Malegaon blasts and the limits of fake secularism

[SwamyG]

Ramana: I was passing on information what I came upon. And such views and comments abound in select circles. If you think those are just propaganda then they still ought to be challenged. Some of the unchallenged groups are which that have garnered influence in the California Text Book case of the Modi-visa denial case.

Why do you think they should not have been posted here?

[svinayak]

Same thing happening here. Looks like the Prosecution's Affidavits may be written by Setalwad and her gang.

What we have is parallel govt running the show.
Media backed groups can bully and threaten and attack any institution, social groups and even take over the govt function and commissions.

[ramana]

SwamyG, there is enough going around which is taxing the admins already. So please dont get into that line. If you can cite refs and want to rebut go ahead or else its 'eats shoots and leaves'. Dont want to add to our burdens.

Narayanan, One of the things a future govt has to do is look at IPC and decide how it has to be updated. Recall IPC is the handiwork of colonial adminisration built on Mughal rules.

Wonder what makes the Mahrasthra govt on such a overdrive. The politicians are not so proactive and are lemmings not leaders. What is giving them such zeal? Is it a do or die situation?

[enqyoob]

ramana, this is what I was hinting to Muppalla about. I think this is unfinished agenda from 2002, where they failed. Same entities show up, attacks are on organizations and ppl far removed from any Maharashtra issues but well connected if u remember 2002 and aftermath issues. Maharashtra connection may be that this is where these entities have $$$$ (and I mean $$$$) and influence to get away with stuff that they would not be able to pull elsewhere. The rush may be that power in Maharashtra may not last beyond the coming election.

This is why I am amazed that Gujarat ATS allowed Maharashtra ATS to go pull "raids" inside Gujarat. A bad failure on the Guj Govt's part.

[Prem]

Question is who reactivated these people in last 6-8 months?

[RamaY]

Both your conditions have international ramifications, jehadi and fake secular ramifications....
[/color]

Chetak,

I understand the risks involved in taking the initiatives I mentioned above to a logical end. But implementation of such unpopular (to say the least) initiatives is a precondition for true secularism to take roots in India (assuming, this is what BJP aims to do).

Implementing those initiatives without inviting internal turmoil and external influences requires creative leadership and strategies.

The million dollar question is, does the current generation of BJP/NDA leadership has the necessary vision, political will, and sound strategy in its repertoire?

[ramana]

Also narayanan and Prem, I have the gut feeling that there is the Jammu protests at the root of this. The whole operation is to discredit figures involved in the Sri Amarnath SB. And that links it to geopolitics of Cashmere.

[svinayak]

Somebody in BRF will say it is a conspiracy theory and CT nutcases

[ramana]

Thats ok. Some of us have been called worse.

Meanwhile Toilet reports

ATS retracted RDX claim under pressure
18 Nov 2008, 0134 hrs IST, TNN

MUMBAI: It was pressure from an embarrassed Centre which forced the ATS to go back on its charge that 60 kg of RDX allegedly pilfered by Lt Col
Prasad Purohit was used in the Samjhauta Express blast last year. Even though the ATS' public prosecutor Ajay Misar had told the Nashik court on Saturday that the RDX allegedly stolen by Lt Col Prasad was used in the Samjhauta blast, on Sunday the ATS claimed that he has been misquoted by the media.( Watch )

Soon after Misar made the sensational charge in Nashik, the intelligence bureau (IB), which is keeping a close tab on the probe, alerted the Centre about the implications of Misar's statement. When the train blast took place, the Centre had blamed Pakistan's ISI for the terror strike on the basis of the bureau's findings.

"But the ATS' charge on Friday would have seriously impaired the Centre's credibility internationally. The central government has been informing its counterparts in the US and other countries about the role of the ISI and here the ATS was claiming that the blast was the handiwork of a serving Indian Army officer. Forensic examination of the blast site and two unexploded bombs had conclusively proved that RDX was not used, but the ATS was levelling an allegation to the contrary," a senior bureau official observed.

Meanwhile, the Centre is believed to have commended the Mumbai crime branch's investigation of the Indian Mujahideen's role in the Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai 7/11 blasts.

Crime branch sleuths had arrested 20 persons and got their confessions about their alleged role in various blasts. Then human right activists, minority leaders et al were allowed to meet the accused persons without police presence and make inquiries. All those who met the accused came out with the unanimous conclusion that the accused persons were not tortured and had voluntarily confessed to their role in 7/11 and other blasts.

So that means the whole RDX drama was media sensation when they mis-quoted the poor Prosecutor. And read the pious editorial at the TOI. Who will take the media to account when they misquote so blatantly? How do we know they are reporting anything accurately? If they say the sun is out tomorrow can that be trusted? The TOI blithely prins the story that ATS has denied that RDX was used. So someone is lying. As we all believe in sarkar, TOI must be lying. Can anyone see the falacy of this journalistic strike and disperse?

[enqyoob]

Far b it from me to defend the TOIlet, but sitting in Mumbai, they have basically trashed the Maharashtra Public Prosecutor and proved him to be a liar with that report. Though they say it was "central pressure" and "embarassment" they also say that the investigations of the Sabarmati bombing CONCLUSIVELY established that no RDX was used, and that the PP TOLD THE COURT about RDX being used in that. Leaves no room for doubt about the message.

The point is that this is the only part of the PP's affidavit that has so far had to be withdrawn because it is so blatantly and internationally visible to be a lie. What does this say about the rest of it.

[enqyoob]

Yindoo propaganda, no doubt but they are clearly enjoying it: The ATS' case turns out to be "Hole-y"

ATS makes U-turn

Pioneer News Service | Nashik/New Delhi

Now mum on role of Purohit, use of RDX in Samjhauta

Fresh questions have surfaced on the Malegaon blast probe with Mumbai ATS failing to produce any new evidence before a local court at Nashik on Monday even as it backtracked on its earlier stance that Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit had used pilfered RDX to blow up Samjhauta Express in February 2007.

The jampacked court of Additional Judge HK Ganatra saw ATS facing serious charges of torturing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and blocking proper legal aid to another accused (retired) Major Ramesh Upadhyaya.

Not able to produce even a single piece of legally tenable evidence against the eight accused, the ATS is now virtually groping in the dark and the cases were on the verge of collapsing. The ATS credibility has suffered a major setback since it had claimed that Purhoit might have used ‘pilfered’ 60kg RDX for his terror acts across the country, including Samjhauta Express blasts. In fact, this was one of the prime contentions put forward by the ATS counsel before the court on Saturday while seeking to extend the remand of Srikant Purohit.

