Friday, September 28, 2012

Don’t give terror tag to innocent minority people: Supreme Court - By J. Venkatesan - THE HINDU ENGLISH DAILY, CHENNAI, INDIA

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dont-give-terror-tag-to-innocent-minority-people-supreme-court/article3939481.ece?homepage=true

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New Delhi, September 27, 2012

Don’t give terror tag to innocent minority people: Supreme Court

J. Venkatesan

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Police must ensure that no innocent person has the feeling of sufferance only because “my name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist,” a Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and C.K. Prasad said on Wednesday. File photo


The Hindu
Police must ensure that no innocent person has the feeling of sufferance only because “my name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist,” a Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and C.K. Prasad said on Wednesday. 

Ensure that no innocent has the feeling of sufferance only because ‘my name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist,’ Bench tells Police

No innocent person should be branded a terrorist and put behind bars simply because he belongs to a minority community, the Supreme Court has told the Gujarat Police.

Police must ensure that no innocent person has the feeling of sufferance only because “my name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist,” a Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and C.K. Prasad said on Wednesday.

It ordered the acquittal of 11 persons, arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and other laws, and convicted for allegedly planning to create communal violence during the Jagannath Puri Yatra in Ahmedabad in 1994.

“We emphasise and deem it necessary to repeat that the gravity of the evil to the community from terrorism can never furnish an adequate reason for invading personal liberty, except in accordance with the procedure established by the Constitution and the law,” the Bench said.

Being an anti-terrorist law, the TADA’s provisions could not be liberally construed, the Bench said. “The District Superintendent of Police and the Inspector-General and all others entrusted with operating the law must not do anything which allows its misuse and abuse and [must] ensure that no innocent person has the feeling of sufferance only because ‘My name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist’.”

Writing the judgment, Justice Prasad said: “We appreciate the anxiety of the police officers entrusted with preventing terrorism and the difficulty faced by them. Terrorism is a crime far serious in nature, graver in impact and highly dangerous in consequence. It can put the nation in shock, create fear and panic and disrupt communal peace and harmony. This task becomes more difficult when it is done by organised groups with outside support.”
 
‘Means more important’

But in the country of the Mahatma, the “means are more important than the end. Invoking the TADA without following the safeguards, resulting in acquittal, gives an opportunity to many and also to the enemies of the country to propagate that it has been misused and abused.”In this case, Ashraf Khan and 10 others, who were convicted under the TADA, the Arms Act and the IPC were aggrieved that no prior approval of the SP, as mandated under the provisions, was obtained before their arrest and recording of statements.
 
Appeal allowed

Allowing their appeals against a Gujarat TADA court order, the Bench said: “From a plain reading of the provision, it is evident that no information about the commission of an offence shall be recorded by the police without the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police. An Act which is harsh, containing stringent provisions and prescribing a procedure substantially departing from the prevalent ordinary procedural law, cannot be construed liberally. For ensuring rule of law its strict adherence has to be ensured.”

The Bench said: “In view of our finding that their conviction is vitiated on account of non-compliance with the mandatory requirement of prior approval under Section 20-A(1) of the TADA, the confessions recorded cannot be looked into to establish the guilt under the aforesaid Acts. Hence, the conviction of the accused under Sections 7 and 25(1A) of the Arms Act and 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act cannot also be allowed to stand.”

Keywords: Supreme CourtGujarat policeterror taginnocent minority peopleTADA Act1994 Jagannath Puri Yatra

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Comments posted on The Hindu website article: [supposedly under editorial moderation]

Though the Supreme Court has come out with clear reiteration of the most basic and fundamental point of justice in the current TADA cases, one hopes the details of the judgement, does take into account the long years of incarceration very typical of such police procedures. Justice delayed is justice denied. Supreme Court should have gone further with 2 more steps- One: compensation to the victims for years lost languishing in jail. TWO: Identifying and punishing those in the police force that have deliberately and maliciously used/abused TADA rule to give vent to their communal prejudices. Only a comprehensive and holistic judgment will be and should be treated as full restoration of people's rights and their dignity and not any piece-meal sops even though rightly heralded as a great service to the nation and its standards of justice.


Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>
--------------

The Hindu Readers' Comments:

