Saturday, November 28, 2009
India & Pakistan: case for common defence
Pervez Hoodbhoy| The reason for India to want a rapprochement with Pakistan, and vice versa, has nothing to do with feelings of friendship or goodwill. It has to do with survival. |
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says Pakistan is “compiling hard evidence of India’s involvement” in terrorist attacks on Pakistan’s public and its armed forces. If he and the Interior Minister are correct, then we must conclude that the Indians are psychotics possessed with a death wish or, perhaps, plain stupid. While India’s assistance for Baloch insurgents could conceivably make strategic sense, helping the jihadists simply does not.
As Pakistan staggers from one bombing to the other, some Indians must be secretly pleased. Indeed, there are occasional verbalisations: Is this not sweet revenge for the horrors of Mumbai perpetrated by the Lashkar-e-Taiba? Shouldn’t India feel satisfied as Pakistan reels under the stinging poison of its domestically reared snakes?
But most Indians are probably less than enthusiastic in stoking the fires across the border. In fact, the majority would like to forget that Pakistan exists. With a 6 per cent growth rate, booming hi-tech exports, and expectations of a semi-superpower status, they feel India has no need to engage a struggling Pakistan with its endless litany of problems.
Of course, some would like to hurt Pakistan. Extremists in India ask: shouldn’t one increase the pain of a country — with which India has fought three bloody wars — by aiding its enemies? Perhaps do another Bangladesh on Pakistan some day?
These fringe elements, fortunately, are inconsequential today. Rational self-interest demands that India not aid jihadists. Imagine the consequences if the Central authority in Pakistan disappears or is sharply weakened. Splintered into a hundred jihadist Lashkars, each with its own agenda and tactics, Pakistan’s territory would become India’s eternal nightmare. When Mumbai-II occurs — as it surely would in such circumstances — India’s options in dealing with a nuclear Pakistan would be severely limited.
The Indian Army would be powerless. As the Americans have discovered at great cost, the mightiest war machines on earth cannot prevent holy warriors from crossing borders. Internal collaborators, recruited from a domestic Muslim population that feels itself alienated from Hindu-India, would connive with the jihadists. Subsequently, as the Indian forces retaliate against Muslims — innocent and otherwise — the action-reaction cycle would rip the country apart.
So, how can India protect itself from invaders across its western border and grave injury? Just as importantly, how can we in Pakistan assure that the fight against fanatics is not lost?
Let me make an apparently outrageous proposition: in the coming years, India’s best protection is likely to come from its traditional enemy, the Pakistan Army. Therefore, India ought to help now, not fight against it.
This may sound preposterous. After all, the two countries have fought three-and-a-half wars over six decades. During periods of excessive tension, they have growled at each other while meaningfully pointing towards their respective nuclear arsenals. Most recently, after heightened tensions following the Mumbai massacre, Pakistani troops were moved out of North West Frontier Province towards the eastern border. Baitullah Mehsud’s offer to jointly fight India was welcomed by the Pakistan Army.
And yet, the imperative of mutual survival makes a common defence inevitable. Given the rapidly rising threat within Pakistan, the day for joint action may not be very far away.
Today Pakistan is bearing the brunt. Its people, government and armed forces are under unrelenting attack. South Waziristan, a war of necessity rather than of choice, will certainly not be the last one. A victory there will not end terrorism, although a stalemate will embolden the jihadists in south Punjab, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammed. The cancer of religious militancy has spread across Pakistan, and it will take decades to defeat.
This militancy does not exist merely because America occupies Afghanistan. A U.S. withdrawal, while welcome, will not end Pakistan’s problems. As an ideological movement, the jihadists want to transform society as part of their wider agenda. They ride on the backs of their partners, the mainstream religious political parties like the Jamat-e-Islami and the Jamiat-e-Ulema-Pakistan. None of these has condemned the suicide bombings in Pakistani universities, schools, markets, mosques, and police and army facilities.
Pakistan’s political leadership and army must not muddy the waters, especially now that public sanction has finally been obtained for fighting extremism in Swat and Waziristan. Self-deception weakens, and enormously increases vulnerability. Wars can only be won if nations have a clear rallying slogan. Therefore, the battle against religious extremism will require identifying it — by name — as the enemy.
India should derive no satisfaction from Pakistan’s predicament. Although religious extremists see ordinary Muslims as munafiqs (hypocrites) — and therefore free to be blown up in bazaars and mosques — they hate Hindus even more. In their calculus, hurting India would buy even more tickets for heaven than hurting Pakistan. They dream of ripping apart both societies or starting a war — preferably nuclear — between Pakistan and India.
