[ALOCHONA] Who's Behind the Mumbai Massacre?

Who's Behind the Mumbai Massacre? By Simon Robinson  Nov. 28, 2008   Even as the siege of Mumbai was still going on, the finger-pointing began. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said "external forces" were behind the attacks, a thinly veiled reference to India's neighbor and longtime foe Pakistan. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee went further, telling reporters that "elements with links to Pakistan" were involved. But Pakistan's President and Prime Minister both condemned the attacks and rejected any talk of Pakistani involvement. Pakistani officials also announced that the head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence organization (ISI) — often accused of orchestrating terrorist assaults on India — would travel to India to offer assistance in investigating the Mumbai massacre.   There has been one claim of responsibility: a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, which e-mailed news organizations on Thursday claiming it had carried out the attacks. The group, previously unknown, may be connected with (or even an alias of) the Indian Mujahedin, which claimed responsibility for several terrorist strikes earlier this year. Indian terrorism experts say that both are likely to have connections to, or simply be renamed versions of, older Indian militant groups such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Students Islamic Movement of India. (See pictures of two days of terror in Mumbai.)   Yet the scale and sophistication of the Mumbai attacks — which appear to have involved dozens of militants using assault rifles, grenades and explosives to simultaneously attack multiple targets — raise suspicions of involvement by more than one group, which would involve an unprecedented level of coordination.   "This is an operation of a very new type in India," wrote Walid Phares on his well-respected Counterterrorism Blog. "The 'emirs' have sent these armed elements in their 20s to strike at Indian psyche. One goal is to sink the Pakistani-Indian rapprochement ... The goal is to target India as a power engaged in the war on terror but also to further destabilize the region, including Pakistan and its neighbor Afghanistan."   Here are the groups considered the most likely culprits in the Mumbai attacks: Lashkar-e-Toiba (Army of the Pure), formed in 1990, probably in Afghanistan. It is based near Lahore in Pakistan and is bent on forcing India out of Kashmir. It has also said it wants to restore Islamic rule over India. Indian intelligence sources believe the group has backers within Pakistan's ISI. It also has historic links to both the Taliban and al-Qaeda. India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said in 2006 that Lashkar-e-Toiba is part of the "al-Qaeda compact" and is "as big and as omnipotent" as Osama bin Laden's group. Jaish-e-Mohammed, which emerged in early 2000 under the leadership of Maulana Masood Azhar, who had been serving time in an Indian jail for Kashmir-related militancy but was released in exchange for Indian passengers on an Indian Airlines jet who had been hijacked to Afghanistan. The group was responsible for an attack on India's parliament in December 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Jaish-e-Mohammed is believed to have close links to al-Qaeda and bin Laden through a religious school in Karachi. The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is less focused on Kashmir than either Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed. Indian authorities say the group, formed in 1977, has close connections to a pocket of Chicago's Muslim community. Its fortunes have waxed and waned over the past three decades, but the group has recently become more active again. SIMI blamed the 9/11 attacks on Israelis and, at the same time, expressed admiration for bin Laden and his war against the West. Some Indian experts believe that Indian Mujahedin is simply a renamed SIMI. In the past two years, the groups listed above have sometimes been joined in operations by the Bangladeshi arm of a group known as Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami. The group is believed to be behind twin blasts in Hyderabad in 2007. Formed in 1992 in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi group has become a lot stronger in India since the massacre of Muslims by hard-line Hindu nationalists in Gujarat in 2002. Despite the ideological affinities of some of these groups with bin Laden's movement, Ajai Sahni, executive director of the New Delhi–based Institute for Conflict Management, says there is no real evidence "of any operational linkages between al-Qaeda and these groups." They may take inspiration from al-Qaeda propaganda, but they are unlikely to have direct organizational links back to bin Laden.   More likely, however, is that the four separate groups have begun to work together more often and in increasingly sophisticated ways. There have been instances in the past of the groups' establishing joint operational cells. While pooling resources allowed for more effective operations, it also greatly increased the risks of police infiltration. As a result, the planning of such operations has been decentralized to the point that each group of militants attacking a specific target in Mumbai on Thursday was unlikely to have been aware of the total plan.   Sahni explains that previous experience suggests that an operation of the complexity of the Mumbai attacks would be directed by handlers based outside India, who would design a plan and then contact militants within their networks based in India to carry out various missions — delivering explosives to a safe house, buying equipment and so forth — that would enable the gunmen to wreak havoc.   None of the India-based operatives would most likely know one another, nor for the most part would even meet. Contact with the handler woould always be through a public call center to make it difficult to trace calls. If an operative were picked up by police, there would be no way for him to identify fellow plotters. "It assures total anonymity," Sahni told TIME last year. "The handler is in Bangladesh or Pakistan, and the people here don't know each other. It's the most significant tactical shift in the near past and is a model for international terrorism in the future."   Sadly, the success of the Mumbai operation — at least 143 dead and, perhaps more important, two days and counting of continuous news coverage — is sure to embolden those behind it. The Indian model of disparate groups working together, if that's what it is in this case, is also likely to be copied by al-Qaeda-inspired terrorists around the world. The model, says Sahni, "is absolutely brilliant in every way."   http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1862733,00.html

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[ALOCHONA] BNP nominees in six divisions

