Kshatriya the hands, Vaishya the thighs and Shudra the feet. This means that the people who have this fourfold arrangement, i.e., the Hindu People, is [sic] our God. This supreme vision of Godhead is the very core of our concept of ‘nation’ and has permeated our thinking and given rise to various unique concepts of our cultural heritage.[vii]

Sarsanghchalak ji! The truth is that Hindutva is nothing but an ideology which stands for totalitarianism, Casteism and injustice. I would conclude with the words of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who said:

“If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for this country…It is a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity. On that account it is incompatible with democracy. Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost.”[viii]

Bhagwat ji! Reality is that Hindutva is not dangerous for minorities only but also for vast majority of Hindus, specially, Dalits and women.

I would be eagerly looking forward to receive your kind response to issues raised in this letter.

Thanking you.

 

Yours,

Shamsul Islam

Delhi, 25-06-2012

notoinjustice@gmail.com

INDIA'S SECURITY AGENCIES HAVE LOST ALL CREDIBILITY WITH THE PEOPLE

INDIA'S SECURITY AGENCIES HAVE LOST ALL CREDIBILITY WITH THE PEOPLE

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/71150-26-11-handler-or-namesake.html

26/ 11 handler or namesake?

• India


• Jun 26, 2012

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Questions abound: If he was in detention in Pakistan and facing a trial, what was he doing in Saudi Arabia?
 
OUR BUREAU New Delhi

Within hours of Delhi Police claiming arrest of Abu Hamza alias Abu Jindal — a key 26/ 11 handler and the biggest catch after Mohammed Kasab — questions are being raised whether he is the wanted offender or just a namesake.

The Delhi police officially maintain that he was picked up from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on June 21 on arrival from Saudi Arabia and taken on police remand for questioning. But the police has not bothered to explain why Hamza would risk travelling to India, or how he boarded a plane given that theres an Interpol red corner notice ( the equivalent of an international arrest warrant) for him.

The police have refused to put out more details on the plea that it would impact its investigations. A native of Georai area of Beed district in Maharashtra, the 30- yearold Hamza need not have walked into a police trap.

Or, did he fly in to surrender? Pakistan had disclosed some time back that Abu Hamza had been arrested.

Only Islamabad can explain what this man was allegedly doing in Saudi Arabia and other countries in recent months.

Is he different from the person detained in Pakistan or did the Pakistan authorities quietly release Hamza along with six other Lashkar- e- Toiba terrorists whom they claim to have arrested in February 2009? Former Research and Analysis Wing chief B Raman was quick to point out on Twitter: 'Till now, presumption was he was in Pakistani custody awaiting trial. How did he manage to go to Saudi Arabia if he was undergoing trial in Pakistan?'He points out that on February 12, 2009, Pakistans Internal Minister had announced the arrest of Abu Hamza and six others in connection with 26/ 11 and said that they would be tried.

He tweeted further: 'Has ISI quietly released 7 LET terrorists, including Abu Hamza, whom it had claimed to have arrested in February 2009 for 26/ 11?'He has asked the Delhi Police to interrogate Hamza about Pakistan- based LET conspirators named by Headley and fix their identity.

Ramans another Twitter says: 'Name of Abu Hamza had also figured in interrogation reports of Muslim Defence Force in 2002.

MDF guys had told TN Police that Abu Hamza, whom they had met in Saudi Arabia, had asked them to come to Sri Lanka. They went but he did not turn up.'Delhi Police refused to comment on reports that the arrest was not a breakthrough of its special cell, but a simple case of deportation from Saudi Arabia to Delhi in compliance of an Interpol notice against Hamza.

Police believe Hamza is the voice of a previously unidentified man who was taped speaking on phone from Pakistan with the militants involved in the Mumbai attacks. He is also said to have coached the attackers in speaking Hindi. A question remains as to why he did not coach them to speak in Marathi, despite hailing from Maharashtra?

