Internal Security Watch

BRao · Post by **BRao** » 03 Feb 2016 15:53

I wonder how many Indian Muslims sympathise with Dawood, Owaisi and the likes. These past days, have come across half a dozen Muslims from all over the spectrum - the gentle older Muslim society guard, the 2 young Muslim courier guys who frequent my office, a start up guy and a few guys I know from IT and the bile just floating beneath the surface is scary. From having Dawood's picture as phone wallpaper to Owaisi as display picture, from abusing Modi and claiming all terrorism is due to intolerance of Hindus to a shocking defense of Pakistan. It is enough to shatter any hopes that Muslims will integrate with India. Not going to happen any time at all.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Feb 2016 17:41

tell them gently to explain why shias and sunnis are killing each other on a industrial scale in 100% RoP countries with no evil modi to show intolerance.

you can tell them that it seems islam has totally failed as a system of governance and some alternatives are needed.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 03 Feb 2016 17:49

BRao wrote:I wonder how many Indian Muslims sympathise with Dawood, Owaisi and the likes. These past days, have come across half a dozen Muslims from all over the spectrum - the gentle older Muslim society guard, the 2 young Muslim courier guys who frequent my office, a start up guy and a few guys I know from IT and the bile just floating beneath the surface is scary. From having Dawood's picture as phone wallpaper to Owaisi as display picture, from abusing Modi and claiming all terrorism is due to intolerance of Hindus to a shocking defense of Pakistan. It is enough to shatter any hopes that Muslims will integrate with India. Not going to happen any time at all.

among the muslims, most of them who vote, rabidly support the likes of Dawood, Owaisi and azam khans.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 03 Feb 2016 18:48

February 3, 2016, The Telegraph, Kolkata

U-turn moment for boy rebel

A.S.R.P. Mukesh
Ranchi, Feb. 2: A joint anti-Naxalite operation in the dense forests of Latehar, some 230km from Ranchi, this morning netted a big catch, all of 13 years old.

The son of forest dwellers, the child was forcibly recruited as a Bal Naxal by rebels over a year ago and forced to work as their 'arms coolie'.

Today, when the team of Latehar district police and CRPF battalion 112 found the boy, abandoned but unhurt, in the jungles near Ladi village in Chipadohor, some 90km from Latehar district headquarters, he readily answered questions of security personnel.

"I'm impressed by his intelligence," Latehar SP Anoop Birthare said, adding they were keeping his name under wraps for now. "When we started questioning him, he told us how he was taken away from his house by rebels over a year ago and made to work for them. He is so smart that he recognises all top rebels."

He added the boy, the son of dirt-poor forest dwellers, demonstrated keen memory and evinced interest in studies.

"He could well be another Balmuni," the SP said, referring to the 13-year-old girl recruit with gunshot wounds nabbed last year from Latehar, and who has since been successfully rehabilitated as a schoolgirl in Ranchi and a Bal Police personnel.

"The first thing this boy said was that he wanted to go to school. He sounded bright. We will enrol the boy in a school in Latehar in a day or two. Later, if he wants, we can put him in a good school in Ranchi. The cost of his education, food, clothes and other needs will be borne by us," the Latehar SP said, adding the boy would feel the contrast between rebels and the police.

Picked by the rebel squad of Anurag Yadav alias R.K., Maoist sub-zonal commander of this region, the boy was made to work in some toughest terrains such as Burha pahar where he carried guns.

Maoists threaten forest dwellers at gunpoint, forcing them to part with children if they want to live peacefully.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Feb 2016 21:35

BRao wrote:I wonder how many Indian Muslims sympathise with Dawood, Owaisi and the likes. These past days, have come across half a dozen Muslims from all over the spectrum - the gentle older Muslim society guard, the 2 young Muslim courier guys who frequent my office, a start up guy and a few guys I know from IT and the bile just floating beneath the surface is scary. From having Dawood's picture as phone wallpaper to Owaisi as display picture, from abusing Modi and claiming all terrorism is due to intolerance of Hindus to a shocking defense of Pakistan. It is enough to shatter any hopes that Muslims will integrate with India. Not going to happen any time at all.

