One jihadi Muslim arrested in Shahpur gruesome murder of Hindu

One arrested in Shahpur killing case

TNN, May 30, 2010

AHMEDABAD: In a major breakthrough in investigation of recent riots in walled city areas, Shahpur police station officials have arrested a youth for attack on Vijay Dataniya, 42, the innocent victim of the violence on second day of the riots. Dataniya was stabbed and later attacked with acid. Officials are hopeful of finding more attackers during questioning.

Cops said they have arrested Abdul Salam Shaikh, one of the main accused in the case, late on Saturday from Shahpur.

“Shaikh, a resident of Namu Sheth ni Chali in Shahpur, was named along with five others by Hansa Dataniya, Vijay’s widow, in her complaint on Friday. This is a major arrest. We are now questioning him about possible whereabouts of other attackers,” said MB Nayak, inspector of Shahpur police station.

According to officials, other persons named in the incident include Altaf Shaikh, Salim Shaikh and Mohsin Khan.

City officials said the walled city had remained peaceful for four days. They attribute it to repeated public meetings, regular combing operations and terrace cleaning drive in Shahpur and Kalupur areas.

Via  DNA

Meanwhile, the Shahpur police have arrested Abdul Salam Abdul Kalam Sheikh on the charges of attacking Vijay Datania who was killed by a mob on the second day of the communal tension. Earlier on Saturday, wife of Vijay Datania lodged a complaint against five people. According to the complaint, 42-year-old Vijay was dragged into a pol bylane and was first stabbed by a group. He collapsed on the road after which he was attacked with acid.

The Shahpur police have received complaints against Abdul Sheikh, Salim Sheikh, Mohsin Khan and two other unidentified men for the act.

On receiving the information on Saturday night, the Shahpur police conducted raids at Sheikh’s house at Lalu Seth Ni Chali and arrested him. Sheikh has been booked under section 302, 143, 147 and 148 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).Police sources said that Sheikh had a criminal background and cases were registered against him in 1998 and 2002 communal riots. Moreover, in 2003, the city crime branch had arrested him on Arms Act and police had recovered four foreign made revolvers and a desi tamancha.

Datania injured during clashes between two communities in Shahpur on Tuesday died on Wednesday. He had sustained injuries in the head during stone pelting by two groups in Nagoriwad lane. Few others were also injured during the clashes.

Photographs/Slide Show of Shahpur, Ahmedabad Muslim mob attack and Jihad

Via deshgujarat.com

Photographs:  Link

Riot in Ahmedabad’s Shahpur where Hindus are minority(slide show)

Slide show: Link

Jihad in Shahpur, Ahmedabad. Hindu man brutally attacked, dies

Vijay Datania,brutally attacked by Muslims in Shahpur dies

Ahmedabad, DeshGujarat, 26 May, 2010

Vijay Dataniya who was according to locals dragged to Muslim street near Ambalivali pol secondary school, was beaten by stones, forcefully fed acid, showered by acid and injured by sword and pipe by group of rioting Muslims died today in Ahmedabad’s V.S.Hospital.

Resident of Ramesh chowk in Shahpur area where Hindus are in minority now, thanks to frequent attacks by Muslims, Vijay Dataniya was 52-year old. He is survived by two children and wife.

Vijay was brutally attacked by Muslims on Tuesday. Spectators present on the site said, “there were four police constables present on the site, but they couldn’t dare to prevent group of Muslim attackers. After Vijay was brutally beaten and fed acid, we the people from Hindu area formed large group, went there and rescued him from the hands of Muslims.”

Locals said, “this is one more death of Hindu in Shahpur area. If you start counting the records, in previous 10-20 years dozens of Hindus are killed in this area.Many rich and middle class Hindus who can afford to buy property elsewhere have vacated this area and shifter to other parts of the city. Now some poor people like us are surviving here. We face regular attacks from Muslim side, but as we are poor we can not buy property anywhere else and can not shift. We are here to fight with little help of police sometime, but most of the time on our own.”

The latest riot in Shahpur began when a Hindu wedding procession was passing through a street where Muslim mosque is located. Muslims asked Hindus to stop music and dancing. They also reportedly harassed some Hindu girls participating in wedding procession.

On Tuesday, at least four Hindu Mandirs were vandalized by Muslims. Idol of goddess Khodiar mata was damaged. All this happened when heavy police force was deployed here.

Ahmedabad walled city on the boil, one dead

TNN, May 27, 2010,

AHMEDABAD: One person succumbed to acid burns in the riots that broke out in Shahpur area of the walled city on Monday night. Shopkeepers downed shutters and the busy streets went quiet as residents huddled indoors out of fear. Four stabbing incidents occurred since Tuesday night.