This judgement is fine act of balancing - Importance of the rule of the law. It just proves the point, that in the interest of the justice investigating and prosecuting agencies can not float the rule of the law. There are no exceptions. Not for TADA cases and not for any other case in general. If the confession is tainted it must be discarded. Howsoever difficult it may turn out it to be. It would do a tremendous amount of harm if the officers did not follow the procedure and a terrorist is let go on technical details.
from:  Krishna Dammanna
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 02:28 IST
Long live India.... Only on the basis of justice and equality, love and brotherhood
from:  Saeed Bhura
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 05:17 IST
The Supreme Court has echoed the secular credentials of our country. Mere suspicion should not be the ruse of the police to detain a person for alleged complicity in an act of terror. Also the defencers of law and order should have a time frame within which the alleged charges against the suspects are substantiated with clear evidence and eye witness. Endless detention does not serve the ends of justice. Irrespective of the community one belongs to law should be applied uniformly. At the same time it is essential that the majority of the minority community members join the main stream of life and do not isolate themselves in ghetto like habitats inviting suspicion. Literacy and availability of opportunities too would play a big part in the emancipation of the minorities and the majority community has to take the lead in making the conditions conducive for them to feel at ease.
from:  R.Vijaykumar
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 06:06 IST
BUt what about the rehabilitation of those who lost the most precious years of their life rotting in jails & then got acquitted becoz the charges framed by the Police against them couldn't stand strong in Supreme Court?In this case these 11 men lost 18 years of their life in the prison(total=198 yrs).(Last year also there was another young man in Delhi who was acquitted after being imprisoned for more than a 13 years on purely fabricated and unsustainable charges).The question is-what would they do after returning to their families?
Now the problem is these men aftr spending so many years in Jail aren't left with any skill to make a living, the result is a group of 11 men isolated from society for the rest of their life--disgruntled with their own country- can become potential easy targets of terror (hiring)cells.If there was any goverment funded institution that could impart any skill to these men, they(acquitted individuals)would be in condition good enough to move-on with life.
from:  M.Ateeque
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 07:35 IST
This is similar to what happened to Tamils in Sri Lanka
from:  Sharan Chennai
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 08:42 IST
Sir, It is true that no innocent minority communal person can be branded as a terrorist. Terrorists belongs to every community as they have a fanatical extremism by upholding their religion. But at the same time as of now most of terrorist activities happened all over the world is pointing towards muslim community only. Even US President Obama said muslims are mostly affected people of terrorism and remember he himself is a musalman. In this particular case of Jagannath Puri Yatra in Ahmedabad in 1994 - it was Congress govt. ruling at that time namely Chhabildas Mehta 17 February 1994 14 March 1995 1 Indian National Congress has used TADA against those minority people. Hence, it clearly portrayed how pseudo secular mindset that INC is in possession. Finally my request to the minority people is beware of pseudo secular nature of congress rather than others
from:  N. Swaminathan
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 09:03 IST
A loudabble directive. It needs no emphasis that no innocent person in general, should be branded as terrorist without due process/ procedure established by the laws of the land.
from:  kartik
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 10:10 IST
An innocent person being given a criminal tag, be it a terrorist or petty thief, is against the fundamental principles of Indian judiciary. The misuse of laws by law-enforcing agencies are not confined to any minority group. If reports of Human Rights organisations are tobe believed, hundreds of innocent people, irrespective of their religion or class, are booked under false or fabricated cases, including sedition charges, and lodged in prisons across the country. If registration of a case or arrest of the accused is a prerogative of the investigation officer, then he/she must be held responsible for the decision if the suspect is found "not guilty" at a later stage. After all, loopholes in law not only help in arresting but also in getting an acquittal. If doctors can be held responsible for a wrong treatment, why not the police for a wrong decision. The police should not be allowed to implicate an innocent man and finally get away with it. A criminal case is a permanent scar...
from:  Vijay Kumar S
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 10:56 IST
It is great lessons given to authority that 'No innocent person should be branded a terrorist and put behind bars simply because he belongs to a minority community.
The authority should judge by themselves and not on the pressure from the crook politicians for their survival. It is damaging the society and integrity and growth of Great India.

Muslim do showing our sincerity for growth of Great India.
from:  HajaMohideen
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 11:12 IST
Muslim leaders should also condemn acts of terrorism.Such a condemnation inspires and convinces the average citizen of the innocense of the majority of the minority community.
from:  nanduri somaya
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 11:33 IST
Our judiciary system is the only hope and guardian of our country. Let there be mass campaign to make this august body to be more independent from all political influence.
from:  Khaleelullah
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 12:31 IST
Against the backdrop of today's rock-bottom ground reality, the Supreme Court's reminder on individual rights that cannot be violated even in terror-related cases comes as a reminder more of the magnitude of the state's complicity in the detention and torture of innocents than of the magnanimous and just nature of our constitution and judiciary. Today, every reminder of what our constitution really stands for is actually a slap in the face of those who framed it in the first place: such is the extent to which it is violated and mocked upon now by the actions of its executives - and, of course, all in the name of national security. Constitution, or no constitution, this country is fast deteriorating into a Nation of Fear.
from:  Biju
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 12:32 IST
What about the life of these young men who lost there life?? Who will compensate?? And what about the officials who are behind this heinous crime of framing innocence?? Who will punish them??
from:  Suhail KK
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 12:40 IST
Highly appreciable decision of Supereme Court... which actually strengthens ones believe in the Judiciary System of India....India is Great...We live here UNITED with such a DIVERSITY which I dont know if there is any other country exists.... Everywhere the influence of the power exits and so as the control, but long live India which has always given the National Heros who stand against such corrupt political power and contribute in their territory and give India a recognition of a Perfect state. JAI HIND
from:  Syed Munawar
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 12:43 IST
Kudos to the supreme court decision.I request the government to make judgement as early as possible with these sensitive doubtful cases.They lost their life of 18 years span.i do completely with M.Ateeque views.The government should provide Compensation/jobs for those 11 innocent people.
from:  Balakrishna D
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 13:41 IST
Do not understand such judgements given by the courts and too after 18 long years!! The judges did not say anything about why they found them innocent instead dismissed the case based on technicalites.

If a case is dismissed based on technicalities, does the accused automatically become innocent. Think the courts should decide the case based on its nature and evidences provided rather than go on technicalities.

Instead the court should punish the law enforcers for break the rule of law and punish them as well. The same happened in CBI case against Mayawati.
from:  Vijay
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 14:37 IST
SC's decision is fine and will go a long way to protect the minority groups. But in states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, M.P. which have been declared as 'red corridor' the central & state govts are waging a war against the poorest of the poor Adivasi people where mere suspicion by local police has landed thousands in jail. Jharkhand alone has about 6000 innocent Adivasi under-trial prisoners. They are mostly young, all of them poor and even don't know why they have been arrested.
It will be up to human rights groups to come to their rescue using this verdict of the SC.
Stan Swamy
Ranchi, Jharkhand
from:  Stan Swamy
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 16:00 IST
great verdict ??? what about the lost years , the grief of their
families,the pain, the tears no one has the answer for that, the justice
is done when the people who arrested them, and the judge who punished
them all should serve 18 years in jail that is called justice
from:  suhail
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 17:41 IST
Neither terror tag nor a criminal tag should be given to innocent people, be they majority or minority. It is important for the government to define various type of serious crimes and police measures to deal with them so that law enforcement officials are not forced to choose Either or. Or.
from:  Som Karamchetty
Posted on: Sep 27, 2012 at 21:31 IST
By the same logic: Don't give communal tag to every majority
utterance/action.
from:  kvjayan
Posted on: Sep 28, 2012 at 11:54 IST
                                   
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai 
                                   
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com              

Make a comment

Though the Supreme Court has come out with clear reiteration of the most basic and fundamental point of justice in the current TADA cases, one hopes the details of the judgement, does take into account the long years of incarceration very typical of such police procedures. Justice delayed is justice denied. Supreme Court should have gone further with 2 more steps- One: compensation to the victims for years lost languishing in jail. TWO: Identifying and punishing those in the police force that have deliberately and maliciously used/abused TADA rule to give vent to their communal prejudices. Only a comprehensive and holistic judgment will be and should be treated as full restoration of people's rights and their dignity and not any piece-meal sops even though rightly heralded as a great service to the nation and its standards of justice.


