Beastly Muslim mob involved in clashes in Assam, five dead

Five dead in clashes, Kokrajhar tense

Samudra Gupta Kashyap  May 30, 2009

Guwahati: Tension continued to prevail in the Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar district in western Assam following the death of five persons, four of them in communal clashes since Wednesday evening.

Trouble triggered off in Hauriyapet village in the subdivision when two persons, Shankar Das and Pradyut Das, were hacked to death on Wednesday in connection with the death of one Shahina Khatun earlier in the month of April. An irate mob later tried to to attack the police when Kokrajhar SP P K Dutta arrived at the village, compelling the police to open fire. One person, later identified as Aminur Rahman (22) was killed in the police firing.

Even as tension spread to the entire sub-division where Muslims of migrant origin have reportedly increased rather rapidly in the past two decades, two rickshaw-pullers, Momir Ali and Khalilur Rahman, were killed when miscreants attacked them with sharp weapons in Gossaigaon on Thursday.

Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner K Narzary, meanwhile, said the situation was tense but under control on Friday due to heavy deployment of security forces. Normal life was paralysed in the district due to a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Bengali Youth Federation (BYF) demanding a judicial probe into the incident.

Educational institutions, shops and banks remained close while vehicular traffic remained off the roads, Narzary said. Attendance in government offices was also almost nil. Hundreds of truck carrying essential items to different Northeastern states were stranded at the Srirampur inter-state gate due to the bandh on Friday.

“There is tension in Gossaigaon, but the situation is under control. A few persons have been already arrested by the police, and at least one of them in connection with the incidents,” Narzary said.

Hariyapet village has been witnessing tension for the past couple of years over an alleged dispute of boundary between a temple and a mosque. There is also a pending land dispute between the two communities over establishment of an idgah maidan and a cremation ground for the past few months.

State Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma visited the area and met family members of the deceased. She also met leaders of both the communities and asked them to live in peace and harmony. Gossaigaon incidentally shares borders with West Bengal and is close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.

3 Muslim youths abduct, murder, smash 14 year old Hindu’s face and head in Mumbai

“Fahar Sheikh, 21, Farhan Sheikh, 20, and Salim Malabarwala, 20, were arrested for Amandeep’s abduction and murder.

The trio took him to an isolated place at Khalapur in Raigad where they strangled him to death and later smashed his head and face with a stone.

 Boy, 14, pays with life for befriending friend’s sister

Dayanand Kamath May 27, 2009 

Mumbai: Befriending a friend’s sister cost a 14-year-old boy from Kurla his life. The tailor’s tag on his shirt will probably cost his three alleged killers a jail term.

On Monday, Vinobha Bhave Nagar police arrested three college students for abducting and murdering Kaku Sahebsingh Banwait alias Amandeep. The trio took him to an isolated place at Khalapur in Raigad where they strangled him to death and later smashed his head and face with a stone.

“Fahar Sheikh, 21, Farhan Sheikh, 20, and Salim Malabarwala, 20, were arrested for Amandeep’s abduction and murder. The trio were final-year Commerce students, while Amandeep was studying in std X in Holy Cross High School, Kurla,” said sub inspector RR Sawant of Vinobha Bhave Nagar police station. The blood-stained stone used for the crime has also been recovered.

During interrogation, Fahar Sheikh reportedly revealed that the victim and he were staying in same locality at Bail Bazaar in Kurla (West). Amandeep had become friendly with his 17-year-old sister for the past six months. He had requested Amandeep to discontinue the friendship, but the victim did not pay heed. Finally, he hatched a plan with his two friends to eliminate Amandeep.

The deceased’s father was not available for comment. His neighbour, Machindra Kharatmal, said, “Amandeep was good-mannered boy. His mother died one-and-a-half-year ago. His father is a driver and the elder brother recently passed the SSC exam.”

Fahar and the other two accused met Amandeep on May 18 morning. Fahar asked him to go for a stroll. The four, on two bikes, rode to Kalot village in Khalapur district on the old Mumbai-Pune Highway. There Fahar and the other two beat up Amandeep, strangled him to death and later smashed his head and face with a stone, said Sawant.