A common threat needs a common defence. But this is difficult unless the Pakistan-India conflict is reduced in intensity. In fact, the extremist groups that threaten both countries today are an unintended consequence of Pakistan’s frustrations at Indian obduracy in Kashmir.
To create a future working alliance with Pakistan, and in deference to basic democratic principles, India must therefore be seen as genuinely working towards some kind of resolution of the Kashmir issue. Over the past two decades, India has been morally isolated from Kashmiri Muslims and continues to incur the very considerable costs of an occupying power in the Valley. Indian soldiers continue to needlessly die — and oppress and kill Kashmiri innocents.
It is time for India to fuzz the Line of Control, make it highly permeable, and demilitarise it up to some mutually negotiated depth on both sides. Without peace in Kashmir the forces of cross-border jihad, and its hate-filled holy warriors, will continue to receive unnecessary succour.
India also needs to allay Pakistan’s fears on Balochistan. Although Pakistan’s current federal structure is the cause of the problem — a fact which the government is now finally addressing through the newly announced Balochistan package — it is possible that India is aiding some insurgent groups. Statements have been made in India that Balochistan provides New Delhi with a handle to exert pressure on Pakistan. This is unacceptable.
While there is no magic wand, confidence-building measures (CBMs) continue to be important for managing the Pakistan-India conflict and bringing down the decibel level of mutual rhetoric. To be sure, CBMs can be easily disparaged as palliatives that do not address the underlying causes of a conflict. Nevertheless, looking at those initiated over the years shows that they have held up even in adverse circumstances. More are needed.
The reason for India to want a rapprochement with Pakistan, and vice versa, has nothing to do with feelings of friendship or goodwill. It has only to do with survival. For us in Pakistan, this is even more critical.
(The writer teaches Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. This article will appear in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper on Sunday.)
Friday, November 27, 2009
I remember a searing pain in my throat
I remember a searing pain in my throat
This teenager escaped from the Taj to a city that had changed forever
Arshiya Mittal
Bombay is the city I was born in. It became Mumbai in 1997. It is one of the most versatile and vibrant cities in the world, where change is a constant. I love this city and feel everyone should visit it once in their lives. It’s my favourite place in the whole world. But on November 26, 2008, this city changed completely right in front of my eyes. It changed from being just my favourite city to my dear home. Every Mumbaikar changed from being just another inhabitant to being part of a big family. I realised just how much I love Mumbai.
On November 26 last year, this home of mine was held to ransom by a group of terrorists. It was shrouded in over 60 hours of darkness. My home was under siege and I felt captured, distraught and helpless. More so because I happened to be at one of the 11 locations that the terrorists had attacked — the Taj Mahal hotel at the Gateway of India.
I was only 15 years old then. I was having dinner with my mother and cousin at Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant, when we suddenly heard a loud bang. It sounded like a firecracker, yet strangely unfamiliar. Fright embraced the atmosphere. People panicked. They were pushing and being pushed. My legs were shaking violently from fear and shock. It was the most confusing 45 minutes of my life. After that it became clear that terrorists had entered the hotel. My phone rang. People were calling and enquiring, “Are you safe?” What could I answer? Was anyone safe?
Moments later, there was another explosion — the loudest of the six bomb blasts I had heard that night. I admitted to myself the hardest thing when I heard that sound — that we may not be able to escape. I remember feeling a searing pain in my throat while speaking to my brother, who was in New York at the time. I didn’t know whether I’d escape and get another chance to speak to him after this.
But we did escape. We were rescued within six hours of the attack. My heart aches for those who were not as fortunate. A bus took us from the Taj to another hotel, The President, a few kilometres away. From there, I spoke with my father who was in Kolkata on his way to the airport. I wanted so much to see him, but I didn’t want him to come to Mumbai — it was too dangerous. I kept thinking to myself: When would the danger end? When will my city be safe again? I still wonder what the answers to these questions are.
Is it fair that we as children
have to ask why terrorists kill, and when they will stop? Why do we have to think twice before going to a public place? Why do we have to feel unbearable pain when we hear that a friend in school has lost his parents to such mindless killing?
I truly believe that every person on this earth is born good. I cannot imagine how much hatred has to be in someone’s heart for him to kill people without even flinching. A person has to believe that there is no goodness left in him or the world in order to kill innocent people. Such inhumanity is only possible when all humanity in the terrorist is killed and replaced with hatred. But how can someone become like this? How can terrorism die? Isn't there more to it than just killing these terrorists? Doesn’t the terrorist in the person have to die,
rather than just the person?