When Bangla Desh was created the Imam Bukhari (current one's father) exclaimed Indian had destroyed their hopes.
So all these rascals and scalawags are hope for Indian Muslims against juggernaut of assimilation.

It will happen.

Congress and its mind set ensures non-assimilation as a vote bank.

Prem Kumar · Post by **Prem Kumar** » 04 Feb 2016 05:16

Singha wrote:tell them gently to explain why shias and sunnis are killing each other on a industrial scale in 100% RoP countries with no evil modi to show intolerance.

That's the work of evil Mossad & CIA to break the Brotherhood. Modi's RAW might be providing them intelligence

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 04 Feb 2016 06:28

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 843040.cms
Son of ex-Major General held in Goa for ‘terror links’

Dehradun/Panaji: A 44-year-old man from Dehradun who is being interrogated by the Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Goa Police for the past three days on suspicion of being linked with jihadi groups is a Doon School alumnus and son of a decorated former Major-General of the Indian Army.
Sameer Sardana, who police have said is a "Hindu who practises Islam", was arrested by the ATS in Vasco on Monday and has been in remand since. A chartered accountant by profession who has been associated with leading MNCs like Accenture and worked in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Sardana was held by the police in Goa after he was found "wandering suspiciously" at the Vasco railway station. The police have seized his laptop and confiscated the five passports and four mobile phones that he was carrying with him..ATS sources in Goa said that they have stumbled upon some letters and emails from the accused "which are to be decoded and which indicate that he had collected information of previous bomb blasts in the country".In Dehradun, IG (Garhwal range) Sanjay Gunjyal told TOI, "On the basis of the information received by us, we will contact the Goa police to get further details on Sardana. Local police and intelligence teams have contacted his family members to collect the maximum possible details in the matter. Though Sardana does not have any criminal records in Dehradun and comes from a prominent family -- his brother is a doctor in New Delhi -- there are indications that he had gone through a fair bit of online radicalization. Our teams are looking into that aspect."
Major General (retired) K N Sardana, who was reluctant to give details about his son, said, "There has been some major confusion. He has been falsely arrested and would be released soon as he has never been involved in any illegal activity." The former Army officer, decorated with the AVSM and the VSM, added that he had had a word with the Goa DGP and the latter told him that "there was nothing major found against Sameer". He said, "I spoke to the Uttarakhand police, too, on Wednesday morning but it is an extremely personal issue which I would not like to disclose to the media."
Meanwhile, the cyber-crime cell of the Goa police have cracked the code of Sardana's laptop, which he was reportedly unwilling to give out, and begun to analyse the data stored in it. A senior officer of the unit told TOI that they have so far not found any incriminating material. "But we are examining the contents in detail and also verifying the contacts available in the suspect's cell phone." he said.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 04 Feb 2016 07:08

Found on twiter, TIFWIW Would be interesting if there's corroborating evidence, BTW...

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Feb 2016 08:07

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 842729.cms

Cops bust mobile gun shop that gave home deliveries

^^all thats missing is a iphone and android app

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Feb 2016 08:09

^^ comment in above article:

gera210Wordsmith Member 12 mins ago

State transport/private buses coming from MP halt at sarai kale khan n finally stop at trans jamuna near seelampur or up border. They smuggle arms n opium in the buses n deliver to the criminals most of them from minority. Its in knowledge if police but for money they ignore. Its time IB keep watch on these buses n the cops posted on these locations.

arun · Post by **arun** » 04 Feb 2016 12:21

Jhujar wrote:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 843040.cms
Son of ex-Major General held in Goa for ‘terror links’

