Mumbai Terrorist Attack-News stories and timeline

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 28 Nov 2012 01:45

Lalmohan wrote:maybe they are going to seek asylum?

for what exactly??

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 28 Nov 2012 04:03

abhishek_sharma wrote:Hafiz Saeed offers funeral prayers for Ajmal Kasab

Lets hope Kasab's family Soon get the chance to return the favor.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 28 Nov 2012 04:14

Kasab hanged: Vaishno Devi, Karnataka on high terror alert

The terror threat again started looming over Karnataka and one of holiest shrines of the country - Vaishno Devi. Terror outfit from Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) threatened to attack both Vaishno Devi and Karnataka to avenge Ajmal Kasab's execution. Intelligence Bureau (IB) alerted all concerned officials who have beefed up security at the targetted regions. The officials claimed that they would not take any chance.

why Karnataka --

The deputy CM also informed that Karnataka would hand over 15 arrested terror suspects to Delhi if the central government asks for it. Recently, many terror suspects, who are connected with LeT and HUJI, have been arrested in the state.

member_23686 · Post by **member_23686** » 28 Nov 2012 17:48

jamwal wrote:100s join funeral prayers for Kasab in Kashmir

Hundreds of people today offered funeral-in-absentia or ‘gaibana nimaz-e-jinaza’ for Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab who was hanged in Pune’s Yerwada Jail on Wednesday.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani had appealed to people to hold his funeral prayers. Kasab’s funeral was offered today afternoon at the city’s Barzulla area. The people also offered funeral-in-absentia for Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
A resident of the Barzulla neighbourhood said people from two mosques gathered at the local Eidgah to offer prayers for Palestinians and Kasab.
Kasab’s hanging was largely ignored by the mainstream and separatist leadership in Kashmir who chose to remain silent over the incident.
Through a video message released on Thursday evening, Geelani had appealed to the people to protest against the Israeli air strikes on Gaza after the Friday congregational prayers.
“Funeral prayers should be held for (Palestinian) martyrs and Kasab should also be remembered. Nimaz-e-Jinaza (funeral prayers) should also be offered to him,” Geelani said in the video message.
In May 2011, Geelani had led hundreds of people in the city’s Batamaloo neighbourhood to offer funeral prayers for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, days after he was killed in a US raid in Pakistan.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 01 Dec 2012 20:46

Khurshid writes to Clinton seeking extradition of Headley, Rana

New Delhi’s requests for access to Headley’s wife Shazia Gilani, his girlfriend Portia Peter, one more female friend are also yet to be acceded by Washington.

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 09 Dec 2012 05:51

Next: Memorial at India gate

Kasab washed his hands, we stained ours

he was in search of an identity in a brutally indifferent world

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-pa ... 179105.ece

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 09 Dec 2012 06:15

^^ What else can one expect from a Jesuit who proclaims his civilization evolved from London ?

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 09 Dec 2012 09:04

Imagine! Had we pardoned and deported Kasab back to his hometown, letting him begin a new life, hoping he would change. In the words of Victor Hugo, we could have “treated evil with charity, instead of anger”. This mind-boggling initiative would have re-defined punishment and received admiration and condemnation worldwide. Honestly, given another chance, Kasab would have chosen to live; he was done with the gun. Now, we will never know if he would have changed.

(The writer is doing his masters in criminology and forensics at Dharwad. Email: jonahdreams25@gmail.com)

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 Dec 2012 09:26

I talked to an IN officer about the night of 26/11/2008. he was based right across the area in Colaba. He said the early consensus was that it was a Mumbai gangland fight going on. It was only afer Karkare and his cohort got killed that it was realized to be a terrorist attack and the MARCOs were deployed. It was much later in the night that the NSG flew in.

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 09 Dec 2012 10:36

Ramana ji Saar ji

Everybody knows how unprepared even today we are for well planned terror attacks
Naval officers can only confirm what we know and anticipate here on BRF

It's the blessing and protection of the hidden hand that keeps India still going

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Dec 2012 10:44

Lilo wrote:^^ What else can one expect from a Jesuit who proclaims his civilization evolved from London ?

It is incorrect to believe that capital punishment was alien to certain Abrahamic religions. Anyway, no more on that here.

That op-ed by a young aspiring-to-be-a-crminologist, posted above, is anti-national IMO not the least because of his illogical and incoherent arguments for pardon for Kasab, but because he seemed to me to feel sorry that Kasab could not kill more people or indulge in more violence. He even suspects the bravery of Tukharam Omble even while asserting to the contrary which I suspect is to merely ward off angry reactions otherwise. He states

Not many know that he failed in his chief mission — which was to make his way up to the terrace of CST, picking up hostages on his way. He never got to the top. Although he survived the bullet, he could have faced his own gun {This wannabe-criminologist does not realize that fidayeen jihadi terrorists do not take away their own lives like suicide bombers do. They go on a mission with every intention of returning triumphantly as a ghazi but are quite willing to be killed by the enemy} and aborted the mission. Stealing absolutely nothing away from the brave men who laid down their lives, I wonder if Kasab entertained the thought of being world famous. {All kinds of absurd reasons are attributed to defend an indefensible criminal act. Even if it were to be true, does it lessen his barbaric criminal act ? In this aspiring-criminologists worldview, somehow Kasab's longing, at the cost of the dozens who were killed for absolutely no fault of theirs or families who were left without their breadwinners or that girl who lost her legs etc, washes away his cruel acts and evil mind }