But when the media cited Chandigarh Forensic Laboratory report that RDX was not used in the Samjhauta Express blasts, the ATS took a quick u-turn and its counsel Ajay Misar said the police was only looking into the possibility of use of RDX in some terror blasts. The ATS kept mum on the Samjhauta Express blasts in the court on Monday.

With nothing to show for its wild-goose chase so far, the ATS sought extension of the judicial remand of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, and seven other accused in the Malegaon blast case on the ground that it needed to question them further to gather evidence. The court extended their remand till November 29.

The prosecution contended that the Sadhvi had a long telephonic conversation with one of the main accused, Ramji, shortly after the September 29 blast in Malegaon on the basis of which she was arrested by the ATS.

But the ATS claim seems far-fetched and based solely on the statement from an who allegedly overheard the conversation. The million dollar question is: How did the police eyewitness hear both sides of a telephonic conversation?

{Djinn Magic!}

The ATS has also claimed that Sadhvi had asked Ramji whether police have seized her motorcycle used in the blast and why less people had been killed in the blast, the prosecution argued.

But this claim too is untenable because Sadhvi had already said she had sold the bike many years ago.

The so-called statements of Sadhvi and Purohit during narco and brain mapping tests have no legal value. In fact, SIMI commander Safdar Nagori had named other terrorists behind the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blasts and not mentioned the name of any of the eight accused in the custody of the Mumbai ATS.With little to back its allegations against Purohit, Sadhvi and others, the ATS may find it difficult to keep them under custody for an indefinite period. The next date of hearing may be crucial.

Holes in Mumbai ATS version

# Mumbai Anti Terror Squad on Saturday had told a court in Nashik that pilfered RDX was used in Samjhauta blast case

# But Chandigarh Forensic Laboratory report had said RDX was not used in Samjhauta Express blasts

# ATS fails to produce any new evidence before court

[ramana]

Do we know the ATS compostion? Normally I dont think police guys would be so visceral with the Indian military officers? Are these guys under underworld control? It just doesnt add up.

[enqyoob]

The rank and file may have nothing to do with it except "follow orders". The tamasha looks like it was ordered from the Chief Minister's Office. Who else but politicians of the type that brought ENRON to India and thought that was a good idea, could be THIS stupid?

[ramana]

Anyone know Murali Deora's travel itenary in last six months?

[shiv]

Thats ok. Some of us have been called worse.

Meanwhile Toilet reports

ATS retracted RDX claim under pressure

AhAAAA! This means that the ATS will succumb to pressure applied at the right time, and right places by the right methods! Bribed perhaps?

How can you have an "Anti Terrorism Squad" that "succumbs to pressure" and then admits it unashamedly?

[enqyoob]

What is this report mentioned here, I wonder?

From OUTLOOK

Malegaon blasts: Muslim organisation moves SC

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) A Muslim organisation today moved Supreme Court with a plea to expedite the CBI probe into the 2006 Malegaon blasts in view of the Maharashtra ATS probe into recent explosions in the city pointing towards the alleged involvement of members of some Hindu outfit.

The petition filed by Jamait Ulama-I-Hind, a socio-religious organisation of Muslims, also sought a judicial inquiry into Nanded blasts of 2006 alleging that the community has always been erroneously targeted in such cases.

The petition filed through advocate Anis Suhrawardy cited incidents of blasts and recovery of explosives since 2001 in Malegaon and Nanded to contend that the people from minority community were made accused in the case wrongly.

The petition referred to the investigations by the Maharashtra ATS ....

It said an independent probe was required as before the arrest of members of Hindu outfit, on all earlier blasts across the country, people from Muslim community were indiscriminately taken into custody.

The petition filed by Jamait's President Maulana Arshad Madani alleged that there were incidents of blasts while preparing bombs at Hindu houshold in Malegaon but investigations were not carried into them.

The petitioner also sought that Maharashtra government to make public the report of Justice K N Patil Committee which probed the Malegaon riots of 2001.

ramana: With apologies to Acharya, let me, as a total amateur in CT, postulate that the real intended victim of this tamasha is the Indian anti-terror investigative apparatus.

After the mantris are done making goats of them, ALL the terrorists arrested so far will have to be freed by the courts. This is the appeasement deal struck with the One Community to win the next elections. Acharya, how am I doing, O guru?

[samuel]

Not sure if this was posted before:
But this, from rediff, would be humorous, if it weren't so blatantly sad.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/17m ... ivated.htm

B Raman has it, as always. Impressive guy, maybe we should ask him to come and write on this thread, if possible.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/17b ... g-turn.htm

Has the terror probe taken a pre-election turn?
November 17, 2008
B Raman

The manner of the current investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Mumbai police into an explosion in Malegaon in Maharashtra on September 30, 2008, which mainly targeted and killed some local Muslims, should be a matter of concern to all right-thinking Indians.

Large sections of Muslims, the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party political class and the so-called secular elements in the Hindu community, which lose no opportunity to demonise the Hindu nationalists and the BJP in order to win the applause of the minorities and project themselves as liberals, have used the investigation to divert attention away from the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by jihadi terrorists, many of them trained and assisted by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and inspired by the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda [Images] and its International Islamic Front.

They look upon the leaks from the ATS -- many of them based on narco-analysis of dubious investigation and evidentiary value -- as a pre-election godsend in their campaign to project the Muslims as more sinned against than sinning, and the nationalist-minded Hindus, who call for strong action against the jihadi terrorists, as chauvinists and fascists.

This, despite the fact that resort to narco-analysis -- which was frequently resorted to by Hitler's [Images] Nazis and Stalin's KGB to obtain confessions from political dissidents -- has stood condemned in the rest of the civilised world. Many of the thousands of political dissidents, who were sent to the Gulag and the firing squads by Stalin, were tried and convicted on the basis of narco-analysis.

Dr P Chandrasekharan, the legendary forensic science expert who played a highly-acclaimed role in the successful investigation and prosecution of the LTTE [Images] conspirators involved in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, has been one of the strongest critics of the police in some Indian states resorting to narco-analysis, which is not a scientific method of investigation. In many countries narco-analysis is viewed as a political tool and not a scientific one.

On the basis of statements and remarks made by the suspects under the influence of drugs, which induce a state of semi-consciousness, large sections of the Hindu community have been sought to be demonised, the army has been unwittingly stigmatised and attention has been sought to be diverted from the investigation into acts of jihadi terrorism and from enquiries to establish the full extent of the so-called Indian Mujahideen [Images] iceberg.