Dehradun/Panaji: A 44-year-old man from Dehradun who is being interrogated by the Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Goa Police for the past three days on suspicion of being linked with jihadi groups is a Doon School alumnus and son of a decorated former Major-General of the Indian Army.
Sameer Sardana, who police have said is a "Hindu who practises Islam", was arrested by the ATS in Vasco on Monday and has been in remand since. A chartered accountant by profession who has been associated with leading MNCs like Accenture and worked in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Sardana was held by the police in Goa after he was found "wandering suspiciously" at the Vasco railway station. The police have seized his laptop and confiscated the five passports and four mobile phones that he was carrying with him..ATS sources in Goa said that they have stumbled upon some letters and emails from the accused "which are to be decoded and which indicate that he had collected information of previous bomb blasts in the country".In Dehradun, IG (Garhwal range) Sanjay Gunjyal told TOI, "On the basis of the information received by us, we will contact the Goa police to get further details on Sardana. Local police and intelligence teams have contacted his family members to collect the maximum possible details in the matter. Though Sardana does not have any criminal records in Dehradun and comes from a prominent family -- his brother is a doctor in New Delhi -- there are indications that he had gone through a fair bit of online radicalization. Our teams are looking into that aspect."
Major General (retired) K N Sardana, who was reluctant to give details about his son, said, "There has been some major confusion. He has been falsely arrested and would be released soon as he has never been involved in any illegal activity." The former Army officer, decorated with the AVSM and the VSM, added that he had had a word with the Goa DGP and the latter told him that "there was nothing major found against Sameer". He said, "I spoke to the Uttarakhand police, too, on Wednesday morning but it is an extremely personal issue which I would not like to disclose to the media."
Meanwhile, the cyber-crime cell of the Goa police have cracked the code of Sardana's laptop, which he was reportedly unwilling to give out, and begun to analyse the data stored in it. A senior officer of the unit told TOI that they have so far not found any incriminating material. "But we are examining the contents in detail and also verifying the contacts available in the suspect's cell phone." he said.

X Posted from the Islamism thread.

What manner of beastie be a “Hindu who practises Isalm”

Anyway whatever the answer may be; an elite public school education at Doon School, parent who retired as a Major General in the Indian Army and a working carreer with a flock of MNC’s did not dull the urge, which appears to have been brought on by the exposure to Mohammaddenism, to associate with Mohammadden Terrorists and aspire to be one :

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 04 Feb 2016 12:34

arun ji, on the contrary the anti hindu propaganda at the elite levels of our society would be an enabling factor in pushing self hating people towards islamism.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 04 Feb 2016 17:59

“Hindu who practises Isalm”

India is full of such creatures.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 Feb 2016 20:19

Guys TOI highlight in retd. Maj Gen is bokwas.
The guy is a 44 year old. What control does his father have on him?

Also doesn't this smack of hereditary caste system? Loyal father hence loyal son?

What is happening is new converts to Islam are turning to violent extremism.
All that is buried under provocative headline.

Being elite does not mean anything.

member_29058 · Post by **member_29058** » 04 Feb 2016 20:44

I thought the process of radicalization happens due belief system alone but looks like it is the mindset. They look for opportunities to grab leadership, grow politically and become famous.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... he-leader/

The first time Rohith Vemula cast a vote in a University of Hyderabad students’ union election, it was for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). It was 2009, and he had just enrolled for a Master’s course in Science.

It began with science and technology as instruments of social change, which rapidly segued to student politics. He started with the Students Federation of India (SFI), but shifted to the ASA over its neglect of caste, and became perhaps its youngest ideologue.

The first acquaintances Rohith made first in college and then the university recall him as soft-spoken, intelligent and built for scientific research.

Those days he was not interested in politics. He preferred science and how we could change the world through science. He was a kind of technocrat

He used to speak about the lack of dust bins at the university. He spoke about bringing green technologies to the campus… He came to meet me once with the idea of starting a science magazine in Telugu on campus to popularise science. He had this idea for a long time. He was not interested in politics

He told me once that he always read books, anything he could find. But this was after coming to the university. Before that he was more interested in becoming a scientist

By 2011, the 22-year-old had gravitated towards student politics. He also changed his PhD subject. Rohith started his thesis in life sciences but, friends say, he realised he did not want to work in a laboratory all day and so shifted to the Social Sciences Department.

But by the time he started his PhD, he had a different understanding of identity and politics. He immediately shifted to social sciences

The downfall started

In 2012, Rohith joined the SFI. Ramji was already with the leftist student body.
An SFI member, Shekhar, says Rohith also got involved in the election campaign that year. “He believed there was more to do in life than just study and was influenced by certain events in 2012

Rohith started writing about the December 16 gangrape in New Delhi.

Rohith rose fast within the SFI, remembers ASA member Zameer. “He was initially just a member, but he was very good with English and words. He would design posters that used just a few words but were very powerful. He soon became an integral part of the SFI.”

