Muslim terrorism

Muslims in Poonch demand release of rioters before Eid

rkm — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:49:51 -0400

Jammu: Muslims in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today asked the administration to release the people arrested during the riots in the region and threatened not to celebrate the festival of Eid if their demand is not met. After offering Friday prayers, Maulana Mufti Yaqoob, head priest of the Jama Masjid in Poonch, said, "We will mark this as black Eid if all those arrested by the administration during the recent riots are not released before the festival. We also demand reinstatement of all government employees suspended for allegedly abetting rioting."

Eid is to likely to be celebrated on October 2, depending on the appearance of the moon. Many shops and houses of both Hindus and Muslims were burnt, looted and damaged by either side in rioting in August during the dispute over allotment of government land to the board that runs the Hindu shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir.

Mohammad Afzal Bhat, deputy commissioner of Poonch, sai, "We had arrested over 30 civilians under various sections for looting, rioting and damaging property from both the communities." He said that some of them had managed to get released on bail while others were still under detention. Bhat added that 18 government employees, including eight Muslims, were suspended for abetting rioting. (IANS)

http://www.headlinesindia.com/state-news/jammu-and-kashmir/muslims-in-po...

SIMI activist held with bomb making CD

rkm — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:10:21 -0400

Karnataka
Police on Saturday (August 2) arrested a man identified as an activist
of SIMI and recovered three CDs with information on bomb-manufacturing
and a cylinder filled with chemical gas from him. Tanvir Mulla, found
moving in a suspicious manner at Indala tank, was arrested from
Shingoli in Belgaum, Superintendent of Police Sonia Narang told
reporters.

The CDs recovered from his residence at Kustunagar
contained provocative speeches on Jehad, attack on Muslims in Gujarat,
besides detailed information and sketches on bomb manufacturing,
including chemical bombs, Narang said. The mini cylinder recovered from
him by the police is believed to have been used for making cylinder
bombs.

Tanvir confessed that he had plans to trigger explosions
in one of the polling booths in Tilakwadi area in Belgaum during the
assembly elections in May but could not execute it, Narang said.

His
arrest from the Shingoli area near Belgaum follows the arrest of
another suspected SIMI activist Liaquat Ali from the same area. He had
links with terror suspects -- Liyaqat Ali, Nasir Patel, Imtiaz and Dr
Manroz -- whom police had arrested a few months ago. They are currently
lodged in Hindalga jail. Police have seized his passport.

http://timesnow.tv/Newsdtls.aspx?NewsID=12632

TADA - POTA and Terrorism

Diler Dogra — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:56:21 -0400

Islamic Terror is now a global phenomena spreading to whole world including China. Islamic terrorists are more active in Muslim countries like Afghanistan, Indonesia and Middle East and even Pakistan. Islamic terror Jini is out of the bottle and the biggest challenge to humanity.
After the Congress revoked POTA, Indian police has not been able to solve any terrorist case, not even the deadly 7/11 Mumbai blasts. Central Intelligence organizations are expressing helplessness and frustration. Since we do not have a proper anti-terror law they find it difficult to interrogate or hold terror suspects. They say that fight against terror cannot be fought by Police alone. Legislature, judiciary and most important Media, Polity and Public have to do their part as well. Police have been able to arrest some terror suspects in some cases but could not solve the case or break in deeper into these organizations because of lack of laws, political will as well as due to political pressure of vote bank politics. Unfortunately we have a situation where terrorists are getting bolder and deadlier after each terror act. Bombay Serial blasts case in 1992 was solved immediately because we had TADA that time which helped not just in catching and convicting the culprits but also in discouraging any future attack and breaking the back of terror organizations. For the next few years there were no terrorist activities in India and terror suspects ran away and found refuge in Pakistan and Dubai.

TADA was also successfully used against Tamil and Sikh militants and important cases like Rajiv Gandhi murder was solved with its help.Later TADA was repealed by Congress as demanded by Muslim, pseudo-secular and Human (read Muslim) rights organizations while BJP tried its best to oppose this move. These organizations claimed anti-terror laws were against Muslims as most of the persons arrested under TADA happened to be Muslims (That shouldn’t have been surprising). The effect of this move was immediate, terrorist organizations like SIMI and PDP (Madhani) regrouped and we saw a series of homegrown terror attacks like Coimbatore series blasts. After BJP came in power it brought in milder version of TADA called POTA after prolonged negotiations and amidst heavy opposition by pseudo-intellectual media and pseudo-secular politicians. Pseudo-seculars are now claiming that POTA was ineffective because terrorism like Akshardham and Parliament attack happened even after POTA. This is a fallacy because there is an important difference. The attacks that time were committed by ISI sponsored terrorists who would come from across the border on a suicide mission. Attacks like that are difficult to stop. At the same because of POTA we had managed to infiltrate local terrorist organizations and their activity was heavily subsided.POTA helped convict terrorists and their sympathizers and as a result created fear among terrorists and their supporters even in Kashmir.

