[Reader-list] The harsh reality: Nation walks on razor edge

[S. Jabbar]

Aditya, kindly quote your source properly when you make your posts on the
list.  Where was this published? Who is the author?
Rgds
sj


> From: Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:00:52 +0500
> To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Subject: [Reader-list] The harsh reality: Nation walks on razor edge
> 
>  The harsh reality: Nation walks on razor edge
Dina Nath Mishra

 Increasing
> *jihadi* attacks in cities have reached a point from where the
next jump would
> be much more devastating for the nation. While these attacks
are called
> terrorist acts the world over, *jihad* is actually something
different. As
> explained by several e-mails before the blast, it means that
the devastating
> bomb blasts are a religious duty of every Muslim to kill the
non-believers.
> Those who do not participate in *jihad* are not doing their
duty. But not
> every Muslim thinks like this but this is a small section
only.


> Knowledgeable members of Intelligence agencies and police assess that
> there
are 60,000 *jihadi*s in different parts of India. Formerly, these types
> of
attacks were conducted by the ISI with the help of sleeping cells. An
> outfit
named SIMI was born. It gained strength during the rise of Osama Bin
> Laden.
SIMI members used to sell Osama literature, cassettes and photos. The
> media
noticed this at many places in UP.

 After covering around half the
> districts in UP, SIMI gradually spread
throughout the country. From recent
> blasts in four State capitals, it boldly
rechristened itself Indian
> Mujahideen. After the blasts in Ahmedabad and a
large catch of explosives in
> Surat, the Gujarat Police caught hold of Abu
Bashir, the mastermind of Indian
> Mujahideen from Azamgarh. Gujarat Police,
assisted by UP Police, unearthed an
> undesirable part of the terror network
in north India. The Delhi serial bomb
> blasts opened the eyes of the general
public to it.

 Some Jamia students were
> involved in these dastardly acts of terror, which
killed around 30 people in
> Delhi alone. Raids were conducted in the narrow
bylanes of Jamia Nagar. Two
> *jihadi*s were killed on the spot, two arrested
while two escaped. A police
> inspector, Mohan Chand Sharma, was killed by the
terrorists. This raid was
> conducted as the police had concrete information.
But the local Muslim
> population was soon up in arms against the raiding
police party.

 Within two
> days, the Jamia students started protesting. Meetings of Muslim
students were
> held and addressed by fiery speakers. These speeches were
quite provocative,
> saying that Muslims were under attack and that they
should fight. Elements
> connected with SIMI, its clone Indian Mujahideen, and
the *madarsa* cadre who
> had been working underground in the campus, surfaced
boldly. They claimed that
> the students allegedly involved in the Delhi
blasts were innocent. They also
> alleged that Sharma's own colleagues shot
him.

 These Muslims raised a lot of
> questions about the raid. Why didn't the
police take permission from the local
> MLA? Why didn't they first inform the
mohalla committee? The most bizarre
> demand was that of raid should have been
conducted by Muslim policemen.

 The
> raiding of suspected terrorist hideouts faces the resistance of Muslim
masses
> in general. This is not new. In 1995, after the serial bomb blasts
> in
Hyderabad, a suspect was arrested. During interrogation he revealed that
> he
was trained by ISI in Islamabad. He also disclosed about his associates
> and
told the police how he arrived in India via Kathmandu with arrangements
> for
staying for a day in a Patna mosque on his way to Hyderabad.

 The
> Hyderabad and Bihar police planned a raid in the wee hours. But the
Imam ran
> to the minaret loudspeaker and gave a call to Muslims to assemble
at the
> mosque. He aroused their religious sentiments. As a result, thousands
of
> Muslims gathered there within a few minutes. The raiding party was
> under
siege. They rang up high officials who, in turn, ran to the Chief
> Minister.
Instantly the raiding police party was withdrawn. The police party
> had to
escape through the backdoor.

 This is not the story of just one raid.
> It is a pattern. It could not
materialise in Jamia Nagar. But during the
> second half of the raid, the
anger against police action was raging among the
> local Muslims. But as
Sharma was killed, they could not do much.

 The
> *jihadi*s who escaped were from Azamgarh that has acquired notoriety
> of
producing scores of terrorists and the mafia. Having obtained the clues
> from
arrested terrorists about the whereabouts of the perpetrators of
> serial
blasts in Delhi, the Delhi Police, accompanied by the UP Police, went
> to
Azamgarh to flush out those responsible for the blasts.
> House-to-house
searches were conducted in Sarai Mir and Sanjarpur.

 Cops were
> looking for Sajid, Salman, Khalid and Mohd Arif. Their families
said they had
> had no communication with them from four months. Documents and
CDs pertaining
> to the blasts were recovered during these searches. These are
only few
> examples. Azamgarh has a horrendous history of riots. After a
recent riot, a
> *jihadi* proudly told a media person that Azamgarh would turn
into another
> Kashmir.

 Indian security agencies must get ready to face such a serious
> situation.
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