No news in 2013. The great Italian woman and her beneficiaries are not to be blamed. Identity was created in India only 2014 after Modi won. Till then, this was a golden era.

In 2013, the campus saw the suicide of M Venkatesh. “He was discriminated against. The ASA and SFI held a long protest over this -

Rohith moved to the ASA, with Ramji. “Rohith and I had different problems with the SFI. I felt I was being manipulated, but his problems were ideological… Rohith had long argued in the SFI that it did not look at caste, but only class. The SFI believed that since they did not believe in caste, it did not matter.

Soon after Rohith had joined the ASA, the students’ association knew they had a natural leader. “The biggest thing that Rohith brought to the ASA was English. Till he joined, the ASA was largely a Telugu-based organisation. Rohith took us to a new level,” says Uma Maheshwari.

Power can be addictive and creates a reason to make up victimization complex to grow.

He would never back down from a fight and everybody came to realise that. Perhaps this was also his weakness, that it took very little to antagonise him

Once you started it, it was hard to end, and Rohith was often aggressive

Both the belligerence and the articulation helped Rohith, only 26, become one of the ASA’s most influential leaders.

This makes perfect case for banning all Student unions. Create Mock UN/Mock Parliament or Assembly/InterCultural groups to discuss/debate society/issues but ban political affiliations and elections on party basis. These places are training ground for anti-Indian activities.

From being a good student to promoting Yakub Memon, this a long journey and shows how one can be encouraged to become a supporter of terrorists who kill Indians

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 04 Feb 2016 20:58

Student unions are a cancer on the student polity -- the case for banning them has been strong for decades, but the marxists in the Indian english media and the Khangress party drones developed young thugs under the rubric of "student unions" and they still do. They will not let regulations on student unions happen if they can help it -- at the very least, they will scream blue murder.

Now student unions in islamist minority institutions are recruiting grounds for islamist extremist groups, especially those with technical skills that are required for a functional terrorist group these days.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 04 Feb 2016 21:18

Universities should only be for studies, research and sports. NOTHING ELSE!!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 Feb 2016 21:45

I hear the problem at UoH is also lack of PhD guides for the students. Essentially there are over 1200 students and it takes about three to four years for a PhD guide to be assigned to the student and leads to another 4-5 years of research.

So a young person who joins at age 22 looks at getting out by age 30 only if he is studious. Leads to frustration and if coming from families dependent on student to become economically viable, leads to despondency and depression. Results in suicide sometimes.

The fault is also in the Uty administration for taking so many students and not hiring enough faculty who are busy politicking.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 04 Feb 2016 22:05

just FYI, most missionary institutions do not allow student unions.

Sanju · Post by **Sanju** » 04 Feb 2016 22:17

^Not the case in God's Own Country.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 05 Feb 2016 10:04

On the Bangalore racist attack case.
1. Four arrests have been made - two Hindus and two peacefuls are arrested. One Hindu chap is said to be a BJP activist.
2. Karnataka Home Minister 'feels' that this was not a racist attack. He also has said that if the incident of a drunken driver running over a woman did NOT happen, this event would not have happened.
3. Govt trying to hush it up: BJP
4. Central team heads for Bengaluru
5. It should be again noted that the media reporting of this issue is very subdued/mellowed, perhaps this happened in a non-BJP ruled state. After all this is a "secular, progressive, liberal" government which is ruling Karnataka.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 05 Feb 2016 16:48

Tanzanian woman assault: Community leaders led mob, say cops
What was the trigger for the murderous and shameless attack on the African students last Sunday in Bengaluru?

