[Reader-list] Ahmedabad blasts: the usual suspects

[Pawan Durani]

ignoring facts to satisfy personal addictions.

On 8/1/08, Shivam Vij शिवम् विज् <mail at shivamvij.com> wrote:
>
> Yaha sab shanti hai, yeh public hai sab jaanti hai
> hah!
> http://ia.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/01ahd3.htm
>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 6:54 PM, Partha Dasgupta <parthaekka at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Don't know were you sourced this from, but this large continuous block of
> > text with punctuation missing is unreadable.
> >
> > Rgds, Partha
> > ...............................
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 6:44 PM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Ahmedabad blasts: the usual suspects
> > >  Praveen Swami  Gujarat has been targeted by jihadists half-a-dozen
> times
> > > since 2002 in a little-understood war.  One still afternoon in March
> 2002,
> > > Feroze Abdul Latif Ghaswala watched 40 victims of the anti-Muslim
> pogrom
> > > being buried near his aunt's home in Ahmedabad.Back home in Mumbai, the
> > > automobile mechanic saw a printout of a Lashkar-e-Taiba pamphlet, which
> > > purported to show a riot victim begging for his life:"Do you think he
> should
> > > have a gun," it asked.  In September 2003, Ghaswala volunteered for
> training
> > > in Pakistan with a group led by the 2006 Mumbai serial bombing
> architect,
> > > Rahil Abdul Rehman Sheikh.When the Delhi police caught up with him in
> the
> > > summer of 2006, Ghaswala, along with computer engineer Ali Mohammad
> Cheepa,
> > > had just received a consignmentof military-grade explosives from the
> Lashkar
> > > for a major bombing in Ahmedabad Ever since last week's bombings in
> > > Ahmedabad — one among half-a-dozen major plots targeting Gujarat that
> the
> > > Indian police and intelligence services didnot succeed in interdicting
> — the
> > > media have not tired of informing us that jihadist terrorism has taken
> a
> > > dramatic new turn. Instead of Pakistan-basedterrorists, it is claimed,
> a new
> > > generation of Indian jihadists is spearheading the attacks.  On point
> of
> > > fact, the claim is nonsensical: not one single Islamist urban terror
> cell
> > > since 1993 has not involved a preponderance of Indian nationals. Butthe
> > > claim does show how little Islamist terror groups, and the politics
> that
> > > have driven their growth, are understood in India. Politics isn't
> welcome at
> > > the Lal Masjid seminary in Ahmedabad's Kaulpur area. Its students learn
> the
> > > six principles of Islam as enunciated by the founderof the Tablighi
> Jamaat,
> > > Mohammad Illyas, and are exhorted to give up frivolities like
> television and
> > > cinema. Maulana Sufiyan Patangia, who ran the seminary,often travelled
> to
> > > Saudi Arabia, seeking support for his students. After the January 26,
> 2001
> > > Gujarat earthquake, the cleric put these networks to useto raise funds
> for
> > > relief work. It was his first foray into the secular world. The
> al-Qaeda's
> > > bombing of New York and Washington D.C. gave Patangia a new cause. In
> the
> > > wake of the United States-led war on the Taliban, he declared thatIslam
> was
> > > in danger. He set up a study group, Idara-e-Fadlullah-ul-Muslimeen
> > > (Institution of Charity for Muslims), to educate his earthquake
> > > volunteers.The IFM members monitored events in Afghanistan on the
> Internet,
> > > and listened to tapes of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Mohammad Masood Azhar's
> > > speeches.  Patangia used to be jokingly called 'Mullah Omar,' after the
> > > Taliban leader. His second-in-command Suhail Khan adopted an Osama
> > > bin-Laden-style headgear,acquiring the nickname 'Chhota Osama,' or
> Little
> > > Osama. In February 2002, when the communal pogrom in Gujarat began,
> Patangia
> > > was in Saudi Arabia on hisannual pilgrimage. He turned to the South
> Asian
> > > Islamist there for help to defend his community — and to exact revenge.