I am proud to have been the first analyst to have drawn attention on October 2, 2008, to the fact that the September 30 explosion at Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat did not gel with the explosions carried out in other parts of India by the jihadi terrorists. I was the first to have suggested that we should thoroughly investigate the suspected involvement of some Hindus in these blasts in order to gain the trust of the Muslim community and remove the misgivings in their mind about the fairness of the police. I was the first to have suggested in a TV interview that if the Malegaon investigation warranted a re-visit to some of the past investigations into terrorist strikes in which Muslims were the main targets, the police should not hesitate to do so.

I applauded the Mumbai ATS when it started the investigation into the suspected involvement of some Hindus in the Malegaon blasts, but I have been greatly concerned over the manner in which its investigation -- instead of remaining professional and scientific -- has taken what large sections of the Hindus of this country will view as a politically motivated direction. Some of the media leaks attributed to the Mumbai ATS make one think that it has -- wittingly or unwittingly -- started playing to the so-called secularists gallery.

So many obvious questions which should have been asked by objective opinion-makers have not been asked. One of the suspects is alleged to have lent her motorcycle to the perpetrators. Can one think of any instance in the recent history of terrorism in which a terror-suspect created evidence against himself/herself by using his/her own vehicle for planting a bomb?

A private military school which coaches aspirants to a career in the armed forces has been sought to be condemned on the ground that some of the suspects held a meeting on its premises. What is important is, what was the purpose of the meeting? Was it to plan specific acts of terrorism, or was it merely to discuss how to counter anti-national jihadi terrorism? Innumerable meetings and seminars are held every year in prestigious training institutions of the government to discuss, inter alia, appropriate strategies against jihadi terrorism, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Very often, the speakers call for strong retaliatory attacks against the terrorist organisations, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Are they to be viewed as instigators of terrorism and are our training institutions to be criticised for holding such discussions?

We are now told that the explosions on Samjhauta Express in the beginning of last year were also carried out by some Hindus with the help of RDX allegedly supplied by a serving Army officer, who is presently under investigation.

I had written as follows about the Samjhauta Express blasts on February 20, 2007: 'The blasts on the Delhi-Attari Samjhauta Express (Peace Express) on the night of February 18, 2007, are remarkable for the success as well as the failure of the terrorists. Their diabolic success is evident from the fact that two of the IEDs, reportedly attached to bottles containing incendiary material, functioned without mishap, causing a carnage in which 67 passengers --- mostly Indian and Pakistani Muslims -- perished. Their surprising failure is evident from the fact that at least a half of the IEDs failed to explode and have been recovered by the railway authorities.

'According to some reports, they had planted a total of five IEDs of which three failed. According to others, they had planted four IEDs, of which two failed. So many failed IEDs should normally be a surprise in the case of well-trained, clued-up and experienced terrorists. The failure of the perpetrators of Deewana could indicate a possibility -- remote at present -- that they were new to this business of terrorism, either new recruits of old and well-established organisations or new recruits of new organisations. A systematic follow-up of the forensic trail left by them should help in determining their identity in course of time.'

The Delhi [Images] police, which investigated the blasts, did not say anything about the use of RDX. From their briefings, it appeared that incendiary devices and not explosive devices were used on Samjhauta Express. That was also the conclusion of many Western experts, including Stratfor, the well-known US analysis organisation. If the Delhi police knew at that time that RDX was used, did they try to find out the source of the explosive? If not, why not?

If what the public is told now -- on the basis of leaks from the Mumbai ATS -- is correct, then what the Delhi police told the public in February 2007 was wrong. And vice versa.

The Mumbai ATS should investigate the blasts thoroughly and need not hesitate to have a second look at the Samjhauta Express explosions, but they should do it in a professional manner, not in a manner that adds to suspicions that the investigation has taken a pre-election political turn -- with the objective being to fix the Hindu nationalists and not to fix the terrorists.

I have written and spoken repeatedly about the spreading Muslim anger against what many Muslims look upon as the unfairness of the Indian criminal justice system against them. I have equally written and spoken frequently about the spreading Hindu anger against the government and the so-called secularists over the failure to act strongly against jihadi terrorists.

One should be careful that the manner of investigation by the ATS does not add to the Hindu anger and lead to a situation similar to what had happened in Northern Ireland where elements from the Protestant community took to arms and terrorism against the Catholics due to the perception that the government was not doing enough to protect them from the perpetrators of violence from the Catholic community.

This may please be read in continuation of my earlier article titled Anti-Muslim Reprisal Terrorism?

The writer is Additional Secretary (retired), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: [email protected]

[shiv]

What is this report mentioned here, I wonder?

After the mantris are done making goats of them, ALL the terrorists arrested so far will have to be freed by the courts.

Aha now you are thinking with my brain

This is what I meant when I spoke of "good terrorism" and "bad terrorism" earlier in this thread.

When you can castrate the anti-terror apparatus politically and make it seem that terrorism that actually occurred was merely the (justifiable) response of an angry community to injustice, then that is a game that every side can begin to play.

Muslims have grievances and a Muslim group conducts an attack, but the terrorists are let off because a minority community is being unfairly targeted.The signal is clear - if you have a grievance and if you kill people and if you have a grievance, our politicians will support the grievance and not press for action against murder.

The way forward for Hindus should be clear to anyone with an iota of intelligence. Someone, somewhere will develop a grievance and start committing terrorist acts and any harsh action against those terrorists will be "further grievances" against those in power.

I did not mention "Somnath temple destruction" in jest. With the terror implementing apparatus intact (sources of explosive, known criminals willing to act as couriers/murderers for for money, parallel economy) all it will take is for a fringe group to start digging up Hindu grievances for terror attacks against Muslims, with a view to making every Hindu arrested a martyr or a freedom fighter to provoke more anger and more terror.

I personally suspect that there is a perfectly well oiled criminal/terror implementing apparatus that exists in India of a type that is not allowed to exist in the West. Last night I heard one more statement on TV that seemed to support this contention. The former vice chief of army staff, while expressing his indignation and saying how army personnel cannot get pure RDX from the army, indicated that it would be possible for an intel agent to acquire RDX from criminal sources. Such sources exist and are being allowed to exist.

The reason why terror infrastructure is being allowed to exist may be twofold (my opinions)
1) That terror/criminal infrastructure is useful to politicians on a personal basis for laundering money and funding elections
2) It may be an inconvenient political fact that a large percentage of the terrro/criminal machinery actually hail from the Muslim community making it possible for some secular-criminal politicians to say "Communalism" when a criminal is arrested.