When Amandeep did not return home, hisfather Sahebsingh lodged a missing complaint at Vinobha Bhave Nagar police station. Khalapur police found Amandeep’s body the next day. Finding a Kurla tailor’s tag on his shirt, the Khalapur police visited Vinobha Bhave Nagar police station on May 23. Later, Sahebsingh identified his son’s body at Khalapur hospital.

During investigation, it was revealed that Amandeep was last seen with Fahar. When questioned, the trio confessed to the murder.

Congress to woo Muslims to grab power in UP

Congress to woo Muslims to grab power in UP

Agencies May 26, 2009
Lucknow:

Buoyed by Muslims supporting it in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress plans to go all out to woo the minority community ahead of the 2012 assembly elections to wrest power in Uttar Pradesh after a gap of two decades.

The success of Congress in the Lok Sabha elections is especially because of the support from the minorities and the vote bank has to be kept intact if the party has to be revived before the 2012 assembly elections, a senior party leader said.

Uttar Pradesh has 11.60 crore voters and minorities accounting for 20-22 per cent of the electorate can play a major role in deciding the electorate fortune of a party.

“We have to concentrate on keeping them (minority) intact to achieve the target of fully reviving the party in the state by 2012 assembly elections,” Chairman of the UPCC minority cell Maroof Khan said.

According to preliminary estimates, almost 60 per cent of the minorities voted for the Congress this time ensuring its victory on 21 of 80 Lok Sabha seats, he said.

Khan said the minority cell has chalked out a programme for consolidating the Muslim vote bank further.

Implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendation for minorities’ welfare, under which 22 districts in the state have been given the status of minority districts, has found favour among the minorities, he said.

Pakistan soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’

 

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/pak-soldiers-prefer-fighting-hindu-india-than-taliban-muslim-friends-report_100190583.html

Pak soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’ : Report

May 10th, 2009 –  by ANI  –

London, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its ‘own war’ in the North West Frontier Province’s Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their ‘muslim friends’ rather they prefer fighting against India.

Amid all frantic calls being made by the international community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat, the Telegraph reports.

The report stated that eventhough the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

“I do not like the Taliban but I do not want to fight against them.They are our Muslim brothers. I do not want to fight America’s war,” said Zulmay Khan, a soldier with Frontier Corps.

The statement perhaps clarifies all the speculations regarding Pakistan Army’s will and capability to counter the extremists.

Officers, who have been in the thick of things for long planning out strategies for the army, also believe that Pakistan’s primary concern is India despite the fact that the Taliban’s advancing writ poses an ‘existential threat’ to the nation.

The report quoted a retired Major of Pakistan Army, Major Ikram Seghal, as saying that most troops would remain on the Indian border, despite the increasingly frantic calls from Washington to concentrate on the enemy within.

The problem is that now Pakistan is battling jihadis whom it trained to fight wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which was directed by the country’s leadership itself.

Nobody believe that the Taliban would be flushed out of the country or the region by the Pakistan military, but fear is growing that whatever happens in the current operation, Swat will prove a self-inflicted wound that will fester for years, the report said. (ANI)

The report stated that even though the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

Pak soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’ : Report

May 10th, 2009 –  by ANI  –

London, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its ‘own war’ in the North West Frontier Province’s Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their ‘muslim friends’ rather they prefer fighting against India.

Amid all frantic calls being made by the international community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat, the Telegraph reports.

The report stated that even though the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

“I do not like the Taliban but I do not want to fight against them.They are our Muslim brothers. I do not want to fight America’s war,” said Zulmay Khan, a soldier with Frontier Corps.

The statement perhaps clarifies all the speculations regarding Pakistan Army’s will and capability to counter the extremists.

Officers, who have been in the thick of things for long planning out strategies for the army, also believe that Pakistan’s primary concern is India despite the fact that the Taliban’s advancing writ poses an ‘existential threat’ to the nation.

