By Laila Sohail

Saturday, 13th December – 2008

The Mumbai blasts on the 26th of Nov 08 sent panic waves across India. The three day melodrama and carelessly engineered scheme lead to the most preposterous allegations that blame game history has revealed.

The Indian media had passed its judgment within only a couple of hours into the attack. It was convinced that 10 men had taken a cruise from Karachi to Mumbai, fully equipped with ammunition and explosive material, bypassed the Coast Guard, and made their way into the heart of the city. One of the reports had a fisherman claiming that he had himself questioned one of the terrorists, after seeing the explosives in the bag. It is a wonder how the reporter could keep a straight face as this fisherman armed with a fishing line in one hand and a net in the other, claimed to be nothing short of Superman, while the terrorist responsible for killing so many people was meek enough to simply continue the remaining journey on foot. Within minutes, they had an animation/carton film to depict his tale. While flipping news channels, I came across a film trailer, and I said to myself, damn that Ram Gopal Warma, he does not give up making atrocious Hollywood rip off suspense thrillers…only it wasn’t a trailer, but a documentary on one of the Indian channels, complete with music effects. Still, the Indian Media’s propaganda has been rather rusty. The channels could not decide on the number of the terrorists, which ranged from 9 to 15, or the name of the mastermind [Kamal, Qasab or Rahman chacha being some of the options} There was ambiguity about whether the terrorists had spent a night in some hotel, or come right before the attacks. The channels made a mockery out of this tragedy.In the initial stages of operation, one of the Indian journalists while questioning the terrorists on live TV asked where he was from and the reply was Hyderabad. On cue the spontaneous reaction was "Pakistan Hyderabad?" and the terrorist responded with amusement and a distinctively Indian dialect " Nahi sahb DeKHan… apna DeKHan" {" No sir Deccan…OUR deccan" } Where did that guy go? He must be lying somewhere along with the other 8 killed, with his face disfigured beyond recognition.

There were 10 men, and the forces only managed to capture 1. We are told that he was a Pakistani, based on the testimony of 9 dead people and 1 man now a prisoner of the Security force. The faces of those killed were shot at so that they were unrecognizable. The doctors said, though unidentifiable, the bodies were those of the terrorists…how did they know? The Security Forces told them. How credible.

If the evidence is manufactured, whoever was responsible should be fired. Credit cards, sim cards, satellite phones…at least they could have been more original. The Indian media claimed that it took 6 months for the terrorists to prepare for this difficult operation, so why were there phone calls made to Karachi during the operation? This is really amusing. On one hand they were so intelligent that they planned this attack six months back but on the other hand they were so stupid that they called Pakistan from their mobile phones while in India. These 10 young men had the Indian Police, Black Cat Team and army by their necks for three days, stupidity is one vice which should not be attributed to them. Take one look at the terrorist caught on camera; he could pass for a south Indian low budget film hero, clean shaven and all….definitely not for a Jihadi fighting in the name of Allah.

16 Jul 2006, The Times of India reported this: 'Lashkar-e-Qahhar, which says it has links with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on Saturday claimed responsibility for the 11/7 serial blasts that ripped through Mumbai's commuter trains killing over 200 people.' The information was received by a TV channel via e mail. Investigation showed the involvement of Lt Col Srikanth Purohit. and his accomplices in this act of terrorism. It shows the extent to which hard core elements have crept into the institutions within India. How can the baseless claims put forward by the Indian media have any authenticity considering its past record?

The media and the Indian government are convinced that Lshker I Taebba is behind these attacks. Why would the Lashker do something like this? The only reasonable explanation would be to make a point, to show retaliation to the Indian authorities, in other words…to make them selves known. The Lashker has accepted responsibility for instances in the past such as Jammu May 31st 2007 Bhaderwah encounter, so why is it quiet this time? One of the Lashkir members in Kashmir denied responsibility and said that this is just a sham by the Indian government to discredit the Kashmir movement. So if the Lashker is somehow behind this, what has it achieved? The only explanations offered by the Indian Media for the saffron band and non Muslim attire of the terrorists is that they tried to pose themselves off as Hindus If they were indeed Muslim terrorists, why the hell would they do that? In other words, there is no logical reason for this to be Lashker I Taeeba's job, no matter what absurd proof the Indians may come up with.

India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy It has also killed over 90,000 Kashmiri-Muslims since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils and other minorities. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian Government's murders of Sikhs'worse than genocide." Even a fragment of the Hindus {dalits} are a target of murder, rape and violence, thanks to the caste system. With 25 separatist movements going on within India, the first blame is still put on Pakistan. The terrorists had no problems finding their way around Mumbai. The security forces admitted that the operation was harder as they did not know the lay out of the hotels, which the terrorists seemed to be well familiar with. They even entered the hotel through the kitchen. How could it be done without inside connections? The internal mess should be cleared up before any fingers can be pointed towards external elements. The situation inside India should be highlighted on humanistic grounds.

India has a history of bloody politics, with leaders being assassinated by angry separatist groups and extremist parties wining on the basis of Hate agendas. Looking at the success the BJP is having in the elections, the strategy seems to have worked. Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism. The terrorists are condemned, a war has been waged against them and the people of Pakistan accept them as criminals. Indians should be careful. They might just be voting for them!

With all the Incredible India posters and bollywood latka jhatkas, the fact remains the same; the face of India today is a distorted and disfigured one. What we saw on the 26th of Nov, was an outbreak of that ugliness hidden behind the sparkle of the mask. Rape, murder, poverty, injustice…this is India in the 21st century… but they make great films: that I admit to. So congrats Bollywood glamour for disillusioning the world...and shame on Patriotic Indians for losing the sight of their country in the glitz and glamour

This is an attempt to trap Pakistan in a conflict on the Eastern border. The Indian intentions are now more than clear. The US has repeatedly urged both countries not to indulge in an armed conflict as the removal of the Pakistan army troops from the Western borders would mean the NATO forces being skinned; still it acts as a bribed policeman ready to pass judgment before trial. It has already given indication of where its support lies. This would be the time to bring forward all the proof that Pakistan has against the Indian intelligence. We need to take a stand and turn the tables around. Be it disgruntled Pakistani artists or government officials; we need to have a national consensus.

Laila Sohail is a young Pakistani commentator and can be reached at: blabbersboo[at]gmail.com

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Previous Columns by Ms. Sohail:

Time to go solo: Stop Begging, Start Building!

No to the President, No to the media

Wake up, we are already at War

Where there is a will – There is a way! Zardari’s Success Story

Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan’s Only Real Democrat in 40 Years