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Thursday, September 27, 2012

The posters that landed retired SIMI secy in jail - By Muzamil Jaleel - THE INDIAN EXPRESS, Mumbai, INDIA

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-posters-that-landed-retired-simi-secy-in-jail/1008884/0

The Indian Express

The posters that landed retired SIMI secy in jail


Muzamil Jaleel : New Delhi, Fri Sep 28 2012, 03:41 hrs
Cases registered 12 years ago — before SIMI was even banned — on flimsy charges and an investigation that has been rapped for loopholes left Munir Deshmukh a wanted man for years and have kept him in jail for the past 21 months. Once the SIMI national secretary, Deshmukh retired from the organisation in February 2001, seven months before it was banned.

OCTOBER 22, 2000

It was 11 months before the first ban on SIMI in September 2001 that Deshmukh had the first FIRs filed against him in two police stations in Bhopal the same day. Both FIRs related to exactly the same “incriminating” evidence — a SIMI poster.

The Taliyya police station registered an FIR that said a poster with “Students Islamic Movement of India (West) MP” written in English on it had been found pasted near Kulsum Bi’s mosque, near Budhwara, Bhopal. No individual was named. Subsequently, police alleged that posters similar to the one pasted near the mosque had been seized from Deshmukh and five other accused: Sorab Ahmed, Maulana Arsad, Abdul Razzaq, Mohd Alim and Kashlid Naim.

The seizure memo stated that on October 25, three days after the FIR, police seized five posters and 10 pamphlets from “under the bed of Munir Deshmukh” at his house, A-47, Shahpur, Habibganj, Bhopal.

The poster had “Pasbode na bano, sulah ki darkhwasth na karo, tum hi Ghalib rahoge, Navede Sehar conference 10, 11, 12 November 2000 Mukam Wadi e sehar, Dragaah Maidan ke Pas, Khajra, Indore”, also written in English. The pamphlet had “Indore Chalo, Indore Chalo in bold letters”, said the FIR.

The writing the police found incriminating is actually from Verse 35 of Surah Mohammad of the Quran. The conference was primarily a religious congregation. In fact, the poster had the address and phone number of the organisers on it.

The chargesheet was filed five years later, on July 13, 2005, against the six accused under various sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The second FIR against Deshmukh was registered at the Shahjahanabad police station in Bhopal. Deshmukh was again charged along with the same five other accused for a similar SIMI poster, this time near Murgi Wali Masjid in Shahjahanabad.

The police claimed to have raided Deshmukh’s house on October 23, 2000, which was two days before the raid on his house in the earlier case. The seizure memo stated the police recovered 14 posters with the Quranic verse “pasbode na bano...”, 20 pamphlets that had “Students Islamic Movement of India, MP” and “Indore chalo” written on them, and a June 2000 edition of Tehreek magazine.

The chargesheet against the six was filed on December 6 that year for “promoting communal disharmony and committing acts detrimental to national integration”.

It was never explained how the same set of posters seized on October 23, 2010, from Deskhmukh’s house turned up again at his residence two days later. And not just at his house but at those of the five other accused too.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2001

The day SIMI was banned, a third FIR was registered against Deshmukh, at the Habibganj police station in Bhopal under the UAPA. Inspector Girish Bore stated that he was tipped off about “SIMI activist” Munir Deshmukh “running activities from his residence”. A team raided Deshmukh’s house in the presence of two witnesses, Akhilesh Jain and Naval Singh, but didn’t find him. The FIR said that he had absconded “with the document and the campaigning material”. The chargesheet was filed on December 24, 2002. Apart from the UAPA, Deshmukh was booked under IPC sections 153 B (committing acts detrimental to national integration) and 295 A (outraging the feelings of a religious group).

According to advocate Sajid Ali of Bhopal, yet another FIR was filed in Habibgunj in 2001 against Deshmukh under the Prevention of Corruption Act, accusing him of having assets disproportionate to his sources of income. He said judge R P S Chouhan acquitted Deshmukh in that case earlier this week.

DECEMBER 11, 2010

In December 2010 — 10 years after the police first filed an FIR against him and nine years after they said he was absconding — Deshmukh was arrested. After his arrest, Deshmukh, who had been living in Hyderabad where he ran an IT firm, had another case slapped against him in Andhra Pradesh, this time for impersonation, for having documents stating his name as “Munir Ahmad”.

THE CASES IN COURT

* In the first case registered at Taliyya police station, first class judicial magistrate Rama Jayant Mittal acquitted Deshmukh and the other accused on July 10 this year.

* In the second identical poster case, first class judicial magistrate Varsha Sharma sentenced Deshmukh and the others to three years of rigorous imprisonment on August 3, 2011, for creating “unpleasantness between Hindus and Muslim community’’ after eight years of trial.

During the trial, one of the witnesses said he “does not recognise the accused”, a second witness said the police made him sign documents but didn’t know whether the documents were “blank or filled up” and a third witness said he didn’t know anything about the incident.. An appeal has been filed against the judgment.

* Ruling in the third case on October 22, 2011, R P Sonkar, additional CJM and special judge, Bhopal, threw out the charges under the UAPA but convicted Deshmukh and the others under Sections 153 B and 295 A of the IPC, holding them “guilty of committing acts detrimental to national integration and outraging the feelings of a religious group”. They have gone into appeal against this order too.