Cops wary, after recent gaffes

The Maharashtra ATS wants to make sure that the man in custody is indeed Abu Hamza, who they have been looking for since the past six years.

The Police will conduct various identification tests to determine if the man they have arrested is indeed the main architect of the 26/ 11 attacks. He will undergo photographic tests, a voice test and a DNA test. The Police have in their possession audio records, wherein he is talking to the gunmen of the horrific attacks. The ATS said that Hamza hails from a lowermiddle class family from Beed and is the son of an insurance agent. He completed his schooling in the Georai village of the district and had attended the Indian Technical Institute, Beed, for a training course, which he may not have finished.

MORAL FOR INDIA : CORRUPTION NEVER PAYS

MORAL FOR INDIA : CORRUPTION NEVER PAYS

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/71058-pak-hurtling-towards-poll.html

Pak hurtling towards poll
FRANKLY SPEAKING SEEMA MUSTAFA

• India


• Jun 25, 2012

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President Zardari seems to be the main obstacle in the way of smooth executive- judiciary ties. He is certainly part of the problem, and not the solution

The people of Pakistan are helplessly watching their government and the judiciary slug it out in a drama that would have been farcical had it not been so dangerous. On the one day Pakistans Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The Pakistan Peoples Party went into a huddle and emerged, after some debate, with Textiles Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin as its choice for Prime Minister. Almost immediately a lower court issued an arrest warrant for him over a drugs scandal. A day later the PPP named Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the replacement for the Prime Ministers post. It remains to be seen whether he survives as in an earlier stint as the power and water minister Ashraf had been dogged with allegations of corruption, and is certainly not seen as a particularly honest man in his country.

 His future, thus is uncertain with even the Pakistan media questioning Ashrafs stability in office. The loud talk after the Supreme Court has subsided as a rather chastened PPP is now clearly worried.

After the initial ruling Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, in a rather defiant mood, had declared that the era of " packing Parliament through the back door" is over and " no back doors or side doors will be allowed to be reopened for sending the elected Parliamentarians home." However, he had to eat his words and sent Makhdoom home, and perhaps even to jail if the courts have their way.

The Supreme Court is clear that it wants Pakistans Prime Minister who so it might be, to write to the Swiss authorities for details of President Zardaris accounts.

And it will not doubt raise the issue again as soon as a Prime Minister is in place. So any Prime Minister of the PPP will again have only one of two options: to either defy the courts directives, and be disqualified. Or to crack down on the judiciary, arrest all independent judges, and establish the power of the executive and the legislature over the judiciary through the use of brutal force.

Short of this the cases against President Zardari stand, and the Supreme Court clearly in no mood to reconcile with the government, will continue pursuing the cases of corruption against him. The chaos over the disqualification is thus not temporary, and the clouds are not going to pass. The government led by a President widely acknowledged to be corrupt, from the taxi driver to legislators in Pakistan, is not in a position to resist a firm judiciary without the seams cracking open. PPP legislators dubbing the court verdict as a " conspiracy" to prevent the Zardari government from completing its five years in office till February 2013 are actually admitting the writing on the wall: early elections are around the corner.

Zardaris brave talk is not convincing.

And while the worry in battle- torn Pakistan is real about the outcome of this clash between the executive, legislature and the judiciary there is not much left in the system to check it. The only way out of the mess, and that too not as a certain option, are early polls. Imran Khan has already called for elections. The others, more crafty in their politics, are seeking new alignments. Former Prime Minister and head of PML( N) Nawaz Sharif has become active in trying to make friends of old enemies, including some who he had sworn never to speak to as long as he lived. Zardari has already spoken to MQM chief Altaf Hussain and made a bid to persuade JUI- F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to come back into the PPP- led coalition. Rehman has reportedly refused.