Criminal Hindu and non Hindu politicians, using Muslim criminals (who may have Pakistani sources for material) have a vested interest in making sure that the criminals do not get arrested. The fact that many may be Muslim is a convenient excuse to accuse a terror investigating agency of being anti-Muslim.

Do not forget (and I repeat it for what it is worth) Purohit has allegedly said that he obtained explosives and used an existing Islamic terror network. Secularism in India can be used to protect criminals, if those criminals happen to be Muslim.

[enqyoob]

OTOH, there is a macabre humor in considering that most "Fedayeen" may be going charging in yelling "Jeeeeeehaaaaad!!" and inflating themselves (or getting tortured the rest of their lives) at the behest of kufr yindoos, and that too banias!

This may pour cold water on the Jehadic fervor faster than anything a reasonable govt might do, like sending tanks and fighter planes to their neighborhood.

[RamaY]

OTOH, there is a macabre humor in considering that most "Fedayeen" may be going charging in yelling "Jeeeeeehaaaaad!!" and inflating themselves (or getting tortured the rest of their lives) at the behest of kufr yindoos, and that too banias!

This may pour cold water on the Jehadic fervor faster than anything a reasonable govt might do, like sending tanks and fighter planes to their neighborhood.

That will get us thus far I guess...

Are we resigning to the fact that the present and future (?) governments condone terrorism as a legitimate means to express a community’s perceived/real injustice? In the hope that somehow, the same criminal elements will be and can be used by the other communities as well?

How can GOI (assuming the intentions are there) control this vicious cycle and bring an end to this drama?

[neelkamal]

I think the Congress is "done" damaging itself. Now all BJP is to do is get a National newspaper to write an article as a follow up on tracking the events date wise, showing all the paths taken by ATS (and back trackings) graphically for people to follow.

two days ago, There was a TV news ona guy training young men on arms - sword fighting, guns etc, he said that unless people are trained, they will not be able to safeguard the country when the time comes. I forgot his name, sorry. He was a Hindu of course, and the news reader goes "Now look what this guy openly says..." maybe some BR members saw that tv news.

I guess the India we "know" and the India that "is" are quite different.

I do not think Congress wants what is good for India, it wants to stay in Power. It has always been the case. any party would like to stay in power of course, but Congress seems to be very vicious about it, I do not think other parties are this anti national. I truly wish it is voted out of power in the coming elections and then broken to bits and pieces so that it never comes to power again.

[nkumar]

This is taken from a portal which highlights issues related with Indian Muslims.
Maharashtra: Resignations by Muslim politicians begin to yield results

Posting excerpts below, do read the full article.

By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Something new and positive is happening in Maharashtra. Frustrated by the non-performance of the Maharashtra government when it comes to Muslim issues, Muslim politicians of ruling Congress and NCP have started to resign from their elected positions.

There has been a strong sense of resentment against the Maharashtra government among the Muslims because of its policy of pathetic indifference towards issues related to the community in the state, prominently its complete failure to protect minorities in the state against the frequent riots in Digris, Dhulia, Pusad, Yawatmal, arrest of innocent youths in various blasts and so on.

The anger was manifested in the en masse resignation of the members of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) particularly among the lower wrung of the political and official hierarchy.

For instance more than 40 corporaters from Congress and NCP had resigned and if one includes the people from Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samitis then the number of those who had resigned goes beyond 300.

This phenomenon had started around one and half month ago. (and when did the Sadhvi and Lt. Col Purohit were arrested?)

TwoCircles.net talked on this issue to Shahid Lateef, the editor of Mumbai based Inquilab and an acute observer of the political scenario in Maharashtra. He pointed out that as far as the resignation of party members and corporaters from the Congress and NCP is concerned it has stopped now.

But didn't the resignations make impact?

Indeed it created ripples in the political ponds he conceded. It made the ruling parties feel threatened because for the first time they felt as if the government can no longer take them for granted.

This was the first time that they were encountering such kinds of steps taken by their party members. So they felt it necessary to do the damage control.

RR Patil met the angry corporaters and party members and went out of his way to assure them that their concerns will be taken care of. They assured and convinced them thereby managed to persuade them to withdraw their resignations.

Other big wigs of Maharashtra like Sharad Pawar also said some thing favorable to the Muslims with the aim to placate them.

According to him that anti Congress and anti- NCP wave has taken other different forms.

For instance the angry individuals are now coming to be united on one platform and channelise that anger positively and constructively in the direction of exploring a viable political alternative in the state.

"We thought that instead of criticizing the NCP and the Congress we should concentrate on our plan that what has to be done in this scenario. So we are trying to chalk out our strategy."

For the purpose the secular intellectuals and political activists are having meetings in many places like Yawatmal, Pusad and many other places.

As a Malegaon journalist Mubasshir Mushtaq notes that "initially ATS suspected that SIMI was the behind the Malegaon blast. The ATS knew it from the day one that the killer motorcycle belonged to Sadhvi but yet they continued their combing operations in Muslim areas of Malegaon!"

The ATS logically followed up on the clues only after the government felt the heat of Muslim anger in the form of avalanche of resignations.

[shiv]

In any case let me rehash and repost some of the thoughts that went through my mind when I chose the particular title I used for this thread, but first I need to make some disclaimers.

1) I am trying to tie together various reports, allegations and experiences that I have been exposed to in a "mother of all theories" - a grand united theory of everything. The conspi-raciest theory of them all if you like.

2) One needs to assume that "Islamist ideology" and "Hindutva" are not as powerful motivating factors as may be imagined. in fact both "Islamic extremism" and "Hindutva" can be nearly ignored and one can still reach certain conclusions about why and how things are panning out the way they are in India

3) The only pre-conditions I am laying down are:

• a) Every individual or group acts in his/its self-interest
  b) "secularism" is a political tool in India. It is more of a quest for showing "Who is unsecular?" rather than a quest to remove religion from state politics.

The bottom line is India must be secular. It must appear secular and it must behave secular.

Crime, of course, is completely secular. Criminals of the worst sort come from every community.

But, whether we like it or not, we have both Pakistan and Bangladesh for neighbors. Both those neighbors used to be "India" but are now NOT India for decidedly unsecular reasons. Both nations have seen fit to export violent politics to India. That "export" has been in the form of financial. moral and material support for terrorists and violence prone groups of various flavors in India. It is an open secret that separatist groups and violent groups of any ideology (and not just Islamic) have been supported by these countries.