Current situation is diametrically different. Pakistan is now facing terrorism itself and is not actively supporting terrorism due to western pressure. This should have reduced terrorism in India but on the other hand we have local organizations using local material and without any outside support able to commit bigger terrorist attacks. We have not been able to solve any cases in the last 3 years after POTA was repealed. This just proves that we have given a free hand to terrorists and not to law enforcement agencies

India still does not have an anti-terror law even though there is a UN resolution which mandates each country should set up anti-terrorism laws and even Europe/America have anti-terror laws. Madhani (PDP) responsible for Coimbatore blasts was released by court and his release welcomed by CPIM.

People talk about justice for Gujarat riots. 20 years after massacre and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus and with soldiers sacrificed in Kashmir, not even a single terrorist has been convicted. PDP-Congress coalition released most of the terrorists and gave them government jobs and monetary compensation calling it “Healing Touch Policy” while as their victims "Kashmiri Hindus" are languishing in inhuman conditions in concentration camps. PDP has now revived the separatist and anti-Hindu movement by fanning Muslim fanatics on Amaranth Issue. No Pseudo-secular has raised his voice for this injustice. Pseudo seculars blame BJP for releasing 5 terrorists for 200 passengers , but no one questions Mufti’s trick of getting his own daughter kidnapped for releasing 7 major terrorists.

To defeat terrorists we first need to expose these anti-national pseudo-secular forces. They will blame BJP for creating Muslim terrorists. There is no BJP in Pakistan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Indonesia or even Saudi Arabia. Tell me a place where there are Muslims and no Islamic fanatics. Consider the western world, where most Muslims due to their cultural backwardness remain unemployed and survive on government grants; Islamic terrorism is now a major problem for these countries. Islamic terrorists take appeasement as a sign of weakness and get encouraged. The more you give in to them the more they will demand. For example US policy of no negotiations with terrorists has resulted in less Americans getting kidnapped. TADA created fear for Terrorists and their sympathizers till it was repealed for Vote bank politics and even now most political parties are unwilling to go for such a law. Three years after deadly 7/11 train blasts in Mumbai we have neither been able to convict anyone nor even able to get to the bottom of the case. On the other hand in 1992, Mumbai Police was able to solve the case immediately after the incident with the help of TADA. Terror cells are operating in India with impunity and getting bolder with each success. The major difference now is that it is a home grown terrorism, which is much more dangerous. There are some peaceniks who will suggest that we should continue to appease Muslims so that they stop targeting us. We have tried appeasement in Kashmir and as a result terrorism has revived. There is nothing that encourages terrorists more than appeasement. If you want to make your contribution to anti-terrorism please help create awareness towards this hypocrisy of pseudo-secular politicians who want to rule this country over our dead bodies. Congress and its cronies, Mulayam and Lalu claimed SIMI was not a terrorist organization and refused to take action against it.

(please copy my message above , improve it and spread it on as many forums as possible) Let us work together and defeat the forces of darkness by awareness- Satyamev Jayte daler_dogra@rediff.com

Madrassas along Nepal border worry India

rkm — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:42:53 -0400

Security agencies are working overtime these days
along the Indo-Nepal border, the reason being the growth of large
number of Madrassas that have come up in a disproportionate way and are
not proportional to the Muslim population in the area.

Some
of the Madrassas or Islamic seminaries are believed to be the safe
houses for the militant groups, who were trying to set up the bases in
the Himalayan kingdom and operate from there, says a top security
official said.

"Setting up of Madrassas is nothing wrong. But
what is worrying us is the Madrassas are not proportionate to the
Muslim population in the area," he said.

On the Indian
side the Islamic seminaries have come up in Uttar Pradesh's Basti,
Siddharth Nagar and Balrampur districts while in Nepal, the Madrassas
are concentrated on Jhanda Nagar and Barhi-Krishna Nagar areas.

"It
is a known fact that ISI has a good base in Nepal and we suspect that
many of the Madrassas have been abetted and assisted by the agency to
spread their nefarious design in India," the official said.