Judge Sonkar’s court held that there were evident gaps in the version of the prosecution – the original seizure memo and case diary had gone missing/were “misplaced” and most of the evidence that was filed before the judge was in the form of illegible photocopies. The prosecution had claimed that the written statements of key witnesses had been enclosed in the missing case diary. One of the witnesses, incidentally, turned hostile during the trial and denied the prosecution’s version.

The order noted that the officer who granted sanction for prosecution in the case under the UAPA, Alok Ranjan, MP’s secretary (home), had said during cross-examination that “he was not aware when he granted the sanction” and that “at the time of granting the sanction he had no knowledge about statements of which witnesses were enclosed”.

The judge also remarked that Ranjan was junior in rank to that prescribed under the UAPA for clearing prosecution. Deshmukh was charged under Sections 10 & 13 of the UAPA, which needed sanction from the Centre.

Deshmukh’s Bhopal-based lawyer Parvez Alam accuses the government and courts of ignoring rules.“According to sections 45 and 42 of the UAPA, the state government does not have the power to issue the sanction. Then again according to section 45 of the UAPA, the court cannot take cognisance of charges without the sanction of appropriate authorities. The home secretary is giving sanction for prosecution under all sections when he can do so only under sections 7 and 8. The courts accepted that,” Alam said.

He said police are missing deadlines for filing chargesheets; on occasions they took five years. “In a case under section 153A and B of IPC (promoting communal disharmony and acts detrimental to national integration), if the chargesheet is filed after three years, the court cannot take cognisance.”

About the loss of the case files, he said the court had asked the DGP to register a case within six months against those involved in misplacing the original file but police didn’t do anything.

Deshmukh had four case in Indore and one in Ujjain against him, Alam said, adding he got bail in the Ujjain one last week.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Warrior duo that sunk Ajit Pawar By Yogesh Naik and Yogesh Sadhwani - MUMBAI MIRROR - A TIMES OF INDIA PUBLICATION

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/2012092620120926043708220ae34c6f0/Warrior-duo-that-sunk-Ajit-Pawar.html

Mumbai Mirror Logo


Cover Story


An insider who did not shut his eyes to public loot and an outsider who just wouldn’t give up

Warrior duo that sunk Ajit Pawar


Yogesh Naik and Yogesh Sadhwani

Posted On Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 04:37:03 AM

You may not have heard their names, known their faces or seen them hogging the limelight in television debates. But it was the sheer tenacity and doggedness of Vijay Pandhare and Anjali Damania in unearthing one murky detail after another that has resulted in NCP strongman Ajit Pawar finally resigning as the deputy chief minister in connection with the Rs 35,000 crore irrigation scam.

Pawar, who was the minister for irrigation in the state for the majority of the last decade, was accused of approving irrigation projects worth more than Rs 70,000 crore, most of which was inflated cost that went into contractors' pockets. Worse, most of these projects didn't even take off - the area under irrigation in Maharashtra increased by just 1 per cent in the last 10 years.

Though Pandhare, 57, and Damania, 42, who learnt about the scam in different ways - he was the chief engineer at the Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute in Nashik, and no irrigation paper passed without his knowledge, and she lost her farm to the state, spurring her to get to the bottom of things, their goal was the same - to bring the dirty and the corrupt to justice.

Last year, while Pandhare wrote to the Maharashtra governor and the chief minister detailing how the exchequer was being swindled, Damania tirelessly began frequenting the lower offices and painstakingly putting together all the documentary proof about the scam.

Throughout, Pandhare, 57, and Damania, 42, were faced with a lot of hurdles, especially as the establishment began to close in on them. While Pandhare was sought to be discredited as someone who has lost his mental balance, Damania lost her farm that she loved and cared for over 18 years to the state.

Visibly upset by these efforts, Pandhare, an irrigation department chief engineer, said on Tuesday that Pawar's resignation has vindicated his stand. "People who have known me over the years know well that I am a very sane person. Even Medha Patkar knows about my investigations,'' he said, smarting under the efforts to paint him as insane.

The Nashik police on Tuesday posted security personnel at Pandhare's office and residence as a preventive measure. "We are keeping a close watch on his residence and workplace to prevent any untoward incident," said Kulwant Kumar Sarangal, police commissioner, Nashik.

Damania, who spent the evening running from one news studio to another, could not hide her excitement.

"Pawar's resignation is just the beginning," she said. "We welcome it. We want a thorough investigation into irrigation scam. And till the time the investigation is completed, we want Sunil Tatkare, state water  resources minister, also to step down or be removed," she said.

She believes that there is a lot of work left. Her priority now is to get documents about all the 70 dams that are currently being constructed in the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation region.

"We have complete details of nine dams," she said. "We have favourable orders from the state information commissioner directing the KIDC to give us all the documents pertaining to the projects. The KIDC, however, has been dilly-dallying. Once we have all the papers, we will be able to expose how there is scam in each and every project in this region."

Her ultimate goal is to get all those involved in the scam behind bars. "We will now push for a CBI inquiry into the scam. In fact, we want all the papers so that we can tell the investigators about issues that need to be probed," she said.

She should know a thing or two about how the state machinery works. Just in the last few months, she brought irrigation projects worth Rs 5,000 crore to a grinding halt. In the last few months, she systematically dug up documents regarding various projects, starting with the Kondhane dam near Karjat, and exposed the malpractices in allotting contracts.

The figures were startling. The cost of Kondhane dam, for which the government had sought to acquire her farm, had jumped from Rs 56 crore to Rs 328 crore in just a month after the contract was awarded. That's a cost escalation of nearly 600 per cent. Of course, this was done because a local elected representative demanded that the dam height be increased from 39 meters to 71 meters.

She filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court and forced the government to cancel the tender for the dam. The establishment soon hit back. The state took away 59 acres of her land, hoping she would back off and abandon the movement.

If Damania is the outsider taking the fight to the establishment, Pandhare is the classic insider who just would not be a silent spectator while public money was being looted.

