Mumbai Terror: The Ugly Beats of War Drum: Citizens'
Protest: Demand for Intelligent Actions
Quote
Mr. Mukherjee said his government was convinced that
the attackers and their "controllers" came from
Pakistan. He said he had conveyed to Ms. Rice "the
feeling of anger and deep outrage in India" and said
that his government was prepared to act "with all the
means at our disposal" to protect Indian territory and
citizens.
Unquote
Evidently the key is to "protect" the Indian citizens.
The language, however, conveys an impression that the
government and much of the political class are more
interested in making belligerent noises even if in the
process things threaten to turn far ghastlier.
Even a section of the media - the Times of India group
in particular - has started beating the war drum in a
frenzied fashion.
This is perhaps also meant to be a trick, a pretty
nasty one at that, to cover up dismal multifaceted
failures. After repeatedly claiming that the captured
terrorist is singing like a canary, it is found out
only after a lapse of a full week that a bagful of
deadly RDX had been dropped by him at the main railway
terminal of Mumbai coolly waiting to cause another
round of terrible havoc.
It is now the task of common Indian citizenry to
infuse a (large) dose of sanity and real intelligence
in the present environ where blind and stupid rage and
ugly blood lust are being deliberately and planfully
whipped up, which may lead to spine-chilling
consequences.
It is time to stand up and act.
The "Human Chain" in Mumbai on Dec. 12 at 12 00 noon
is just a small but significant move in that
direction.
There is a need to replicate the move in other parts
of the country.
Sukla
http://www.mumbaicitizens.com/a/StartPage.aspx#page|4
Citizens of Mumbai
JOIN HANDS IN UNITY!
SAY NO TO TERROR AND WAR! SAY NO TO VIOLENCE!
We, the people of Mumbai, from all walks of life, of
all faiths, all linguistic groups, all ages, will
express our commitment to peace by coming out on the
streets and holding hands in unity from 12 noon to
12.15 pm. on Friday the 12th of December 2008.
We, the people of Mumbai, who have seen hatred and
bloodshed in our city, pledge that we will not give in
to terror and to those who preach war, violence,
hatred and intolerance. We undertake to keep Mumbai a
city that is peaceful and united. We commit to
building a world based on the principles of tolerance
and peace, equality and justice.
We expect:
1.Government must take responsibility and map out
long-term and short-term strategies, and take action
on them.
2.Accountability, better coordination amongst various
security and intelligence agencies to deal with
terror; and sharing of intelligence and information.
3.Joint action between India and Pakistan governments
to curb religious extremism of all shades in both
countries.
4.Punishment of those responsible for attacks on
minorities, which is also an attack on the
multi-cultural body politic of India.
5.Swift, transparent and credible trial and punishment
for all those involved in terror, whatever the
religion they may profess.
6.Protection of civil and human rights of people and
no arrests and torture of innocents in the name of
ant- terror measures.
7.A comprehensive Communal Violence Bill in place of
the one pending in the Parliament.
8.Immediate implementation of police reforms,
providing equipment and training, basic service
conditions to police personnel and state security
forces. Active facilitation of community participation
in security and intelligence gathering.
9.Ensuring moderation and sensitivity in media
reporting of violence whether terrorist or any other
form, through self-regulation.
10.Evolve a policy for legal action against hate
speech and demonization of any religion or community.
MUMBAI FOR PEACE: a campaign of Mumbai based
organizations
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/world/asia/04india.html?_r=2&hp
December 4, 2008
Ex-U.S. Official Cites Pakistani Training for India
Attackers
By ERIC SCHMITT and SOMINI SENGUPTA
WASHINGTON — A former Defense Department official said
Wednesday that American intelligence agencies had
determined that former officers from Pakistan's Army
and its powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency
helped train the Mumbai attackers.
But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said that no specific links had been uncovered yet
between the terrorists and the Pakistani government.
His disclosure came as Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice held meetings with Indian leaders in New Delhi
and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, met with their Pakistani counterparts in
Islamabad, in a two-pronged effort to pressure
Pakistan to cooperate fully in the effort to track
down those responsible for the bloody attacks in
Mumbai last week.
Also on Wednesday, a "fully functional" bomb was found
and defused at a major Mumbai train station that had
reopened days earlier, the Mumbai authorities
announced. The discovery raised terrifying questions
about why the authorities had failed to find it all
this time.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people marched through
Mumbai, both mourning the at least 173 dead and
protesting the failures of Indian politicians and
security services to protect citizens.
Ms. Rice strove to balance demands on both countries.
She said that Pakistan had a "special responsibility"
to cooperate with India and help prevent attacks in
the future, here and elsewhere. At the same time, she
warned India against hasty reaction that would yield
what she called "unintended consequences."
