Indian Islamic terrorist Mujeeb Ahmed, gets life sentence in Hyderabad on charges of waging war against India

Hizbul Mujahideen man gets life term for sedition
August 28th, 2009

Hyderabad, Aug 28 (IANS) A city court Friday sentenced Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Mujeeb Ahmed to life imprisonment and six others to 10 years on charges of sedition and collecting arms with intention of waging war against the country.

The first additional metropolitan sessions judge pronounced the quantum of sentence for the accused who were held guilty Thursday.

Mujeeb, the self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, and his associates were planning to carry out subversive activities in Hyderabad with the arms and ammunition smuggled from Kashmir, the prosecution said.

In December 2005, Rajasthan police had seized a cache of arms including Kalashnikov assault rifles, 229 cartridges and 15 detonators hidden in a truck carrying marble to Hyderabad.

Mujeeb, a resident of Hyderabad and a life convict in the killing of a police officer, pleaded not guilty.

All the accused including Mujeeb’s female companion Zohra Nishat and brother-in-law Jahangir Khan were found guilty under sections 122 and 124 (A) of the Indian Penal Code and 23 (ii) of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Considered to be a close follower of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Mujeeb was also convicted under section 6 of the Indian Wireless Telegraph Act for possessing a satellite phone, which he allegedly received from the Hizbul Mujahideen leader.

The court also imposed Rs.10,000 fine on Mujeeb alias Ahmed Bhai.

Truck driver Shabbir Ahmed, cleaner Ravindera Kumar, Mohammed Yasin and Shaikh Awadh were the other accused sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The court imposed a fine of Rs.2,000 on each of the six accused.

Seven accused including Mujeeb were arrested in the case while nine others still remained at large. The trial began in 2007.

Mujeeb, known as Amer-e-Deccan among Hizbul Mujahideen circles, was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment for gunning down additional superintendent of police Krishna Prasad here in 1992. The Andhra Pradesh government released him on remission on Independence Day in 2004.

After release from prison, he allegedly reactivated his links with Hizbul Mujahideen and other terror groups. Police claimed that he also produced several CDs in which he appealed for funds for his terror operations.

Cops look out for 21 Muslim students after LeT suspect’s arrest

Cops look out for 21 Lucknow students after LeT suspect’s arrest

Lucknow, Aug 30 : The Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh police is looking for 21 students of Lucknow University who studied with suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Mohammad Aslam alias Salim arrested in Delhi Tuesday.

Salim was a student of Arabic studies from 2003 to 2005 and the ATS is now trying to trace 21 students of Arabic, Persian and Urdu Departments who studied during the same period in Lucknow University, an ATS source said.

“Besides Salim, most of these students belong to Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir and had used the address of the same ‘religious society’ located near Lucknow University to get admission. Some of them also belong to Poorvanchal district of the state from where many terror suspects were arrested or killed in encounters in recent past. All of them are untraceable as of now,” the source said.

“Mohammad Aslam alias Salim was a student of M.A. Arabic Studies from 2003 to 2005. A native of Rajouri in Kashmir, his ‘operational name’ in Lucknow was Mohammad Salim,” Additional Director General of police Brijlal had earlier told reporters.

The university has started taking stringent steps in the verification process of students and has put this data online to assist security agencies.

“The data of all such students will be instantly made available to the deputy inspector general of the police and the district magistrate. We have also sent the details of 12 students to the ATS and are assisting them in their probe,” an official of the university vice chancellor’s office told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, an ATS team of the state is camping in New Delhi to interrogate Salim.

“The team is in New Delhi and the Delhi police has yet not given us time for interrogation,” Additional Director General of police A.K. Jain told reporters.

A Pakistani passport, a Jammu and Kashmir voter identity card and some explosives were recovered from Salim.

He had apparently been sent to Lucknow to take charge of the “sleeper modules” of the LeT in the eastern region of the state.

“An expert in computers, Salim is a trained militant of the LeT. He had also received rigorous training in Pakistan. His admission to Lucknow University was a well-planned strategy of the LeT,” an ATS official said.

According to Maharashtra police records, Salim’s name surfaced after the arrest of three LeT terrorists, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Tanvir and Mohammad Amir, in 2006 from Aurangabad district.

Nearly 30 kg of RDX explosives and 10 AK-47 rifles were recovered from them. During interrogation, they revealed Salim’s name. He was in Lucknow at that time.

“However, Salim managed to escape to Pakistan via Nepal. A few days ago, he again slipped into India through Jammu and Kashmir and was caught in New Delhi,” the ATS source added.