I still don’t know how to react to the events of 26/11. People don’t talk about it when I’m around. I feel guilty when someone says I’m lucky to have escaped. I feel bad when people say they don’t know if I’ll be able to go to the Taj Mahal hotel again. I still feel the pain when l walk in there and look back at the sea from which the terrorists entered. When I leave the Taj after dinner, I have a feeling I just can’t describe, one that reminds me that, yes, I’m lucky. Why do people ask me whether I’ve gone back to the Taj or not? Of course, nothing can keep me away from a part of my home, especially one that saved my life. I love it. If I don’t go back there, I’ve let the terrorist win because he managed to instill fear in me — fear of my own home, and of living my life as I want to.
I know what happened to me is not even half as bad as what happened to thousands of others. Probably this is why I feel a sort of guilt. I can’t remember those five minutes in which we evacuated, but I can never forget the fear I felt. I remember being on the streets and hearing gunshots at the spot where I probably was just a few minutes ago. I remember holding my mother’s hand and running when I heard the noise, and my cousin pulling me to the bus. Those five minutes seem to me to be out of a horror movie. I also recall the minute I realised we had escaped. My uncle fetched us from the President. I’ll never forget the moment when the police stopped our car on our way home. My uncle lowered his window and said to the commando, “Thank you, we got our children back.” It was at that moment that it hit me that we had just escaped. I imagined everyone else had escaped too. The gravity of the situation had not sunk in until then.
On that unfortunate day, over 200 people lost their lives. They won’t come back but their memory and love will always be in this city. I hope 26/11 is never forgotten. I pray that no person ever has to face the fear that so many of us felt. I wish that we never forget the bravery shown by so many who put other people’s lives before theirs. I expect that we never have to go through such a catastrophe again.
As a human being I salute all those who have empathy and love in their hearts. The police and commandos who fought for those they didn’t even know. The staff at the Taj, Trident and CST station. I salute the people who were at the attacked spots, including reporters. I salute those who stayed up during those 60 hours and watched the news. I salute all those who wept for what was lost that day. Most of all, I salute all those who lost their lives that day. As much as lives, there was a loss of religion and a country too, on that 26th of November. And most of all, there was the loss of humanity.
This teenager escaped from the Taj to a city that had changed forever
Arshiya Mittal
Bombay is the city I was born in. It became Mumbai in 1997. It is one of the most versatile and vibrant cities in the world, where change is a constant. I love this city and feel everyone should visit it once in their lives. It’s my favourite place in the whole world. But on November 26, 2008, this city changed completely right in front of my eyes. It changed from being just my favourite city to my dear home. Every Mumbaikar changed from being just another inhabitant to being part of a big family. I realised just how much I love Mumbai.
On November 26 last year, this home of mine was held to ransom by a group of terrorists. It was shrouded in over 60 hours of darkness. My home was under siege and I felt captured, distraught and helpless. More so because I happened to be at one of the 11 locations that the terrorists had attacked — the Taj Mahal hotel at the Gateway of India.
I was only 15 years old then. I was having dinner with my mother and cousin at Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant, when we suddenly heard a loud bang. It sounded like a firecracker, yet strangely unfamiliar. Fright embraced the atmosphere. People panicked. They were pushing and being pushed. My legs were shaking violently from fear and shock. It was the most confusing 45 minutes of my life. After that it became clear that terrorists had entered the hotel. My phone rang. People were calling and enquiring, “Are you safe?” What could I answer? Was anyone safe?
Moments later, there was another explosion — the loudest of the six bomb blasts I had heard that night. I admitted to myself the hardest thing when I heard that sound — that we may not be able to escape. I remember feeling a searing pain in my throat while speaking to my brother, who was in New York at the time. I didn’t know whether I’d escape and get another chance to speak to him after this.
But we did escape. We were rescued within six hours of the attack. My heart aches for those who were not as fortunate. A bus took us from the Taj to another hotel, The President, a few kilometres away. From there, I spoke with my father who was in Kolkata on his way to the airport. I wanted so much to see him, but I didn’t want him to come to Mumbai — it was too dangerous. I kept thinking to myself: When would the danger end? When will my city be safe again? I still wonder what the answers to these questions are.
Is it fair that we as children
have to ask why terrorists kill, and when they will stop? Why do we have to think twice before going to a public place? Why do we have to feel unbearable pain when we hear that a friend in school has lost his parents to such mindless killing?
I truly believe that every person on this earth is born good. I cannot imagine how much hatred has to be in someone’s heart for him to kill people without even flinching. A person has to believe that there is no goodness left in him or the world in order to kill innocent people. Such inhumanity is only possible when all humanity in the terrorist is killed and replaced with hatred. But how can someone become like this? How can terrorism die? Isn't there more to it than just killing these terrorists? Doesn’t the terrorist in the person have to die,
rather than just the person?