What degree of success can Pakistani/Bangladeshi or Chinese troublemakers expect in India. Are there some groups who are "better" at fomenting trouble than others? This question can be looked at by considering two factors that are needed to foment terror:

1) A disgruntled group looking for aid to fight their fight
2) Using people from that group for

• providing volunteers who will travel and get training in the methods of terror
• Helping to indoctrinate and get more recruits
• Providing safe houses and communication channels for the people who actually conduct teror apparatus.

Note that India provides the disgruntled groups (point 1).
The foreign agency can only provide the support (point 2).

If you look at the fallout of this and see what has been happening in India, you find that the terrorism that lasts for the longest period of time is the terrorism for whom India is constantly able to provide volunteers and internal support.

Which terrorist does India provide internal support for?

Naxals and ULFA have some political backing, but they do not have the ideological backing they require and can be eliminated without shedding a tear.

Khalistani separatists lost their political backing and were eliminated.

But Islamic terrorists are a slightly different group. If a foreign agency creates "support cells" in India and these support cells are discovered, the fact that the agents are Muslims are used by our secular political parties to claim that Muslims are being unfairly targeted. Note that the secular political parties are acting in their self interest, which the define as national interest. the "support sells" themselves, consisting of Muslims in the case of Islamic terrorism now have "secular allies" in India whose support they can count on. They cannot be interfered with because dismantling the entire terror support group is opposed by secular politicians as a Hindu versus Muslim issue.

This is in stark contrast to the situation faced by other less prominent terrorist groups all of whom have received support from foreign agencies.

The same secular politicians who have ruled India for decades have shown little ability to confront Pakistan or Bangladesh over their support for terror, but they have accused Indian security forces of excesses and have tied Indian investigators hands when it comes to terrorism by Muslim groups in the name of secularism. Naturally, anyone opposed to this is "communal" and as I said earlier

The bottom line is India must be secular. It must appear secular and it must behave secular.

For this reason these groups will always remain juicy targets for Pakistan/Bangladesh to support and train.

Is there any way out of this mess?

i will not bother attempting to answer this, but i will just point out a no brainer "solution" that occurs to anyone who sees no way out of a situation. As long as secularism is not used to beat any particular community down, nobody will fight it. But if Hindus feel that hey are being beaten down by this secularism, it is only a matter of time before Hindus too develop militant outfits who conduct terrorist attacks against someone or the other. And naturally, Hindu politicians will support these groups. And, naturally, if these groups need explosives and arms, they will get it from the usual sources. The "usual sources" are the very sources that secularism allows to survive in India. India is already heading towards a situation in which groups are controlled and supported by warlords in the guise of democracy and secularism.

But none of our political parties are taking terrorism seriously. Any objection to any terrorism becomes a war to see if secularism is being upheld, and if a Muslim is involved, half of India's polity will see the arrest of a terrorist as an attack on secularism and an attack on Muslims rather than as a blow against terrorism. That is why there is unholy joy at the arrest of a non Muslim group who seem to be involved in terror. The secular parties will have a field day and the "communal", "Hindutva" parties will support the accused.

Indian secularism will prevent the winding up of any terror cells in India as long as there are Muslims on those terror cells. Pakistan/Bangladesh/China will have the greatest degree of success in supporting Islamic terror cells because "secular India" will never allow the winding up of terror cells with Muslims in them. But even Hindu groups who want to conduct attacks can use these same terror cells and this is what might have to happen increasingly before it becomes clear to our secular politicians that crime is indeed secular and it is they who are playing a communal game by favoring a "go easy" policy on any group that has Muslim members in the name of "secularism"

[Prem]

So again it boils down to India getting harmed by Pseudo secularists,politicians,Pinkoes, Pseudo Liberals and Pseudo Social activits working for enemy forces. When will they learn that they will be the first one to be neutralized by both parties at very first oppertunity.

[RamaY]

Indian secularism will prevent the winding up of any terror cells in India as long as there are Muslims on those terror cells. Pakistan/Bangladesh/China will have the greatest degree of success in supporting Islamic terror cells because "secular India" will never allow the winding up of terror cells with Muslims in them. But even Hindu groups who want to conduct attacks can use these same terror cells and this is what might have to happen increasingly before it becomes clear to our secular politicians that crime is indeed secular and it is they who are playing a communal game by favoring a "go easy" policy on any group that has Muslim members in the name of "secularism"

good insight...

[Manu]

Ramana/N^3,

Please delete the following post, if it is considered inflammatory or downgrades BR standards. As I was the first one to speculate that this whole ATS tamasha is a farce, let me also add that it is very strongly believed that this whole thing is a last ditch do or die effort by Her Holiness and the person who is getting this done in Maharashtra is a 1972 Batch IAS officer (Close to her Holiness & Ambika Soni of "Sri Ram is a Fictional Character" fame) who just happens to be the Chief Secretary.

The fall-out is as follows:

• The IPS image is very badly tarnished. From now on, no police intelligence claims (claims to have prevented or busted) a "Terror Cell" will be believed. The officers who have a conscience, could clearly risk bad transfers and take the long leave option. But they did not. And now, they will pay the price. However, as N^3 points out, perhaps this was the goal all along.
  
  The Army's image, while it may recover, has been damaged. In the middle-Class Indian's Mind anyway. If you remember, right here on BR, we had Mr. Omar Khalidi (OF MIT fame) open a thread to get a discussion going on the religious make-up of the Army. His claim was that the Indian Army is a "Hindu Army". Shiv will perhaps, remember that thread too.
  
  The followers of RoP can now (with some justification) view all counter-terrorism activity with some suspicion.

I am not sure what the Political Fallout of this affair will be.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
ATS now suspects RDX came from militants

Media linked Malegaon and Samjhauta, we didn’t, says ATS

‘Why should Hindu terrorism be a surprise’

[munna]

^^
Adding to your post the open spat between the Maharashtra police chief AN Roy and Rajnath Singh is not a good omen. AN Roy had in an interview to a secularist channel asked a particular political party (B.J.P) to not interfere in the agencies work, replying to that R Singh in an interview to a TV channel asked the D.G.P to refrain from lecturing a political party. I think a lot of police officers will pay heavily for being blatantly political in their approach. I would request forum members to search for one SS Virk (fmr Punjab Police DGP) as to how he was in cahoots with a ruling CM and ended up being embroiled in corruption cases and was harassed after a regime change even though he was a decorated officer commended for his bravery during the times of terrorism.