UP and Uttarakhand share a 863 km border with Nepal. Unlike clearly demarcated Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir [Images],
the situation along the Indo-Nepal border is different where the border
is porous. Besides, there is conventional movement of people from both
sides of the border as Nepal and India share good relations and
friendship.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/13nepal.htm

"Has Allah told them to fight all the time?"------Shankracharya ji.

rkm — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:26:00 -0400

The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Jayendra Saraswati's
negotiations with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board over the Ram
Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, have run into rough water. In
an exclusive interview with Managing Editor Saisuresh Sivaswamy
at his Mutt in Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday, the seer
explains what went wrong, and how the talks could get back on track.

What is the extent of your, your Mutt's involvement in Ayodhya? Is it only the temple?

In
Ayodhya the Kanchi Mutt has set up a trust, the Kanchi Ayodhya Nagara
Development Trust. On it we have our Mutt officials, and locals,
including a Muslim. The people of that area, whether Hindu or Muslim,
are very poor; the mahants and such people are also there, living in
big bungalows, they are happy. So we thought of doing something for the
people, to do some social service, for the poor to prosper. We teach
them tailoring, and buy readymade clothes from them which is sold in
Hyderabad, so they have a steady livelihood. We have also started
embroidery classes recently, and both Hindus and Muslims are part of
this project. That is one endeavour of ours that is on in Ayodhya.

Apart
from that we have also set up a small information technology project in
Ayodhya, in which both Hindus and Muslims, men and women, participate.
We have taken on rent a small place there, hired two teachers to teach
them IT, and help them set up on their own by giving them whatever help
they may need. One batch is over and the second batch commenced on the 6^th of this month.

We
want to see the people of Ayodhya happy. There is no point in fighting
over Ram, Krishna, this god or that, in Ayodhya. Feed the stomach,
Swamigal, they say. They are now able to look after themselves, their
family, with dignity. Both communities are living with dignity, which
is important.

But what about the main problem in Ayodhya?

As
far as Ayodhya is concerned there is no problem at all. Not through the
Mutts there, or through the poor people. If any problem is there it is
coming through outside forces. If these forces were to keep away the
problem you are referring to will automatically solve itself.

I
am talking about the specific problem over the Ram temple. You and the
All India Muslim Personal Law Board had this exchange of letters, which
raised a lot of hope all around, and then came your letter dated July
1, in which you raised Kashi and Mathura over which the Board expressed
its dismay.

Why?
Leave their feelings alone. OK, I agree, maybe I need not have
mentioned Kashi and Mathura, I don't want them either, but what about
the other points in my letter? They have used this as a pretext to
ignore the other points mentioned by me.

What else did you say?

We
had said, in the first letter, to give us the undisputed area, and to
build a wall in the middle if they feel that we will extend the temple,
if they don't trust us. We will in the meantime talk, look to the court
judgment etc. No one else should interfere in this matter, it should be
sorted out by the two sides. Then they asked for some clarifications.
You had mentioned the court judgment, they said, so can you tell us
where the Ramalayam's garba griha will be located? Show the same on the map, they said.

We
wrote to them that the undisputed and disputed areas, which were
separate earlier, have become one, is not in existence anymore. They
were separate, which is why we had asked for it, but now there is no
separation of disputed and undisputed areas. In the last developments
of the last few months the two parts have become one.

What are these developments you referred to?

The matter went to the Supreme Court for vacating the stay on the undisputed land given during the Bhoomi Pujan, which ruled
that the stay will be vacated only when the status of the disputed land
is sorted out. After that there is no point talking about disputed and
undisputed areas, they have become one. There is no sense in them
saying they won't give the undisputed area, both are now disputed.
Given that, if we want the talks to go anywhere, we have to start
discussing the disputed area since the court has made even the
undisputed area into a disputed one.

On what basis did you ask for the disputed land?

We
gave them reasons for saying so. One, for the sake of communal harmony.
This issue has led to a lot of violence, and will lead to more violence
in which poor people will get killed. You must develop a spirit of
give-and-take. It is the vishwas-bhoomi [land of faith] for Hindus. For you, it is of a man who you call great today [Babar],
we don't know what he was then. We don't also know if there was a
temple there. Hindus have the faith that he was born there, so keeping
in mind this faith if you give up the area it will lead to communal
harmony, we told them.

Two, today, Lord Ram is already seated there, although in a small jhopdi, it
is the reality. As of today if you think anyone can move him from
there, it is impossible. Just as the undisputed and disputed areas have
become one, it is also evident that Lord Ram has occupied the site. If
he is moved, there will be mass protests, so he cannot be moved. Even a
human being, over twelve years, acquires property, family etc. Also,
whether occupied land or unoccupied, if someone has resided in a place
for twelve years the law recognizes him as the owner. But we told them,
we are not here to claim ownership. It may be yours but we are asking
you to give it up in our favour. We can also go the law's way but we
are asking you.