BNP nominees  in six divisions   According to the announcement from the BNP Chairperson's office following is the list of the BNP nominations for the upcoming general elections in the six divisions. Sylhet division: Sunamganj: 1-Dr Rafiq Chowdhury, 2-Nasiruddin Chowdhury, 4-Fazlul Haq Aspia, 5-Kalimuddin Ahmed Milon. Sylhet: 1-M Saifur Rahman, 2-M Ilias Ali, 3-Shafi Ahmed Chowdhury, 4-Dilder Hossain Selim. Moulvibazar: 1-Ebadur Rahman Chowdhury, 2-Advocate Abed Raza, 3-Msaifur Rahman, 4-Mozibur Rahman Chowdhury, Habiganj: 1-Sheikh Sujat Mia, 2-Dr Shakhawat Hossain Jibon, 3-Abu Leis Md Mubin Chowdhury, 4-Syed Md Faisal. Dhaka Division: Dhaka: 1-Abdul Mannan, 2-Sabera Aman, 3-Gayashor Chandra Roy, 4-Abdul Hye, 5-Salahuddin Ahmed/Selim Bhuiyan, 6-Sadque Hossain Khoka, 7-Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu/Nasima Akter Kalpana, 8-Afroja Abbas/Mirza Abbas, 9-Azizul Bari Helal, 10-MA Kaium, 11-Shahabuddin, 12-Khandaker Mahbub Ahmed, 13- Moazzem Hossain Alal, 14-SA Khaleque, 16-Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mia, 17-Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, 18-Khorshed Ali Mollah, 19-Dr Dewan Md, 20-Tamiz Uddin. Tangail: 1-Fakir Mahbub Anam Swapan, 2-Sultan Salhuddin Tuku/Abdus Salam Pintu, 3-Lutfur Rahman Khan Azad, 4-Lutfar Rahman Matin, 5-Maj Gen (retd) Mahmudul Hasan, 6- Gautam Chakrabarti, 7-Abul Kalam Azad Siddique, 8-Advocate Ahmed Azam Khan. Jamalpur: 1-Shahida Akter Rita, 2-Sultan Mahmud Babu, 3-Mostafizur Rahman Babul, 4-Faridul Kabit Talukder Shamim, 5-Sirajul Haque, Sherpur: 2-Zahed Ali Chowdhury, 3-Mahmudul Haq Ruble, Mymensingh: 1-Afzal H Khan, 2-Shah Shahid Sarwar 3-Engineer Iqbal Hossain, 4-AKM Mosharraf Hossain, 5-Zakir Hossain, 6-Engineer Shamsuddin Ahmed, 7-Dr Mahabubur Rahman Liton, 8-Shah Nurul Kabir Shaheen, 9-Khurram Khan Chowdhury, 10-Fazlur Rahman Sultan, 11-Fakhar Uddin Ahmed Bacchu. Netrokona: 1-Barrister Kaisar Kamal, 2-Ashraf Uddin Khan, 3-Rafiqul Islam Helali, 4-Lt Col (retd) Syed Ataul Haque, 5-Dr Mohammad Ali. Kishorganj: 1-Masud Helali, 2-Idris Ali Bhuiyan, 3-Jahangir Alam Molla, 4- Advocate Fazlur Rahman, 5- Mashiur Rahman Manju, 6-Shariful Alam, Manikganj: 1-Khandaker Delwar Hossain, 2- Afroza Khan Mita, 3- Harunur Rashid Khan Munnu. Munshiganj: 1-Shah Moazzem Hossain, 2-Mizanur Rahman Sinha, 3-M Shamsul Islam, Gazipur: 1-Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddque, 2-Hasanuddin sarkar, 3-Prof Abdul Mannan, 4-Abdul Mazid, 5-Fazlul Haque Milon, Narshingdi: 1-Khairul Kabir Khokon, 2-Dr Abdul Main Khan, 3-Tofazzel Hossain Master, 4-Zainal Abedin, 5-Jamal Ahmed Chowdhury. Narayanganj: 1-Kazi Maniruzzaman, 2-Badruzzaman Khan Khasru, 4-Giasuddin, 5-Abul Kalam, Rajbari: 1-Ali Newaj Mahmud Khaiam, 2-Nasirul Haque Sabu. Faridpur: 1-Shah Mohammad Abu Zafar, 2-KM Jahangir. Gopalganj: 1-Selimuzzaman Selim, 2-Sirajul Islam, 3-SM Jilani. Madaripur: 2-Helen Zerin Khan. Shariatpur: 1-Shahidul Haque Sikder, 2-Shafiqur Rahman Kiron, 3-KM Hemayet Ullah Aoranga. Chittagong Division: Chittagong: 1-Prof MBM Kamal Uddin Chowdhury, 2-Salahuddin Kader Chowdhury, 3-Md Aslam Chowdhury, 4-Syed Wahidul Alam, 5-Giasuddin Kader Chowdhury, 6-Salhuddin Kader Chowdhury, 7-Ershadullah, 8-Md Shamsul Alam, 9-Abdullah Al Noman, 10-Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, 11-Gazi Md Shahjahan Jewel, 12- Sarwar Jamal Nijam, 13-Md Nizamul Haque Chowdhury, 15-Zafrul Islam Chowdhury, Cox'sbazar: 1-Hasina Ahmed, 3-Lutfar Rahman Kajal, Noakhali: 1-Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan, 2-Joynul Abedin Faruq/Kazi Mafizur Rahman, 4-Mohammad Shahjahan, 5-Barrister Maodud Ahmed. Feni: 2-VP Jainal Ahmed, 3-Mosharraf Hossain, Lakhsmipur: 1-Nazimuddin Ahmed/Imam Hossain 