In short, he is a serial whistleblower. He has worked in the irrigation department for 32 years and knows every single loophole in the system and how contractors and corrupt officials seek to exploit it.

When he was posted in Amravati and Jalgaon, he unearthed irrigation scams in the zilla parishads there. Later, when he was shifted to Dhule district, where he was in charge of quality control, he unearthed similar scams there too.

His unbending nature landed him in MERI, where he has been working for the last seven years. But he couldn't be silenced. One of his first reports on Tapi dam, a 600-page tome on the inferior quality of the material being used, was ignored by the state.

"When I dug the place, I found wet sand was used instead of cement," he said about his findings on Tapi. "I called the superintending engineer and used an excavator to remove the inferior quality material. In many cases, the work done at sites was of inferior quality and not as specified in the tender."

So when he noticed irregularities in the process of awarding contracts and that the cost of the projects rose alarming in a matter of weeks, Pandhare couldn't let it go on. He sat down and wrote long letters to the governor and chief minister with details about the disproportionate cost escalations, the inferior quality of the work and consequences these could have.

Thus began the story of how another scam was exposed and how another politician lost his job.



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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Samajvadi Love for Israel

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mohammed Mahmood <m.mahmood1945@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 2:10 PM

Subject: [nrindians] Re: [AligarhNetwork] UP plans project tie-ups Shivpal breaks SP ‘code’ to visit Israel,

To: Tariq Farooqui <tfarooqui98@hotmail.com>, NRIINDIAN <nrindians@googlegroups.com>, amoubariyadh <amuobariyadh@yahoogroups.com>
, Voice of Aligs <voiceofaligs@yahoogroups.com>, Indianmuslims Group <indianmuslims@yahoogroups.com>, "aligarhnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <aligarhnetwork@yahoogroups.com>


Samajvadi Love for Israel

The Yadav family needs to be tutored about the history of Zionism and the creation of the Zionist state of Israel in the Arab land of Palestine by force and fraud. With the active patronage of the imperialist powers Israel has been keeping the pre-1967 Palestinian territories plus the Golan Heights of Syria under its permanent military occupation and gradually implementing its hidden strategy of colonizing the whole of Palestine.

We cannot ignore the national right of the Palestinians to their own homeland and return of the refugees of 1948 and 1967 to their original homes. We are not against Jews or Israel. But economic and strategic relations with Israel must wait till the national rights of the Palestinians are restored.

The policy of the Government of India towards deepening economic and strategic cooperation with Israel an offshoot of its special relationship with the US ever since the days of the NDA regime. This policy bolsters the de facto annexation of the Palestinian territories and confirms US hegemony in this part of the world. 

Hope the Yadav clan will reconsider their moves towards Israel which is not the sole source of technical and commercial cooperation for the mighty state of Uttar Pradesh. There's no dearth of countries which can invest in and provide technical and economic aid to the state.

If they tilt towards American-Israeli imperialism it will be presumed that their samajvad is but sham and merely an ideological camouflage. It will be greatly disappointing to the peace-loving people of India who cannot wash their hands of Palestinians.

Mohammed Mahmood
Aligarh


From: Tariq Farooqui <tfarooqui98@hotmail.com>
To: NRIINDIAN <nrindians@googlegroups.com>; amoubariyadh <amuobariyadh@yahoogroups.com>; Voice of Aligs <voiceofaligs@yahoogroups.com>; Indianmuslims Group <indianmuslims@yahoogroups.com>; "aligarhnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <aligarhnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 10:35 AM
Subject: [AligarhNetwork] UP plans project tie-ups Shivpal breaks SP ‘code’ to visit Israel,

 
Defying the unwritten political convention of parties wearing their “secular” credentials on their sleeves particularly on the matter of Israel, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Minister Shivpal Yadav recently made a three-day visit to the country.
Next on the cards are two centres of excellence for fruits and vegetables in Uttar Pradesh under an Indo-Israeli project being administered by the Centre. One of these will come up at Kannauj, the Lok Sabha constituency of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav.
The SP has never shied away from voicing its sentiments in support of the Palestinian cause. In 2006, the party had even demanded that the Israeli embassy in New Delhi be shut down in the wake of Tel Aviv’s airstrikes against Palestine and Lebanon.
SP general secretary Mohan Singh said on Monday that Shivpal Yadav’s Israel visit was only to scout for the best irrigation technologies for the state, and was linked to his portfolio. The party, Singh said, would always support the Palestinian cause.
“Several times our party has passed resolutions in support (of Palestine). We continue to maintain our support,” Singh said.
Confirming that talks were on with Israel for the centres coming up in Uttar Pradesh, O N Singh, mission director of the state horticulture mission, told The Indian Express: “We have already had a first round of discussions with representatives from Israel regarding these centres under the Indo-Israeli cooperation programme. While land is already available for another centre proposed at Basti, we need to acquire six hectares in Kannauj as we have only about four hectares available with us so far.”
The SP’s move is a change to say the least from the usual tendency of political parties to raise the Israel bogey to underline their “secular credentials”. Even Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had succumbed to the temptation, ridiculing the poll promise by some BJP leaders to bring drip irrigation technology from Israel to water-scarce Bundelkhand.
The SP is confident Shivpal Yadav’s trip will not hurt its pro-Muslim image. “He had not gone to Israel on a religious or political tour. It was a visit to understand practices in the field of water resources and irrigation management in Israel, which are supposed to be the best in this sector. This is not going to affect Muslim support to the SP at all. The Muslims of this country are well aware of the SP’s secular beliefs and Mulayam’s secular credentials and the SP, in turn, is always working to address issues of their interests,” the SP Uttar Pradesh unit spokesperson, Rajendra Chaudhary, said.
State government sources said Israeli representatives working in the irrigation sector had called on Shivpal Yadav and urged him to visit the country to know more about the technologies being used there and their potential for UP. The efficiency of water use in irrigation in the state is considerably low.
“We are exploring various professional and technological options to improve the state’s irrigation system, water conservation and water recycling. Firms in Israel, in particular, possess world’s best technology in this sector. So we took a visit to understand the practices and technologies there,” Deepak Singhal, Principal Secretary, UP Irrigation Department, who accompanied Shivpal Yadav on his visit to Israel, said.