If a nation-state cannot deprive a person of his right to life after a due process of law (even when he is caught red-handed killing dozens of innocents in an urban guerrilla warfare because of religious hatred), then the question to ask is what difference does it make to that person whether his life was extinguished by an enemy state's court of law or he himself died fighting for the cause that he held so dear to him. Does the former make it abhorrent and the latter noble ? All these bleeding hearts didn't offer a word of sympathy for the nine other jihadi terrorists killed by the NSG commandos. How are their lives any less worthy than that of Kasab alone ? It was this very same evil Indian State that killed those nine men as well. There is every possibility that had they been captured alive, pardoned and let back into the Pakistani society, they might have turned into productive human beings as well. The same imbecile argument for Kasab's pardon holds good for them too, doesn't it ? Didn't this evil Indian state, a land where Guatam Buddha & Mahatma Gandhi were born, inflict that inhuman punishment on those nine men who after all were simply doing what they truly believed in ?

There is no doubt that Kasab himself came prepared for sacrificing his life in the cause of Allah, just as his nine colleagues who were killed in action and thus unfortunately deprived of the sympathies of these bleeding hearts. Kasab knew the dangers of his mission and he embraced them with full knowledge of what was likely in store. For him, death in the cause of Allah was to be welcomed as that gave him entry to Jannat and the attendant luxuries that came with that. So, he didn't care whether death came in the form of NSG commandos or a hangman in Yerawada. His utter lack of remorse for four years, which the author himself accepts, proves that he was not a material likely to change for the better because he was transfixed by the splendours of jannat and service to Allah. All the judges right up to the Supreme Court have pointed out this singular lack of remorse in Kasab.

This guy who is studying criminology must move himself lock, stock and barrel to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, after finishing his studies in Dharwad, and preach love and prevent future Kasabs from going to India and getting killed there by a heartless nation.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 19 Dec 2012 12:02

Pakistan's ISI, Pasha & Taj enjoy immunity in 26/11 NY Court case: US Gov

...
The US Government has informed a New York court that the ISI and its former director generals "enjoy immunity" in the case related to 26/11 filed by the relatives of victims of the Mumbai terror attack and asked Pakistan to dismantle LeT and support India's efforts to counter terrorist threat.

"In the view of the United States, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is entitled to immunity because it is part of a foreign state within the meaning of the FSIA (Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act)," Stuart Delery, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General told a federal court in New York on December 17 in a submission on a case filed by relatives and family members of the American victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

"Furthermore, the Department of State has determined that former Director Generals Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Nadeem Taj are immune because plaintiffs' allegations relate to acts that these defendants allegedly took in their official capacities as directors of an entity that is undeniably a fundamental part of the Government of Pakistan," Delery said in his 12-page affidavit.

"Because foreign sovereign immunity and foreign official immunity provide an adequate basis upon which to dispose of this case with respect to the ISI and former Directors General Pasha and Taj, the United States takes no position on the political question doctrine issues that are also presented in this case," the affidavit says in its footnote in response to the court case filed by American survivors of the Mumbai terrorist attack.

...
...
"As a threshold matter, we note that the Department of State strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The Department continues to believe that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan must take steps to dismantle Lashkar-e-Taiba and to support India's efforts to counter this terrorist threat. This determination of immunity should not be viewed as expressing any view on the merits of plaintiffs' claims," the State Department legal advisor said.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 19 Dec 2012 12:19

The above should make clear to the Millions of Indians with Blinkered vision of what the US Foreign Policy goals with repsect to the Sub-continent.

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 20 Dec 2012 03:25

Hang Kasab

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... kasab.hang

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 20 Dec 2012 09:41

Indian-26-11-team-leaves-for-Pakistan

They should collect DNA samples first hand from all suspects including Saeed's.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Dec 2012 10:11

vasu raya wrote:Indian-26-11-team-leaves-for-Pakistan

From the headline I was deceived into believing that the NIA team was going to TSP. But, this is just a team that is going to set the Ts&Cs for the second Pakistani judicial commission's visit.

So, vasu_raya, they will not be able to collect DNA samples even from a Pakistani mosquito leave alone the big Pig.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 20 Dec 2012 10:21

Sorry, was taken in as well, OK the protocol they set for NIA team's visit must include DNA samples though I am skeptical since they didn't even get voice samples officially so far.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Dec 2012 12:50

The Indian team is unable to make headway

Indian legal experts visiting Pakistan for negotiations on the terms of reference (ToR) for travel of a second Pakistani judicial commission (JC) to India for collecting evidence in the Mumbai attack case, decided on Friday to extend their stay due to a sticking point in their talks.

The Indian delegation which held talks with the Pakistani legal team led by Attorney General Irfan Qadir on Thursday was scheduled to depart on Saturday, but sources said the talks would now continue on Saturday as the two sides could not agree on the terms of reference for the upcoming visit of the Pakistani JC.

The Indian delegation comprised officials from home and external affairs ministries and Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who had prosecuted Ajmal Kasab.

India had agreed to receive the second JC during Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s visit to India last week.

The talks between legal experts have been primarily about allowing the Pakistani JC to cross-examine four key witnesses and the acceptability of the report of the JC by the Anti-Terrorism Court that is trying the seven Mumbai suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba `commander’ Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

The report of the first JC which visited Mumbai in March was rejected by the Rawalpindi ATC after objections from defence lawyers that the Indians had not allowed cross-examination of the witnesses.