–IANS

Muslim residents protest against Hindu temple in Malaysia, severe cow head, stamp and spit on it

“Before dispersing, several protesters spat and stomped on the cow head. The cow is considered sacred among Hindus.”

Some 50 residents enraged with the proposed relocation of a Hindu temple to their area staged a noisy protest with a severed cow’s head this afternoon.

The residents – from Section 23 in Shah Alam – who gathered after the Friday prayers, placed the head outside the gates of the state secretariat building for a short period before removing it.

Before dispersing, several protesters spat and stomped on the cow head. The cow is considered sacred among Hindus.  malaysiakini.com

For video, click here: Residents march with cow’s head

For photos,  click here Protesters threaten bloodshed over Hindu temple

Cow killed in Malaysian temple row
Venkatesan Vembu / DNA  August 28, 2009

Hong Kong: Muslim fanatics in Malaysia on Friday severed a cow’s head and warned of “bloodshed” unless a provincial government halted construction of a relocated Hindu temple that the protesters said “disturbed” their own praying.

The group of about 50 protesters left the cow’s head outside the entrance of the Selangor State Secretariat as a warning to local leaders, eyewitnesses told DNA.

The group gathered after Friday prayers at the Shah Alam state mosque in Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, and marched to the secretariat. Ibrahim Haji Sabri, deputy chairman of the local resident’s committee that is opposed to the Maha Mariamman temple, warned of “bloodshed and racial tension” if local leaders did not halt the temple construction.

Sabri demanded that the state government relocate the temple to a neighbouring district as “as originally scheduled”. In particular, he branded Selangor minister Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim a “traitor to the Malay race and to Islam”. Ibrahim had visited the temple site on Thursday, one of the eyewitnesses told DNA.

The controversy began with the proposed relocation of a 150-year-old Mariamman temple in a plantation area in Section 19 neighbourhood; since that area is being redeveloped as a residential area, authorities proposed that it be relocated to Section 22, but since it was an industrial area, it was later assigned to Section 23.

The protest could whip up racial and religious tension, and PM Najib Razak has ordered the police to take action against the protesters. Malaysian Indian Congress president S Samy Vellu, who represents Indian interests in the ruling coalition at the centre, condemned the beheading of the cow.

Malaysian Muslim ‘cow head’ demo criticised
(AFP) – 5 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian lawmakers have condemned a group of Muslim protesters who trampled on a severed cow’s head in protest at the building of a Hindu temple, and remained defiant on Sunday over the act.

In the latest religious dispute to erupt in multi-cultural Malaysia, local media said 50 Muslims on Friday took the head of the cow — a sacred animal for Hindus — to the central Selangor state government office and stamped on it.

The protest was against the relocation of a Hindu temple to a Muslim-majority neighbourhood in the state. News websites Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider published pictures of the bloodied cow head.

Around 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people are Muslim Malays, but the country is also home to large Chinese and Indian minorities, variously practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.

Lawmaker Khairy Jamaluddin, leader of the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), criticised the protest as “emotional and insulting”.

“(This) act did not consider the sensitivity and respect for other religions which is needed to maintain the country’s harmony,” he wrote on his blog.

“The act definitely will anger the Hindus and Malaysians,” Khairy added.

Veteran opposition legislator Lim Kit Siang said the act was “deplorable”.

“In a multi-religious society, the act of sacrilege to one religion must be regarded as an act of sacrilege to all other religions and the entire nation,” Lim said.

State police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the protesters will be investigated for sedition, according to English daily Sunday Star, but the demonstration organiser told AFP they would not apologise and rejected responsibility for the incident.

“There is no point in us apologising as it was not our work. The cow head was brought in by an individual and we don’t know that person,” Mahyuddin Manaf, who led the group of local residents, said.

“Maybe that was just a way of expressing the anger. We just want the Hindu temple to be relocated to another area as this is a Muslim-majority area,” he told AFP.

Issues related to religion, language and race are sensitive matters in multi-racial Malaysia, which witnessed deadly riots in 1969.

A comprehensive report is available in this blog

Mali Muslims Protest Increased Rights for Women

Mali Muslims Protest Increased Rights for Women
By Anne Look
Dakar, 26 August 2009

The adoption of a new family code aimed at gender equality in Mali has sparked protests and threats of violence.

Some 50,000 people demonstrate in Bamako to protest legislation that would boost women’s rights in Mali, 22 Aug 2009
Tens of thousands of Malians have protested since the National Assembly adopted a controversial new family code in early August. The country now waits to see if President Amadou Toumani Toure will sign the code into law, a move that Muslim leaders warn would divide the population and destabilize the country.