I still don’t know how to react to the events of 26/11. People don’t talk about it when I’m around. I feel guilty when someone says I’m lucky to have escaped. I feel bad when people say they don’t know if I’ll be able to go to the Taj Mahal hotel again. I still feel the pain when l walk in there and look back at the sea from which the terrorists entered. When I leave the Taj after dinner, I have a feeling I just can’t describe, one that reminds me that, yes, I’m lucky. Why do people ask me whether I’ve gone back to the Taj or not? Of course, nothing can keep me away from a part of my home, especially one that saved my life. I love it. If I don’t go back there, I’ve let the terrorist win because he managed to instill fear in me — fear of my own home, and of living my life as I want to.
I know what happened to me is not even half as bad as what happened to thousands of others. Probably this is why I feel a sort of guilt. I can’t remember those five minutes in which we evacuated, but I can never forget the fear I felt. I remember being on the streets and hearing gunshots at the spot where I probably was just a few minutes ago. I remember holding my mother’s hand and running when I heard the noise, and my cousin pulling me to the bus. Those five minutes seem to me to be out of a horror movie. I also recall the minute I realised we had escaped. My uncle fetched us from the President. I’ll never forget the moment when the police stopped our car on our way home. My uncle lowered his window and said to the commando, “Thank you, we got our children back.” It was at that moment that it hit me that we had just escaped. I imagined everyone else had escaped too. The gravity of the situation had not sunk in until then.
On that unfortunate day, over 200 people lost their lives. They won’t come back but their memory and love will always be in this city. I hope 26/11 is never forgotten. I pray that no person ever has to face the fear that so many of us felt. I wish that we never forget the bravery shown by so many who put other people’s lives before theirs. I expect that we never have to go through such a catastrophe again.
As a human being I salute all those who have empathy and love in their hearts. The police and commandos who fought for those they didn’t even know. The staff at the Taj, Trident and CST station. I salute the people who were at the attacked spots, including reporters. I salute those who stayed up during those 60 hours and watched the news. I salute all those who wept for what was lost that day. Most of all, I salute all those who lost their lives that day. As much as lives, there was a loss of religion and a country too, on that 26th of November. And most of all, there was the loss of humanity.
Were Karkare’s orders flouted?
Were Karkare’s orders flouted?
Kartikeya TNN
Mumbai: Additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was having dinner at a club in Chembur on the evening of November 26, 2008 when then police commissioner Hasan Gafoor ordered him to “get on the road’’, according to ‘To The Last Bullet’, the book penned by Kamte’s wife Vinita Kamte. By then, the 26/11 terror attack had already started and, as was his character, Kamte rushed into the thick of things, the book says.
Kamte, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed by terrorists along with three other cops that night. As reported by TOI on Wednesday, Vinita, with the help of police call records obtained through RTI, has alleged in her book that the police officers lay injured for over 40 minutes in Rang Bhavan lane before help arrived. She has written that even after the officers were gunned down and their gunfight had been reported to police control by citizens and policemen, it was over 40 minutes before help reached them.
The book states that at 11.24 pm, Karkare had rightly assessed the situation at Cama Hospital and asked for reinforcements from various control rooms. Despite this clear message, for 1 hour and 15 minutes no policemen came to the support of Karkare and Kamte, the book notes.
The book also raises questions about the role of joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria, who purportedly sent Kamte to Cama Hospital but later feigned ignorance about this. Vinita used RTI queries to get details of call logs between Kamte and various police control rooms to reach her conclusions.
Vinita says that an additional commissioner of police along with armed men stood barely 400 metres away from the scene of the action but did not proceed to give assistance. Instead, he chose to go in the opposite direction. She also reports that witnesses say a police vehicle actually zoomed past the Qualis in which the officers were shot and lying injured, but did not stop to help them.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, deputy chief minister R R Patil, who was home minister at the time of the attacks, and director-general of police A N Roy refused to comment on the book.
Kartikeya TNN
Mumbai: Additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was having dinner at a club in Chembur on the evening of November 26, 2008 when then police commissioner Hasan Gafoor ordered him to “get on the road’’, according to ‘To The Last Bullet’, the book penned by Kamte’s wife Vinita Kamte. By then, the 26/11 terror attack had already started and, as was his character, Kamte rushed into the thick of things, the book says.
Kamte, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed by terrorists along with three other cops that night. As reported by TOI on Wednesday, Vinita, with the help of police call records obtained through RTI, has alleged in her book that the police officers lay injured for over 40 minutes in Rang Bhavan lane before help arrived. She has written that even after the officers were gunned down and their gunfight had been reported to police control by citizens and policemen, it was over 40 minutes before help reached them.