Next, there
are already many mosques in that town, some 20. But only eight have
prayers offered there still, the others are in a state of disrepair. No
one's come forward to repair them, nor has the government given
permission for it. In this situation if you erect another mosque who do
you expect to come and pray there? You build a temple or mosque when
there are people around. Like, when you build a colony you build a
Vinayak temple. But you don't erect a temple just because the land is
yours, you build where there is scope for public worship. Similarly
there is no need for public worship in a mosque there, where will the
people come from? For this reason also you must give in to us, we said.

More,
we all accept Allah as great, the supreme power. We pray to such a god,
in a mosque worthy of him, or in a holy place, or even when you find
the time and place. But here is a mosque named after Babar, who came
here, fought and won, so you decide, is he of importance, or is Allah
of importance? Allah is supreme, but do we rate Babar who came here and
fought as equally important? This fact of his war, whenever it was
fought in history, will be remembered forever. If you want the ill will
to go, remove Babar. Otherwise, his memory will keep coming up, and the
problem will keep recurring.

Lastly,
we all agree that communal harmony is needed. The Wakf Board has given
up so much land in so many places, for schools, colleges, etc. It is
nothing new. Given that, if you give up this site for the sake of
communal harmony, you will come to occupy an exalted position. Because,
although only a handful of Muslims may be terrorists they have given
the entire community a bad name. Because of them the general perception
is that a Muslim is someone who will only fight. But, if you were to
think in a spirit of accommodation, you will enhance the reputation of
Indian Muslims across the world, as a people who are willing to give in
for communal harmony.

I had written all this to them, in my last letter

Which led to the Board digging its heels in. But why Kashi and Mathura?

That
was extra, yes. I don't need it, it is not needed now, but I said one
day Hindus may ask for them so be prepared mentally for it, that's all.
But it was unnecessary, yes, though we had said it.

But it is that which apparently created all the problems.

You
are wrong, that did not create any problems at all. I have a copy of
their resolution, and do you know, there is not a word in it about that
point. They have not said anything about it. On the contrary, they have
mentioned there is a difference between my first and second letters.

Yes, there seems to be a hint of a threat in your second letter.

What
threat? Isn't there a difference between saying 'prepare yourself
mentally' and 'get ready to fight'? If your office says your
performance is not good, is that a threat? It means to change your
behaviour, to perform better, and cannot be considered a threat, but
sound advice. If someone mistakes advice for a threat, what can I do!
The two are different.

When
you say, 'if you don't do this I will kill you, harm you' that is a
threat, but we are not doing it. To consider well-meaning advice as a
threat is the wrong approach. Anyway, let it be, we have no such desire
in our minds.

In all
fairness, their reply should have been to question why I am asking for
the disputed area instead of the undisputed area. But they never wanted
to know! If they had asked me I would have told them that the two have
become one now, both are a problem today. Since the whole land has now
become disputed, where do we start from if not the disputed area so
that the non-disputed area also comes out? This has to be faced, but no
one wants to face it.

So what is the next stage in the negotiations?

Unless they are willing to face all this we will not talk about the next phase.

But what do you expect to see from them?

The
news must come out, that they realize we changed our view was that
since the disputed and non-disputed have become one, we broached the
disputed land. This has to happen.

Second,
they have announced that no one has the right to give away Allah's
land. Even during the various Muslim empires they have given grants to
various temples and Mutts, including land. Grants were given to the
Sringeri Mutt, our [Kanchi] Mutt, to the Srirangam temple and
many others. One of them even built a temple! That proves there's
nothing that says Allah's property cannot be given away.

Apart
from what the Wakf Board owns everything else belongs to Allah. If the
world is Allah's property how can they be different with just one piece
of land? They have not answered that properly. They had clarifications
of my first letter, but no doubts over the second letter. Why? So how
did they decide Allah's property cannot be given, how did they decide
that we are threatening them? Did I ask anything for myself?

Since
I mentioned Kashi and Mathura they should have wanted to know what will
happen later, who will ask, when, how, shall we talk about it now.
Instead of that they decide that Allah's property cannot be given away,
so how do they want to solve the problem? The way we say everything
is Bhagwan's they believe Allah's property is all over, fine, but how
can they say they cannot give only that portion? What, they don't buy
and sell shops and houses? Whose property is that, Allah's or theirs?

