Posts tagged mumbai
Obama’s Litmus Test?
Jan 18th
It is too early to say whether or not Barrack Hussain Obama’s approach to the Muslim world would be any different to that of the Bush administration. He has made big promises and committed himself to ‘change’, however there isn’t much time left before he actually steps into the White house as President of the United States of America.
The past two months have been difficult for the world. First, it was Mumbai and then barbaric Israeli terrorism in Gaza. Both India and Israel enjoyed full support of the White house and George W. Bush.
It seems as if the Mumbai drama, staged by the Indians and the Israeli’s together, has failed to achieve its objective and Pakistan has come out of it clean. It is interesting to note, however, that once we noticed the dust settling here in South Asia – the Israeli’s launched a full scale war on the Gaza strip. The Indian-Israeli nexus of terror is strong and requires a dedicated column to explain.
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Loading ...Our terror, their terror
Dec 22nd
An interesting read indeed. The column was published in the Hindustan times. The writer, Vir Sanghvi, exposes the BJP’s double standards and how Muslims are victimized in India.
Shortly before LK Advani spoke at the HT Summit on Friday, I was chatting to Ajit Doval. Though he is not yet a household name, Doval is a former director of the Intelligence Bureau who was close to Advani when the latter was Home Minister and he will probably be National Security Advisor if the BJP comes to power.
As Advani has — by his own admission — been reluctant to say very much about the allegations of terrorism against various militant Hindus, I asked Doval how he viewed the arrests and the claims made by the Anti Terror Squad (ATS).
Doval’s response was that the term ‘Hindu terror’ worried him. There were, he said, two dimensions to any battle against terror. The first was law and order. You should treat all terrorists as murderers regardless of their religions, ethnic origins or whatever. More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...India ’staged’ Mumbai drama, hotel guests testify
Dec 21st
A recent report published by the BBC points more fingers towards Indian security agencies for actually staging the entire Mumbai drama. The stories craft by the Indian electronic and print media were absolutely absurd from the very beginning. Now we have it that the guests who had trapped themselves inside hotel rooms for safety were actually instructed by policemen to leave the building while the fighting raged on.
Several other things have been left unanswered, including the gross failure of Indian security and intelligence agencies that such a big terrorist attack happened right under their nose, in a country aspiring to become a regional superpower. All these questions that raise in one’s mind have been discussed before here and at several other forums.
So much so that the Indian minister for minorities had to resign for raising the issue of Mr. Karkare’s suspicious killing at an unknown location on the same day – the senior Indian policeman who had exposed the masterminds of the Samjhota express bombings and held a Hindu serving Indian army Colonel for the same.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Is the ‘PP’ Pakistani anymore?
Dec 15th
The People’s Party government in Islamabad has either done or tried to do almost everything that the Indians have been demanding. With Musharraf in power, Pakistan had the courage to tell the United States and India of their involvement in the Balochistan and the Frontier province unrest. What use is a democracy that cannot uphold our dignity, sovereignty and self-respect? Where has one of the three P’s in the PPP gone? The Pakistan?
Amend Foster
Sunday, December 14 – 2008
Ever since it came to power, the People’s Party government in Islamabad has either done or tried to do almost everything that the Indians have been demanding Pakistan to do for them over the past several decades.
While Musharraf was in power, the government was labelled ‘cowardly’ and one that strictly followed American directives. We dived into the ‘War on terror’ for the United States at a heavy cost. We handed over Pakistani citizens who were ’suspected’ of being involved in terrorism.
But with Musharraf in power, Pakistan had the courage to tell the United States and India of their involvement in the Balochistan and the Frontier province unrest. It had the power to tell the United States ‘Sorry, we will not support you to attack Iran from our territory’. It had the guts to say ‘No, Gawadar port shall be built and completed’ much to the United States anguish.
Let me come to where I wanted to take you. What use is a democracy that cannot uphold our dignity, sovereignty and self-respect? I am not opposed to democracy, I am talking about this specific form of democracy that is in place in Pakistan. A democracy so fragile and insecure that if Mumbai is attacked, the President of this country (sitting happily over the 17th ammendment) comes out to say that it is an attack on the democratic establishment in Pakistan. Absurd right? Absolutely! More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Discredible India
Dec 13th
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. More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Zardari on his way out!
Dec 10th
The following column was published in many leading newspapers of the world. Written by Laura King, it highlights the problems and challenges the President of Pakistan faces. What I make of it? That Mr. Zardari is on his way out! This government has pushed the people of Pakistan to the wall and a backlash is evident.
Long Live Pakistan!
Zardari’s crisis leadership questioned
By Laura King,
Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
Islamabad: A year ago, Asif Ali Zardari was a political footnote. He was best known as the corruption-tainted, polo-loving husband of Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic former Pakistani prime minister who appeared poised to make a dramatic return to power.
Now Zardari, who took over leadership of Bhutto’s party after she was assassinated in December 27 and became president three months ago, finds himself head of state at a time of extraordinary turmoil, even by Pakistani standards.
Stung by Indian accusations that Pakistani militants played a leading role in last month’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, the country has responded with an outpouring of nationalistic sentiment.
For the moment, that sense of affront and grievance is uniting Pakistanis of all political persuasions, but many analysts believe it could eventually backfire on Zardari.
A tough stance
To please a domestic audience, the 53-year-old president has taken a tough stance toward India, refusing to hand over suspects sought by New Delhi and expressing skepticism that the attacks emanated from Pakistani soil, despite mounting evidence from Indian investigators and Western intelligence.
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