The book states that at 11.24 pm, Karkare had rightly assessed the situation at Cama Hospital and asked for reinforcements from various control rooms. Despite this clear message, for 1 hour and 15 minutes no policemen came to the support of Karkare and Kamte, the book notes.
The book also raises questions about the role of joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria, who purportedly sent Kamte to Cama Hospital but later feigned ignorance about this. Vinita used RTI queries to get details of call logs between Kamte and various police control rooms to reach her conclusions.
Vinita says that an additional commissioner of police along with armed men stood barely 400 metres away from the scene of the action but did not proceed to give assistance. Instead, he chose to go in the opposite direction. She also reports that witnesses say a police vehicle actually zoomed past the Qualis in which the officers were shot and lying injured, but did not stop to help them.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, deputy chief minister R R Patil, who was home minister at the time of the attacks, and director-general of police A N Roy refused to comment on the book.
Newlyweds recall night of terror
Newlyweds recall night of terror
Swati Deshpande TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: It was a shower of bullets and not rose petals that greeted them on the day of their wedding reception at the Taj Mahal hotel. The date was 26/11. A year later, the sights and sounds of terror still linger in Amit and Varsha Thadani’s memory.
For the young Mumbai couple, seven terrifying hours spent crouched on the second floor of the hotel and their dramatic, almost miraculous escape less than 24 hours after their wedding are moments that “can never be erased’’. But Amit, a garments businessman, feels no anger, only pain and frustration. “It is frustrating to see that the government has not done much in the last one year to prepare the city for a similar eventuality. Fear is still etched in people’s mind,’’ said the 32-year-old Breach Candy resident.
Recalling their night of terror, he said, “Sindhi celebrations usually start late.Only a few guests had arrived when the terrorists struck. We had got married the previous day at a temple and I and my wife checked in to the Taj at 5 pm.The security frisked us at length,put my bag under the scanner and even my
wife’s small handbag. The sniffer dogs were also called in. Later I was aghast to see the CCTV footage. A terrorist with his backpack walked in nonchalantly.No one so much as looked at him. He went to another room and assembled his automatic weapon just as calmly.’’ ‘We ducked bullets & hid in bathroom’
Mumbai: What was to be an occasion of joy and gaiety turned out to be a terror-filled night for the newly-wed Thadanis. Amit’s memories of his wedding reception are tinged with frustration at the government’s inability to reassure Mumbaikars. “If the government can’t even make people feel secure, let the military run the country,’’ he said.
“I now want to contribute in some meaningful way through some NGOs. My wife wants to join the Teach India campaign,’’ said the 32-yearold Breach Candy resident, speaking for the first time at length to an Indian newspaper, just a day before his first wedding anniversary.
Recalling that fateful night, he said, “We were in our room on the second floor in the old wing. The reception was to take place in the Crystal Room. We were getting ready when we heard gunshots close by. The terrorists were shooting at a woman in the room next to ours. She was screaming. We could hear her being dragged along the floor. The AK-47 bullets and their shards came in through the common wall. I just walked out of the toilet and missed some bullets as I ducked. I pulled my wife into the bathroom. And we lay there on the floor for very long. The gunmen were shouting. My wife, also a Sindhi, had lived in the UAE and told the ATS later that it was a language she had heard before.’’
The Thadanis drew courage from each other. “The incident shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer. She is a strong girl.’’
But how did they escape unhurt? “We heard some commotion outside our room. There were two loud explosions which shattered our room window. I began shouting for the firemen below to help us. But no one heard me. Then I put Varsha out on the ledge and began waving again. A firemen saw us and put up a ladder. It was 4.15 am when we got down.’’
What was shocking, though was the scene outside the Taj. “It was seven hours since the terrorist had taken over the hotel. Outside, the scene was like a tourist carnival. The media was swarming around and interviewing the firemen. I was shocked.’’
Not a day goes by when 26/11 doesn’t feature in a conversation between Amit and his wife. “We don’t have a baby yet. But life is as normal as it gets. We even went back to the Taj a few times. It gives me the creeps though to eat there now,’’ said Amit who also runs the Crepe station stalls in various city malls. Asked what would they be doing on the anniversary of their wedding reception and the terror attack, he said, “Life can’t stop. And we can’t live in fear. We will be going to Lonavla.’’
The incident
shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer
—Amit Thadani
Swati Deshpande TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: It was a shower of bullets and not rose petals that greeted them on the day of their wedding reception at the Taj Mahal hotel. The date was 26/11. A year later, the sights and sounds of terror still linger in Amit and Varsha Thadani’s memory.