Tariq Umar Farooqui
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Monday, September 24, 2012

TWEETS ON ANTI-ISLAMIC VIDEO: GHULAM MUHAMMED

MY TODAY'S TWEETS ON ANTI-ISLAMIC VIDEO:

Ghulam Muhammed Ghulam Muhammed @GhulamMuhammed Salman Rushdie tells Farid Zakaria, the anti-film protests are not about religion, but about power. He should say it is power of religion.
5:14 AM - 24 Sep 12 · Details

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Ghulam Muhammed @GhulamMuhammed Rushdie says, the anti-film protest are due to insecurity. On the contrary, the protests are on, due to security available in Muslim nations
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Ghulam Muhammed Ghulam Muhammed @GhulamMuhammed
Downside to West, condoning anti-Islamic films, cartoon, is how easy it is now to bring the entire Muslim world on one platform instantly.
5:20 AM - 24 Sep 12 · Details

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Ghulam Muhammed Ghulam Muhammed @GhulamMuhammed Each of events from Rushdie's satanic verses, to Dutch cartoons, to Hollywood film trailer, are like nails in the coffin of western hegemony
5:25 AM - 24 Sep 12 · Details

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Ghulam Muhammed Ghulam Muhammed @GhulamMuhammed CNN anchor brandishes Mobile to say it is not us, it is technology that is the culprit in anti-Islamic video. However it works both ways.
5:28 AM - 24 Sep 12 · Details

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Zionists get protection from freedom of expression, on 'Holocaust' denial. If they can get an exception, why not Muslims protecting Islam?
5:31 AM - 24 Sep 12 · Details




Sunday, September 23, 2012

An Offensive Film? The Prophetic Action Plan - By Dr. Mohannad Hakeem - onislam.net

http://www.onislam.net/english/shariah/muhammad/misconceptions/459024-an-offensive-film-here-is-a-prophetic-action-plan.html

onIslam

An Offensive Film? The Prophetic Action Plan


By Mohannad Hakeem

Friday, 14 September 2012 00:00
Protests in Yemen in front of the US embassy


In the light of the recent movie that was spread, insulting the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Islam, and after some Muslims added to the insult and proved their opponents' accusations, I tend to ask myself a simple yet fundamental question:
 
What would he have done in a similar situation?
Did he face a similar situation, to begin with?

Of course he did, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) faced a lot of difficulties and hardships during his life, and defamation and insults. After a quick review of these incidents, we can come up with an action plan of six steps:

Step 1: Take it easy! "They are talking about someone else"



Read Also:
 
Umm Jameel bint Harb, the wife of Abu Lahab, who is mentioned in the Qur'an (Al-Masad 111:4-5), made up some verses of poetry to defame the Prophet by changing his name to "Mothammam" (i.e. the insulted one) as opposed to "Muhammad" (i.e. the praised one). She said verses like:

We disobey "Mothammam",
And refuse his matter,
And reject his religion.

Poetry at that time was THE media, these verses were spread everywhere, repeated by kids and by travelers in the deserts, so it had a huge effect. Umm Jameel's short poem made some companions sad, angry, and helpless, especially in the early days of Islam when they were weak. Here comes the great attitude of the praised one, peace and blessings on him, whom I sacrifice my family and my soul for. He told the companions:

Isn't it amazing how Allah is protecting me from the Quraish's insults? They are cursing and swearing at "Mothammam", and I am "Muhammad"! (Al-Bukhari) 

The first step in answering or reacting to any insult against our Prophet, to any act of burning the Qur'an by a bigot, to any tweet or to any YouTube comment is to take it easy, rationalize the situation, don't let your anger lead your steps. In a beautiful hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) redefines strength:

The strong is not the one who overcomes people by use of his physical strength; rather he is the one who controls himself while in anger. (Al-Bukhari)

Step 2: Find the "Oprah Winfrey" of your time
I envy Hassaan for his role in supporting Islam through his media and art work.
 
After you take it easy, rationalize your steps and prepare a counter attack, using the same resources of the bigots, the same media outlet. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)  used poetry in his long campaign of spreading Islam and answering these insults. Hassan ibn Thabet was one of those poets (media figures) who can be considered the Oprah Winfrey of his time. He was wealthy, his words were heard, and his verses reached many places and knocked many doors in the Arab community that adored poetry. His style was unique in defending Islam and the Prophet, while attacking Quraish (the main tribe in Makkah that was opposing the Muslims and leading the pagans) in their ego; Instead of attacking their beliefs in being idol worshippers (which is something they were proud of), he used to remind them about their lost battles, their weak points in terms of lineage, and other known sources of dishonor. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had many statements and ahadith that showed gratitude to Hassaan and his poetry:

Oh Allah, give him (Hassan ) the support of the holy spirit (Angel Gabriel) (Muslim)
 
Reply on their defamation, because it is tougher on them than arrows (Muslim) 

(Got the hint from the Prophet? Your poetry is more effective than missiles, arrows, and bombing embassies!!)

Whenever I read these ahadith, I envy Hassaan for his role in supporting Islam through his media and art work. I ask myself: where is the Hassaan ibn Thabet of our time? Who is the lucky person who will receive a copy of Hassan's supplication, through a video, an article, or a well-presented argument?