The report quoted a retired Major of Pakistan Army, Major Ikram Seghal, as saying that most troops would remain on the Indian border, despite the increasingly frantic calls from Washington to concentrate on the enemy within.

The problem is that now Pakistan is battling jihadis whom it trained to fight wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which was directed by the country’s leadership itself.

Nobody believe that the Taliban would be flushed out of the country or the region by the Pakistan military, but fear is growing that whatever happens in the current operation, Swat will prove a self-inflicted wound that will fester for years, the report said. (ANI)

The Muslim Hindu divide was started by the British

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Can Pakistan say no?

M.B. Naqvi

ONLY one newspaper has carried the story. It was about the four-hour in-camera briefing of the Parliament by Pakistan Army Chief on May 15. No one knows whether the account is accurate but it does look like being based on that briefing.

Supposing the account is accurate, we do not definitely know whether the briefing was confined simply to informing the Parliament of either the Pakistan Army decisions that have been authoritatively taken or it was at least thinking of the Pakistan Army made known to the Parliament that the Army cannot be withdrawn from its locations of covering the expected attack routes or alternatively to mount its own operations. The question is of very high significance. The background is well-known.

The Americans have been trying hard in their Afghan-Pak thinking to make Pakistan withdraw the bulk of its Army from positions of confronting India to its western borders where the Taliban trouble is still going strong. What is clear is that Pakistan Army is simply not willing to withdraw from positions of checkmating Indian military forces.

The next question arises whether Pakistan would continue to resist American pressures to relieve the bulk of its troops to serve on its northwestern frontier. The raison d’etre of Pakistan was that it could not live in a Hindu-dominated India. Pakistan in its first partial year of existence devoted some 43 per cent of its budget to defence. It was meant in Muslim League government’s thinking that it would prevent Pakistan from being gobbled up by India.

That situation has lasted 62 years. This is now almost an article of faith for all conservative sections. To move away would be such a radical shift in Pakistan policy that it is hard to imagine it can be agreed to. The Americans are recommending such a radical departure from traditional Pakistani view that has congealed into an ideology. The conservative political class — which is most of it — does think that India is an existential and permanent threat to Pakistan. To move away from the original is now too hard an exercise. No major request of Pakistan Army, to one’s knowledge, has ever been rejected by Islamabad, whether democratic or a dictatorship at the time.

On the other hand, Pakistan agreed to join the west in lieu of military and some economic aid. The Americans were clear headed. They had made it plain from day one that their aid is not to be used against India. But General Ayub Khan, the first Commander-in-Chief, believed that what can America do if we do use its aided equipment? He did use it in 1965 war and the Americans were angry. They imposed sanctions on Pakistan; aid was suspended for some years.

But the Americans always knew that Pakistan would do such a thing when needed. They showed their anger more for the record than actual punishment of Pakistan. Later America relented and the aid was resumed. New sanctions were imposed on Pakistan and were fairly quickly lifted. There are contrary considerations on this subject.

Pakistan and its Army cannot possibly annoy Americans in any big way. Without American aid Pakistan Army cannot be sustained. It now requires anything from $ 500 million to 1 billion a year in foreign exchange. This is one consideration. There are others: Can Pakistan say no to what Americans may insist on? Can Pakistan sustain a policy of defiance to America? It is easier said in a conference or in a briefing. Some political posturing is permissible by the donors but not in terms of fundamental choices.

The Americans today are demanding a different fundamental choice by Pakistan that goes wholly against the thinking behind the Pakistan Movement and later politics of Pakistan. If a fundamental change has to come about it will not be because of someone else saying so. It is only up to India and Pakistan to compose their differences; no one else can do so.

Let us not forget the reasons why this great Hindu-Muslim problem of Indian Empire arose. One asserts that it did not exist before 1857 when Mangal Panday, the leader of the 1857 Mutiny, was demanding of the rebellion’s aim as no more than the restoration of powers and privileges of the Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was a devout Hindu. So were many other devout Hindus who were loyal citizens of Mughal Empire. If they could rebel against the rising British power and demanded the restitution of Mughal power, it simply means that the Hindu-Muslim problem did not really exist.