What was the trigger for the murderous and shameless attack on the African students last Sunday in Bengaluru? According to the police, minutes after the car being driven by the Sudanese student Mohammed Ismail rammed into Shabana Taj (35) killing her on the spot, her husband informed his relatives and soon men from the community gathered along with local leaders.
"They surrounded the African students and trashed them mercilessly. Initially, a few local residents tried to intervene, but were warned by the community leaders against interfering in the issue. At the same time, a few boys from the local mechanic shop set the car ablaze that was being driven by Ismail. Our beat policemen who were present near the spot were of little help, as the mob swelled," admitted a local police officer posted on the Hesaraghatta Road.
Taking advantage of the situation, a few local residents, who held a grudge against the African students for their 'fast and modern' lifestyle, joined the mob and attacked other African students, who came there. "Had the community leaders shown restraint by involving the police, the situation would not have aggravated. Nevertheless, once we complete the probe, we will decide whether to implicate the community leaders in the case for instigating the attacks," the officer said.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/tanz ... 88262.html

Seems like routine Muslim behavior to me.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 05 Feb 2016 21:47

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 857687.cms

Maoists have recently circulated pamphlets, threatening of Darbha attack- II, asking enemies of revolutionary movement to be prepared to bear yet another huge loss.

Reacting to the statement, Bastar range IG SRP Kalluri said, "We already have inputs about an important meeting of senior Maoist commanders to be held this week. A planned operation is in the offing to disturb them."

Such garrulous behavior - from no less than an IG. Sounds like the dialogues from old (as in 70's Hindi Movies) where the Hero intercepts a bad guy and promptly proclaims out loud that he is calling the cops - in front of the bad guy/s.

Looks like the IG needs a refresher course in operational secrecy.

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 07 Feb 2016 03:20

link

bomb "fell from the sky" -- maybe civilian drones are being used...needs to be seen if this happens again.

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 07 Feb 2016 21:35

link

So the "bomb from the sky" is now claimed to be a meteorite by Jayalalitha's government - and this proclamation did not involve any astrophysicist or scientist backing up the claim.

Mystery over an explosion in Vellore district has been solved after the Tamil Nadu government confirmed that a meteorite fell on a private engineering college premises on Saturday killing a bus driver and injuring two gardeners and a student.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh for the family of Kamaraj, a bus driver of Bharathidasan Engineering College at Natrampalli, who was killed and Rs 25,000 for three others, who were injured in the explosion.
In statement, Jayalalithaa she had directed the Vellore district administration to extend adequate medical attention to the three injured.
Police said Kamaraj went to wash his face at a tap near the water tank located at the parking lot on the college premises when the explosion occurred around noon on Saturday. Thick smoke engulfed the area following the explosion, which created a crater of five feet deep and two feet wide.

added later: turns out to be a real meteorite according to GSI.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Feb 2016 19:30

X-post

Mamata govt has blocked all LA for Indo-Bdesh border fencing. 100s of kms in WB unfenced. Expect demographic situation in WB to deteriorate further.

krithivas · Post by **krithivas** » 11 Feb 2016 19:57

Ishrat Jahan was a suicide bomber for LeT, David Headley tells court
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 941553.cms
Can we start a list calling out those that were baying for Modi's blood on her elimination?

Abhi_G · Post by **Abhi_G** » 11 Feb 2016 20:56

Afzal Guru day in JNU
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... y-ordered/

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 11 Feb 2016 23:21

http://www.hindustantimes.com/business/ ... pEveI.html

Store our oil and take 2/3rd for free: UAE’s offer to India.

It will stock 0.75 million tonnes, or 6 million barrels, of oil in one compartment of Mangalore facility. Of this, 0.5 million tonnes will belong to India and it can use it in emergencies. Adnoc will use the facility as a warehouse for trading its oil.

“This will be beginning of our strategic ties,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE in August last year, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 38 years, laid the foundation of closer cooperation.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 11 Feb 2016 23:28

krithivas wrote:Ishrat Jahan was a suicide bomber for LeT, David Headley tells court
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 941553.cms
Can we start a list calling out those that were baying for Modi's blood on her elimination?

So now it is legit to call Ishrat Jahan as terrorist/suicide-bomber instead of innocent girl caught up in conspiracy and encountered (at best) or victim of suicide bombing (at worst). Not much cover left for terrorism from across the border either.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 13 Feb 2016 06:01

Arnab Goswami taking on the real vermin ..... (A must watch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB8Z3bq34TI

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 13 Feb 2016 11:39

^^Link to the full programme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGN2KOJMaeM

What a bunch of seditious swine: Lenin Kumar, Ishan Anand, Omar Khalid - full spectrum jackassery.

ritesh · Post by **ritesh** » 13 Feb 2016 15:42

BRao wrote:I wonder how many Indian Muslims sympathise with Dawood, Owaisi and the likes. These past days, have come across half a dozen Muslims from all over the spectrum - the gentle older Muslim society guard, the 2 young Muslim courier guys who frequent my office, a start up guy and a few guys I know from IT and the bile just floating beneath the surface is scary. From having Dawood's picture as phone wallpaper to Owaisi as display picture, from abusing Modi and claiming all terrorism is due to intolerance of Hindus to a shocking defense of Pakistan. It is enough to shatter any hopes that Muslims will integrate with India. Not going to happen any time at all.