For the young Mumbai couple, seven terrifying hours spent crouched on the second floor of the hotel and their dramatic, almost miraculous escape less than 24 hours after their wedding are moments that “can never be erased’’. But Amit, a garments businessman, feels no anger, only pain and frustration. “It is frustrating to see that the government has not done much in the last one year to prepare the city for a similar eventuality. Fear is still etched in people’s mind,’’ said the 32-year-old Breach Candy resident.
Recalling their night of terror, he said, “Sindhi celebrations usually start late.Only a few guests had arrived when the terrorists struck. We had got married the previous day at a temple and I and my wife checked in to the Taj at 5 pm.The security frisked us at length,put my bag under the scanner and even my
wife’s small handbag. The sniffer dogs were also called in. Later I was aghast to see the CCTV footage. A terrorist with his backpack walked in nonchalantly.No one so much as looked at him. He went to another room and assembled his automatic weapon just as calmly.’’ ‘We ducked bullets & hid in bathroom’
Mumbai: What was to be an occasion of joy and gaiety turned out to be a terror-filled night for the newly-wed Thadanis. Amit’s memories of his wedding reception are tinged with frustration at the government’s inability to reassure Mumbaikars. “If the government can’t even make people feel secure, let the military run the country,’’ he said.
“I now want to contribute in some meaningful way through some NGOs. My wife wants to join the Teach India campaign,’’ said the 32-yearold Breach Candy resident, speaking for the first time at length to an Indian newspaper, just a day before his first wedding anniversary.
Recalling that fateful night, he said, “We were in our room on the second floor in the old wing. The reception was to take place in the Crystal Room. We were getting ready when we heard gunshots close by. The terrorists were shooting at a woman in the room next to ours. She was screaming. We could hear her being dragged along the floor. The AK-47 bullets and their shards came in through the common wall. I just walked out of the toilet and missed some bullets as I ducked. I pulled my wife into the bathroom. And we lay there on the floor for very long. The gunmen were shouting. My wife, also a Sindhi, had lived in the UAE and told the ATS later that it was a language she had heard before.’’
The Thadanis drew courage from each other. “The incident shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer. She is a strong girl.’’
But how did they escape unhurt? “We heard some commotion outside our room. There were two loud explosions which shattered our room window. I began shouting for the firemen below to help us. But no one heard me. Then I put Varsha out on the ledge and began waving again. A firemen saw us and put up a ladder. It was 4.15 am when we got down.’’
What was shocking, though was the scene outside the Taj. “It was seven hours since the terrorist had taken over the hotel. Outside, the scene was like a tourist carnival. The media was swarming around and interviewing the firemen. I was shocked.’’
Not a day goes by when 26/11 doesn’t feature in a conversation between Amit and his wife. “We don’t have a baby yet. But life is as normal as it gets. We even went back to the Taj a few times. It gives me the creeps though to eat there now,’’ said Amit who also runs the Crepe station stalls in various city malls. Asked what would they be doing on the anniversary of their wedding reception and the terror attack, he said, “Life can’t stop. And we can’t live in fear. We will be going to Lonavla.’’
The incident
shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer
—Amit Thadani
Pak charges 7, mum on Saeed
Omer Farooq Khan & Indrani Bagchi TNN
Islamabad/New Delhi: On the eve of the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks on Wednesday, Pakistan took a decisive step with an antiterrorism court formally framing charges against Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and six others for masterminding the Mumbai carnage.
The others named include Zarar Shah, as the chief of coordination of the attacks, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum. Sixteen others, including Ajmal Amir Kasab, were declared proclaimed offenders. The charges were read to the seven at a special court inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Wednesday.
Sources in New Delhi said the arraignment was the surest indication of the veracity of evidence provided by India to Pakistan regarding the attacks. However, there remained the question over what happens to LeT founder Hafiz Saeed who, Indian officials allege, is still being insulated by Islamabad against prosecution.
In a dossier given to Pakistan on August 21, India gave a detailed account of Saeed’s role in the Mumbai attack. He has been placed under house arrest a couple of times, but always released by courts, citing lack of evidence.
But Pakistan’s latest actions have failed to impress India. Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said Delhi was “concerned’’ that Islamabad was still not taking the steps it had sought on dismantling of the terror infrastructure and cutting off financial help to terrorists. The Face Of Terror
A Pakistan anti-terror court has formally charged seven suspects—Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (above), Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum—with planning and helping execute the Mumbai attacks. Also, 16 people, including Ajmal Kasab, have been declared proclaimed offenders.
Retd Major held for Headley links
The Pakistan army has arrested a retired Major from Rawalpindi for his alleged links with American terrorists David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. The Major, who retired two years ago, is being grilled by intelligence officials.P11 Pak’s Lakhvi & co plead not guilty
Islamabad/New Delhi: The seven 26/11 accused who were charged in a Pakistani anti-terror court on Wedesday pleaded not guilty, saying the evidence did not support the charges, defence lawyer Shahbaz Rajput told reporters.