To come back to the particular debate, Pakistan is ruled by a political class that is largely absentee landlords of large sizes. Their present status owes their origin to the loyalty of their ancestors to the British who restored large estates to their trusted people. The British intention was clear: They were creating a new ruling class in the then India that would always support the British. The behaviour of this absentee landlords class of large landholdings could always be trusted by the British.

The question arises how did this Hindu-Muslim problem arise in a matter of say 80 or so years pior to the partition of India. What the British did was deliberate. Their intention was to place one community against the other. For the purpose they made religion the main identity of a person for official purposes. Which is one reason why this Hindu-Muslim problem arose. Through slow stages the British played Muslims against the Hindus and delayed the freedom.

After 1906 the Hindus were grouped to vote for Hindu representatives in various bodies. Hindus voted for Hindus and Muslims voted for Muslims. What was the upshot? Muslims seemed to need more aid and support from the British. ‘The Hindus are ahead of us in education and in economic activity; they have already some industries and would go on progressing leaving us behind’. This was inherently anti-Hindu. This became the raison d’etre for Pakistan after Jinnah took over the League in 1937.

The question now is: can America, Britain or any other power order India Pakistan to make up? It is simply not possible. If ever a reconciliation comes about, it will be through political forces of India and Pakistan coalescing together and reconciling with one another in realistic stages for their own reasons.

Then there is the sordid turf reasons. If Pakistan Army is not needed to deter India then what is it meant for. Pakistan Army’s basic need was India and not Taliban or any other passing show. Other enemies cannot last like India. Army’s longevity depends on a big permanent threat. That is way to save the job for the boys.

M.B. Naqvi is a leading Pakistani columnist.

Muslim fundamentalists threaten police officers in Kerala firing incident

Kerala firing: Suspended cops threatened by fundamentalists
Arun Lakshman in Thiruvananthapuram
May 23, 2009 20:46 IST

Islamic fundamentalists have issued threats to police officers, who were suspended following the firing at Thiruvananthapuram on May 17, which resulted in six deaths.

The deaths have created a furor in Kerala [Images], and the state government has ordered the suspension of six police officials, in the wake of wide-spread public resentment against the erring policemen.

The Popular Front, which is the new incarnation of the National Development Front, is believed to responsible for issuing threats to the police officers. The Home Ministry has decided to provide protection to the police officials.

Popular Front state president Nasaruddin Elamaram, while addressing a meeting in Kannur, had called for strict action against the erring police officers.

Sources in the Home Ministry indicated that supporters of Elamaram might have issued the threats.

Top officials of the Kerala police defended the suspended policemen, claiming they had taken action against a group of miscreants, who were about to attack a church near Cheriathura beach, to prevent a major communal riot in the state .

However, the state government has suspended the police officials and decided to provide government jobs to family members of the victims.

While the Popular Front had demanded a compensation amount of Rs 25 lakh for the families of the victims, the government has agreed to provide Rs 10 lakh.

The government’s attempts at damage control are being perceived by some as the Left Democratic Front’s attempts to project itself as a saviour of the minority community.

Violent Muslim ummahgrants rampage, riot in Athens

 

Muslims clash with Greek police for second day

22 May 2009, AFP

ATHENS: Muslim immigrants clashed again with Greek police on Friday during a second day of protests in Athens over charges that officers tore up 

a Koran during an identity check of immigrants. 

Nearly 1,000 Muslims rallied in the city’s central Omonia square in a demonstration organised by leftist, immigrant and anti-racism groups. 

Several men in their 20s and 30s from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria and Somalia marched to parliament and the interior minister shouting “Allah! Allah!” and slogans in Arabic. 

The Greek capital’s main streets were closed amid a heavy police presence.

Violence broke out at the end of the demonstration as around 100 protesters threw projectiles at police, who tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. 

“Immigrants are outraged. The incident on Wednesday was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Vasso Akrivou, a member of the group Expel Racism, said. 