2-Kabir Ahmed/Barrister Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, 3-Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, 4- Ashrafuddin Mizan. Comilla: 1-Dr Khandaker Mosharaf Hossain, 2-MK Anwar, 3-Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, 4-Majeda Ahsan, 5-Alauddin Bhuiyan 6-Aminur Rashid Yasin, 7-Khorshed Alam, 8-Jakaria Taher Sumon, 9-Col (retd) Anwarul Azim, 11-Abdul Gafur Bhuiyen, Chandpur: 1-Ehsanul Haq Milon, 2-Nurul Huda, 3-GM Fazlul Haque, 5-MA Matin. B'Baria: 1-Syed Ekramuzzaman, 3-Harun al Rashid, 4-Shakil Wahed/Abdur Rahim, 5-Kazi Anwar Hossain, 6-Abdul Khalek. Rajshahi Division: Panchagarh: 1- Barrister Jamir Uddin Sarker, 2-Mozahar Hossain, Rajshahi: 1-former IGP Enamul Haque, 2-Mizanur Rahman Minu, 3-Kabir Hossain, 4- Prof Gafur, 6-Azizur Rahman. Chapainababganj: 1-Prof Mohammad Shahjahan Mia/Prof Mizanur Rahman, 2-Aminul Islam, 3-Harunur Rashid. Gaibandha: 2-Comodore (retd) Shafiqur Rahman, 3-Mohammad Ali, 4- Maj (retd) Reaul Islam, 5-Hasan Ali, Dinajpur: 1-Syed Ahmed, 2-Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, 3-Shariful Alam Prodhan, 4- Hafizur Rahman/ Akhtaruzzaman Mia/Major (retd) Mirza Shamsul, 5-TH Akbar Ali, Nilphamari: 1- Dr Zahid Hossain Prodhan, 2-Shamsuzzaman, 4- Amjad Hossain Sarkar, Kurigram: 1-Shafiur Rahman Rana, 2-Tajul Islam Chowdhury, 3-Matiur Rahman. Bogra: 1-Mokbul Hossain, 2-AKM Hafizur Rahman, 3-Abdul Momin Talukder, 4-GIS Mostafa/Ali Hossain, 5-Mahbubur Rahman Harej/Jane Alam Khoka/Shafiuzzaman Khokon, 6- Khaleda Zia, 7-Khaleda Zia. Natore: 1-Fazlur Rahman Patal, 2-Sabina Yasmin Chhobi, Kazi Golam Morshed, 4-Mozammel Haque. Naogaon: 1-Dr Salek Chowdhury, 2-Abdun Nur, 3-Akhter Hamid Siddique, 4-Shamsul Alam Pramaniq, 5-Md Hasan Siddique/Lt Col (retd) Latif Khan, 6-Anwar Hossain Bulu. Lalmonirhat: 2-Salhuddin Ahmed Helal, 3-Principal Asadul Habib Dulu, Pabna: 2- AKM Selim Reza Habib, 3- Group Captain (retd) Saiful Azam, 4-Siraj Sikder, Rangpur: 3-Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, 4-Rahim Uddin Bharasa, Srajganj: 1-Abdul Mazid Minu, 2-Romana Mahmud, 3-Abdul Mannan Talukder, 4-M Akbar Ali, 5-Major (retd) Manjur Kader/Golam Maola Khan Bablu, 6-Kamruddin Yahia Khan, Jaipurhat: 1-Majohar Ali Pradhan, 2-Golam Mostafa, Thakurgaon: 1- Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 3-Zahidur Rahman Zahid. Barisal Division: Barisal: 1- Eng Abdus Sobhan, 2-Sharfuddin Ahmed Santu, 3-Selima Rahman, 4-Mejbahuddin Farhad, 5-Muzibur Rahman Sarwar, 6-Abul Hossain Khan, Jhalakathi: 1-Rafiqul Islam Jamal, 2- Ismat Sultana Elen Bhutto, Perojpur: 2-Nurul Islam Manjur, 3-Col (retd) Shajahan Mia, Bhola: 3-Mej (red) Hafizuddin Ahmed, 4-Nazimuddin Ahmed. Patuakhali: 1-Air Vice Marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, 2-Shahidul Alam Talukder,/Faruk Ahmed Talukder, 3-Md Golam Mostafa, 4-ABM Mosharraf Hossain, Barguna: 1-Matiur Rahman Talukder, 2-Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain. Khulna Division: Khulna: 1-Amir Ezaz Khan, 2-Nazrul Islam Manju, 3-Sekandar Haidar Dalim, 4-Shah Kamal Taj. Meherpur: 1-Group Captain (retd) Shamsujjoha, 2-Amjad Hossain, Kushtia: 1-Altaf Hossain, 2-Principal Shahidul Islam, 3- Principal Sohrab Uddin, 4-Syed Mehedi Ahmed Rumi, Jessore: 3-Tarikul Islam, 4-TH Aiyub, 6-Abdus Samad Biswas/Barrister Omor Sadat, Magura: 1-Iqbal Akhter, 2-Nitai Roy Chowdhury Narail: 1-Biswas Jahangir Alam, 2-Sharif Khasrujjaman, Shatkhira: 4-HM Rahmatullah, Chuadanga: 1-Ahidul Islam Biswas (Chuyadanga 1), Bagerhat: 1-Sheikh Shahiduzzaman Dipu, 2-MA Salam, Jhenaidah: 1-Abdul Wahab/Md Shamsuzzaman, 2-Mashiru Rahman, 3-Shahidul Islam Master, 4-Shahiduzzaman Beltu.   http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=65574