But prosecutors say they are determined to bring convictions and secure the maximum sentence for those in the dock. Court proceedings are taking place behind closed doors with journalists barred from the hearings and defence lawyers leaking only small details. The next hearing is scheduled for December 5, said Rajput.
Wednesday’s developments came a week after India handed Pakistan more information about the carnage, which New Delhi says were abetted by Pakistani “official agencies’’—charges that Islamabad has flatly denied. The latest information India handed over to Pakistan reportedly included statements of key witnesses, including a magistrate and FBI officials, from Ajmal Kasab’s trial.
Detailed statements by Kasab and testimonies have formed part of seven dossiers that India has sent to Pakistan in the past 11 months, the last being on November 17. The MEA informed parliament on Wednesday that “in its dossier of July 11, Pakistan had acknowledged that substantial incriminating evidence had been unearthed which directly connected the five accused LeT operatives under Pak custody’’.
During proceedings in Rawalpindi, lawyers of the accused had demanded Kasab be brought to Pakistan to face trial alongside the other accused.
The 26/11 case now has an added dimension after the arrest of US terrorists David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana by the FBI. Investigations are on to determine the links between Headley and the Mumbai attacks. TNN
Omer Farooq Khan & Indrani Bagchi TNN
Islamabad/New Delhi: On the eve of the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks on Wednesday, Pakistan took a decisive step with an antiterrorism court formally framing charges against Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and six others for masterminding the Mumbai carnage.
The others named include Zarar Shah, as the chief of coordination of the attacks, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum. Sixteen others, including Ajmal Amir Kasab, were declared proclaimed offenders. The charges were read to the seven at a special court inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Wednesday.
Sources in New Delhi said the arraignment was the surest indication of the veracity of evidence provided by India to Pakistan regarding the attacks. However, there remained the question over what happens to LeT founder Hafiz Saeed who, Indian officials allege, is still being insulated by Islamabad against prosecution.
In a dossier given to Pakistan on August 21, India gave a detailed account of Saeed’s role in the Mumbai attack. He has been placed under house arrest a couple of times, but always released by courts, citing lack of evidence.
But Pakistan’s latest actions have failed to impress India. Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said Delhi was “concerned’’ that Islamabad was still not taking the steps it had sought on dismantling of the terror infrastructure and cutting off financial help to terrorists. The Face Of Terror
A Pakistan anti-terror court has formally charged seven suspects—Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (above), Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum—with planning and helping execute the Mumbai attacks. Also, 16 people, including Ajmal Kasab, have been declared proclaimed offenders.
Retd Major held for Headley links
The Pakistan army has arrested a retired Major from Rawalpindi for his alleged links with American terrorists David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. The Major, who retired two years ago, is being grilled by intelligence officials.P11 Pak’s Lakhvi & co plead not guilty
Islamabad/New Delhi: The seven 26/11 accused who were charged in a Pakistani anti-terror court on Wedesday pleaded not guilty, saying the evidence did not support the charges, defence lawyer Shahbaz Rajput told reporters.
But prosecutors say they are determined to bring convictions and secure the maximum sentence for those in the dock. Court proceedings are taking place behind closed doors with journalists barred from the hearings and defence lawyers leaking only small details. The next hearing is scheduled for December 5, said Rajput.
Wednesday’s developments came a week after India handed Pakistan more information about the carnage, which New Delhi says were abetted by Pakistani “official agencies’’—charges that Islamabad has flatly denied. The latest information India handed over to Pakistan reportedly included statements of key witnesses, including a magistrate and FBI officials, from Ajmal Kasab’s trial.
Detailed statements by Kasab and testimonies have formed part of seven dossiers that India has sent to Pakistan in the past 11 months, the last being on November 17. The MEA informed parliament on Wednesday that “in its dossier of July 11, Pakistan had acknowledged that substantial incriminating evidence had been unearthed which directly connected the five accused LeT operatives under Pak custody’’.
During proceedings in Rawalpindi, lawyers of the accused had demanded Kasab be brought to Pakistan to face trial alongside the other accused.
The 26/11 case now has an added dimension after the arrest of US terrorists David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana by the FBI. Investigations are on to determine the links between Headley and the Mumbai attacks. TNN
It has cost Rs 31 cr to keep Kasab alive
Trial Of India’s Public Enemy No 1 Will Take 2-3 Months More
Prafulla Marpakwar TNN
Mumbai: Guess how much it costs to keep the sole surviving 26/11 Pakistani terrorist alive and healthy in prison. Over Rs 30 crore and counting.