The code’s more than 1,100 new articles aim to increase equality between men and women by reforming laws with regards to land ownership, inheritance, education, employment and marriage.

Supporters of the code, more than a decade in the making, have praised it as enhancing the rights of women and girls, who they say have been traditionally viewed as second-class citizens. But Islamic leaders say the new code contains provisions that are direct affronts to the country’s traditional values and religious beliefs. They have vowed to block enforcement of the code, even threatening violence.

The problem at the heart of new code

At the heart of the controversy are changes to marriage laws, including articles that set the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, recognize only civil marriages, allow joint property ownership, expand parental rights, and extend inheritance rights to girls.

Though included in the development of the code, Islamic leaders have said they feel their protests and suggestions were ignored, in favor of external pressure from the international donors, like the European Union.

Islamic Council President Mamoud Dik says they are urging the president to listen to the voice of the people and not sign the code.

He says he and other religious leaders are not against the promotion of women. They are against the provisions of the code that clash with their religious and societal values. He says the religious community participated many times in the development of this code, but each time they had reservations about certain measures. He says he hopes in time they can find a common ground.

Muslims comprise 90 percent of Mali’s 12 million people. Religious and traditional marriages are common, and Amnesty International estimated in 2005 that more than 60 percent of Mali women are married before the age of 18.

Even as women’s groups are applauding the code as a way to combat the forced marriage of young girls and give wives more economic power, other women are opposing it as an attack on traditional values.

Women were among the approximately 50,000 people protesting the code Sunday in Bamako. They held banners that read: “No code which divides Maliens” and “Women should remain women, and men should remain men.”

Khatrine Sylla opposes the code and says it is unrealistic to think that women would consider themselves independent and equal to men.

Sylla says a wife should be submissive. A wife is always dependent on her husband and should take care of her children and her family. Nowadays, women can take on different roles, like a government minister, but that has nothing to do with her duties in the family. She should always take care of her husband and her children.

Supporters: Reform is always hard

Supporters of the code say it is natural for people to resist reform at first. In this case, they say the controversy stems from misinformation and a lack of understanding of the code.

Cisse Oumou Ahmer Traoure is communications advisor for the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and Family.

She says the code is written in French, a language that almost 80 percent of the country’s population does not know how to read or write. The code contains 1,144 articles written in legal language, which has made it difficult to understand.

For example, it has been rumored that in defining marriage as purely secular, the code would legalize same-sex marriage. In reality, though, Traoure says the code defines marriage as a secular union between a man and woman.

Mali’s family code has not been changed since 1962, a year after independence, and Traoure called the new code “a real advancement” that reflects the changes their society has undergone since then.

She says the reality is that women are more financially independent and the rights afforded them under the new code will contribute to family stability and allow them to help support their households.

President Toure is meeting with Islamic leaders before making a decision about the code.

Pak based Islamic terrorist organisations targeting major South Indian cities

30 August 2009
South India on terrorist radar

Pramod Kumar, New Delhi

Aug. 29: The latest inputs with the Central intelligence agencies reveal that big cities in South India are the next targets of Pakistan-based militant organisations.

According to the new intelligence, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been assigned the job of setting up the maximum number of sleeper cells in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Talking to this newspaper, a high-ranking official of a Central intelligence agency said, “The inputs reveal that sensitive installations and big cities of South India are the next targets. Pakistani agencies, including the ISI, have assigned this job to the LeT and JeM. There are confirmed reports that they have asked for a large number of sleeper cells in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvan-anthapuram and other important places in South India.” “There are several sensitive installations located in South India. The state police forces have been alerted in this regard. Besides, Central security agencies guarding sensitive installations have been alerted. They are already on high alert after the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008,” said the official.

The official added, “Some people from Kerala have been spotted near Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir. These two districts are close to the international border. The state police is keeping a close vigil on their activities. Despite repeated efforts by state security forces, the people from Kerala failed to provide satisfactory reasons for their presence in these two border districts of J&K.” Further, the interrogation of some militants in J&K has revealed that their next targets are big cities in South India, said the official.

There are reports that LeT and JeM have started recruiting agents for sleeper cells in South India. While in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh they have already started the process, in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu they are looking for trained hands, said the official.

Arrested LeT terrorist planned to unleash mayhem in Delhi

Arrested LeT man planned to unleash mayhem
August 26, 2009

A day ahead of Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s [ Images ]  key note address at Vigayan Bhavan at a conference organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Delhi  police arrested a twenty-seven-year-old Pakistani Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist from New Delhi railway station.