[ALOCHONA] AL, JP yet to settle seat sharing dispute

AL, JP yet to settle seat sharing dispute

New Age 30/11/08  

 

The Awami League has not yet finalised seat sharing arrangement with the Jatiya Party but completed distribution of constituencies among the rest of its allies hoping that it would be able to announce the final list of the ‘grand’ alliance candidature before the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers.
After an inconclusive meeting with the AL, leaders of the Jatiya Party met at the residence of its chairman HM Ershad Saturday night to review the situation.
The party announced after the meeting that it would file nominations for all 300 parliamentary constituencies today, the last date for filing nomination papers, but did not elaborate.
The Awami League and Jatiya Party held a series of meetings over the last two days but could not finalise seat sharing arrangement for the parliamentary polls.
Jatiya Party’s acting chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud and presidium member Ziauddin Bablu talked with AL leaders at Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmnodi office and later had a meeting with the AL chief at her Sudha Sadan residence Saturday evening.
AL leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Syed Ashraful Islam were present at the Sudha Sadan meeting.
After the meeting AL spokesperson Syed Ashraful Islam said the AL-led alliance would contest the polls, scheduled for December 29, as it was committed to restoration of democracy. The alliance will form a coalition government, if voted to power, he added.
He hoped that the AL-led alliance would come to power if the polls were free and fair.
Anisul Islam told reporters that the issue of seat sharing with Awami League would be settled shortly.
Ashraful said the nation was shocked and stunned by the decision of its arch-rival BNP to nominate persons like Abdus Salam Pintu, who was under trial for his alleged involvement in the August 21, 2004 grenade attacks on an Awami League rally.
‘After the January 11, 2007 changeover, everybody in the country hoped that all political parties would act responsibly and nominate honest and non-controversial candidates and persons free from corruption for the elections’, Ashraful said.
‘I would like to ask the BNP actually what does it want. Does it want restoration of democracy and peace or to push the country to the brink of a civil war?’ He hoped that the BNP would refrain from giving nomination to those who were facing criminal charges and who were involved in corruption, plunder of public money and killing of people.
Anisul Islam said, ‘The Awami League-led alliance must finalise its list of candidates soon. If it is held up till December 11 [last day for withdrawal of candidacy], the candidates will have only 18 days for preparation and campaign, which is not sufficient’, he viewed.
He told New Age that the JP still hoped it would get some 50 constituencies from the ‘grand’ alliance and an AL presidium member also told New Age that an understanding with the JP over seat sharing was a must indicating that the AL might concede to the JP’s demand for a few more seats.
Later Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon and politburo member Fazley Hossain Badsha met with Hasina at her Dhanmondi office. At the meeting Hasina assured the WP leaders that Badsha would get Rajshahi-2 constituency from the alliance, meeting sources said.
The Awami League, meanwhile, changed ten of its nominations. Ashraf Ali Khan has been nominated for Netrakona-2 constituency instead of Col (retd) Nur Khan, Shafi Ahmed for Netrakona-4 replacing Rebeka Momen, Shafiqual Azam Khan Chanchal for Jhenidah-2 instead of Nabi Newaz, Anwarul Azim Anar for Jhenidah-4 instead of Abdul Mannan and Shamsul Alam Dudu for Jaipurhut-1 instead of Khaza Shamsul.
Junaid Ahmed Palak got AL ticket for Natore-3 constituency replacing Hanif Ali Sheikh, Khaledur Rahman Teto for Jessore-3 instead of Ali Reza Raju, Ishtiaque Ahmed for Jamalpur-1 replacing Abul Kalam Azad, Azizul Huque Chowdhury for Dinajpur-6 instead of Abu Hanif Sarker and Tajul Islam Faruq for Rajshahi-5 instead of Abdul Wadud Dara.
On Friday the party changed four of its nominations for Manikganj-2, Rajshahi-2, Cox’s Bazar-4, and Pirojpur-2 constituencies.

 

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[ALOCHONA] Hasina and Khaleda talk after a decade

http://www.newagebd.com/2008/nov/22/front.html#1

 

Hasina, Khaleda talk after over a decade
Courtesy New Age 22/11/08

Nazrul Islam

 

Political arch-rivals Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia on Friday exchanged pleasantries and shook hands after over a decade amidst thunderous applause from hundreds of dignitaries and invited guests at the Armed Forces Day reception at Dhaka Cantonment on Friday evening.
The two leaders, who were put behind bars by the military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed and eventually released after nearly a year in detention, shared a light moment and jail experiences at the reception at Senakunja.
Both Hasina and Khaleda, chiefs of two major political parties – Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party – told the media that they had exchanged greetings and talked about their time in jail.
The AL chief entered the venue five minutes before the BNP chief arrived. As Khaleda approached the area, reserved for the VIPs, Hasina who was chatting with the advisers to the government, drew near to receive her.
Khaleda stretched out her hands towards Hasina. As the two leaders shook hands, the guests attending the programme burst into applause welcoming the rare gesture.
Fakhruddin was flanked by Khaleda on his the right and Hasina on his left at the reception. The event took place when the nation is preparing for general elections to end nearly two years of military-led emergency rule.
The function was attended by president Iajuddin Ahmed, chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Jatiya Sangsad speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar, advisers to the interim administration, chief election commissioner, head of the parties, former presidents, judges of the Supreme Court, chiefs of the three services, high civil and military officials and foreign diplomats.
The two smiling former prime ministers, who did not talk publicly for more than a decade, also inquired about wellbeing of each other’s families, especially their grandsons and granddaughters.
The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, and the army chief, Moeen U Ahmed also talked to the two leaders separately on the sidelines.
The content of their discussions, however, could not be known.
Many attempts to have the two leaders to sit across the table to resolve major issues of the nation had failed in recent times.
The two leaders last week expressed their eagerness to sit together to hold a dialogue on national issues. Hasina wanted an agenda specific discussion while Khaleda preferred open ended talks.
They last attended the Armed Forces Day reception in November 2006, but did not talk. They publicly talked for the last time in 1995 at the wedding reception of Hasina’s daughter Saima Wajed Putul at the Jatiya Sangsad complex.
When asked what they had discussed, both the leaders told reporters that they simply had exchanged greetings and enquired about the families of each other.
Khaleda Zia said that they had talked about their experiences in jail as both of them lived in separate sub-jail at the parliament complex.
‘We shared our experiences in jail. Although we lived closer, we could not talk at that time’, she said. Hasina echoed Khaleda.
Asked about the much-talked-about political dialogue between the two leaders, who ruled the country for 15 years in turns, Khaleda said she had no problem to hold talks.
To a question on possible deferral of the elections to December 28, Sheikh Hasina said that it was now a matter between the government and BNP, not of her party.
‘The reason for elongating the state of emergency and delay the polls is not clear to me. We prefer the election to be held as per the schedule so that the people get rid of the emergency rule’, Hasina told reporters.
Asked whether the two leaders would continue their conversation, the AL chief said that they [the two leaders] often talked to each other.
But again, she said, all should not be weighed in the same manner. She said she was taken to jail though she had no corruption records.
The Armed Forces Day was observed to pay tribute to the members of the armed forces who laid down their lives in the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