Around 1,500 Muslim immigrants launched a demonstration on Thursday one day after hearing word of an incident involving the Koran. 

Demonstrators said that when police stopped four Syrian immigrants to check their papers on Wednesday, one of the officers tore up a Koran and stamped on it. 

The Greek police has opened an investigation into the allegations. 

Police also used tear gas to disperse protesters who were throwing dustbins and stones on Thursday while a car was damaged during the clashes. 

Greece is faced with a daily influx of immigrants from Asia via Turkey, many of whom are trying to reach Western Europe. Rights groups have complained of cases of police brutality against immigrants. 

Interior ministry figures for 2008 show that more than 146,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in Greece, of whom 57,000 had arrived from Turkey. 

The total number of illegal immigrants living in Greece is estimated to be 250,000, most of them Albanian nationals.

Muslims clash with Greek police for second day

22 May 2009, AFP

ATHENS: Muslim immigrants clashed again with Greek police on Friday during a second day of protests in Athens over charges that officers tore up a Koran during an identity check of immigrants. 

Nearly 1,000 Muslims rallied in the city’s central Omonia square in a demonstration organised by leftist, immigrant and anti-racism groups. 

Several men in their 20s and 30s from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria and Somalia marched to parliament and the interior minister shouting “Allah! Allah!” and slogans in Arabic. 

The Greek capital’s main streets were closed amid a heavy police presence.

Violence broke out at the end of the demonstration as around 100 protesters threw projectiles at police, who tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. 

“Immigrants are outraged. The incident on Wednesday was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Vasso Akrivou, a member of the group Expel Racism, said. 

Around 1,500 Muslim immigrants launched a demonstration on Thursday one day after hearing word of an incident involving the Koran. 

Demonstrators said that when police stopped four Syrian immigrants to check their papers on Wednesday, one of the officers tore up a Koran and stamped on it. 

The Greek police has opened an investigation into the allegations. 

Police also used tear gas to disperse protesters who were throwing dustbins and stones on Thursday while a car was damaged during the clashes. 

Greece is faced with a daily influx of immigrants from Asia via Turkey, many of whom are trying to reach Western Europe. Rights groups have complained of cases of police brutality against immigrants. 

Interior ministry figures for 2008 show that more than 146,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in Greece, of whom 57,000 had arrived from Turkey. 

The total number of illegal immigrants living in Greece is estimated to be 250,000, most of them Albanian nationals.

Al Qaeda clearly headquartered in Pakistan

‘Al Qaeda clearly headquartered in Pakistan’
Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC
May 22, 2009 

The Al Qaeda [Images] network is not located in Afghanistan, but clearly headquartered in Pakistan, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen [Images] told Congress Thursday, and warned that if the Taliban[Images] takes over Afghanistan again, it would mean the return of al Qaeda to Afghanistan to plan and plot attacks against the US reminiscent of 9/11.
 
Appearing before the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mullen stated categorically, “Al Qaeda is not located in Afghanistan–they are headquartered clearly in Pakistan,” and explained, “What I have watched over the last couple of years is this growing integration between Al Qaeda and the Taliban and the various networks of the Taliban–whether it’s Haqqani, or Masood or Hetmakyar and that has alarmed me in its growth and its integration.”
 
“And, it’s that quite frankly, is also extent in Pakistan, which is moving toward Islamabad [Images],” he said. “So, clearly, with the Al Qaeda resident in Pakistan, we can’t send troops in there to do anything about that–I understand that.”
 
Mullen said that “the Taliban may not be some monolithic or homogenous body in make-up or ideology. But they do have governing ambitions. It’s not just about instilling fears or spreading violence. They want Afghanistan back.”
 
“We can’t let them or their Al Qaeda cohorts have it,” he asserted. “We can’t permit the return of the very same safe havens from which the attacks on 9/11 were planned and resourced. And, yet, we can’t deny that our success in that regard may push them deeper into Pakistan.”
 
Mullen said that this is why it is imperative “why the investment in, support of, a relationship with the people of Pakistan, the military of Pakistan is so important, because in the long-run, the only way we are going to get at that is with them and through them, and that’s going to take some time.”
 