"The response of the Pakistani government should be
one of cooperation and of action," she said at an
evening news conference in New Delhi with her Indian
counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee. "Any response needs to
be judged by its effectiveness in prevention and also
by not creating other unintended consequences or
difficulties."
Mr. Mukherjee said his government was convinced that
the attackers and their "controllers" came from
Pakistan. He said he had conveyed to Ms. Rice "the
feeling of anger and deep outrage in India" and said
that his government was prepared to act "with all the
means at our disposal" to protect Indian territory and
citizens.
Both American and Indian authorities have concluded
that there was little doubt that the Mumbai attacks
were directed by militants inside Pakistan, and Indian
officials have said they have identified three or four
masterminds of the attack, including a leader of
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Yusuf Muzzamil.
But Ms. Rice said it was premature to comment on
whether any particular organization was responsible
for the attacks on India's financial and entertainment
capital. She described the assault last week as
distinct from others that had struck India since it
targeted high-profile targets, including those
frequented by foreigners, and appeared to be designed
to "send a message."
Ms. Rice said Pakistan had assured her that it would
cooperate with India in its search for those
responsible for the slaughter in Mumbai. She said
President Asif Ali Zardari "has told me he will follow
leads wherever they go" but she made clear that
Washington expected him to do so wholeheartedly.
"This is a time for everybody to cooperate and to do
so transparently, and this is especially a time for
Pakistan to do so," she said.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is officially banned in Pakistan, but
it has been linked to the country's powerful
intelligence service and is believed to have moved its
militant networks to Pakistan's tribal areas.
For the moment, Mr. Zardari is playing down any links
to Pakistan, including the Indian identification of
the surviving attacker as a Pakistani. "We have not
been given any tangible proof to say that he is
definitely a Pakistani. I very much doubt that he's a
Pakistani," Mr. Zardari told CNN's "Larry King Live,"
saying that his government would take action if India
produced evidence to support the claim.
He also indicated that he would turn down an Indian
demand, made on Monday night, to hand over about 20
fugitives, some of them linked to organized crime,
said by India to be living in Pakistan. Rather, Mr.
Zardari said, they would be tried in Pakistani courts
if there were evidence to support a trial.
In Islamabad, Admiral Mullen met with President
Zardari; the Pakistani national security adviser,
Mahmud Ali Durrani; and several top military
officials, including the Army chief of staff, Gen.
Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, and the new intelligence chief,
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Admiral Mullen pressed the Pakistani leaders to crack
down on Lashkar-e-Taiba's network of training camps,
including those in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and
the organization's guerrilla recruiting efforts, an
American military official said.
In New Delhi, response to a question, Ms. Rice said
that the sophistication and choice of targets in
Mumbai distinguished it from previous attacks. Earlier
in the day, also in response to a question, Ms. Rice
was asked about any possible involvement by Al Qaeda.
"Whether there is a direct Al Qaeda hand or not, this
is clearly the kind of terror in which Al Qaeda
participates," she said.
The bomb was found in a bag the Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus, the old Victoria station, one of the sites
singled out for attack last week. It held about 20
pounds of explosives and was rigged with a timer, the
Indian authorities said, but it was not clear whether
it had not been activated or had malfunctioned.
The bag, apparently left behind by the attackers a
week ago, had been collected along with a large pile
of luggage that passengers had abandoned as they fled.
That is where the police found it on Wednesday.
The station has been open for days, with thousands of
passengers streaming through, and the discovery raised
new questions about the capability of Indian security
services.
There were conflicting accounts about how the bomb
were found. Some reports said that the police had been
tipped off by the surviving attacker, but others said
a sniffer dog found it during a routine sweep of the
abandoned luggage ahead of an officials visit. It was
rendered neutral on the spot, the authorities said,
and then subsequently removed for analysis. Train
service was not disrupted for the maneuvers.
Ms. Rice's diplomatic agenda takes place as Washington
is seeking high-level cooperation in different spheres
with both India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed neighbors.
Washington wants Pakistan to help defeat Al Qaeda and
Taliban insurgents along the border with Afghanistan.
But Pakistani security officials have threatened to
withdraw troops from the lawless border region to
redeploy them if India and Pakistan slide toward their
fourth war since independence from Britain in 1947,
Reuters reported.
In October, Washington opened a new chapter of
cooperation with India when Congress gave final
approval to a breakthrough agreement permitting
civilian nuclear trade between the two countries for
the first time in three decades.
Under the terms of the deal, the United States will
now be able to sell nuclear fuel, technology and
reactors to India for peaceful energy although New
Delhi tested bombs in 1974 and 1998 and never signed
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In exchange,
India agreed to open up 14 civilian nuclear facilities
to international inspection, but would continue to
shield eight military reactors from outside scrutiny.
Eric Schmitt reported from Washington and Somini
Sengupta from Mumbai, India. Reporting was contributed
by Alan Cowell from London, and Jeremy Kahn and Robert
F. Worth from Mumbai.
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