 

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[ALOCHONA] Poor Bangladesh

Poor Bangladesh New Age 20/11/08

AKM Mohiuddin (November 18) blames the current government entirely for the condition of the country. Certainly it is to be blamed. But our two main political parties, both elected to government, share the greater blame. It is the stubbornness, selfishness and refusal to change on the part of our politicians that has caused these problems. We can blame the policeman for failing to catch the criminal. We can blame the social worker for not reforming the criminal. But it is the criminal who is ultimately responsible for his crimes —– even more when this criminal is elected to public office. It is not this government that has robbed the nation of hope –— it is our politicians who have robbed the nation of hope. At least we saw this government trying to fight Hasina and Khaleda —– and there is hope to found in the fact that they even tried.
   Ezajur Rahman
   Kuwait

 

 

Poor Bangladesh New Age 18/11/08

What a mess the country is in today! There is total confusion and uncertainty in everything and an all-pervasive atmosphere of distrust prevails everywhere. The present government and the Election Commission through a series of ill-conceived and suspicious steps have brought the country to this sorry state. From the beginning they have been totally unrealistic and have displayed shocking arrogance and singular lack of humility. The result is that they have robbed the nation of all hope.
   AKM Mohiuddin
   Via e-mail

 

 

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[mukto-mona] Who Benefits From Mumbai Terror Attacks? - Binu Mathew

"And now to the question that is on everybody's mind. Who did this dastardly act? Although, this is not the topic of this article and also it is for the investigation agencies to decide, and as I dont want to engage in wild guesses I can suggest only this much, those forces who destroyed the twin towers in New York might be behind the Mumbai terror attacks too. Whoever benefitted from 9/11 will benefit from the Mumbai terror attack internationally and the Hindutva forces will benefit from it locally. "   Who Benefits From Mumbai Terror Attacks? By Binu Mathew 29 November, 2008 http://www.countercurrents.org/mathew291108.htm Mumbai terrorist stand off is almost over. More than 200 civilians and about 20 police and army officials lost their lives. Taj Mahal palace, a symbol of India's business and commercial well being bears a ghostly look. The terror stricken populace slowly limp back to life. Will Mumbai be the same again? Will India be the same again? There are talk in the media that the Mumbai terror attack is India's 9/11. The similiarities may be far fatched, but there are so many things that bears stark resemblances to each other. Both attacks are carried out apparently by muslim terrorist organisations. Both New York and Mumbai are commercial and business centers of the respective nations. Although the magnitude of the attacks may look dissimilar, the sheer psychological impact on the populace of both the nation and the world in general is comparable in dimension. 9/11 was an earth shattering event that unleashed a chain of reactions that changed the world irremediably, both inside the USA and around the world. And what about India's 9/11? It's very possible that the chain of reactions that followed the US 9/11 are likely to follow here as well. The leader of the opposition and a prime ministerial candidate of the Hindu right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for stringent anti terror laws. A patriot act may not be far behind. That gives us a clue to who is going to benefit from these terror attacks. The BJP has been calling for new anti-terror laws ever since the Congress led UPA government repealed the much reviled Prevention of Terrorist Atrocities Act(POTA). The UPA repealed the law as there were many complaints, especially from minority communities that it has been used selectively to frame innocents from a particular community. In the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks, a new terror law is imminent. One other tragedy of the terrorist attack is that the chief of Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Mumbai, Hemant Karkare, lost his life to terrorist's bullets. He was a brave and upright official who was probing the link between Hindu fascist organisations and terror blasts in several parts of India. The ATS under Karkare had arrested a Hindu Sanyasin and an army Lt. Colonel. Several other retired army personnel and retired Intelligence Bureau officials were also named in the affair. Indian news papers had carried pictures of the Sanyasin sitting with the president of the BJP and the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Prithvi Raj Chauhan. Then came the startling revelation that the International General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), had donated money to Abhinav Bharat the organisation that master minded the September 29 Malegaon blast. The investigation was reaching such a stage that more top functionaries of Sangh Parivar (a general denomination for the various Hindu supremascist organisations) were likely to be named. Now, that Karkare is gone, and the nations attention is turned elsewhere, the enquiry may face a slow death. Yesterday, a hindu colleague (who is a level headed moderate man himself) text messaged me saying, 'you people will make us terrorists'. He was suggesting that Muslims and Christians (the minorities in India) will make the majority Hindus terrorists! This is another fall out of India's 9/11. To put it simply, the position of minorities in India, especially Muslims has become more precarious. India will be communally more divided. It will only strengthen the Hindutva forces and their political wing, BJP. India is going to polls next year. These blasts are going to weaken the ruling Congress and strengthen the BJP. And then the big international picture. The 'War on Terror' has come to India! Even though Indian Muslims had been demonised by the Hindutva forces in India, it had only a local impact. They were not part of the bigger war on Muslims perpetrated by the Israel- Neocon promoted George W. Bush regime. Diplomatically also,India kept a safe distance from the US war on terror fearing the backlash of the strong domestic muslim population. Now with the Mumbai terror attacks they have come under the radar of the 'War on Terror.' Now that the Obama regime is intending to spread this war into Pakistan and expand its operation in Afghanistan, India could be a willing strategic partner in the region. And now to the question that is on everybody's mind. Who did this dastardly act? Although, this is not the topic of this article and also it is for the investigation agencies to decide, and as I dont want to engage in wild guesses I can suggest only this much, those forces who destroyed the twin towers in New York might be behind the Mumbai terror attacks too. Whoever benefitted from 9/11 will benefit from the Mumbai terror attack internationally and the Hindutva forces will benefit from it locally. And the final question, Whither India? And I fear how long can I write articles such as this. Binu Mathew is the editor of www.countercurrents.org. He can be reached at editor@countercurrents.org With Regards Abi