> > > Abdul Bari, a one-time Hyderabadresident who is among the Lashkar's top
> > > financiers, put up Rs.3,75,000. Two Saudi-based JeM fundraisers of
> Hyderabad
> > > origin, Farhatullah Ghauri and AbdulRehman, threw in another
> Rs.5,00,000.
> > > Most important, though, Patangia made contact with Rasool Khan 'Party'
> —
> > > nicknamed with the Ahmedabad argot for 'contractor' because of his work
> for
> > > topGujarat mafioso Abdul Latif Sheikh and his Pakistan-based boss,
> Dawood
> > > Ibrahim Kaksar. In May 2002, Khan and his brother Idris met Patangia in
> > > Mumbai todiscuss just how vengeance might be planned.  Late in May
> 2002,
> > > five bombs went off on buses in Ahmedabad, injuring 26 people. It was
> the
> > > first act of violence by Gujarat-based jihadists. In December,Khan
> arranged
> > > for eight of Patangia's volunteers to travel to Pakistan for training.
> Along
> > > with other groups of young people from Hyderabad, Mumbai andBangalore,
> the
> > > Ahmedabad jihadists flew to Pakistan through Dhaka, Kathmandu, Dubai
> and
> > > Bangkok. Soon, the vengeance they sought was delivered. Gujarat's Home
> > > Minister, Haren Pandya, who had led some of the most murderous mobs in
> > > Ahmedabad during thepogrom, was shot just 13 months later, by when he
> ceased
> > > to be Home Minister. Central Bureau of Investigation detectives later
> > > determined that he was killedby a hit-team directed by Patangia. Nine
> of the
> > > 12 assassins received life terms last year. Despite the CBI's
> successes,
> > > plans for large-scale reprisal attacks in Gujarat continued apace. The
> LeT
> > > and the Maharashtra-based Students Islamic Movementof India operatives
> took
> > > the lead — helped by a steady flow of funds.  In June 2004, the LeT
> > > despatched two Pakistani nationals from Jammu and Kashmir to execute a
> > > fidayeen attack in Gujarat. Jishan Johar of Gujranwala in Pakistanand
> Amjad
> > > Ali Rana, who hailed form Sargodha, were killed in a controversial
> encounter
> > > in Ahmedabad along with SIMI activist Javed Sheikh and his
> friend,Ishrat
> > > Jehan Raza.  The Maharashtra-based SIMI bomb-maker Zulfikar Fayyaz
> Kagzi
> > > built a sophisticated suitcase bomb that was planted on the
> Mumbai-Ahmedabad
> > > Express train inFebruary 2006. An error in the timer circuit resulted
> in the
> > > bomb exploding 12 hours after the scheduled detonation time, by when
> the
> > > cleaning staff haddeposited the suitcase in an empty corner of the
> Ahmedabad
> > > station. And in May 2006, the Intelligence Bureau prevented a
> potentially
> > > catastrophic bombingin Gujarat, penetrating an Aurangabad-based SIMI
> unit,
> > > which was in an advanced stage of preparation for serial bomb strikes.