The Pakistani side wants to cross-examine the chief police investigator, the magistrate who recorded Kasab’s confessional statement and the two doctors who conducted autopsies of nine terrorists killed during the attack.

Getting Indians agree to cross-examination is a difficult bargain because Pakistan would in reciprocity be required to allow cross-examination of the suspects by an Indian JC which may visit the country at a later stage.

Moreover, the Indian experts need assurances that the report of the second JC would be accepted by the court and not dismissed as happened in the case of the report of the first mission. {So, Pakistan wants all concessions from India but is unwilling to reciprocate ? Usual tactics and usually India obliges. Let us see what happens now. On top of this, rehman Malik will blame India for the delay too !!}

If both sides agree on the terms of reference, the second JC would visit Mumbai in the first week of January.

kenop · Post by **kenop** » 23 Dec 2012 00:33

OK Nothing new there. Just the date is recent

An anti-terrorism court today adjourned the trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks for three weeks after defence lawyers and prosecutors did not attend proceedings today, sources said.

See here for a chronology of court drama in Pakistan

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Jan 2013 06:42

Pak Judicial Commission May Come by January-end - The Hindu

The Ministry of Home Affairs will soon approach the Bombay High Court to seek its approval for the visit of the Pakistani Judicial Commission this month-end in connection with the cases related to the Mumbai terror attacks.

According to MHA sources, India and Pakistan have signed an agreement to facilitate the second visit of the commission to cross-examine four witnesses in the 26/11 attack case so that their statements could be admissible in the Rawalpindi court, where the case is currently being heard.

These witnesses are Metropolitan Magistrate Rama Vijay Sawant-Waghule, who recorded the confessional statement of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged in a Pune jail; Chief Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale; and two doctors from the State-run Nair and JJ Hospitals, who had conducted autopsies of nine terrorists who carried out the attack.

Senior MHA officials, who discussed legal and technical issues with their counterparts in Pakistan last week, finalised the agreement to pave the way for the Pakistan commission’s second visit to Mumbai.

“We will approach the Bombay High Court within the next couple of days to get clearance for cross-examination of the witnesses in the Mumbai terror attack case … Once the approval is received, we will convey the same to Pakistan which in turn will inform the Lahore High Court for intimation to the Rawalpindi court,” a senior official said.

Seven terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, have been charged with planning and financing 26/11. Notably, the findings of the first Pakistani Judicial Commission that visited India in March last were rejected by the Rawalpindi court as the panel’s members were not allowed to cross-examine the Indian witnesses and given access only to material evidences.

During his recent visit to India, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik had agreed to give an Indian judicial commission access to Pakistani suspects after the Pakistan commission visited Mumbai.

I think we are again walking into a Pakistani trap. Allowing a Pakistani team to cross-examine Indian witnesses (cross-examining a Magistrate is unheard of and India is allowing even that) was supposed to be on a reciprocal basis of Pakistan allowing access to Indian investigators to cross-examine the seven held now in Adiala. This permission cannot be granted by Rehman Malik, if India is going by that. The lawyers of the seven terrorists can and will successfully appeal against such a cross-examination by a foreign agency (and that too of an arch enemy) in the jihadi-pasand Lahore High Court. Also, has India received written confirmation from the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the admissibility of the report of the judicial commission in a Pakistani court of law ? It may not be enough if the Adiala Anti-Terrorism Court allows that because the defence lawyers can then go in appeal to LHC and the SC which we can confidently expect to rule in their favour.

See here for a chronology of court drama in Pakistan

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Jan 2013 07:35

Headley sentencing rescheduled

A U.S. court on Wednesday postponed the sentencing of Pakistani-American LeT terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, from January 17 to 24. The sentencing of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled, for a second time, for January 17.

Why are these being rescheduled ?

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 15 Jan 2013 13:21

US to seek 30 yrs jail for Mumbai terror suspect Tahawwur Rana

Washington: US prosecutors today sought 30 years’ imprisonment for Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, an accomplice of convicted terrorist David Headley, for providing material support to Laskar-e-Taiba and conspiring for a terror attack on a Danish newspaper.

A federal grand jury in June 2011 had found 52-year-old Rana guilty of providing material support to LeT and planning an aborted plot to bomb the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Rana, who was originally arrested in 2009 for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was acquitted of the charge. However, Indian investigators have charged him of being involved in the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people and is seeking to question him for the second time.

Headley, who conducted reconnaissance of the targets of the Mumbai terror attacks for LeT, had entered a plea bargain with the FBI, saving him from a possible death penalty.

“The government respectfully submits that the Court order the sentences on Counts Eleven and Twelve to run consecutively and impose a total sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment,” Acting US Attorney Gary S Shapiro requested the Chicago court in a position paper.

Rana’s sentencing is scheduled for 17 January. Citing poor health condition, Rana’s attorney Patrick W Blegan urged the court for lighter sentencing.

Referring to the heart attack Rana suffered in June 2012, and the hospitalisations thereafter, Blegan said that Rana is in very poor health and requested the judge to take it into account while sentencing.

“It is likely that his health will continue to deteriorate. He will likely at some point require dialysis due to his kidney disease, and is, of course, at risk for a second heart attack or vasovagal event,” Blegan told the court.