According
to the Quran, the world belongs to Allah, not one bit of land here or
there. In countries like Pakistan mosques have been razed, only
recently one was pulled down, but did you see any protest over it? In
Afghanistan and Iraq many were ruined in the war. Such questions should
be debated upon and done with. Instead, they say it is Allah's property
and get stuck on one point: you raised Kashi and Mathura which we don't
like.

Finally they say
looking at their image, honour, respect, dignity, their consensus, the
consensus of all Indians they will consider [my proposal]. They have taken a minority status, and now talk about Indian consensus? Let them then give up the minority status.

The
counterpoint to what you say is, why can't Hindus show their large
heart, the oft-repeated line that all faiths are equal, by giving away
the site to Muslims? Why are you stuck on it?

Yes,
Hindus have a large heart, all faiths are equal. If it were not, such a
senior religious leader like the Shankaracharya will not be talking to
them. I have gone to Lucknow to talk to them, no saint has done that,
no Hindu has gone there. Why did I go to Lucknow when they called me?
For peace and communal harmony. Did they show me similar respect? I did
not go there to see their architecture and such stuff.

We
were discussing this problem, so I went to an Arabic school there to
talk to them, putting my prestige aside so that something positive may
come about. Communal harmony can come about if both are in agreement.
Has Allah told them to fight all the time, don't they have a spirit of
give and take? Where can they go apart from India? We all have to live
together right here.

Don't you agree Muslims harbour a sense of grievance over December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was pulled down by Hindus?

What
has happened has happened. They may feel that way but how long will
they grieve over December 6? Our temples have also been demolished,
people killed. In Kashmir many temples were destroyed, our people are
still being killed there. Shouldn't we also harbour similar feelings?
Both sides should forget. In day to day life there will be many
grievances, they should not be nursed.

December
6 cannot last forever. How many people must be upset over Babar's
mosque in that sacred site? You have been grieving for 10 years, many
people have grouses going back hundreds of years. After all he defeated
us and built that structure, didn't he? Both sides have grievances, and
both sides should get over them, one can't live that way.

Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj

Part II: 'Show me another janambhoomi and we will go there'

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/16inter.htm

Afghans point finger over bombing

rkm — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:31:57 -0400

"Foreigners" were behind Monday's devastating bomb
attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, a spokesman for Afghan President
Hamid Karzai has said.

Humayun Hamidzada did not name Pakistan's intelligence agency -
frequently accused by Afghan officials - but he strongly implicated
them.

Earlier Pakistan denied involvement in the bombing, which killed 41 people.

The Taleban have denied carrying out the attack, the deadliest in Kabul since their overthrow in 2001.

Deadliest attack

Mr Hamidzada said it was "pretty obvious" who was behind the
attack. He said it had been designed outside Afghanistan and exported
to it.

RECENT ATTACKS IN KABUL

April 2008: Gun attack on parade attended by President Karzai

March 2008: Six people die in car bomb attack on coalition convoy

Jan 2008: Six people killed in Taleban attack on Serena hotel

Dec 2007: At least 13 people killed in a suicide car bombing

Sept 2007: Suicide bomb attack on bus kills 30 Afghan soldiers

June 2007: Bomb attack on Afghan police bus kills up to 35 people

India: Afghanistan's influential ally

"The sophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was
used in it and the specific targeting, everything has the hallmark of a
particular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terrorist
acts inside Afghanistan in the past.

"We have sufficient evidence to say that," Mr Hamidzada said.

The Afghan government has accused Pakistani agents of being
behind an April assassination attempt against President Karzai, in
addition to playing a role in a mass jailbreak in Kandahar last month
and a string of other attacks.

Five embassy staff - India's defence attache, another
diplomat, two security guards and an Afghan employee - were among those
killed in Monday's bombing. More than 141 were injured.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denied his country was involved in the blast.

"Why should Pakistan destabilise Afghanistan? It is in our
interest, a stable Afghanistan. We want stability in the region," he
told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia's capital,
Kuala Lumpur.

A senior official at Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
agency (ISI) described the allegations from Afghanistan as part of a
"smear campaign" against his country's forces.

Meanwhile, the Afghan parliament has strongly criticised what
is says is the high level of civilian casualties following US-led air
strikes.

Local officials say nearly 40 people were killed in two
separate incidents over the weekend, including one that allegedly
struck a wedding.

Mirwais Yasini, deputy speaker of the lower house of
parliament, said that MPs were urging the government to find foreign
soldiers involved and bring them to justice.

"The Afghan people cannot tolerate American forces' bombing of civilians any more," Mr Yasini said.