The man was carrying explosives in different form that would have killed un-suspecting school going children in the form of a book, or bottles and bicycle bells to be used as bombs were also recovered from him. “These deadly devices would explode on the spot and kill people,” an army bomb expert said while explaining the method of operation. The explosives were also used in tiffin boxes and dolls, to target children. Detonators and timer were also recovered from him.

Godhra carnage’s key accused Islamic terrorist held

Godhra train carnage accused held in Munabao

Vimal Bhatia, TNN 24 August 2009

JAISALMER: Ibrahim Dhantiya, a key accused in the Godhra train burning case who is believed to have fled to Pakistan after the Gujarat riots, was  arrested from Munabao border railway station in Rajasthan on late Saturday night, immigration officials said.

Immigration officers said on Sunday that they apprehended Dhantiya, who was accompanied by his wife, when he alighted from the Thar Express at the Munabao station in Barmer district bordering Pakistan. Dhantiya, a resident of Panchmahals district (Godhra is the headquarters of the district) in Gujarat, was coming from Pakistan. The Thar Express runs between Karachi and Jodhpur.

Panchmahals SP J R Mothaliya told TOI that Dhantiya’s name figured in the investigation into the Sabarmati Express fire, which killed 58 people, three days after the incident. “He was mentioned as a member of the core group, which planned the Godhra conspiracy,” said Mothaliya.

The Godhra incident triggered the riots in 2002. Dhantiya had been absconding ever since.

A look-out circular had been issued against Dhantiya when he fled from India allegedly by Samjhauta Express and took shelter in New Karachi of Pakistan in August 2004. Immigration officers claimed that the ISI had given him shelter in Pakistan.

Hetudan Charan, an immigration officer at the Munabao police station told TOI that when the passports of Dhantiya and his wife were examined, it was discovered that his passport had expired in 2007. “He had tampered with the year entry and extended the validity of the passport to 2017,” said Hetudan. “His wife was released as there was no case against her.” Sources said a team of Godhra’s GRP was on its way to Jodhpur to take custody of Dhantiya.

Jinnah is not as noble as has been made out to be by Jaswant Singh

Can’t agree with Jaswant on Jinnah, says Mountbatten’s last ADC
Thu, Aug 20, The Indian Express

He is a former ruler of a princely state that became part of India post-Independence. He was the last ADC to Mountbatten. But, more importantly, he is the author of a well-researched book on Partition, which went on to become a bestseller when first published in 2005. And, is a close friend of Jaswant Singh.

But, Narendra Singh Sarila says his friend’s book is incomplete and that it presents an incorrect picture of Partition to young Indians.

“He (Jaswant) has eulogised Mohd Ali Jinnah but has been less than charitable to Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. More importantly, why has he ignored the most important element in Partition — British strategic interests in creating Pakistan?” he asks. Sarila told The Indian Express that he had got Jaswant to read the manuscript of his now-printed book — Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition — for which he had gone to England and the US to access newly de-classified secret documents and records pertaining to Partition.

“Jinnah is not as noble as has been made out to be. While initially he was certainly an honest politician, after the age of 60, he changed colours. His Direct Action Plan was the beginning of terrorism as we know it today. When it suited his interests, he put up Muslims against Hindus and other communities. Don’t forget, at the behest of the British, he first raised the issue of a separate country for Muslims in 1940, seven years before Partition happened. Lord Mountbatten once told me that he (Jinnah) had delusions of grandeur,” he said.

Asked to define Jinnah, Sarila said, “He knew in 1939 that he would not live too long — he had been diagnosed with terminal TB. But he wanted power and glory and thus, became a stooge of the British. He benefited from Congress mistakes and British patronage. If Jinnah is dubbed as great for fighting the Congress, then Hitler is greater because he fought the mighty Allies.”

On Sardar Patel, Sarila said, “Patel was a most realistic person, who understood what needed to be done at the end. I feel if Patel had been given a free hand to deal with the issue of Kashmir, things would certainly have been different. Whatever mistakes the Congress made, there would have been no Independence if Gandhi had not acquired such influence over all people, a remarkable achievement in this heterogeneous country.”

Asked if he sympathised with Jaswant after he was sacked from the BJ for his book on Jinnah, Sarila said, “I am sorry for what he is suffering. He has done so much for India as foreign minister; he broke the logjam with the US, which has been advantageous to us on many fronts. Having said that, I must add that though I respect him, I can’t agree with his viewpoint on Jinnah and Partition.”

Maneesh Chhibber

 

 

South Asian or Indian: Was larger identity at root of Shah Rukh’s flap?

South Asian or Indian: Was larger identity at root of Shah Rukh’s flap?