Federal prosecutors, however, opposed any move to reduce Rana’s sentencing on health ground.

“His attorney have sought lighter sentence citing the heart attack he suffered in June 2012. This is not a compelling factor,” the government’s position paper said.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 18 Jan 2013 00:58

Tahawwur Rana Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Supporting Pakistani Terror Group and Terror Plot in Denmark

The only line that matters to an Indian:

Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.

So he got convicted for thinking of attacking some western country, but got acquitted for an attack that actually killed a lot of innocents.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 Jan 2013 03:09

And contrast that to the story seeking 30 years for the guy.

Looks like he is an asset and is being taken care of.

Shows that Mumbai was an authorized operation for both the fellows.

Copenhagen was not and thus they got sentenced.

The sentence that matters to Indians is buried in one line amidst a lot of rhetoric.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 18 Jan 2013 12:25

hnair wrote:Tahawwur Rana Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Supporting Pakistani Terror Group and Terror Plot in Denmark

The only line that matters to an Indian:
Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.
So he got convicted for thinking of attacking some western country, but got acquitted for an attack that actually killed a lot of innocents.

Yup 0 years for actual which killed 170 people, 14 for thinking of attacking a western country, this shows where GOTUS Heart lies and how it works

member_23651 · Post by **member_23651** » 22 Jan 2013 02:30

Posting in Full... who killed/aborted this mission? And why it has been leaked now?... US Perfidy or Sickular RNI malafide?

RAW Mission aborted

After the Mumbai attacks, the RAW put into motion a top secret mission to reach out to Faiza Outalha, the estranged wife of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley (in pic), and bring her to India from Morocco

Faiza holds the key to the 26/11 conspiracy; she was with Headley when he recceed targets and met LeT founder Hafiz Saeed. She is also believed to know Headley’s Pak contacts

Operation Morocco — for strange reasons — was abruptly stopped in mid-2012 at the highest level in the espionage agency

Op Morocco: A secret chase for 26/11 plotter’s wife

New Delhi, January 21

Referred to as ‘Operation Morocco’, this top secret Indian intelligence mission was ‘killed’ just when it was about to yield results. The highly classified operation was linked to the crucial investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks that left over 166 persons, including six Americans, dead.

The goal of ‘Operation Morocco’ was to reach out to Faiza Outalha, the estranged wife of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who acted as a ‘scout’ to identify various targets for the deadly strikes.

Currently, Faiza is living in and out of the north Moroccan town of Meknes. Faiza was Headley’s third wife. At the time of their marriage in 2007, Faiza was a medical student half his age.

The hush-hush operation was put into motion by the foreign spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to establish one-to-one contact with Faiza, who was with Headley when he was doing reconnaissance in Mumbai for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists. Faiza and Headley had watched the Mumbai attacks ‘live’ on television in their Lahore home.

Faiza’s presence during the scouting of multi-targets, including five-star hotels, a railway station and the Jewish quarters, and her meetings with the ‘master brain’ - LeT founder chief Hafiz Saeed - in Pakistan makes her a ‘highly valuable witness’ for Indian investigative and intelligence agencies.

Till today, Faiza continues to be elusive for Indians, thanks to the ‘forced failure’ of ‘Operation Morocco.’

Top sources in the RAW said the aim of the operation was to establish contact with Faiza and attempt to bring her to India for recording her statement about her knowledge regarding the Mumbai plot and subsequent attacks, Headley’s contacts in Pakistan and her meetings with Hafiz Saeed.

The mission — for strange reasons — was abruptly stopped in mid-2012 at the highest level in the espionage agency despite the fact that Faiza holds the key to the Mumbai attacks conspiracy.

That was the end of the ‘secret chase’ to reach out to Faiza. There is a likelihood that even the Prime Minister, the National Security Adviser, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Mumbai police are unaware of this fiasco, sources said.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) kept Faiza out of the trial of Headley and his Pakistan-born Canadian aide Tahawwur Rana (52), a Chicago-based businessman.

Headley, who confessed his crime, is scheduled to be sentenced by a Chicago court on January 24. He had entered a plea bargain with the FBI, saving himself from his extradition to India and possible death penalty.

His school-time friend Rana was sentenced to 14 years in prison on January 17 for providing ‘material support’ to Pakistan-based LeT and for backing a plot to strike a Danish newspaper. Rana, who was originally arrested in 2009 for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was, however, acquitted of that charge.

During the trial, Rana’s counsel had raised the issue of Faiza going scot-free. He wanted to know as to why she was not made an accused or a crucial prosecution witness though her role in the Mumbai attacks was not less than of Headley and his client.

Faiza’s evidence on oath would have ‘exposed’ the Americans as she had warned the US Embassy in Islamabad of Headley being a terrorist and his plot to hit targets in Mumbai and Karachi. This would have also put on record that Headley had worked for America’s Central Intelligence Agency, Drug Enforcement Agency and Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence. The FBI kept Faiza out of Headley’s trial.

Although the Americans allowed the NIA team ‘limited access’ to Headley, India’s request to send him to face the trial in this country too was turned down by the US authorities.

The NIA last year sent a Letter Rogatory to Morocco through a city court for recording Faiza’s statement. But it is not likely to yield desired results. The Americans are reported to be keeping a close watch on her. For Indians, Faiza has become ‘Mission Impossible’.
[/b]

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Jan 2013 05:36

She might still be working for some three letter agency and hence the Indians were told to stop fooling around. And like acche bacche they stayed put. In old days of Kao they would have brought her back to desh.