Step 3: Win the hearts
{Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?} (An-Nur 24:22)
 
One of the biggest insults one can get in the early Arabian community was that related to his honor and reputation, insulting or questioning the chastity of one's wife or daughter. During the incident of Al-Ifk (slander), some Jews and hypocrites spread rumors about `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the beloved wife of the Prophet and the daughter of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Let me put that into perspective: some Arabs used to bury their baby daughters alive in order to "protect their honor" even before their daughters get to think about doing anything bad. After 30 days of spreading the rumors, the Qur'an was revealed to show the innocence of `A'ishah and warn those who participated in it. But among these verses of Surat An-Nur, a very special (and a very difficult) command was given to Abu Bakr:

{And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give any sort of help to their relatives, the poor, and those who left their homes for Allah's Cause. Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} (An-Nur 24:22) 

What happened is that one of the companions who was carried away in these rumors was Mustah ibn Athathah, who was a close family member to Abu Bakr and used to get financial support from him. After the incident, Abu Bakr made an oath that he will never pay Mustah a penny! But the great Qur'an and the magnificent teachings of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) go beyond reactions and revenges; it aims at winning the hearts, at spreading love and forgiveness especially with those who wronged us! Allah ordered Abu Bakr to break his oath, and forgive Mustah, if he wants the forgiveness of Allah.

Contrary to what the movie and those behind it were trying to promote: Islam IS the religion of forgiveness, love, and mercy, so please don't help them by showing a different image of this GREAT deen!

Step 4: Don't support their marketing campaign, for FREE!

The ease of communication through social media outlets (facebook, twitter, etc…) in addition to other video websites (such as youtube) places a huge responsibility on its users, Muslims and non-Muslims. 

Any post or tweet can reach millions; any movie – regardless of the quality and the value of it – can cause irreversible damages. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is enough lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears." (Muslim) 
In this regard, PLEASE don't share anything that comes in hand, don't post or forward it! While I don't have statistics in hand, I can confirm that the Muslims are being the best advertisers and promoters for such movies (and for free), simply by either sharing the movie or by reacting offensively to it. Allah describes the slaves of the Most Merciful (`Ibadu Ar-Rahman):

{and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.}(Al-Furqan 25:63)

Step 5: Patience + Taqwa

One of my friends on facebook commented: "I don't understand why people make such films; why do they feel that they need to attack all that is sacred to others! Why do they enjoy spreading fitnah? What evil motivates such people?"

While I strongly agree with my friend, we have to realize that this sick mentality existed and will always exist. Allah told us in Surat Aal-`Imran:

{You shall certainly be tried and tested in your wealth and properties and in your personal selves, and you shall certainly hear much that will grieve you from those who received the Scripture before you (Jews and Christians) and from those who ascribe partners to Allah, but if you persevere patiently, and have Taqwa (consciousness about Allah) then that is indeed a matter requiring strong resolve.} (Aal-`Imran 3:186) 

While patience is more of a passive act that requires NOT doing a certain behavior, Taqwa is a proactive term; Taqwa is to react (or even act) while being conscious about Allah; Taqwa is to reply, defend, post, tweet, and even demonstrate, but while being watchful for what you do and being considerate for the consequences of your actions.

Step 6: Don't Do NOTHING
A_prophetic_Action_Plan_in_Response_to_Insults
Don't do NOTHING!

While we condemn all the acts of violence that are made under the name of Islam and under the excuse of defending the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I consider that our biggest problem is the silent majority of Muslims who simply do nothing in response to these insults. To those I say: Don't do NOTHING! Don't be the passive apologetic Muslim who watches the news, frowns at the mistakes of ignorant Muslims and Non-Muslim haters, and then goes back to their sleepy life without any contribution to the world around them. In the words of Albert Einstein:

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

The problem is not because we have extremists on both sides (among Muslims, and among non-Muslims); the disaster is that the silent majority on both sides is being passive, it is OUR responsibility to step up, open branches for dialogue and healthy debates, post smart comments online that promote the real image of Islam (Please, no foul language!). You can also start action by SHARING this article and other related pieces with your family and friends, and spread the awareness.  It is about time that we show the world our great deen and at the same time set the clear limit between freedom of speech from one end, and respect for the faith of 1.6 billion human beings on this earth from the other end.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The ‘Pro-Israel’ Network Behind the Innocence Video By Justin Raimondo - Anti-war.com

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/09/18/the-pro-israel-network-behind-the-innocence-video/

Antiwar.com

The ‘Pro-Israel’ Network Behind the Innocence Video
 
by ,

September 19, 2012
 
If someone had planned to upend US foreign policy — to utterly destroy the very basis [.pdf] of all our diplomats (and military personnel) have been working to achieve in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world — they couldn’t have done a better job of it than whoever put together Innocence of Muslims.

As violent protests spread, the consequences continue to roll in: the suspension of joint US-Afghan military operations, the suspension of US aid talks with Egypt, the rapid decline of US prestige in the region, and the growing influence of the radical Islamist movement US support for the “Arab Spring” was designed to counter. The Obama administration’s effort to split the Islamist upsurge and lend its support to “moderates” has been stopped cold.

Was the release of the video a random event, one of those unpredictables that can arise at any moment to foil the best-laid plans? Perhaps. Yet one is hard-pressed to explain what the makers of Innocence sought to accomplish, if not precisely what has occurred. According to various explanations floated in the media — primarily by anti-Muslim agitator Steve Klein — the idea was to promote the video to Muslims. In one account, Klein says he hoped the video would “smoke out” Muslim radicals in the US, who he is convinced have organized secret “cells” that will strike on command. On the other hand, we are told the film’s authors and promoters hoped to “convert” Muslims.

Neither explanation is very convincing. The video itself is so crude, so inept, and so deliberately insulting it is hard to believe anyone thought it could convert anyone to anything. And as for the prospect of “smoking out” secret Islamist cells — if there were such cells, one would hardly expect them to reveal themselves because of a YouTube video.

In order to understand the real motives and goals of the makers of Innocence, it is necessary to take a good look at the people who have, so far, been identified as the film’s authors and promoters.
The central figure in all this is reported to be one Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 56-year-old Egyptian immigrant: although Nakoula presented himself in an interview with the Associated Press as “Sam Bacile,” a 56-year-old “Israeli-American” real estate developer, he is a Coptic Christian, a member of a persecuted minority in Egypt — and a convicted felon. Media reports portray him as the central figure in the making of Innocence: he denies this, and describes his job as arranging “logistics” for the film. Nakoula’s role seems to have been that of a facilitator — gofer — rather than “creative director,” and in any case he hardly seems the type to have originated the idea for the movie. Having been released from jail — where he was serving a sentence for bank fraud — barely a month before filming started, Nakoula was hardly in a position to undertake such a project. Chances are he was recruited by someone else, the real originator and driving force behind Innocence— but who is that someone?