The point is that Pakistan seems to be hurtling towards an election with breakneck speed. There is a growing feeling within that country that these might provide a fresh start by bringing a new, and perhaps less corrupt and more responsive, government in power. It is clear that the Pakistan Army under General Pervez Kayani is not going to seek power, preferring to let the so- called institutions of a fragile democracy battle it out in the field. Imran Khan has perhaps the least to lose and the most to gain, as from a tally of zero he hopes to rise to the position of at least a ''''king- maker" if not the king himself. It is true though that his popularity has grown tremendously, and the young people seem to now look upon him as their preferred option. To what extent this translates into votes has to be seen and Pakistanis in any drawing room in Islamabad for instance remain divided between a " he will sweep" position to a " he will definitely get a few seats." His relations with the military seem to be good, and he is not likely to face any real opposition from this all important constituency in Pakistan.

PML- N chief Nawaz Sharif seems to be coming out of his slumber to make a bid to power. He has waited for long, and is now said to have approached several political parties including individuals in PML- Q if Pakistan media reports are to be believed. The former Prime Minister is believed to be in touch with MQM and ANP as well as smaller groups in the National Assembly like JUI- F and PPPSherpao.

No one has rushed out in his favour but the process, as politicians like to say, is on.

The manipulative skills of Zardari that Pakistanis recognise as " highly successful" in keeping him and the PPP in power have alienated many in government, and even his party. Even at this moment while the men around him are paying the price, Zardari himself has managed to stay out of the legal loop, at least until a Prime Minister writes to the Swiss, and the Swiss agree to provide the necessary information to the Pakistan courts.

Seems very much like the Bofors or Black Money trail that Indian governments have pursued over decades with little to no results! Democracy in Pakistan has been taking knocks, over and over again. The desire of the people has been countered several times by the Army through direct rule; and now by this unseemly row between the pillars of democracy over a President who has refused to step down and allow the law to take its course. It is interesting to note that there is little to no questioning in the Pakistan media about Zardari and what he should do to restore the rule of law and with it levels of democracy in Pakistan. Instead, even leading luminaries have got involved in the judiciary versus executive debate, with the latter now threatening to take the matter to the legislature as it has in the recent past. Articles about the role of the judiciary etc have appeared in the media, but while it is important to have a debate as we have here in India over the role of the judiciary or judicial activism as many call it, it is also important to understand the reasons for the row, and what can be done for smoother functioning of these important institutions.

President Zardari seems to be the main obstacle in the way of smooth executive-judiciary relations. He is certainly part of the problem, and not the solution that will emerge on its own if he removes himself from the seat of power. But then this is highly unlikely, and being possessed of manipulative skills he is still moving the pawns in a bid to outmanipulate the judiciary in this game of nerves and power.

 
FRANKLY SPEAKING SEEMA MUSTAFA

Day after, Pratapgarh village tense; 2 FIRs but no arrest - By Prashant Pandey - The Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/day-after-pratapgarh-village-tense;-2-firs-but-no-arrest/966315/0

Day after, Pratapgarh village tense; 2 FIRs but no arrest

Prashant Pandey : Asthan, Pratapgarh, Mon Jun 25 2012, 02:04 hrs
The residents of Asthan village in Pratapgarh, UP, whose houses were torched on Saturday by a mob protesting against the rape and murder of a girl, are living in fear and not even thinking of returning to their homes to begin life afresh. The situation remains tense.

Two FIRs have been registered and 68 people identified. No arrests have been made so far. The police said 46 houses had been torched.

The Station Officer of Nawabganj police station, Arun Kumar Pathak, has been placed under suspension. Senior officials have also sent negative reports against Circle Officer (Kunda) V S Rana.

The violence had erupted when the body of the girl, who was allegedly gangraped and murdered on June 20, was being taken for cremation on Saturday.

The incident comes close on the heels of riots in Kosi Kalan in Mathura, where the Muslim localities were targeted on June 3.

One of the more than 125 “refugees” — put up at T P College in Kunda since Saturday evening — Akhtar Ali (80) said: “The mob came suddenly and surrounded us from all directions. They set our house on fire. My sons and some other residents somehow managed to save me.”