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[ALOCHONA] India's Antiterror Blunders

India's Antiterror Blunders   Years of appeasing militants has made the problem worse. By SADANAND DHUME As the story of the carnage in Mumbai unfolds, it is tempting to dismiss it as merely another sorry episode in India's flailing effort to combat terrorism. Over the past four years, Islamist groups have struck in New Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, among other places. The death toll from terrorism -- not counting at least 119 killed in Mumbai on Wednesday and Thursday -- stands at over 4,000, which gives India the dubious distinction of suffering more casualties since 2004 than any country except Iraq. The attacks highlight India's particular vulnerability to terrorist violence. But they are also a warning to any country that values what Mumbai symbolizes for Indians: pluralism, enterprise and an open society. Put simply, India's failure to protect its premier city offers a textbook example for fellow democracies on how not to deal with militant Islam. The litany of errors is long. Unlike their counterparts in the West, or in East Asia, India's perpetually squabbling leaders have failed to put national security above partisan politics. The country's antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude, anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors -- Pakistan and Bangladesh -- reveals a limited grasp of statecraft. Finally, India's inability to modernize its 150-million strong Muslim population, the second largest after Indonesia's, has spawned a community that is ill-equipped to seize new economic opportunities and susceptible to militant Islam's faith-based appeal. To be sure, not all of India's problems are of its own making. In Pakistan, it has a neighbor founded on the basis of religion, whose government -- along with those of Iran and Saudi Arabia -- has long been one of the world's principal exporters of militant Islamic fervor. Bangladesh also hosts a panoply of jihadist groups. As in Pakistan, public sympathy with the militant Islamic worldview forestalls any meaningful effort against those who regularly use the country as a sanctuary to plan mayhem in India. America's unsuccessful Pakistan policy -- too many carrots and too few sticks -- has also contributed to a fundamentally unstable neighborhood. Nonetheless, the reflexive Indian response to most every act of terrorism is to apportion blame rather than to seek a solution that will prevent, or at least minimize, its recurrence. Even Indonesia -- a still-poor Muslim-majority nation where sympathy for militants runs deeper than it does in India -- has done an infinitely better job of recognizing that the protection of citizens' lives is any government's first responsibility. A superbly trained, federal antiterrorism force called Detachment 88 has ensured that country has not suffered a terrorist attack in more than three years. By contrast, India's leaders -- who invariably swan around with armed guards paid for by the taxpayer -- can't even agree on a legal framework to keep the country safe. On taking office in 2004, one of the first acts of the ruling Congress Party was to scrap a federal antiterrorism law that strengthened witness protection and enhanced police powers. The Congress Party has stalled similar state-level legislation in Gujarat, which is ruled by the opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. And it was a Congress government that kowtowed to fundamentalist pressure and made India the first country to ban Mumbai-born Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses" in 1988. The BJP hasn't exactly distinguished itself either. In 1999, the hijacking of an Indian aircraft to then Taliban-ruled Afghanistan led a BJP government to release three hardened militants, including Omar Sheikh Saeed, the former London School of Economics student who would go on to murder Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. More recently, the BJP, driven by tribal religious solidarity and a penchant for conspiracy theories, has failed to demand the same tough treatment for alleged Hindu terrorists as it does for Muslims. Minor parties, especially those dependent on the Muslim vote, compete to earn fundamentalists' favor. In sum, the Indian approach to terrorism has been consistently haphazard and weak-kneed. When faced with fundamentalist demands, India's democratically elected leaders have regularly preferred caving to confrontation on a point of principle. The country's institutions and culture have abetted a widespread sense of Muslim separateness from the national mainstream. The country's diplomats and soldiers have failed to stabilize the neighborhood. The ongoing drama in Mumbai underscores the price both Indians and non-Indians caught unawares must now pay.   Mr. Dhume is a Washington-based writer and the author of "My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with an Indonesian Islamist" (Text Publishing, 2008).   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122783260486063039.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop#printMode