Public records show a filming permit was taken out by “Media for Christ,” an outfit run by one Joseph Nasrallah Abdelmasih. His group sponsors Christian programming in Arabic, including “The Way,” a production that has featured such prominent Islamophobes as Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. The Geller-Spencer collaboration goes back to the protests against the New York City “Ground Zero” mosque in which the duo achieved national notoriety: Nasrallah was one of the speakers at their rally. The idea for just such a movie as Innocence showed up on Geller’s blog in February, in a post entitled “A Movie About Muhammad: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.” Ali Sina, an ex-Muslim and board member of Geller and Spencer’s “Stop the Islamization of Nations,” exhorted Geller’s readers to support his movie project:

The movie shows Muhammad’s raids, plunders, massacres, rapes, assassinations and other crimes. A small subtitle in the lower right corner of each scene will give reference to the source of the story. 

This movie is entirely factual. Wherever possible, I copied the Quran, the Sira and the Hadith verbatim. It is a riveting story. 

Truth about Muhammad is more shocking than fiction.

The world does not know Islam. What is known is a watered down and euphemized version of it that has no bases [sic] in reality. The truth is that Muhammad was a cult leader, much like Jim Jones, Shoko Asahara and Charles Manson. Unlike them he succeeded because there was no central power in the seventh century Arabia to stop him.

The other good news is that I have been promised a substantial angel financing. I have been daydreaming about this movie for ten years. It was this promise that prompted me into action. I put everything aside for five months, read everything I could about my protagonist, selected the most salient episodes and wrote the script.

The seed is now sown. Now it’s time to nurture it. What I need is an experienced executive producer, someone who shares my values, to make it happen with professionalism and missionary zeal.

I am not thinking of a high budget movie, but given the subject matter, it can become one of the most seen motion pictures ever. (Recall Danish cartoons?)”

This may or may not be the same movie as Innocence, but what’s important here is that the idea of such a provocation — “recall Danish cartoons?” — was percolating in these circles when the movie was in production.

Nasrallah has now issued a non-denial denial, in which he claims he was duped — along with the actors — by Nakoula who “did not make the movie we thought he was making.” However, he admits Nakoula called him and that Media for Christ lent him their facilities: and, one has to ask, what movie did Nasrallah think his buddy Nakoula was making?

Nasrallah’s recent involvement with the Geller-Spencer crowd coincided with a very profitable time for his organization: Media in Christ’s income has recently skyrocketed, according to public records, with receipts totaling under $200,000 in 2009 and prior, rising to $633,516 in 2010 and $1,016,366 in 2011. Where did all that money come from — was it Mr. Sina’s “substantial angel”? Nakoula claims he funded his movie project with money from “over 100 Jewish donors.”

When Nakoula spoke to the Associated Press, he described himself as an “Israeli-American” real estate developer operating out of California: this was soon debunked, however, when inquiring reporters outed him as an Egyptian of the Coptic faith. They also discovered he’s a convicted felon — not only for a check-kiting scheme, but also for drug-dealing (methamphetamine). He’s an unlikely hero for the right-wing Christians who have made a martyr out of him, although to ostensible “libertarians” like Matt Welch, who thinks Nakoula & Co. are on the same level as Salman Rushdie, the meth conviction is doubtless a plus.

The idea that these vermin, who deliberately set out to make a “movie” that would inflame the Muslim world, are “free speech” heroes is worse than nonsense: it is valorizing villains. We don’t yet know where the money, or the impetus to make the film, came from, but what we do know is this: the driving force behind Innocence was a desire to create an international incident that would bring discredit on the United States, and empower radical Islamists who hate America and everything it stands for. And the promoters of this garbage pose as “patriots”!

Free speech has nothing to do with this issue: the President requested of YouTube that they reconsider the video’s place on YouTube in light of their terms of service. YouTube refused, and that’s the end of it. Unfortunately, however, that’s not the end of this imbroglio, the consequences of which we’ll be living with for a long time to come.

There is an ugly sore festering under the skin of the West, and its first manifestation — or should I say symptom? — surfaced when Andre Breivik committed his ghastly crime, slaughtering the attendees at a Norwegian Labor Party youth camp. He, too, wanted to “stop the Islamization of nations,” and his online manifesto cited Geller, Spencer, and the writings of the movement their hateful rantings have energized. The English Defense League — a sorry collection of skinheads, neo-Nazis, and soccer hooligans — which Geller endorses, has mounted a campaign of violent intimidation aimed at British Muslims, inspiring imitators in several European countries. These groups feed off the more radical elements of the Zionist movement: Geller and her supporters claim to be “defending Israel,” and the EDL regularly flies the Israeli flag at their hate rallies.

Defense of the Jewish state is a major theme of the Islamophobe network: they use it as a shield to deflect criticism. A key leader of this network is former New Leftist and Black Panther groupie David Horowitz: his “David Horowitz Freedom Center” (formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture), sponsors Spencer’s “Jihad Watch.” Horowitz’s “Frontpage” site — ablaze with stories decrying the “betrayal” of Israel by the American government and the perfidy of all things Islamic — recently speculated Innocence was created by the very Salafists now leading the protests. Since the video sprang from the same bigoted milieu of which Frontpage is the online Jerusalem, this “theory” isn’t merely ironic — it’s a moral obscenity.

It isn’t hard to imagine where the money to create this deadly provocation came from. Of the many millions in neocon money sloshing around this country, it’s hardly inconceivable a hundred thousand or so would find its way into the hands of a twice-convicted felon and all around dubious character like Nakoula, who is, I suspect, just a con man rather than an ultra-Zionist ideologue like the promoters of his “work.”

Although, to be sure, the difference is altogether negligible.