At the time, Ali’s four sons and three daughters, besides his wife, were present in the house. Three of his sons live in Bhiwandi where they work in powerlooms. Fourth one sells clothes brought from there. Together, they claimed to have lost goods worth over Rs 2.5 lakh.

“More importantly, we feel that the police simply aided the attackers. Give us that much time and we too can teach them (the attackers) a lesson,” said an angry Afsar Ali, son of the old man.

The Muslim hamlet houses mostly Ansaris who are employed in the powerloom industry in Bhiwandi. The victims could mostly have been women, children and old men, but for the fact that the many male members had come home to attend marriages. Their cattle, grains and other belongings were either taken away or burnt, they said.

All the “refugees” were shifted in the evening to a madrasa in nearby Barai for better care.

“They were facing problems at the college and the members of the Muslim community said they would be much at ease in madrasa, following which permission was given,” said Pratapgarh SP O P Sagar.

Asthan, with blackened houses, smoke still rising from a couple of houses, resembled a ghost village. A heavy posse of policemen guarded it. They also prevented this correspondent from visiting the hamlet in which the Dalits, who allegedly attacked the Muslim locality, lived.

Niyaz Ahmed Ansari, brother of Asthan’s pradhan Nizam Ansari, said the incident was waiting to happen. “When the incident of murder of the girl came to light, there were a few persons who told us that we should escape from the village if we were to save our lives,” said Niyaz.

He took refuge in Pariyawan village, about 4 km from Asthan. Niyaz said the issue could have been sorted out, but the visit of Shailendra Singh (Samajwadi Party’s MP from Kaushambi) and Vinod Saroj (independent MLA, Bihar Assembly constituency) a day before the violence led to the escalation of tension. 

Kaushambi’s two Assembly segments — Bihar and Kunda — fall in Pratapgarh.

“Although, it is matter of investigation, it is true that Singh and Saroj visited the area on Friday. They both belong to the same community as the attackers,” said Sagar.

Shailendra Singh said he had visited the Dalits and also the Muslims after the incident. “Why will any MP create strife in his own constituency? People who have a vested interest are spreading such rumours,” he said.

UP announces relief

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to residents of 46 houses which were torched by a mob in Pratapgarh’s Asthan village on Saturday. It also declared to provide ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the11-year-old Dalit girl whose rape and murder allegedly led to the arson and violence.

Morsi Is Winner of Egyptian Presidency - By David D. Kirpatrick - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/world/middleeast/mohamed-morsi-of-muslim-brotherhood-declared-as-egypts-president.html

Morsi Is Winner of Egyptian Presidency

Andre Pain/European Pressphoto Agency

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate for president, gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to await the declaration of a winner on Sunday.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 24, 2012 39 Comments

CAIRO — Election regulators named Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of Egypt’s first competitive presidential elections, handing the Islamist group a symbolic triumph and a new weapon in its struggle for power with the ruling military council.

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Mohamed Morsi, the candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, was declared the winner of the Egyptian presidential election on Sunday.

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After an hourlong speech in which he detailed dozens of specific inquiries down to the ballot-box level, the chairman of the election commission, Farouk Sultan, announced that Mr. Morsi had won 51.7 percent of the runoff vote completed last weekend. The other candidate, the former general Ahmed Shafik, won 48.3 percent.

In Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands had gathered to await the result, the confirmation of Mr. Morsi’s win brought instant, rollicking celebration. Fireworks went up over the crowd, which took up a pulsing, deafening chant: “Morsi! Morsi!”

Mr. Morsi now becomes the first Islamist elected to be head of an Arab state. But his victory is an ambiguous milestone in Egypt’s promised transition to democracy after the ouster 16 months ago of President Hosni Mubarak.