He said that “there is no corner of the world–none–that concerns me more than this region Afghanistan and Pakistan are two very different countries, but very much linked not only to each other, but inextricably to the national security of the United States. Indeed, our national interests are tied to this region, perhaps more than to any other right now.”
 
Mullen said ever since he took over as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, his time had been consumed “intently focused on the challenges in this region and on developing personal and professional relationships with leaders there whose decisions will remain indispensable to our common desire for security and stability.”
 
Taking a hefty swipe at the armchair pundits and analysts at think tanks here, not to mention members of Congress, Mullen said. “Through the years, if I learned nothing else, it is that nothing that we do here in Washington will matter much in the end if it doesn’t reflect our earnest desire to reestablish lost trust, and regain lost opportunities to prevent either nation from being crushed in the grip of extremism.”
 
“You don’t need to look very hard at the headlines to see that we are not making enough headway in that regard,” he added.
 
During the interaction that followed with lawmakers, Mullen acknowledged that he couldn’t say for sure if the infusion of US troops into Afghanistan wouldn’t destabilize Pakistan by pushing the insurgents into Balochistan.
 
He said he has discussed this at length with the Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani “and we all share the concerns for that.”
 
But, he argued that “where I am comfortable is that is that at least we are planning for it and having some expectation will allow us to address that and that’s going on.”
 
However, Mullen reiterated, “Can I 100 percent be certain that won’t destabilize Pakistan? I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t think it will, because we are aware of it and Pakistan is further away from being totally destabilized than a lot of people realize.”
 
“The military and civilian leadership recognizes this potential and so we are addressing it ahead of time,” he added.

Hardcore Islamic terrorist Sainudheen confessed to close relationship with PDP chairman Abdul Nazar Madhani

 

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Sainudheen+spills+beans+on+faces+of+terror&artid=hPj/TQaMuWA=&SectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&MainSectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&SEO=Sainudheen,+Nazeer+and+Abdul+Rahim&SectionName=X7s7i|xOZ5Y=

Sainudheen spills beans on faces of terror

M P PrashanthFirst Published : 30 Apr 2009 12:29:00 AM IST

KOZHIKODE: Sainudheen, the hardcore terrorist now in the custody of the Karnataka police, who has confessed to long-standing association with PDP chairman Abdul Nazar Madhani also stated that he knew Tadiyantavide Nazeer alias Umer Haji, the key figure in the terror network in Kerala which sent five Malayali youths to Pak-occupied Kashmir.

“Hameed Master introduced me to Umer Haji at Madhani’s house,’’ Sainudheen told the police. After the recovery of the pipe bombs from Koomankallu, Sainudheen went into hiding at Hyderabad.

“After that, I stayed at Nellikkaparamba on Kottakkal- Parappur Road.

Nazeer and Ameer Ali alias Hameed Master came to me as per instructions from Madani. We decided to form a ‘wing’ to counter the attack from the RSS.

Hameed Master, Nazeer alias Umer Haji, Alim and I were members of the squad,’’ Sainudheen said.

Nazeer and Hameed Master too recruited people from Kannur for the `wing,’ Sainudheen said. He also confessed to his association with Riyaz Bhatkal, the co-founder of Indian Mujahidheen, who is now absconding.

“Suhaib, a SIMI worker at PSMO College called me one day and said he is sending a person and asked me to extend all possible help to him.

Nazeer alias Umer Haji and Abdul Rahim alias Aftab came to Kuttippuram towards the end of 2007 or in the beginning of 2008. I was introduced to a person called Rashid at the Kuttippuram railway station. All of us assembled at Aiswarya Lodge at Kuttippuram and discussed for about three hours.

Later, I realised that Rashid’s real name was Riyaz Bhatkal.’’ Riyaz Bhatkal asked Sainudheen to prepare some remote devices and arrange some `boys.’ He had sent remote devices to Bhatkal twice as directed by him over phone. Abdul Raheem delivered the packets to Bhatkal.