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[ALOCHONA] India cannot pin all the blame on outsiders

India cannot pin all the blame on outsiders Radical Islamist terrorism has flourished among the sub-continent's seething mixture of racial and religious rivalries Maria Misra   Images of that great Bombay monument, the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, engulfed in flames and thick billowing smoke cannot help but recall the collapsing twin towers of 9/11. The attack seems to bear all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda operation.   The terrorists chose Bombay (Mumbai), the New York of India; they targeted iconic buildings - the Taj and the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, the flamboyant mini-St Pancras that is redolent of the Raj-era glory days. The terrorists are reported to have been daring in their approach - they arrived by sea not far from the Raj's 1911 monument to itself, the basalt Gateway of India.   The Bombay outrage is a reminder of how crucial South Asia is in the creation of radical Islamist terrorism. Although the US often points the finger at Europe as its main incubator, it is in the sub-continent and the surrounding arc of states, simmering with ethnic and religious rivalries, that Islamist extremism thrives.   India has been plagued by more run-of-the-mill domestic terrorism in recent years, but this was the first full-scale anti-Western attack and Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, was quick to assert that it was the work of outsiders.   There is evidence to support his claim. The targeting of British and US citizens as hostages in the two hotels is a novel development. So too is the use of AK47s and commando tactics. In style and execution it was closest to attacks in the Saudi city of Khobar in May, 2004, when oil installations were targeted by apparently well-trained, Sten-gun-wielding paramilitaries who seized Western workers as hostages.   The timing of the attack, likely to derail efforts by the incoming Obama Administration to pursue a more constructive approach to the War on Terror, also seems too convenient to be mere coincidence.   But unlike 9/11 there is evidence of an entirely domestic element at play. In recent months there has been a spate of bombings in Indian cities. Responsibility has been claimed by the Indian Mujahadin - one of several fronts for the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi). It is through Simi, Indian officials fear, that international terrorist networks have begun to penetrate more deeply into India - often through links with the Gulf.   Founded in the late 1970s as a study group, Simi became involved in violence after the Hindu nationalist destruction of the Ayodhya mosque in 1992 and the Bombay riots of 1993. Banned after 9/11, it developed an underground network throughout India and Bangladesh. In the past 18 months there have been signs of a new international element in its activities. After the Jaipur bombings this summer, the Indian Mujahadin threatened foreign tourists. There is speculation of links with Gulf-based jihadist organisations.   However, terrorism in India is by no means an exclusively Muslim practice. Terrorist violence is, sadly, endemic. In the past four years India has suffered the highest rate of civilian death by political violence after Iraq. It is at present experiencing a form of politics more akin to Italy's violent "Years of Lead" in the 1970s than Gandhi's Golden Age of Ahimsa (non-violence). In its interiors, far-left Naxalites have waged an intermittent guerrilla war for more than 30 years; in the 1980s the Khalistan-Punjab crisis claimed 40,000 lives, and the insurgency in Kashmir another 90,000. And in the late 1980s and early 1990s Hindu nationalist extremists used terrorism as an electoral strategy - and appear to be doing so again in this election year with attacks on Indian Christians in eastern and southern India.   But despite the multi-religious and multi-ethnic origins of terrorist violence the Indian authorities have, until recently, tended to treat only Muslims as terrorists. So while Muslim "terrorists" have been subject to extraordinary laws of detention and trial in special courts, Hindu nationalist "rioters" have been tried in regular courts, or, more usually, not been punished at all. One of the principal complaints of Indian Muslim groups is the failure to bring to trial any of the Hindu ringleaders responsible for pogroms in Bombay in 1993 and Gujarat in 2002 in which more than 4,000 Muslims died.   While the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, and international jihadist groups have undoubtedly trained and funded Indian Muslim terrorists, the chief recruiting officer is often the Indian State.   This is especially true at regional and state level where the police and judiciary are often "captured" by Hindu political interests that have used anti-terrorist laws to pursue political vendettas. The extreme poverty of many Muslims in India, whose status, according to a recent report, was below that of the "Untouchable" caste of Hindus, has increased frustration. While "Untouchable" and other low-caste groups are actively promoted into universities and prestigious state jobs, India's 150 million Muslims, who make up 13 per cent of the population, hold only 3 per cent of state posts. They are even less well represented in the police.   There are signs that the present Congress-led coalition recognises these problems. On taking office in 2004, Dr Singh's Government abolished the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), which, the Prime Minister argued, was propagating rather than preventing terrorism.   Another positive sign was the recent arrest of Hindu nationalist terrorist cells in Maharashtra. After the Delhi bombs in September the Government announced the creation of a central intelligence agency to monitor Islamist terror. Given the intelligence failures emerging in the wake of the Bombay catastrophe, this can only be welcomed   The immediate effect of the Bombay attacks will probably be to fuel the recovery of the Hindu nationalist BJP and its supporters, who are demanding the reimposition of the Pota laws. We can only hope that better counsel prevails and India does not lapse into a new cycle of violence and revenge. Maria Misra is the author of Vishnu's Crowded Temple: India and the Great Rebellion (Penguin) and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5247848.ece

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[mukto-mona] India shall prevail.