"We are are stuck between a rock and a hard place, between Taleban attacks and foreign forces air strikes."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7496122.stm

COMMENT Islamism shakes Kashmir

rkm — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:21:01 -0400

After two decades of calm in large-scale popular movements, Indian-administered
Kashmir recently witnessed mass demonstrations and protests against the state
government's decision to transfer forest land to facilitate a Hindu pilgrimage.

The decision of the Jammu and Kashmir authorities to grant 40 hectares of
uninhabited jungle tract to the Amarnath Shrine Board triggered a furor in the
Kashmir Valley and brought life to a standstill for nearly two weeks, a
throwback to the 1988-1989 insurrection against Indian rule. So forceful was
the clamor that the state government had to eventually rescind the transfer
order.

The anti-land transfer agitation fed on important new trends in Jammu and Kashmir. Firstly, the state has been enjoying a rare respite from
terrorist violence initiated by Pakistan-sponsored jihadi outfits like the
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammad. The internal
political turmoil in Pakistan, pitting a military presidency against a
democratically elected parliament, and the challenge posed to Pakistan's
security by the US war on the Taliban, left the jihadis in Kashmir confused and
rudderless.

The capability of terrorists to attack Indian military personnel and pro-India
civilians in Kashmir was intact, but the power struggle in Islamabad created
uncertainty about whether or not the jihadis could rely on Pakistan's undying
support to wrest Kashmir from India.

The anti-land transfer movement can be seen as filling the "liberation" space
that had sunk into a vacuum due to the gradual rusting of the jihadi guns. The
alienation of ordinary Muslim Kashmiris from the Indian government did not
subside with the decline of terrorist violence by "freedom fighters". It was
waiting for an opportune symbolic issue to explode, and the Amarnath land
transfer issue emerged as the perfect cause.

It is worth recalling that symbolism playing on the religious fears of Kashmiri
Muslims has a history of inciting unrest. In 1963, the disappearance of a
strand of hair believed to belong to the head of the Prophet Mohammad kicked
off a major storm in the Kashmir Valley. Likewise, the razing of the shrine of
Kashmir's patron saint in 1995 by the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen stirred a massive
commotion among Kashmiri Muslims suspicious of the shenanigans of "Hindu
India".

A second way of analyzing the upsurge in Jammu and Kashmir is to run it through
the prism of democratic politics in the state. The decision to grant the land
to the Hindu shrine was made by the Congress party-run state government in the
run-up to provincial elections scheduled for October. Since the territory of
Jammu & Kashmir includes Hindu-majority, Buddhist-majority and
Muslim-majority areas, the land transfer decision could have been aimed at
winning Hindu votes from the Jammu area for the Congress.

The vehement reaction to the transfer by the People's Democratic Party and the
National Conference was, in turn, geared towards beefing up their own electoral
prospects among the valley's Muslims. These parties are, in theory, wedded to
the Indian constitution and its democratic processes, but they have to show
their "pro-Islam" credentials to be electorally relevant in the Kashmir Valley.
The land transfer issue was ripe for exploitation by these political
opportunists who benefit from perks and privileges as people's representatives
within the Indian polity but commiserate with jihadi secessionists.

The irony of the anti-land transfer movement is that its very raison d'etre is
spurious. The forest land was clearly given to the Amarnath temple for erecting
temporary shelters and conveniences for Hindu pilgrims who flock annually to
the Himalayan abode of Lord Shiva. It was in no way a violation of the special
status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir, which blocks citizens of the rest of
India from acquiring property in the state. The makeshift structures planned by
the Amarnath temple staff on the transferred land were meant purely for the
pilgrimage season.

That a temporary land transfer for a Hindu pilgrimage could be painted by
separatist politicians as a devious plot of the Indian government to alter the
demography of Kashmir shows how communalized Islam has become in the valley.
This is the third and most potent explanation for the movement that rocked
Jammu and Kashmir. While alienation of Muslims amid a lull in terrorist
violence and machinations of democratic politics partially account for the
crisis, neither of these could galvanize the public without the wholesale
Islamization of Kashmir, a land ironically mythologized as a cradle of eclectic
Sufism. The same drivers of Taliban-style enforcement of strict moral codes on
Kashmiris, especially women, are at the forefront in the anti-land transfer
movement.

So mainstreamed is the influence of intolerant Islamist ideology in Kashmir
that there is barely a squeal of anguish regarding restoration of properties of
nearly half-a-million Kashmiri Hindus ("Pandits"), who were hounded out of the
valley by terrorists in 1988-1989. The restitution of Hindu properties that
were destroyed and taken over is a genuine grievance for which Islamists show
no sympathy. Islamists have also never condemned terrorist attacks that, over
the years, have killed dozens of Hindu pilgrims whose simple ambition in life
was to pay their respects to a supernatural phenomenon in Amarnath.