We have to think long and hard about this problem.
But you see these are nothing in front of uber pseudo sickularist vermin under the garb of hindu names.
These people needs to be unmasked to lay bare their anti Indic agenda.

VKumar · Post by **VKumar** » 13 Feb 2016 22:18

Senior Muslim citizen, ex serviceman, ceo of large company, forwarded whatsapp message equating RSS to ISIS! Was shouted out of the group of businessmen. But it worries me that if such a senior person thinks like this, what about at the lower levels.

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 13 Feb 2016 22:25

ravip, How is it being assumed that some random guy is a member of ABVP or not? Was this guy interviewed somewhere else, or is he well known?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Feb 2016 23:16

the only thing that stands exposed is the idiocy of the trembling voice video maker. none of the things he claims in the voiceover actually takes place in the video.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 14 Feb 2016 01:21

Dear All,
share this generously with others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-MyT_0AOOQ

member_29325 · Post by **member_29325** » 14 Feb 2016 03:05

Trichy "meteorite"

JJayalalitha's "compensation for victims of meteorite attacks" smelt wrong from the beginning. Why no report from the Geological Society or ISRO on this yet? The Jayalalitha govt. is covering up an actual explosion in the campus for some reason. Insane.

According to a story that ran in The News Minute, a team led by the Indian Space Research Organization (IRSO) recovered an object 2 cm (3/4 inch) in width that weighed 50 grams and looked like a meteorite with “air bubbles on its rigid surface”. There’s also been chatter about meteor showers dropping meteorites to Earth, with various stories reporting that there no active meteor showers at the time of the driver’s death. For the record, not a single meteorite ever found has been linked to a shower. Dust and tiny bits of comets produce most shower meteors, which vaporize to fine soot in the atmosphere.

Now even NASA says that based on images posted online, the explosion is “land based” rather than a rock from space.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 14 Feb 2016 09:19

http://wap.business-standard.com/articl ... 208_1.html
Shekhar Gupta: The Great Indian Hypocrisy

First, the three facts that I believe in the Ishrat Jahan story, as it returns into our lives in the course of David Coleman Headley's testimony.One, Ishrat Jahan, and others killed with her, definitely had serious terror, most likely Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), links. Two, they were killed in a staged encounter where the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Gujarat Police worked together. Three, and probably the most important, that while the encounter (June 15, 2004) took place when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power and the next six IB directors were appointed by it, it started calling the encounter fake and Ishrat an innocent teenager years later when it saw an existentialist political threat developing from Gujarat. It became so partisan, in fact, that when the first National Investigation Agency (NIA) details on its interrogation of David Headley in the US were put together, there was political alarm at his saying the Ishrat group was an LeT operation gone wrong. The references were removed, concealed and denied. All he has now done is bring back that 2010 statement of his.Three contentious arguments rage after David Headley's claims, on oath now:

> First, his claims count for nothing. He is a convict, a double agent who saved his life with a plea bargain in America and in Indian law, by securing a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (Tada) court pardon. His claims on Ishrat are just a way of paying back the National Democratic Alliance for the pardon. There is, therefore, no change in their original belief that Ishrat was innocent, killed in a fake encounter.
> Second, that there is ample evidence now that Ishrat was a member of an LeT gang on the prowl and if the police put them away, where is the problem? You need to fight terrorists pro-actively. Killing terrorists any which way is perfectly fine, in fact, desirable. You must break the terrorists' morale.
> Third, and which is now emerging as the civil libertarians' tactical retreat position is, so what if they were terrorists? It doesn't sanctify a fake encounter.
All three have weight, but are flawed, on fact and morality. The answers are complex, not TV-debate friendly.Let's examine these in the light of our three initial facts. First, it was fully believed in intelligence circles under the UPA that Ishrat was part of the LeT. It was also fully believed - and happily accepted - that the gang was killed in a staged encounter which, in counter-terror, is "par for the course". It was only in its second term, when the UPA began seeing a threat from Gujarat and its "special operations group" on Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and their favourite policemen got active, that the "fake encounter" outrage was born. It had a dual purpose, nailing the key political rivals, as also exploiting Muslim victimhood electorally. The UPA can deny it forever, but this was pure politics.
There isn't a better known, respected and admired officer in the IB than Mr Narayanan and frankly we haven't heard him call Ishrat innocent, the encounter fake or support the prosecution of IB's Gujarat head, Joint-Director (equivalent to Inspector General of Police) Rajinder Kumar. I repeat, somebody with his eyes, ears and mind had enough time overseeing this. However "khurafati" (poor translation, but resourceful, pro-active!) an IB chief might have been, it is impossible that any, including Mr Doval, could put one past Mr Narayanan.In fact, when the encounter returned to the headlines with the intervention of the courts and the UPA decided - at the top political levels - to also arraign Mr Kumar, the first time a senior IB officer was to be tried like this and the inner workings of the organisation exposed, it evoked consternation in security circles. The senior-most officers, including many respected veterans, protested quietly, and reasoned that this was a perilous course - and that such encounters were routine, always had bipartisan politician support and should just not be politicised now, whatever the compulsions.

It is now exposed and the Congress doesn't know where to hide. It is well known that Congress has been the most brutal in dealing with all security threats. It annihilated the Punjab insurgency between 1984 and 1993 with covert methods of unparalleled single-mindedness. If you found Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider so disturbingly realistic in its portrayal of counter-terror operations in Kashmir in the early nineties, remember this, too, was under P V Narasimha Rao's supposedly "weak" and minority Congress government. So the simple answer to the Congress is, look who's talking. Or, let's be more specific: Nau sau choohe kha ke billi hajj ko chali (the cat's gone for the Haj after devouring 900 rats).

The silliest argument being made is that the BJP pardoned David Headley and his claims on Ishrat are a part of the deal. Deal-making over David Headley started very much in the UPA times. If in doubt, see leaked cables from the then US ambassador Tim Roemer on his conversation with Mr Narayanan (wikileaks.org), who says India can't be seen to be giving up an extradition demand, but won't press right now. Mr Roemer of course points out that in US law once a man is convicted, extradition is not possible until the sentence - in this case 35 years - is over. So the Indian pardon is a formality.The civil libertarians have a better case, particularly those saying so what, even if she was a terrorist. No law justifies fake encounters.This is an indisputable truism. The BJP argument that you can kill terrorists in any manner you choose is morally flawed and legally wrong. My question: can you call Ishrat's a fake encounter?Besides the extremes of fake, and genuine encounters (as certainly Batla House, also under the UPA was), there is a third and more prolific category. Intelligence people invent euphemisms for the most awful things. For this they have "controlled killings". From James Bond's Licence to Kill, to the American drones massacring "terrorists" around the world, the democratic state has given itself the mostly illegal right to take life without trial - but legally. Even the Americans have now done this having the president approve every such killing, including, notably, of the odd American citizen (Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen). I said so in a 2013 'National Interest' ('Body politics', Indian Express, June 6, 2013) when the Ishrat controversy was raging and commended New York Times CIA reporter Mark Mazzetti's stellar The Way of the Knife on how the CIA had from an intelligence agency become a killing machine protected through a legal framework.The Ishrat encounter was neither genuine, nor fake. I believe it was a "controlled killing". If more such will be inevitable as the terror threat grows, you need to design a legal framework, as Washington has done. Or be like Scandinavia. If it is an illegal and immoral outrage, you need to begin a little earlier, with Punjab 1984-93, if not the Naxalite phase in 1968-71. You can't stop at Ishrat either. Does the name of a Maoist called Azad under the UPA ring a bell? More controlled killings have been carried out under the Congress than all others in independent India. Nobody can be selective in outrage.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 14 Feb 2016 09:24

The Jihadi literature etc.