Recall North Africa is a hot bed of AlQ as we see Mali go up in flames.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Jan 2013 16:13

I Loathed India from Childhood
David Headley, who surveyed targets for the 26/11 attacks, gave Indian interrogators a step-by-step account of his training with Laskhar-e-Taiba. The details are in a new book, Headley and I, written by S. Hussain Zaidi with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul Bhatt, whom Headley befriended on his visits to India

After a couple of days of interrogating David Headley, Behera thought he had more or less figured him out. He knew that Headley would tell him much of what he knew and had done, primarily because he had a boastful streak in him. All Behera had to do was egg him on. So far, the strategy was working beautifully.

‘Tell me about your training, Mr Headley,’ Behera said. ‘You clearly had a lot of training with Lashkar-e-Taiba, and they must have trusted you a lot.’

Headley beamed. ‘Yeah, they trusted me.’

‘So what kind of training did you get exactly?’

After the first two preliminary stages — the Daura-e-Amma and Daura-e-Sufa — I progressed to the next. The training became much more practical, and I learned to translate my acceptance and belief in Salafi Islam and radical ideology into action.

In April 2003, I volunteered for the Daura-e-Khaassa in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. There were thirty or forty of us in the group that underwent the Daura-e-Khaassa training, which lasted for a full three months. During that time, we were taught the importance of being soldiers of Islam...

But the one thing that some individuals in the group had trouble dealing with was the bloodshed. They kept asking themselves, and each other, and our masters and trainers and teachers, if it was acceptable to kill human beings, and if so, why.
Movies on atrocities

This was what Daura-e-Khaassa was all about. The earlier Dauras were orientation programmes, this was the real induction into jehad. We were told that it was not just okay to kill others, it was actually an act of worship—it needed to be done to avenge the wrongdoings against Muslims. The LeT established this primarily by showing us very gory and violent movies about atrocities against Muslims.

One of those movies that I still remember vividly was the one on Babu Bajrangi and atrocities in Gujarat. He was involved in killing innocent Muslims in Gujarat; he had been caught on a hidden camera saying that he didn’t mind if he was hanged, but before he was, he wanted to be given a couple of days so he could go and kill as many Muslims as he could. Despite overwhelming evidence, the Gujarat state and the Indian government did not act against him.

My hatred for and rage at India increased manifold during those three months.

We were also shown some of the innumerable inflammatory speeches made by the Maharashtrian goondas of the Shiv Sena and their supremo Bal Thackeray. Hafiz Saeed was the one who showed us the damage that Bal Thackeray had done to the Muslim ummah.

I know now that they were shown to us primarily to motivate us. And after everything that we saw on those videos, all our reservations were washed away, and we were fuelled by an unnatural, powerful rage. As it is, I had nursed a hatred against India ever since I was a child and my school had been bombed, but now, my loathing and animosity towards it were reinforced and with good reason.

Finally, after graduating from the Daura-e-Khaassa, we were taken to a mountain in Muzaffarabad. At first, I thought the next part of our training would be in a cave, as it looked like that was where we were headed. We soon found out that it was much more. It was a self-sustained branch of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The sheer grandeur of the place took my breath away — it appeared to be more like a palatial fortress than anything else.

It was a safe house, and it was called Bait-ul Mujahideen, meaning the ‘house of the crusaders’. Whenever mujahideens would cross over from India’s Jammu and Kashmir or from Pakistan, they would be stationed here and taken care of. Here, they lived a life of luxury until they were ready to leave, or were given details of their next mission. They would then cross the border to India.

I also met a frogman while I was in Muzaffarabad; he was introduced to me as Abdur Rehman. He seemed to be from the Pakistan Navy. In that Lashkar camp, Bait-ul Mujahideen, we received intensive all-round training. The emphasis was primarily on urban warfare, and we were trained in two-man, body-attack operations. We learned to cover our partners and work with them seamlessly. We were taught all kinds of urban warfare skills — two-man entry, two-man firing from cover, and covering jams and reloads. We also had situational training — stair work, hall work, combat, first aid, and even unarmed hand-to-hand combat.

We were taught to shoot with all kinds of weapons — pistols, rifles, shotguns, everything. I handled the M-16, Heckler and Koch, FNAR rifles, Steyr AUG, submachine guns and even a Dragunov sniper rifle. I was also taught how to use hand grenades and antipersonnel fragmentation grenades. But the one weapon that all of us had to master was the AK-47 and its derivatives.

I mentioned the name of Abu Kahafa earlier. He was present at the safe house. He is one of the fattest fellows I’ve ever seen. But appearances are deceptive, as I soon found out. Despite his obesity, he was extremely fit, as strong as a bull, and had amazingly sharp reflexes. I went through various modes of combat with him, including hand to hand and using knives. Apart from him, there were several others who gave us weapons training, and they were all from the ISI, Pakistan’s Special Security Guard, or the counter-terrorism unit of the Pakistan Army, the Zarar Company. But their identities were never revealed to us at any point of time. We went through another Daura, called Daura-e-Ribat, meaning communication. This is a derivative of the root word rabt, meaning connect. Another important skill we had to learn was counter-interrogation techniques. We had to keep our minds in perfect shape in all kinds of situations so that if we were ever captured alive, we would be able to deflect the attention of our interrogators, and confuse and mislead them.