After an election that international monitors called credible, the military-led government has recognized an electoral victory by an opponent of military rule over Mr. Shafik, who promised harmony with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. But Mr. Morsi’s recognition as president does little to resolve the larger standoff between the generals and the Brotherhood over the balance of power over the institutions of government and the future constitution. Under the generals’ plan, Mr. Morsi, 60, will assume an office stripped of almost all authority under a military-issued interim constitution.

Having dissolved the democratically elected and Brotherhood-led Parliament on the eve of the presidential vote, the generals who seized control after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster abrogated their pledge to hand power by June 30, eliciting charges of a new military coup.

After 84 years as an often outlawed secret society struggling in the prisons and shadows of monarchs and dictators, the Brotherhood is now closer than ever to its dream of building a novel Islamist democracy. And its leaders vowed to fight on for the restoration of Parliament regardless of Mr. Morsi’s win.

Although it was clear as early as Monday morning that Mr. Morsi had won more votes than Mr. Shafik, the weeklong delay in the official results stirred widespread fears that the military-led government might seek to name Mr. Shafik as a decisive blow in the generals’ power struggle with the Brotherhood.

Before the results were announced, the capital was as tense Sunday as on any day since the two and a half week revolt that brought down Mr. Mubarak. Army tanks and soldiers were deployed around the election commission, the Parliament and other institutions to prepare for possible violence. Foreign embassies warned their citizens to stay away from downtown. Banks, government offices and schools all closed early to allow students and employees to get off the streets.

His designation as president-elect will hand the Brotherhood and its allies a bully pulpit to use the struggle for power with the military. The Brotherhood has sought to rebuild the partnership with more secular and liberal advocates of democracy that came together in the uprising against Mr. Mubarak, and Brotherhood leaders have vowed not to hold any negotiations with the generals without the participation of the other groups in their so-called “national front.”

But on its own, the Brotherhood’s control of the presidency will do nothing to reduce the calm the fierce polarization of Egyptian society. On Saturday night, a counter protest that reportedly grew to over 10,000 gathered in a neighborhood with a heavy concentration of military personnel to demonstrate in support of the ruling generals, Mr. Shafik and secular government. Mr. Shafik, Mr. Mubarak’s last prime minister, has campaigned with the support of the old ruling party elite as a new strongman who can bring back order after the 16 months of chaos.

Earlier in the day, a group of secular political leaders and lawmakers who call themselves liberals had held a televised news conference to declare their support for the generals and the dissolution of the Brotherhood-led Parliament. The praised the shutdown of parliament as a victory for law and order, citing an unusually rushed court decision announced the day before. (The Brotherhood has respected the ruling but challenged its implementation.)
The secular politicians also accused the Brotherhood of “hijacking” the revolution and called it a threat to the “civil” character of the state. They dismissed the Brotherhood’s pledges to govern in coalition, respecting individual and minority rights, and instead accused the group of plotting to impose religious rule.

Incongruously given Washington’s history of antagonism with the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, the secular block argued that the United States was improperly attempting to sway the presidential race in favor of the Brotherhood, although American officials and the embassy have said they support only the democratic process regardless of the result.

Mr. Morsi is an American-educated engineer who received his doctoral degree at the University of Southern California. He used to lead the Brotherhood’s small bloc of lawmakers in the Mubarak-dominated parliament.

TISS report points to anti-Muslim bias of police [in Maharashtra, India] - By Meena Menon - The Hindu, Chennai, India

http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/article3563333.ece/?page=all

TISS report points to anti-Muslim bias of police

23 June 2012 , By Meena Menon

“Most of prisoners in Maharashtra jails victims of prejudice”

A report on Muslim prisoners in Maharashtra jails by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) establishes that most of them do not have connections with criminal gangs, and points to an acute bias of the police for arresting them in some cases only because they belong to a particular community.

A Study of the Socio Economic Profile and Rehabilitation Needs of Muslim Community in Prisons in Maharashtra, 2011, by Dr. Vijay Raghavan and Roshni Nair from the Centre for Criminology and Justice School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), states that 96 per cent of the respondents have not been held under preventive detention charges, thus indicating that they are not viewed as a threat to law and order.