> > >  Intellectual infrastructure  Has the vengeance the jihadists sought
> been
> > > delivered? Not quite. Minutes before the latest bombing, the Indian
> > > Mujahideen — a Lashkar-SIMI front organisationwhich also took
> responsibility
> > > for the earlier bombings in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — sent out a
> > > manifesto explaining just what it now seeks. According to the
> manifesto, the
> > > Indian Mujahideen is "raising the illustrious banner of Jihad against
> the
> > > Hindus and all those who fight and resist us,and here we begin our
> revenge
> > > with the help and Permission of Allah — a terrifying revenge of our
> blood,
> > > our lives and our honour that will Insha-Allahterminate your survival
> on
> > > this land." The manifesto calls on Hindus to "realise that the
> falsehood of
> > > your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb mute
> and
> > > naked idolsof ram, krishna and hanuman [sic; capitalisation as in
> original
> > > throughout] are not at all going to save your necks from being
> slaughtered
> > > by our hands."It demands that Hindus change their attitudes, lest
> "another
> > > Ghauri shakes your foundations, and lest another Ghaznavi massacres
> you,
> > > proving your bloodto be the cheapest of all mankind." No great effort
> is
> > > needed to locate the intellectual genesis of this body of ideas: it
> draws
> > > heavily on long-standing LeT polemic. Indeed, the manifesto'splea that
> the
> > > LeT not take responsibility for the attacks is something of a giveaway,
> > > since the terror group has never owned up to actions targeting
> civilians.In
> > > 2003, for example, the LeT argued on its website that violence against
> > > Muslims in India was an outcome of the core character of Hindus, who
> "have
> > > nocompassion in their religion." It was the duty of Muslims to wage a
> jihad
> > > against "Hindu oppressors," and it was "the Hindu who is a terrorist."
> > > Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed also said, "the Hindu is a mean
> enemy and
> > > the proper way to deal with him is the one adopted by our forefathers
> > > [who]crushed them by force." He made clear — just as the Indian
> Mujahideen
> > > has — that the objective of the jihad was extending Muslim control over
> what
> > > it sawas Muslim land. At a November 1999 rally, he promised that he
> would
> > > "not rest until the whole of India is dissolved into Pakistan." All
> those
> > > who participatedin this project were promised "huge places in
> Paradise."
> > > SIMI, like the Indian Mujahideen, also invoked medieval conquerors in
> its
> > > literature. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, SIMI
> called
> > > forMuslims to avenge the act by following in the steps of the 11th
> century
> > > conqueror, Mahmud Ghaznavi. SIMI posters appealed to god to send
> another
> > > Ghaznavi,and thus avenge attacks on Muslims and their mosques by
> attacking
> > > temples. Local influences  Local religious influences are also evident.
> In
> > > its manifesto, the Indian Mujahideen describes itself as "terrorist,"
> an
> > > apparently odd usage. However,it suggests that the author followed the
> > > neoconservative television evangelist Zakir Naik — just as several past
> > > Mumbai-based Lashkar operatives like RahilSheikh and Feroze Deshmukh
> did.
> > >  In a controversial speech on al-Qaeda chief Osama bin-Laden, Naik
> > > proclaimed, "If he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. If
> he is
> > > terrorisingAmerica the terrorist — the biggest terrorist — I am with
> him."
> > > "Every Muslim should be a terrorist," Naik concluded. "The thing is, if
> he
> > > is terrorisinga terrorist, he is following Islam." Most Indian Muslims
> would
> > > dispute the proposition: it is not for nothing, after all, that the
> Indian
> > > Mujahideen manifesto devotes considerable space torailing against
> clerics
> > > who oppose its jihadism. But the fact remains that some numbers of
> young
> > > Muslims — angered by discrimination, enraged by pogroms— see jihadism
> as the
> > > sole option available to them. As the work of scholar Ashutosh Varshney
> > > points out, the roots of this tragedy lie in the breakdownof
> inter-communal
> > > institutions: in a creeping religious apartheid that enveloped Gujarat
> in
> > > the second half of the last century, decades before the pogrom. In the
> weeks
> > > to come, the police and intelligence investigators will have to find
> out the
> > > perpetrators of the bombings. Politicians, however, have a farmore
> important
> > > task: to ensure that justice and equity are placed at centre stage of
> civic
> > > life in Gujarat, and India as a whole. No other way exists tobring down
> the
> > > intellectual infrastructure of hate, on which the jihadist campaign
> rests.
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Partha Dasgupta
> > +919811047132
> > _________________________________________
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> /National Highway/ http://shivamvij.com/
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