Fitness regime

There was also a strict fitness regime that we had to stick to. Every day, we had to run five kilometres, do twenty pull-ups, thirty dips and forty push-ups, along with abdominal workouts. It was essential to be physically fit, to handle the different kinds of guns. In fact, I was also taught to handle a shotgun and an RPG, a rocket launcher. These are heavy weapons, so to carry them on the shoulder and fire them required us to be at the peak of our fitness, as well as strength. They refused to teach me how to assemble bombs. I requested my Lashkar masters and the other trainers, but they were firm about it. So I did not get any training on assembly of explosive devices. {Why was that ? The US did not like that ?}

After many months of intensive training, our Lashkar masters took us to a place called Bay’at ul Rizwan, which refers to an incident that took place during the time of Prophet Muhammad. The new Muslims of that time had sworn allegiance to the Prophet under a tree. It is said that whoever makes this gesture of pledging allegiance to Prophet Muhammad will go to heaven. That is why it is called Bay’at ul Rizwan, meaning ‘the allegiance to heaven’.

My Salafi masters said that this was a solemn moment, and that we would have to take a momentous decision that would change our lives forever. He said that paying this fealty meant taking an oath of allegiance. That was what Bay’at meant. But there was no hesitation in any of us. All of us took the Bay’at and swore our loyalty to jehad.

By now, we looked like soldiers. We had become hardened jehadis, and were fully committed to the cause. …We were now armed and ready to strike mercilessly at the behest of our masters.

My appearance too had changed completely by this time. Not only did I not have any excess fat, I was wearing only Pathani suits and had grown a long, flowing beard, which made me look like a member of the Taliban.

One day, one of my Lashkar masters took me aside and told me that there was one more Daura that I needed to do, that everyone like me, of my calibre, had to do. Hobnobbing with the Lashkar had awakened me to my spiritual side. But the Daura-e-Tadrib ul Muslimeen in July 2004 gave my spirituality a new momentum. This was at a seminar in Abbottabad. I am sure all of us in this room know about Abbottabad, which houses a large military base.

There were many speakers at the seminar. However, to me, the star speaker was Maulana Masood Azhar. Yes, I’m sure the name strikes a chord. It is the same Maulana Masood Azhar that the Indian government had to release in exchange for the passengers of IC-814 in Kandahar. Hearing him speak was a celestial, deeply spiritual experience. Throughout his discourse, I was riveted. As Azhar was wrapping up his speech, he said to us that our lives had no real meaning, no real purpose, and they should be spent in the cause of jehad. From then on, I was ready to die for my Muslim brothers.

After the seminar, I approached Azhar and told him that I wanted to go to Kashmir to fight alongside my brethren. I told him that I had become leaner, fitter, was much better trained than before, and that I was totally inspired and motivated, and wanted to lay down my life for the cause of jehad and for Islam.

However, the answer was once again the same. Kashmir was a very difficult terrain, Azhar told me, for a man of my age who had already crossed forty. He tried to cheer me up by telling me that I could go anywhere else and that I should be more patient. He hinted that I might soon be given a mission to carry out in India.

In 2005, I was sent to the FATA region in Pakistan, where I met Ayub Afridi, one of the biggest and most powerful drug lords there. I once mentioned his name to Rahul Bhatt, but it was mostly to impress him. I am sure you must have heard from him, Mr Behera, so there’s no need to look so surprised.

By 2005, I had finished my training and had become a full-fledged member of the LeT, a jehadi dedicated to the cause of true Islam. I was itching to start work, and was looking forward to the mission in India that I had been told might be given to me. Within a few days, I was introduced to a retired brigadier of the ISI. They never revealed his full name to me, I only knew him as Retired Brigadier Riyaz.

Riyaz lived in a palatial house in Muzaffarabad, reminiscent of all those palaces that people see in movies and photographs. There were times when I was summoned to the house along with Zaki, one of my LeT masters. It was then that I realized the equation between Pakistan’s ISI and the Lashkar—they were like master and subordinate. Zaki, who was a top figure in the LeT, the man in charge of all operations, was just a subservient servant in front of Brigadier Riyaz.

I figured out that Riyaz was not the only man in the ISI who was dealing with our LeT handlers. Like him, Major Iqbal too was a very powerful and influential figure. His man in the LeT was Hafiz Saeed. Similarly, Major Samir handled biggies like Abu Kahafa, Sajid Mir and others. It was a strange marriage, and I knew that the LeT despised it. To them, jehad was most important. But the ISI were really not interested in jehad. They were only interested in developing and executing strategies to destabilize India.

Change of name

Finally, the ISI masters decided that I was ready for jehad, and my first mission. But they told me that there was one crucial thing I had to do first. I had to go back to the US and change my name. I was still Daood Gilani, and a Daood Gilani flying to and fro between Pakistan and other countries would get noticed, especially in the aftermath of 9/11. I was instructed to choose a name that would not raise any suspicion.

Sometime in September 2005, I called my attorney, Donald Drumpf, and told him that I wanted to change my name. He was surprised, but I told him that I had grown tired of Daood Gilani and the consequent persecution, and wanted to change my name to one that would sound as if it belonged to a white American. He believed what I said. Finally, though my social security number remained the same, I changed my name to David Coleman Headley, using my mother’s middle and last names.