[Manu]

Link

ATS charge backfires

‘Investigation’ descends into witch-hunt

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Mumbai Police has virtually ended up with egg on its face. After planting stories in those sections of the media which are only too happy to publish and broadcast any cockamamie tale that portrays Hindu spiritual leaders as ogres, denigrates Hindu society and defames Hindu organisations, and claiming in a Nashik court that Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit had used RDX stolen from the Army for the terrorist attack on Samjhauta Express in February 2007, it has had to eat humble crow and do an about-turn. What the too-clever-by-half ATS personnel, who have eagerly offered their services to launch what increasingly appears to be a witch-hunt and be party to a political conspiracy of calumny and worse, thus raising questions about their integrity, forgot while hurling their latest startling allegation against Lt Col Purohit is that public memory may be short, but it is not short enough to fail to recall the nature of the terrorist strike on Samjhauta Express. The explosives use on that occasion were improvised incendiary devices and the Forensic Laboratory in Chandigarh had not found any traces of RDX in the debris — for that matter, nor were any traces of RDX found at the site of the Malegaon explosion. These details are on record, as are the findings of the subsequent investigation. No less stunningly crude is the ATS’s allegation that Lt Col Purohit misappropriated 60 kg of RDX from the Army: The charge could have been brushed aside as ridiculous had it not been for the sinister implications of what has been alleged. Sixty kilograms of RDX is not a small amount of explosive material; nobody can just walk away with it from an ammunitions store of the Army. That apart, what the ATS has shockingly alleged is that the Army as an institution is so callous that an officer can pilfer a huge amount of explosive material without the theft being noticed. This is outright slanderous and the ATS must be held accountable for portraying the Army as a rogue institution; to let the calumniators go scote-free would be tantamount to whitewashing their misdeed. This paper has in the past raised the question whether the ATS sees itself as being above the law of the land and answerable to none. Since it is neither, it must be brought to heel right now before its recklessness causes irreparable damage to reputations.

It is by now obvious that the ATS is dancing to the tune of its political masters who are unmoved by the enormity of the damage that is being inflicted by the spit-and-scoot tactics which have been the mainstay of the so-called ‘investigation’ into the explosion at Malegaon that killed six Muslims in September. The feverish pace at which the ATS is pursuing this case, spinning bizarre stories by the minute and planting them by the dozen in the media, is in sharp contrast to the non-response of Maharashtra’s Congress-NCP Government, endorsed by the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, to the mass slaughter by jihadis who bombed commuter trains in Mumbai on July 11, 2006. The perpetrators of that crime are sitting pretty, possibly laughing themselves silly over the manner in which the ATS is making a mockery of what it claims is an ‘investigation’ into a ‘terrorist attack’. This paper believes that the law must take its own course and anybody found guilty of indulging in violence should be punished. But what is being witnessed is blatant abuse of law.

Notice that almost all the other Bomb Blasts have faded into the background. Toi(lets) of the world are giving 24X7 coverage only on Malegaon, and nothih else.

[Manu]

Link

Fuelling Hindu anger

B Raman

Investigations by Mumbai ATS, instead of remaining professional and scientific, have taken what large sections of the Hindu majority will view as a politically motivated direction. Media leaks by the ATS suggest it has started playing to the so-called secularists’ gallery

The manner of the current investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police into an explosion at Malegaon in Maharashtra on September 30, 2008, which mainly targeted and killed six local Muslims, should be a matter of concern to all right-thinking Indians.

Large sections of the Muslims, the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party political class and the so-called secular elements in the Hindu community, which lose no opportunity to demonise the Hindu nationalists and the BJP in order to win the applause of the minorities and project themselves as liberals, have used the investigation to divert attention away from the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by the jihadi terrorists, many of them trained and assisted by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and inspired by the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda and its International Islamic Front.

They look upon the leaks from the ATS — many of them based on narco-analysis of dubious investigation and evidentiary value — as a pre-election godsend in their campaign to project the Muslims as more sinned against than sinning and the nationalist-minded Hindus, who call for strong action against the jihadi terrorists, as chauvinists and Fascists.

This, despite the fact that resort to narco-analysis — which was frequently resorted to by Hitler’s Nazis and Stalin’s KGB to obtain confessions from political dissidents — has stood condemned in the rest of the civilised world. Many of the thousands of political dissidents, who were sent to the Gulag and the firing squads by Stalin, were tried and convicted on the basis of narco-analysis.

Narco-analysis has been defined as “the practice of administering barbiturates or certain other chemical substances, most often pentothal sodium, to lower a subject’s inhibitions, in the hope that the subject will more freely share information and feelings”.

The term narco-analysis was coined by Horseley. Narco-analysis first reached the mainstream in 1922, when Robert House, a Texas obstetrician, used the drug scopolamine on two prisoners. Since then narco-testing has become largely discredited in most democratic states, including the United States and Britain. There is a vast body of literature calling into question its ability to yield legal truth. Additionally, narco-analysis has serious legal and ethical implications.

Dr Chandrasekhar, the legendary Indian forensic science expert, who played a highly acclaimed role in the successful investigation and prosecution of the LTTE conspirators involved in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, has been one of the strongest critics of the police in some States resorting to narco-analysis, which is not a scientific method of investigation. In many countries of the world, narco-analysis is viewed as a political tool and not a scientific tool.

On the basis of statements and remarks made by the suspects under the influence of drugs, which induce a state of semi-consciousness, large sections of the Hindu community have been sought to be demonised, the Army has been unwittingly stigmatised and attention has been sought to be diverted from the investigation into acts of jihadi terrorism and from inquiries to establish the full extent of the so-called Indian Mujahideen iceberg.

It is of great concern that the investigation by the Mumbai ATS — instead of remaining professional and scientific — has taken what large sections of the Hindu majority of this country will view as a politically motivated direction. Some of the media leaks attributed to the Mumbai ATS make one think that the ATS has — wittingly or unwittingly — started playing to the so-called secularists’ gallery.

So many obvious questions, which should have been asked by objective opinion-makers, have not been asked. One of the suspects is alleged to have lent her motorcycle to the perpetrators. Can one think of any instance in the recent history of terrorism in which a terrorist-suspect created evidence against himself or herself by using his or her own vehicle for planting an improvised explosive device?

A private military school, which coaches aspirants to a career in the armed forces, has been sought to be condemned on the ground that some of the suspects held a meeting on its premises. What is important is, what was the purpose of the meeting? Was it to plan specific acts of terrorism or was it merely to discuss how to counter anti-national jihadi terrorism?

Innumerable meetings and seminars are held every year in prestigious training institutions of the Government to discuss, inter alia, appropriate strategies against jihadi terrorism, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Very often, the speakers call for strong retaliatory attacks against the terrorist organisations, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Are they to be viewed as instigators of terrorism? Are our training institutions to be criticised for holding such discussions?