Sainudheen said he had taught Alim, Nazeer and Abdul Rahim how to make remote control devices.

Sainudheen hinted that Nazeer and Abdul Rahim were behind the twin explosions at the KSRTC and moffusil bus stands in 2006. Sainudheen said he had heard Rahim and Nazeer discussing the Kozhikode blast.

Sainudheen’s confession has confirmed that he has close ties with Abdul Nazar Madhani. But the PDP leader has strongly denied any such links. It was alleged that Sainudheen’s daughter Fazlia had stayed with Sufiya Madhani.

But both Sufiya and Madhani denied it.

Sainudheen spills beans on faces of terror

M P Prashanth  30 Apr 2009 

KOZHIKODE: Sainudheen, the hardcore terrorist now in the custody of the Karnataka police, who has confessed to long-standing association with PDP chairman Abdul Nazar Madhani also stated that he knew Tadiyantavide Nazeer alias Umer Haji, the key figure in the terror network in Kerala which sent five Malayali youths to Pak-occupied Kashmir.

“Hameed Master introduced me to Umer Haji at Madhani’s house,’’ Sainudheen told the police. After the recovery of the pipe bombs from Koomankallu, Sainudheen went into hiding at Hyderabad.

“After that, I stayed at Nellikkaparamba on Kottakkal- Parappur Road.

Nazeer and Ameer Ali alias Hameed Master came to me as per instructions from Madani. We decided to form a ‘wing’ to counter the attack from the RSS.

Hameed Master, Nazeer alias Umer Haji, Alim and I were members of the squad,’’ Sainudheen said.

Nazeer and Hameed Master too recruited people from Kannur for the `wing,’ Sainudheen said. He also confessed to his association with Riyaz Bhatkal, the co-founder of Indian Mujahidheen, who is now absconding.

“Suhaib, a SIMI worker at PSMO College called me one day and said he is sending a person and asked me to extend all possible help to him.

Nazeer alias Umer Haji and Abdul Rahim alias Aftab came to Kuttippuram towards the end of 2007 or in the beginning of 2008. I was introduced to a person called Rashid at the Kuttippuram railway station. All of us assembled at Aiswarya Lodge at Kuttippuram and discussed for about three hours.

Later, I realised that Rashid’s real name was Riyaz Bhatkal.’’ Riyaz Bhatkal asked Sainudheen to prepare some remote devices and arrange some `boys.’ He had sent remote devices to Bhatkal twice as directed by him over phone. Abdul Raheem delivered the packets to Bhatkal.

Sainudheen said he had taught Alim, Nazeer and Abdul Rahim how to make remote control devices.

Sainudheen hinted that Nazeer and Abdul Rahim were behind the twin explosions at the KSRTC and moffusil bus stands in 2006. Sainudheen said he had heard Rahim and Nazeer discussing the Kozhikode blast.

Sainudheen’s confession has confirmed that he has close ties with Abdul Nazar Madhani. But the PDP leader has strongly denied any such links. It was alleged that Sainudheen’s daughter Fazlia had stayed with Sufiya Madhani.

But both Sufiya and Madhani denied it.

NRI Muslims financing SIMI, IM’s jihad in India

Diaspora cash fed domestic jihad

 Praveen Swami,May 08, 2009, The Hindu

Kerala computer engineer’s story casts light on Indian Mujahideen funding

 Nawaz’s journey into jihad began in SIMI’s study groups

India so far had little success in cracking down on terror financing

 

---

 HYDERABAD: Late last year, four Keralites training with a Lashkar-e-Taiba unit in the Kupwara mountains, along the Line of Control in northern Kashmir, were shot dead by security forces.

And since the September shootout, the police in Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have been scrambling to unravel the threads that tied Indian Mujahideen groups in the south to each other and to the Lashkar.

But the investigations also show that the Indian Mujahideen was fed and watered by transnational financial networks: networks linked both to diasporic Islamists living in west Asia and Pakistan-based organisations like the Lashkar.