While the reality on the ground is that the demography of the Kashmir Valley
has been forcibly redrawn through the killing of Hindus, the mass movement that
erupted in June was based on fictitious claims of the land transfer being a
diabolical conspiracy for Hindus to deluge the valley. There is little evidence
to prove that India's Kashmir policy mimics Chinese internal colonization
solutions that have changed the population profile of Tibet in favor of Han
Chinese. While the Tibetan upheavals this year against Chinese high-handedness
had a legitimate basis, the anti-land transfer ruckus in Kashmir rests on
concocted charges.

The most perverse sign of bigoted Islamism running the roost in the Kashmir
Valley is a report that shrines are being built to glorify jihadi groups as a
retort to the Amarnath temple imbroglio. The first-ever shrine to the
Lashkar-e-Toiba has just been inaugurated in a village near the town of
Ganderbal in memory of two Pakistani holy warriors who died fighting the Indian
army. According to The Hindu, local businesspersons who erected this monument
declared, "Here was India conspiring to seize our land and hand it over to
infidels [Hindu pilgrims visiting the Amarnath temple], and here were these two
foreigners who had given their lives to save Islam in Kashmir."

The agenda of "saving Islam" from alleged threats is growing stronger in Jammu
and Kashmir, even though its Muslims enjoy constitutionally guaranteed
religious freedom. Terrorist violence in Kashmir may wax and wane and
state-level elections may come and go every five years, but the seeds of
Islamist hatred continue to sprout and augur ill for peace. The liberation of
Kashmir from jihadi mentality remains an uphill task.

Sreeram Chaulia is a researcher on international affairs at the Maxwell
School of Citizenship at Syracuse University, New York.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JG08Df02.html

4 Indians among 40 killed in attack on Afghan Indian embassy

rkm — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:14:09 -0400

Kabul (Afghanistan): In a massive explosion Monday
that reverberated around the city, a suicide bomber killed at least 40
people and injured 140 at the gates of the Indian Embassy in the Afghan
capital, the Interior Ministry said.

In New Delhi, the Foreign
Ministry said the military attaché, who held the rank of brigadier, a
senior diplomat and three other Indians were killed in the attack. The
dead also included six Afghan policemen.

While Afghan cities are no stranger to suicide attacks, Monday’s assault ranked among the deadliest in Kabul itself.

The
bomber rammed a car into two Indian diplomatic vehicles as they entered
the gates of the embassy, witnesses reported from the scene. They said
the blast wrecked several other cars and spread human body parts and
bloodstained scraps of clothing amid the debris.

The embassy is near the Afghan Interior Ministry, the scene of a huge blast last year.

The
bombing followed an attack on police officers in Islamabad, the capital
of neighboring Pakistan, on Sunday and an earlier assault on a
diplomatic mission in which a suicide bomber attacked the Danish
Embassy in Islamabad last month.

On April 27, President Hamid Karzai came under fire shortly before an annual military parade.

There
was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Taliban
has threatened to escalate a campaign of suicide bombings in an attempt
to topple the government and challenge the presence of some 60,000
foreign troops in Afghanistan, including 34,000 Americans.

The U.S.-led forces are battling a resurgent Taliban that has stepped up attacks recently.

The
death toll among foreign troops in June was the highest since the
American-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in late 2001. The latest
death among the foreign forces came on Monday when a Canadian soldier
was killed, Agence France-Press reported.

The violence in
Afghanistan has surged at the same time as deaths in Iraq have fallen.
Among the American-led forces in the two countries, 46 service members
were killed in Afghanistan in June, compared with 31 in Iraq, the
second straight month in which combat deaths in Afghanistan exceeded
those in Iraq.

Witnesses said the blast on Monday left two
Indian Embassy vehicles wrecked, but the Afghan authorities, quoted by
The Associated Press, said the Indian ambassador was not at the mission
when the bomber attacked.The blast seemed to have torn through
passers-by close to a nearby market area and people queuing for visas
at the embassy. The dead included women and three children, Afghan
officials said.

Haji Khial Mohammad, 45, who was in line to
apply for an Indian visa, said a “vehicle came and hit the embassy
gate. I was shocked and could not hear anything after the attack. But I
saw at least 10 men and three women in the queue who were probably
killed.”

Mohammad Ajmal, 26 a shopkeeper in the market adjacent
to the embassy said, “After a very loud explosion, I could barely could
stand up” after goods from his shelves spilled over him.