The Mumbai ATS should investigate each aspect thoroughly, but they should do it in a professional manner, not in a manner that adds to suspicions that the inquiry has taken a pre-election political turn — with the objective being to fix the Hindu nationalists and not to fix the terrorists.

I have written and spoken repeatedly about the spreading Muslim anger against what many Muslims look upon as the ‘unfairness’ of the Indian criminal justice system. I have equally written and spoken frequently about the spreading Hindu anger against the Government and the so-called secularists over the failure to act strongly against the jihadi terrorists.

One should be careful to see that the manner of investigation by the ATS does not add to the Hindu anger and lead to a situation similar to what had happened in Northern Ireland where elements from the Protestant community took to arms and terrorism against the Catholics due to perceptions that the Government was not doing enough to protect them from the perpetrators of violence from the Catholic community.

[Amitabh]

So again it boils down to India getting harmed by Pseudo secularists,politicians,Pinkoes, Pseudo Liberals and Pseudo Social activits working for enemy forces. When will they learn that they will be the first one to be neutralized by both parties at very first oppertunity.

And I could have sworn that it was Lt Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya - you know the terror accused - who were playing into enemy hands. Should be getting the Nishan-e-Haider any day now... (with the Sangh Parivar applauding in the background).

[Manu]

Either that, or at least the {deleted} award.

Their members sure seem to show up right on cue when they see that the tide is turning against them.

{No attributing organizational loyalties to postors, please. }

[Philip]

LKA on TV.There is no such a thing as "Hindu terror,Muslim terror or Sikh terror".Terror acts should not be clubbed along with any religion and currently such descriptions are due to votebank politics.

[madhu]

Parallel to tale of two terrors and two types of bombs

[enqyoob]

And I could have sworn that it was Lt Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya - you know the terror accused - who were playing into enemy hands

Welcome, Amitabh!

So you could have sworn this, despite, shall, we say, a paucity of evidence against them? Ooops! Sorry, there was no paucity of "evidence", it was being manufactured in large quantities and promptly delivered to the media, it's just that several others had already taken "credit" for the terror acts that they are being held as accused. But I am glad to see that this would have little effect on your ability to "swear" that they are guilty???

[fanne]

Welcome Amitabh Ji,
I thought after Guj election you had taken a vow not to visist BR. I hope this time, you do not let wishes (but facts) color your thinking. I guess loyality to a party can never be greater than loyalty to the country. But then each person has a right to believe wht he/she thinks. You would be surprised to know that not everyone at BR can be so wrong and you only right. It can happen, but not always.
This Malegaon investigation is definitely politically motivated. Whether Lt. Col or the Sadhvi is involved will only be known after an impartial investigation. If you recall, after Delhi blast, this year, the accused (where there is no iota of doubt, they have accepted their role) were not tortured and were allowed to meet their family, but in this case, the accused have not accepted their role, the polygraph test have come negative (which has some scientific basis) and nacro test has been bizarre (this investigation tool has no credibility). The bottom line is Sadhvi case depends on heresy, that somebody heard her asking/saying something. The media tried to spin that it had 400 hours of phone conversation on tape, but that does not contain anything. I am baffled how come they got Lt. Col and others entangled in that, he might have been involved in Counter Insurgency, being MI and it might have meant doing things that you cannot do otherwise. What has been lost in this cacophony is, Malegaon blast happened in front of a SIMI office, when SIMI is banned in India, and I and you would not know a SIMI office.

[vishal]

I posted this article on my jingo blog recently:

It is bad enough that the police and security agencies in India never have advance warning of terrorist attacks. They have now taken their incompetence to a different level. Following the arrest of Lt. Col. Purohit on the charge of actively aiding the Malegaon blasts, the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Mumbai Police let it be known that the officer also supplied the RDX used in the Samjhauta Express blast. The only hitch is that none of the other investigating agencies could find any evidence that RDX was used in that particular incident. Just this tells us a lot about the way security agencies function in India. They cannot even agree on which explosive was used.

If RDX was indeed used in the Samjhauta Express blast then the assessment of the Delhi Police and central agencies was plainly wrong. It, however, requires a large stretch of imagination to believe that all the agencies other than the ATS could get this piece of elementary investigation wrong. RDX is an explosive which Indian security agencies are all too familiar with given it's use in terrorist bombings across the country for many years. It is more likely that the ATS blundered badly and this throws it's entire investigation into doubt.

The Mumbai Police is quick to use 'brain mapping' tests in it's investigations and builds cases starting from there. Instead of first gathering material evidence and progressing from there the Mumbai Police is keen to cut out the hard work in criminal investigations and prefers to use statements from suspects who have been drugged into a semi-comatose state.

It is not difficult to understand why the ATS and Mumbai Police do this. One look at photographs of any crime scene in Mumbai, or anywhere else in India for that matter, will have investigators from more sophisticated agencies recoiling in horror. People walking all over the crime scene, workers hosing the scene with high-pressure jets and sweepers clearing the area to 'clean' it with policemen standing by leave the investigators no option but to find clues where they can. All too often, this is by means of what is quaintly called 'third degree' which is a euphemism for torture. Faced with the promise of more pain, a man will tell you what he feels you want to know. Just the possibility that the Mumbai Police would be subjecting an officer in the Indian Army to this treatment should be enough to hand over the investigation to another agency.

The ATS clearly had no clue about the findings of the other agencies which investigated the Samjhauta Express blasts. Had that been the case it might have been a little less quick to make such a surprising declaration in the absence of proof. What this tells us about the ATS is that it is really a bunch of over-eager cops who would rather not do the leg work needed to build a case. Is it really so difficult to ask other agencies what explosive they think was used. This is information the ATS should have had in the first place.

In blaming Lt. Col. Purohit the ATS has also displayed a lack of knowledge of what explosives the Army uses and how they are handled. Ever since the ATS claimed that Lt. Col. Purohit pilfered the RDX from Army stocks revelations have been made about how this was not possible. The RDX the Army obtains from raids on terrorist camps is either destroyed in the field or handed over to the state police. In any case, pilfering 60 kg of an explosive could not have escaped notice. Even worse, the ATS did not bother to check with the Army regarding it's 'findings'.

So we have an unusual situation in which the ATS claims that Lt. Col. Purohit 'confessed' to having supplied an explosive which was not used and clearly could not have been obtained by him.

Let us see how the rest of this farce plays out now.