This huge expanse of land stretching from the lofty Himalayas to Kanyakumari and from the woods of Akyab to the barren mountains of the Khyber's was once known as India. The mystic land which the ancient world knew for its spiritualism, serenity and riches, and this is the land where the sages discovered the meanings of life and Buddha found the ways to Nirvana or emancipation. This is the land which bestowed supreme goodness to man and gave an eternal hope by declaring 'Tadatmanag srijanyahum yugey yugey to salvage the distressed humanity. Does this precious piece of land deserve this inhuman treatment in the name of religion?  Emperor Ashoka after the bloody experience of the Kalinga war discovered the need of peace what the present Indian nation will find in this bloody experience in Bombay? Will India succumb or rise to the occasion and reiterate that the eternal soul of India is much stronger than a few criminal cowards' evil designs?

I am confident that India will again show its historic internal strength which it showed when the foreign vultures desecrated its virginity, when its unique dhamma was challenged by the foreign religions, when its soul was mercilessly and relentlessly insulted by the occupiers, India remained straight forward   and passed through all the daily indignities with forbearance and resolution. In 1947 when India was divided in the name of religion more than a million of its innocent citizens perished and an evil spirit were born from that ill motivated religio political blunder. This demon of hatred and division never rested in peace and did everything to shed more blood and create more destruction. This new mayhem in Bombay is just another bloody chapter of that blunder committed in 1947.

 

Akbar Hussain

 

 

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[ALOCHONA] Bound by Sorrows

 

 

 "--------like rivers, languages, and history - terrorism ties India and Pakistan together. India cannot prosper while Pakistan festers. Pakistan cannot progress while standing in the way of India's ascent."

    

            I found this article to bear witness to painful truths.

 

                                 Farida Majid

========================================================

 

http://www.wichaar.com/

November 28th, 2008 Bound by sorrows Mohsin Hamid Bound by sorrows India and Pakistan are in this together. Their fights against extremism will founder if fought alone In the rush to blame Pakistan for the terrorist atrocity in Mumbai, a dangerous mistake is being made. The impulse to implicate Pakistan is of course understandable: the past is replete with examples of Pakistani and Indian intelligence agencies working to destabilise the historical enemy across the border. But it is too soon to know who is behind the current attacks. Some or all of the attackers may indeed come from or have supporters in Pakistan. Equally, some or all may be Indian. The desire of s ome in India to ascribe guilt to Pakistan before the evidence is in is, therefore, an attempt to avoid introspection. India and Pakistan are more alike than politicians of either country tend to acknowledge. The triumphal narrative of India as an incredible success, and the defeatist narrative of Pakistan as an impending disaster are both only half true. For much of this young century, Pakistan has enjoyed economic growth rates not far behind those of India, and this year Pakistan has emulated its neighbour by returning to democracy. India, meanwhile, is, like Pakistan, home to many simmering insurgencies. Had recent protests in Indian Kashmir occurred in a former Soviet Republic, they would have been hailed by the world as a new Orange Revolution (and had they occurred in Tibet, they would have resulted in calls for international pressure on Beijing). Similarly, the tensions in India's northeast, the armed Naxalite movement, and the slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat all run counter to the half-truth of "India shining". Both Pakistan and India are plagued by extremist violence. Both have in their six decades of independence dramatically failed their poor. Earlier this year, the World Bank reported that half of Indian children are so malnourished their bodies fail to achieve normal size. That is twice the rate of child malnourishment found in sub-Saharan Africa. The reason to look at the similarities between India and Pakistan is not to drag India down or to deny the wonderful accomplishments of which Indians should be proud. Rather, it is to point out that the countries are in this together. Their fights against extremism cannot be separated by national borders into convenient compartments, one marked "domestic" and the other "foreign". Just as Pakistan and Afghanistan must cooperate if they are to solve the problems of violent extremism, so must Pakistan and India. There has never been a better time for such cooperation. The people who can best understand what the residents of Mumbai are going through are the residents of Islamabad. The destruction of the Islamabad Marriott only weeks ago foreshadowed the attacks on the Oberoi and the Taj, and the pitched gun-battle between extremists and government forces in South Mumbai has eerie echoes of last year's bloody and prolonged standoff at Islamabad's Red Mosque. Just as Delhi has seen bombings this year, so has Lahore. Just as rogue elements of Pakistan's armed forces have been accused of supporting terrorists, so has a lieutenant colonel in the Indian army. Of course India and Pakistan are not the same, but the parallels are remarkable. Continuing to ignore this serves only to divide two countries that could benefit greatly from greater unity. Fortunately, a coming together is possible. Pakistan is emerging from a long period of denial about its terrorism problem. The Pakistan army is engaged in a massive offensive against extremists in the tribal areas, willing to take hundreds of casualties and displace hundreds of thousands of Pakistani citizens in the process. President Zardari is extending olive branches to India in the form of calls for greater cooperation against terrorism, more economic integration, and compromises on Kashmir. The Indian government has been slow to seize this opportunity. The Mumbai attacks now provide a perfect pretext to reject Pakistan's overtures and set in motion a train of events reminiscent of 2001, when the terrorist attack on India's parliament brought the countries to the brink of war. Such a reaction would only benefit the terrorists. It would do so directly by distracting the Pakistan army from its offensive in the tribal areas, and it would do so indirectly by turning public opinion in Pakistan, which is slowly hardening against extremism, against India instead. The alternative is to acknowledge that - like rivers, languages, and history - terrorism ties India and Pakistan together. India cannot prosper while Pakistan festers. Pakistan cannot progress while standing in the way of India's ascent. Only by cooperating can both countries hope to achieve security and make dreams of prosperity come true for more than a small minority. When terrorism strikes, divisive anger is a natural response. Wisdom lies, however, in realising that we o f India and Pakistan are united by our shared sorrow. • Mohsin Hamid is the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist mohsinhamid. com

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