The study which surveyed 339 Muslims, mostly between 18 and 30 years of age, in 15 prisons says this implies that most respondents do not have connections with criminal gangs or have any record which may be a threat to law and order. About 25.4 per cent of those imprisoned don’t have lawyers to represent them in their cases.

The police’s bias against Muslims led to some of the arrests under the erstwhile Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) and even under the Official Secrets Act.
 
‘Two types of laws’

An agent in textile export, Murtuza, arrested under the Official Secrets Act on charges of spying, says in his interview to the research team: “There are two types of laws in this country. One is for Hindus and the other is for Muslims. The policeman is first a Hindu and then a policeman. The judge is first a Hindu and then a judge and the lawyer is first a Hindu then a lawyer. People who work against the State, indulge in rioting, kill thousands of innocent people, and harass women and children roam free in this country. They are not punished. I am suffering only because I am a Muslim.”

Murtuza strongly feels that the discriminatory attitude is one of the major reasons for his arrest. He says that the police do not have enough evidence against him and yet he remains in prison. Two years have passed and the case is dragging on in court. He misses his court dates because the escort to take him to court is often not available. He has applied for bail thrice, but it has been rejected each time. He also applied for transferring the case to a different judge, but nothing has happened yet.

Poor victimised

Another prisoner Moiz says that “every time he tries to start life afresh, the police arrest him in some false case. They also demand money from criminals and those who can pay are set free. The poor are victimised. The police are very powerful and can do anything.”
Some interviews reflect the deep despair and alienation of the people interviewed. Muneer feels that after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the rift between Hindus and Muslims has widened. Due to the riots and bomb blasts in 1992-93, the police perception of Muslims has become negative. The police view them as criminal minded. Migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are viewed with prejudice by the police.

Shoaib expressed his fears about the breakdown of the social fabric if the bias against Muslims continues. “The police have a negative perception of the Muslim community and act with bias. Due to the actions of the police and fundamentalist politics, the perception of Muslims is negative in society. If the situation continues to be like this, the next generation may get into further crime and vested interests could use them. Society’s perception and the negative feelings of hatred have to be reduced. Only then there is hope for a better tomorrow. Otherwise the situation will get worse for individuals, their families and society.”

About 70 per cent of the 3,000 Muslims prisoners in 15 jails were under trials and 30 per cent were convicted prisoners. What is of concern is that 52.8 per cent are charged with violent crimes mainly murder, attempt to murder, rape, assault and kidnapping. Among the under trials interviewed charge sheets have only been filed in 47.4 per cent of the cases and a mere 3.8 per cent have reached judgement stage, indicating the slow pace of trials. Of those interviewed 75.5 per cent were arrested for the first time and 25.5 per cent are repeat offenders.

The percentage of Muslims in jails is also a high 36 per cent, says Dr. Raghavan, quoting recent official figures. Along with Gujarat and Kerala, Maharashtra is one of the States with the most disproportionate number of Muslims in prisons.

The Sachar Committee report says that in Maharashtra, Muslims account for 10.6 per cent of the general population; yet they comprise 32.4 per cent of the prison population. For those incarcerated on terms of less than a year, the figure rises: 42 per cent of prisoners on short-term sentences in the State are Muslims.

This study was done at the behest of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission in response to the charge of a disproportionate number of Muslims in jail. It makes a slew of recommendations relating to rehabilitation and correctional programmes, and the need for steps to sensitise the police and prison administration.

Last month the findings were presented at a meeting with Arif Naseem Khan, State Minister for Minority Affairs.

The Minister accepted most of the recommendations, especially those relating to legal aid, adult education, vocational training, release on probation, and awareness and counselling centres in Muslim areas.

The Additional Chief Secretary of Minority Development will call a high-level inter-departmental meeting soon to work out ways to implement the recommendations.