At last, I was ready. This was the first time I was leaving the country on a mission, and I was leaving it a new man, as David Coleman Headley. After all those years of nursing my hatred, it was only fitting that my first mission was going to be in and against India.

So, between April 2003 and late 2005, DCH was with the LeT and it did not raise suspicion at all among the US intel agencies ?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jan 2013 11:08

India still hopeful of getting Rana extradited: Kurshid

Denied permission to extradite Pakistani-American David Headley, the Union government seems to be hoping to get his accomplice Tahawwur Rana to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

“There is a little difference between the two cases [Headley and Rana], because in this case he had given up his right of appeal; in the other case, the right of appeal has not been given up. So we continue to watch these cases very closely, and such legal intervention as we can make at any time, we will continue to do so,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here on Friday.

The fact that an American court had recognised the role of an accused in perpetrating the crime in India was “at least a good beginning.” But India would have preferred a severer sentence [the death penalty]. “But at least a beginning has been made. We will continue our efforts to ensure that all such people are extradited… to India for trial.”

Had the trial been in India, the punishment would have been harsher. “We are disappointed with the quantum of punishment meted out to him. We also know that their judge made it very clear that his punishment is based on Headley’s right to make a plea for lighter punishment and a plea against extradition as per the provisions in their legal system. But we will continue to make efforts to fulfil our aspirations.”

On the other hand, the U.S. Embassy here justified the Justice Department’s stand against a more severe punishment for Headley. “This decision was taken because of Headley’s willingness to cooperate with law enforcement authorities — American, Indian and others — to help bring the perpetrators to justice and prevent other terrorist attacks,” it said in a statement.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jan 2013 12:24

Headley sentence dishonours 26/11 victims - Business Line

An American woman, whose husband and teenage daughter were among 166 people killed in the Mumbai attacks, has said the 35-year sentence for LeT terrorist David Headley “dishonours” the victims, asserting that the Pakistani-American “lost his right” to live as a free man when he helped plan the strikes.

Kia Scherr said that she is unhappy with the sentence handed down to Headley by a Chicago court adding that he deserved harsher punishment for his “deplorable act’’.

“I vehemently disagree with the sentence. It dishonours those who were killed and those who survived, whose lives changed forever,” Scherr told PTI in an e-mail.

Headley, who had confessed to undertaking several scouting missions in Mumbai for his handlers in Pakistan, had passed on photos and videos of targets, including the Taj and Oberoi hotels which were attacked by 10 LeT terrorists.

Scherr lost her husband Alan and daughter Naomi in the attack on the Oberoi Hotel. Her husband was shot in the back of the head and died instantly while her 13-year-old daughter was shot multiple times and bled to death.

“I don’t understand why there isn’t a greater value for the lives of the innocent. David Headley lost his right to live as a free man when he helped plan those attacks. Such actions should have greater consequences. There is no justification or excuse for this deplorable act,” Scherr said.

At Headley’s sentencing hearing in Chicago, other American victims of the Mumbai attacks also said it would be an outrage if he was let off with just a 35-year imprisonment.

Speaking on behalf of the victims, with Headley present inside the court room, a teary-eyed Linda Ragsdale, who was shot in the back by a gunman while dining at the Oberoi Trident, told the judge last night that Headley must be made to bear the consequences of what he did.

“I feel that the magnitude of the killing that took place (in Mumbai), David Headley has no right to live. He must bear the consequences of (what he did?)... this would be morale outrage if David Headley got only 35 years,” said Ragsdale.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jan 2013 12:35

GoI wants death sentence for Headley, all others accused in 26/11 case

Disappointed over the 35-year jail term awarded to David Headley by a US court, the Government today said that it wants death penalty for the LeT terrorist and all those who were involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

“We want death sentence for Headley and those who were involved in the killing of 166 people in Mumbai. We will keep asking for his death sentence,” Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters here.

He was reacting to the prison sentence given to Headley by the US court for helping plot the 26/11 Mumbai terror carnage. The Pakistani-American escaped death penalty under a deal with the US Government.

The Home Secretary said New Delhi would continue to press for the extradition of Headley notwithstanding his plea bargain with the US investigators under which he escaped death sentence as well as extradition to India.

“We will continue to press for extradition of Headley. The agreement (not to extradite him to India) is between the US and Headley, not with India,” he said.

Singh said Headley was not only wanted in Mumbai attack case, but in other cases too, including cases related to hatching conspiracy to attack other places in India.

“Headley was involved not only in Mumbai conspiracy, but he also carried out recce in other places. Our request for his extradition stands. As far as sentence is concerned, all those involved in 26/11 should be given death,” he said.

Asked about the involvement of operatives of Pakistan’s ISI in the 26/11 case, Singh said India has given enough evidence to Pakistan on the perpetrators and it was the responsibility of the neighbouring country to bring all the conspirators to justice.

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 26 Jan 2013 14:12

Bhatt asked Headley for books on terror
Agencies Jul 23, 2011, 05.08am IST

WASHINGTON: In one of the documents unsealed on the order of a Chicago court in the case of Tahawwur Rana, there is an arresting footnote provided by an FBI agent.