Reuters
reported that U.S. troops were among the security forces who arrived
after the blast and cordoned off the area. India is seen as an ally of
the Afghan government and is financing major development projects.

The
bombing on Monday brought the death toll among Afghans to more than 50
in recent days. Local officials in the east of the country said Sunday
that an American airstrike killed at least 27 civilians at a wedding
party, most of them women and children and including the bride.

Officials
of the American-led coalition disputed the report, saying that the
airstrike killed militants and that there was no evidence of women and
children at the scene.

The attack early Sunday in the Deh Bala district of Nangarhar Province was the second in which civilian deaths were reported.

President
Karza, has ordered an investigation into a helicopter strike on Friday
in Nuristan Province in which the provincial governor said 22 civilians
had been killed.

The American military has also disputed that account, saying that only people who had been firing on coalition forces were hit.

The
suicide bombing on Monday was among the bloodiest in Afghanistan since
February, 2008, when a bomber blew himself up in a large crowd gathered
at a dogfighting event just outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
That attack killed about 80 people and wounded more than 90 in the
country’s worst single bombing since 2001.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Police sniffer dogs may wear bootees to avoid offending Muslims

rkm — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:20:02 -0400

Police sniffer dogs may be forced to wear bootees when entering mosques and
Muslims' homes to avoid causing offence.

DPA

The Association of Chief Police Officers has not ruled out a suggestion that police dogs wear bootees.

In a bid to respect cultural sensitivities, the Association of Chief Police
Officers (ACPO) is considering the move while drawing up new guidelines on
the use of police dogs.

Many Muslims refuse to have direct contact with the animals, which are
considered "unclean" in Islamic culture.

An ACPO spokeswoman said current guidelines were being re-drafted, but the
suggestion that police dogs wear bootees had not been ruled in or out.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2257264/Police-sniffer-dogs-may-wear-boo...

9 Terrorism Suspects Detained in Indonesia After a Raid Uncovers Bombs

rkm — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:41:31 -0400

Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press

An Indonesian police officer with one of the nine terrorism suspects
arrested on Thursday in Sumatra. An antiterrorism official said the men
were planning an attack on Westerners in Jakarta.

By PETER GELLING

Published: July 4, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia
— Indonesian police transferred nine terrorism suspects, bound and
wearing black hoods, to the capital, Jakarta, on Thursday after their
arrest in southern Sumatra.

According to the police, a
raid on Wednesday in the Sumatran port city of Palembang by an elite
Indonesian counterterrorism team turned up more than a dozen homemade
bombs and a cache of ammunition. A police spokesman refused to give
further details, saying that the prisoners were being interrogated
about the nature of their plan and their roles within the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

Indonesian
news outlets quoted an antiterrorism official as saying that the men
were planning an attack on Westerners in Jakarta, but no details were
given.

Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to have a vast network throughout the island of Sumatra.

The
police confirmed that at least one of the suspects was Singaporean, but
experts dismissed rumors that he might be Mas Selamat Kastari, who is
suspected of being the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah. He escaped from a
Singapore prison in March.

Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert who
is the director of International Crisis Group in Jakarta, however, said
the escapee was not among those caught in the Wednesday raids. “They
are all certainly members of Jemaah Islamiyah,” Ms. Jones said. “And at
least one is Singaporean, but he is definitely not Mas Selamat.”

The
authorities suspected that Noordin Top, a Jemaah Islamiyah militant
from Malaysia, was hiding in Palembang in early 2007, and some analysts
have said that he may have started a splinter terrorist group. He is
believed to be responsible for several major bombings in Indonesia.

Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for most of the major attacks in
Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings
that killed more than 200 people.

The militant wing of Jemaah
Islamiyah, however, has been seriously weakened in recent years after
the loss of several important leaders, including the group’s master
bomb maker, Azhari Husin, who was killed in a shootout in 2005.

Indonesia’s
success in fighting terrorism prompted the Bush administration to renew
military ties with the country. And the State Department lifted a
travel advisory last month that had warned Americans of possible
terrorist attacks.

Australia, which has worked closely with
Indonesia in its fight against the militant network, has refused to
lift its travel warning for Indonesia, however, saying there is still
evidence that terrorists are planning attacks.

Despite its
setbacks, Jemaah Islamiyah has proven resilient. The group relies on a
grassroots recruiting effort focused heavily on Indonesia’s many
Islamic boarding schools. One of the suspects arrested Wednesday, Ms.
Jones said, was the director of an Islamic school in Palembang.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/world/asia/04indonesia.html?_r=1&em&ex...