[vishal]

I am not sure if I can post my other article for your views as it might stretch the limits of what is permissible on BRF. Let me know if I should send it to any of the mods (and which one) for review.

[fanne]

Vishal,
I shudder the day thought policing would come to BR!! Where you are afraid to write an opinion. Your above post has been good, I would say write the stuff, make sure it is not hurtful to a person or community (without masking the truth), you may not want to name a person, as Manu has done, he has given us enough info on some cabinate srcratery with political bias running this show, without naming that person. You just have to play this game, sadly, you cannot just tell the raw truth, just dress it up enough, we at BR are good at reading between the lines.

[GuruNandan]

Tarun Vijay on the ATS probe

Why are Hindus angry?
18 Nov 2008, 1136 hrs IST, Tarun Vijay


In Srinagar, a Muslim women’s organization – the Dukhtaran-e-Millat – vows to impose the strict Islamic code on women through violence and declares that it is in the interests of women. The leader of this outfit, Asiyah Andrabi, was jailed several times for working against the nation and for being a conduit for money to jihadi groups who used that help to kill Hindus and create disaffection among people against India. The US State Department Report of 1995 held a Dukhtaran-e-Millat activist responsible for a parcel bomb blast at the BBC office in Srinagar in which one person was killed and two injured.

The DeM has recently been linked to certain money laundering cases. Andrabi was booked under POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) for receiving ISI money through hawala channels. Whenever she speaks against India, there is no emotion or any sense of regret.

She was never subjected to a narco test nor did the media feel anything bad about her. Instead, women's groups interviewed her, called her the “new face of Muslim feminism”, and glossy magazines splashed her interviews with a tinge of revolutionary romanticism.....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... page-1.cms

[vishal]

Fanne: Thanks. I am sure it will fail the test of not being targeted at a particular community even though I feel it is stating the obvious. Here goes nothing!

Time to pick a side.
http://soleslide.blogspot.com/

These are the best of times for terrorist apologists in the Congress (I) and other so-called 'secular' political parties. Never shy of doing the least possible to combat terrorism for fear of upsetting their Muslim votebanks, they have now seized upon the arrests of Lt. Col. Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya as an opportunity to attack the BJP. While the Congress (I) and it's partners in crime fool around with national security issues as if they were playing with dolls the larger picture is being missed. Just so that we are clear, I am no fan of the BJP. The IC 814 hijacking and the massacre of Sikhs in Kashmir happened on it's watch even as L.K. Advani who has sought to project himself in the image of Sardar Patel was the Union Home Minister.

The liberals and 'shocked but vindicated' Communists who pander to the Muslim votebank do not realize that what they are so quick to label as 'Hindu' terrorism simply does not exist. If proven true, and going by the way the ATS is conducting the investigation that is a far shot, what the Congress (I), Communists and their allies are so concerned about is really a delayed reflex action by a few people who have suffered enough. There is a limit to human patience and if the blasts Malegaon blasts were indeed the work of the accused then they did so because successive governments have been silent spectators for decades as Muslims have repeatedly targeted Hindus using a cycle of endless violence. There exists a section of people who strongly believe that this should not go unanswered. While this plays directly into the hands of the terrorists and cannot be condoned it is entirely understandable.

Everyday, newspapers and television images convey to us a sense of outrage by Muslims across the world about how they are being oppressed and subjected to humiliation. This anger finds an outlet in the form of suicide bombings, hijackings, senseless killings of innocent people and other terrorist acts. When the law goes after the terrorists and those who harbour them it is seen as justification of their twisted beliefs and in turn triggers more such barbaric acts. Why should followers of other religons choose to forgo violence as an option for retaliation in what can clearly be defined as self-defence? Muslims across the world should cease whining about how they are unfairly targeted and subjected to more scrutiny than others while being part of a community which is increasingly identified with murderous lunacy. It is time to look within. The oft-repeated statement that it is only a small section of Muslims who are terrorists and give the entire Ummah a bad name is fast proving to be a myth. The terrorists are part of the larger Muslim community and thrive within it. Those Muslims which who do not subscribe to the same ideology but choose to let the terrorists hide in their midst are equally guilty of mass murder.

Increasingly, it would appear that only a small number of Muslims are opposed to terrorism. These are the ones that place their country and lives of their fellow citizens above the venom spewed by the terrorists. These are the Muslims who chose to be Indians first and everything else last. There is no finer example than those serving selflessly in the armed forces and the much-maligned, and justifiably so, security agencies. They choose to be at the frontline against terrorism and their service is a call to duty for all other Muslims. It would be ridiculous to ask all Muslims to enroll in these services to prove their loyalty as Indians and this is not what I am proposing. However, it is their duty to end the silence as terrorists stay, move freely and plan in their midst. Merely issuing statements to this effect when the heat gets too much to bear is not enough. It is time to step up and walk the talk. We need active participation to tackle the threat of terrorism and defeat this monster. If the Muslim community feels insulted at the prospect of having to prove their patriotic credentials then it is simply too bad for them. They brought this turn of events upon themselves and it is their job to take the lead in cleaning this mess. Either that or stop complaining when it is done forcefully for them.

A case in point is the Jamia shootout between the terrorists and Delhi Police in which an Inspector of the Delhi Police also died. The Muslim community and political parties were quick to jump to the defence of the dead terrorists and cast doubt on the police action. Surely the Inspector was not shot by his fellow policemen. Shots were fired at the raiding police party and before so-called community leaders line up against the police they should ask who fired at and killed the police officer.

It is open knowledge that mosques and madrasas in India are funded from sources abroad. It is incumbent upon the Muslim community to disclose these sources while seeking to modernise what they teach inside the madrasas. Where necessaary these funds must be refused. Apologists might argue that this is unfair and not required of Hindu, Christian and Sikh institutions. Let us be very clear that worldwide, and more to the point in India, it is Muslims who are carrying out terrorist attacks. Almost all suicide bombings, bomb blasts and other such acts of murder are always traced back to members of one community. It is now time for that community to face up to this reality and convince us that the majority of them actually have nothing to do with terrorism. Either that or stop compalining about being guilty by association.

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost across India because the state governments and the Centre have failed to take a tough enough line on this issue. It is unrealistic to assume that they will set aside their petty political agendas and rise to the occassion. This being the case, the government should brace itslef for a backlash from the population at large. If the government cannot protect it's citizens and forces people to live in fear, the people have no option but to rise. Mahatma Gandhi was right when he said that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. It is equally true that we are free to pre-emptively chop off the hands which seek to cut our eyes out.