From the story of Ernakulam-born computer engineer Sarfaraz Nawaz, who was expelled by the Oman authorities earlier this year, investigators have been able to understand the relationship between domestic terror and diaspora cash.

SIMI background

Like so many Indian Mujahideen-linked figures, Nawaz’s journey into jihad began in the Students Islamic Movement of India’s study groups.

Nawaz began attending SIMI meetings in 1995, soon after he graduated from high school. He became an “Ikhwan” or full-time SIMI member within a year and by March 2000 was made a member of the now-proscribed Islamist organisation’s central committee.

Close ties

While in New Delhi, where he also served as the SIMI’s office secretary, Nawaz developed a close relationship with several key members of what would later become the organisation’s jihad faction, including Safdar Nagori, Yahya Kamakutty and Peedical Abdul Shibly.

When the SIMI was proscribed in 2001, Nawaz decided to move abroad. He first found work in a computer firm operating out of Ibra, in Oman, and later joined the Ajman-based Ibn Sina Medical Centre, which was owned by the former Kerala SIMI president Abdul Ghafoor.

Later, other SIMI contacts helped him to find a job in Dubai. Finally, in July 2006 Nawaz moved back to Muscat and began working at the al-Noor Education Trust, which offered computer courses.

Newly married and prosperous, Nawaz appeared to live the kind of quiet life most in the Indian diaspora aspire to. But the Oman authorities now believe the appearance was intended to deceive.

Soon after returning to Muscat, the investigators say, Nawaz made contact with Abdul Aziz al-Hooti, a Muscat-based businessman with substantial interests in the automobile business and the Lashkar. Hooti, in turn, introduced Nawaz to a ranking Pakistani Lashkar operative, who is so far known only by the aliases Rehan and Wali.

Funds flow

Early in 2008, the police in Hyderabad and Bangalore believe, Nawaz and Rehan met in Dubai to finalise funding for two important “projects.”

In Hyderabad, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Tadiyantavide Nasir was preparing several Keralites to journey across the Line of Control to Lashkar training camps in Pakistan.

Safe house

Nasir used his position as an instructor at the city’s Jamia Arifiya Nooriya seminary to recruit volunteers. He set up a safe house in Madikere, near Coorg, for their basic indoctrination.

In August, 2008, Rehan allegedly provided the funds and contacts that led the first group of volunteers’ travel to Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Mujahideen units also needed funding, Nawaz was told, to execute a series of bombings in Bangalore.

Rehan and Hooti, the Bangalore police say, asked Nawaz to travel to India for an on-site briefing about these plans. Both men were evidently impressed by what he found, for an estimated 2,500 Oman Rials was despatched to the Indian Mujahideen through a Kannur-based hawala dealer.

Later, the investigators say, Dhaka-based Lashkar operative Mubashir Shahid provided more money to secure Nasir’s escape into Bangladesh and to compensate the families of the men killed in Jammu and Kashmir.

Complex web

Police officers involved in the Nawaz investigation believe that several similar funding networks fed different elements of the Indian Mujahideen.

Indian Mujahideen co-founder Sadiq Sheikh, for example, lived in Dubai for several months with the help of ganglord Aftab Ansari and his lieutenant Amir Reza Khan. During his stay, Sheikh said in a statement to the Hyderabad Police, he discovered that key Indian Mujahideen commander Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri also visited the city to raise funds.

Sheikh never met with Shahbandri’s contacts, but it seems likely that Nawaz himself was in touch with several SIMI-linked figures who were engaged in fundraising for jihadist groups. Important among them was CAM Basheer, a fugitive SIMI leader, who is thought to be living in Sharjah using fake identification.

Basheer, police sources say, visited Nawaz in Muscat at least once and carried funds intended to facilitate Nasir’s efforts to recruit jihadists in Kerala.

Maulana Abdul Bari, a Hyderabad cleric last sighted in Saudi Arabia, is also thought to have raised funds in the diaspora for the training of jihadist cadre recruited in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

A costly failure

India has so far had little success in cracking down on terror financing. Nawaz’s story shows just how expensive this failure has been and how costly it could, yet, prove.