As India observes the first anniversary of the terror attack on Mumbai, the cash-strapped Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has so far spent a staggering Rs 31 crore, or nearly Rs 8.5 lakh per day, to keep the 21-year-old gunman from Faridkot safe and secure to stand trial. Incidentally, the state is set to wind up its presentation of evidence in the ongoing trial in
the special court at Arthur Road jail tomorrow. However, the trial, which began in May, is not likely to finish soon—special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam reckons it will take another 2-3 months to come to completion.
“The state’s debt has crossed the Rs 1.85 lakh crore mark. But where the security of the state and the country is concerned, we don’t discuss the financial situation,’’ a senior government official admitted to TOI. Of course, the Rs 31 crore figure is strictly unofficial since the government is chary of letting out any information on Kasab. ‘Big bucks spent to nail Pak role’
Mumbai: According to a senior government official, the state has spent crores on Ajmal Kasab’s security, legal and medical bills.
On the post-terror attack expenditure, the official said that following the directives of the Centre, besides procuring weapons for emergency use, vehicles and equipment, two special cells were created inside Arthur Road Jail and J J Hospital. “There was a huge expenditure on the construction of a special cell inside the high-security Arthur Road Jail. It has been designed in such a manner that even if a truck laden with explosives were to ram into it, the cell would not be dented,’’ he said. Such safeguards are essential to protect Kasab’s life—and to establish Pakistan’s involvement in the attack,’’ he said.
Besides the special prison cell, another cell was created inside J J Hospital for Kasab’s treatment. “We spent nearly Rs one crore for the creation of a bullet-proof cell on the J J premises. But he was never taken there. Doctors were summoned to the Arthur Road jail, whenever Kasab had a health problem.’’
The official said that there was also a huge outgo on deployment of central forces to guard the Arthur Road jail and towards payment of fees for the public prosecutor and lawyers appearing for Kasab.
Meanwhile, home minister R R Patil, who was asked to resign following public anger over police inaction during 26/11, has said that the city should not panic. “Nothing should happen tomorrow,’’ Patil, whose reappointment in the new government raised quite a few eyebrows, said on Wednesday. What may have added to his confidence is the fact that a NSG battalion with 258 commandos has already landed in the city from Delhi as a security-boosting measure.
Trial Of India’s Public Enemy No 1 Will Take 2-3 Months More
Prafulla Marpakwar TNN
Mumbai: Guess how much it costs to keep the sole surviving 26/11 Pakistani terrorist alive and healthy in prison. Over Rs 30 crore and counting.
As India observes the first anniversary of the terror attack on Mumbai, the cash-strapped Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has so far spent a staggering Rs 31 crore, or nearly Rs 8.5 lakh per day, to keep the 21-year-old gunman from Faridkot safe and secure to stand trial. Incidentally, the state is set to wind up its presentation of evidence in the ongoing trial in
the special court at Arthur Road jail tomorrow. However, the trial, which began in May, is not likely to finish soon—special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam reckons it will take another 2-3 months to come to completion.
“The state’s debt has crossed the Rs 1.85 lakh crore mark. But where the security of the state and the country is concerned, we don’t discuss the financial situation,’’ a senior government official admitted to TOI. Of course, the Rs 31 crore figure is strictly unofficial since the government is chary of letting out any information on Kasab. ‘Big bucks spent to nail Pak role’
Mumbai: According to a senior government official, the state has spent crores on Ajmal Kasab’s security, legal and medical bills.
On the post-terror attack expenditure, the official said that following the directives of the Centre, besides procuring weapons for emergency use, vehicles and equipment, two special cells were created inside Arthur Road Jail and J J Hospital. “There was a huge expenditure on the construction of a special cell inside the high-security Arthur Road Jail. It has been designed in such a manner that even if a truck laden with explosives were to ram into it, the cell would not be dented,’’ he said. Such safeguards are essential to protect Kasab’s life—and to establish Pakistan’s involvement in the attack,’’ he said.
Besides the special prison cell, another cell was created inside J J Hospital for Kasab’s treatment. “We spent nearly Rs one crore for the creation of a bullet-proof cell on the J J premises. But he was never taken there. Doctors were summoned to the Arthur Road jail, whenever Kasab had a health problem.’’
The official said that there was also a huge outgo on deployment of central forces to guard the Arthur Road jail and towards payment of fees for the public prosecutor and lawyers appearing for Kasab.
Meanwhile, home minister R R Patil, who was asked to resign following public anger over police inaction during 26/11, has said that the city should not panic. “Nothing should happen tomorrow,’’ Patil, whose reappointment in the new government raised quite a few eyebrows, said on Wednesday. What may have added to his confidence is the fact that a NSG battalion with 258 commandos has already landed in the city from Delhi as a security-boosting measure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)