18 Aug 2009,  Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN
  
WASHINGTON: Did Shah Rukh Khan’s troubles with US customs and border personnel begin because he embraced a larger ”South Asian” persona while forsaking his Indian identity?

Well, that’s what some ardent Indian nationalists would have you believe, even as it transpires that the Bollywood star’s engagements in Chicago and Houston were at a ”South Asian Carnival” co-hosted by Indian and Pakistani promoters.

The ”carnival” was a ticketed event ($ 25) that featured several other Bollywood stars, and included, besides the usual song and dance routines, a fashion parade and a wedding expo. In other words, not the typical Independence Day parade.

In promos of the event posted online featuring Shah Rukh Khan and other stars (Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Dia Mirza, Bipasha Basu) there is make no mention of celebrating India’s (or Pakistan’s) Independence Day. The event was sponsored by Indian and Pakistani companies, including Air India and Sahara One from the Indian side.

In imaginative accounts of the encounter between SRK and the US customs and border personnel widely distributed online, desi nationalists, who have long rankled at the ”South Asian” appellation (which they believe is at the cost of a distinct Indian identity) surmised the following exchange, with the suggestion that the association with Pakistan is what got Khan into trouble with American authorities:

BCP: “So, Mr. Khan, what brings your here?”

SRK: “Well, I have been invited to deliver a speech at the South Asia Carnival.”

BCP: “And what is that?”

SRK” “People of South Asia come together in peace and harmony to celebrate independence day.”

BCP: “Ummm…South Asia. Is that a country?”

SRK: “Oh! no, no! South Asia, people of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan….(BCP cuts him off!)

BCP: “Pakistan, Afghanistan….Oh! Oh! Wait a minute here, dude! (turns around, whispers to the other BCP guy, “Man, this guy is ranting Pakistan, Afghanistan and something about being invited to deliver a speech, er… sermon..I dunno, but sure sounds creepy! No way, I am gonna get him in.” (turns around)

BCP: “Sir, I will have to ask you to step aside. Please follow the red arrows on the floor to the door. Next!”

The author of this fictional exchange then goes on to ask, ”When did India’s Independence Day celebrations take on a South Asian Carnival rubric? See, how easy it is for an Indian to lose his own identity and let others define it for him.” He then goes on to present another fictional exchange that would have spared SRK the trouble.

BCP: “So, Mr. Khan, what brings you here?”

SRK: “I have been invited to deliver a speech at the India Independence Day celebration.”

BCP: “India’s Independence Day?”

SRK: “Yes, it is India’s 63rd year of gaining Independence…”

BCP: “Yes, Gandhi…democracy. Great! Welcome to America. Have a nice day.”

The imagined conversation revives the long simmering debate over the term ”South Asian,” which some Indian hard-line nationalists believe is an entity devised by the west to dilute the Indian primacy.
 
The term is common in the US, where it is adopted by many organizations founded and run by US-born Indians, such as the South Asian Bar Association (SABA), South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) and South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA). The nationalist expat constituency has long resented this broader rubric for the sub-continent and complained that it results in Indians needlessly having to shoulder the burden of Pakistan’s poor reputation.

Similarly, some Indians in the UK rankle at the term ”Brit-Asian” used to describe all people from the sub-continent. They believe it unfairly clubs people from India with Pakistanis. The largely unspoken view is that they would prefer to maintain their distinct identity and a distance from the Pakistanis because of the terrorism-related troubles linked to them.

But Bollywood stars typically appear embrace the “South Asian” identity, partly for commercial reasons involving a large market in the region, including in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Bollywood movies and live shows in US and Canada attract fans from all these countries.

However, the unknown author of the campaign against the term South Asia signs of with the following advice for Shah Rukh Khan: ”Skip the South Asia epithet…Stick to identifying yourself (proudly) as an Indian citizen only…And America would have welcomed you with open arms.”

Hundreds of Muslims rampage in Jaipur, 30 policemen hurt

Over 30 policemen injured in stone pelting at Jaipur

Jaipur, Aug 12 (PTI) Over 30 policemen were injured today in stone pelting in Idgah area here after tension erupted following a rumour that a religious place of a minority community in nearby Chainpura village had been demolished.

Residents of the area, numbering over one thousand, suddenly began pelting stones at the police and damaging vehicles when the officials were going to convince them that no such incident had taken place and it was just a rumour, Jaipur Collector Kuldeep Ranka said.

Over 30 policemen including SHO rank officials were injured in the stone-pelting, he said adding that police launched lathicharge to control the situation.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the incident, he said.

Describing the situation as tense but under control, SP Jaipur (North) Ashok Naruka said extra force has been deployed in the area to keep a vigil.