According to this annotation, in December 2007 Headley received an email from a "third party located overseas", asking for books that would help him research for a film role of a suicide bomber. The third party is understood to be Rahul Bhatt, who, not knowing Headley's objectives, befriended the Pakistani-American while he was staying in Mumbai.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... cago-court

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 26 Jan 2013 14:39

There is more to this Bhatt-Headley connection than what is being revealed.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jan 2013 16:58

And, Bhatt has the audacity to write a book as he pleases even as the Dad Bhatt gives sermons all over the place to others.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Jan 2013 05:13

That RK Singh should get his MEA to be in line with his views. Right now multiple idiots are claiming to speak for GOI. What does GOI want in one voice?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jan 2013 08:11

Why Headley will be released before he's 80 - Narayan Lakshman, The Hindu

Following Thursday’s sentencing of David Coleman Headley for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, it has become evident that he is likely to serve less than 35 years from the moment his sentence was pronounced in a Chicago courtroom.

The first factor mitigating the time Headley will serve is the requirement under U.S. federal law that convicted persons may serve only 85 per cent of the total sentence awarded to them.

This was indeed confirmed in both the U.S. Department of Justice release to the media after Judge Harry Leinenweber passed the sentence, and also in statements made by Headley’s attorney John Theis and lead prosecution attorney Gary Shapiro.

The DOJ said, “Headley, 52, was ordered to serve 35 years, followed by five years of supervised release ... There is no federal parole and defendants must serve at least 85 per cent of their sentence.”

However, a second mitigating factor too exists, one that media reports thus far have failed to highlight prominently — that the time that Headley has spent in prison thus far, 40 months, will be deducted from the total sentence he will serve.

In an exclusive comment to The Hindu , Mr. Theis said, “Mr. Headley has served approximately 40 months, and he receives credit for that time.”

He reiterated in an email that Headley would be eligible for release after serving 85 per cent.

Sentence calculation

Although The Hindu pressed Mr. Theis further on the matter, at the time of going to press, he had not yet provided an answer to a question on the “mathematics” of Headley’s sentence calculation: will the 40 months be deducted from the total sentence period of 35 years and then the 85 per cent factor be applied, or would it be the other way around?

That is, would the 85 per cent factor be applied to 35 years and then the 40 months deducted? Before looking at the implications of this, a word on motivation for this line of reasoning is appropriate.

The overall difference between the final tallies of both methods may not be significant.

But it could be argued that to the loved ones of victims of the Mumbai attacks, and indeed to those who may have been affected had the attack against the Danish publication Jyllands-Posten been carried out, every marginal reduction in Headley’s sentence makes what has been described by some as a light sentence even harder to bear. Thus it is worth looking at even the minute differences in the sentencing numbers.

The first calculation is as follows. Thirty-five years is 420 months.

If 40 months is first deducted from that and 85 per cent is applied to the reduced period of 380 months, the total is 26 years and 11 months.

Under the second calculation, 85 per cent of 420 months is 357 months, and 40 months less is 317 months, or 26 years and five months. This is 6 months less than the result of the first calculation.

Headley is 52 years and seven months old, or 631 months at the time of sentencing. Under the first calculation, at the time of his hypothetical release, he would be 79 years and 5 months old, and under the second, he would be exactly 79 years old.

Life expectancy in the U.S. based on 2010 data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is 78 years and eight months.

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jan 2013 12:17

^^ And this is the nation for whose "goodwill" and "need to maintain cordial relations", we even hushed up the hostile poaching and carting away of a spy from our external agency!!

Amazing how we bend over to each and every nation: to TSP saying that smaller brother, other SAARC nations saying we are bigger brother and to US, China, xyz saying that they are too big for us and so we dont need to rock the boat

Pathetic!

VKumar · Post by **VKumar** » 27 Jan 2013 12:48

Sum, this is because we are a 'middle class' nation. The middle class have no voice and are bullied by both the poor & the rich and they think that issues about law & morality are important. The poor mostly don't care about the law & morality and will go to any lengths to improve their lot. The rich cannot be bothered about questions of law & morality. So, the middle class panders to both those above & below them, for their own self preservation.

Anantha · Post by **Anantha** » 27 Jan 2013 20:14

How did the little butt know Headley had info on suicide bombers? There is more to this than what we know. It is possible, the big butt may have been told by ISI to help him while in Mumbai.
Also this 35 years in prison etc for Headley is all bogus. US has a official witness protection program where "witnesses" could be given new identity. Headley since has worked or was a working agent for US agencies, he may have other options, like an unwritten bargain to get him out in 1 year. US agencies had to protect their secrets on Headley, what did Headley get for co-operation? rest of the life in prison? I think Headley will be out when the dust settles, under another name and identity and we will not hear about him again.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 27 Jan 2013 21:12

VKumar wrote:Sum, this is because we are a 'middle class' nation. The middle class have no voice and are bullied by both the poor & the rich and they think that issues about law & morality are important. The poor mostly don't care about the law & morality and will go to any lengths to improve their lot. The rich cannot be bothered about questions of law & morality. So, the middle class panders to both those above & below them, for their own self preservation.

Well said, this is the exact unvarnished truth! The poor continue to remain poor and are being further dragged into a cesspool of conversions, community polarization and in turn continue to elect the very elite who exploit them as they think of them as saviours, and the purse holders. The middle class is more of a muddled class kept in confusion by the likes of the Sardesais, Barkhas etc whose job it is to manage middle class angst and shape their opinion. The elite are fully in bed with anyone and everyone, and are least bothered about law or morality. Sad state of affairs