Tension spread to other parts of the city as knives and swords were out and two persons were stabbed right outside the Mirzapur rural court.

The sensitive Nagoriwad area of Shahpur has been burning since Monday night when a marriage procession which passed by a mosque at prayer time, led to clashes between communities. There were repercussions the following day when at least 18 persons, including four policemen, were injured in stone throwing and acid bulb attacks.

On Wednesday morning, one of the injured, Vijay Datania died in Civil hospital, which agitated the residents. Extra posse of policemen were deployed to ensure peace in the funeral procession in which over a thousand people joined in, but the backlash could not be controlled.

An armed mob of masked young boys slashed the throat of a scooterist near RC technical school at the famous Chalte Pir ki Dargah in Shahpur and attacked him with stones, barely 15 feet from a police point. The man was rushed to VS hospital in a police jeep.

In a reaction an incited crowd set two motorbikes on fire near Dilli Darwaja area late on Wednesday afternoon. Joint commissioner of police (sector 1) Satish Sharma rushed with a team of senior officers to the spot to bring about control.

Around 5 pm, two peons of Mirzapur court who were headed toward St Xaviers’ school, were attacked by a mob armed with swords. The 108 ambulance service rushed to their help. What is intriguing here is that this incident happened just a few feet away from the Mirzapur police chowky. That apart there is a security picket right outside the court.

“We are exercising restraint . Of the 18 injured, four are policemen,” a senior police officer told TOI.

Deputy commissioner of police (control room) Dinesh Parmar said, “We have called for extra SRP forces and have deployed more deputy superintendents of police and inspectors .”

Panic in old city after rumours

AHMEDABAD: After four stabbing incidents since Tuesday night, in a grim reminder of the 2002 situation, rumour mongering took over leading to a panic-like situation in the city. Shops on Relief road, Manekchowk, Kalupur chokha bazaar, Madhupura market, Shahpur, Jamalpur and other areas of the walled city began to close down as news of the violence spread.

Although Wednesday’s incidents of stabbing were confined to the two kilometre patch between Dilli Darwaja and Mirzapur, rumours began to do rounds about riots spreading to Kalupur, Dariapur , Juhapura and Sabarmati areas. By 4 pm on Wednesday, the entire walled city wore a deserted look with a self-imposed curfew.

A shopkeeper in Madhavpura, Anil Prajapati, said, “When two motorbikes were set ablaze near Dilli Darwaja, we got scared and closed our shops. Fearing that the rioters would attack markets causing more property damage, all the markets shut down.”

Even autorickshaws went off the road and those still plying refused to pick passengers headed for the walled city areas. Passengers coming from the railway station or getting back home to the pols from work, had a tough time. Only AMTS buses were running.

In Amli ni Pol area of Shahpur, women began to demonstrate before the police, complaining that the incidents of violence were happening before the police, which were doing nothing .

Rekha Solanki, a resident of this pol, said, “The police know who these rioters are from both communities. But the police are deliberately avoiding action, which is why the violence is not coming under control.”

Tear gas shells lobbed 144
Persons injured 14
Policemen injured 4
Vehicles burnt 6
Shops burnt 24
Rounds fired 12
Persons stabbed 6

Muslim mob attack Janmashtami procession, pelt stones at Hindus in Ahmedabad

Muslims attack Janmashtami procession in Ahmedabad
By our correspondent
Ahmedabad, DeshGujarat, 15 August, 2009

Police lobbed five tear gas shells to disperse the Muslim mobs who were pelting stones over minority Hindu population in Ahmedabad’s Muslim dominated Shahpur area on Saturday evening.

The trouble started when Muslims attacked a Janmashtami procession that was passing near a Muslim place of worship and then started pelting stones over Hindus who are in minority in this area. After Hindus reacted to this, Muslim mobs started pelting stones from all the directions in Nagorivad area. Around three to four persons received minor injuries during the clashes.

The situation was brought under control and heavy police deployment has been arranged.

It should be mentioned here that Shahpur area was originally a Hindu dominated locality of Ahmedabad. But thanks to Muslim mafias, and property riots sponsored by them, Hindus had to sell their properties and ultimately the whole area started becoming Muslim dominated. Last year, Muslims had burnt a Hindu temple in Shahpur area.

Ahmedabad blasts terrorists were brainwashed with Iraq, Babri, Gujarat riots

‘Brainwashed with Iraq, Babri, Gujarat riots’
Kamaal Saiyed, Feb 11, 2009

Surat: Tears streaming down his face, his hands trembling, the man who allegedly led the serial bombing of Ahmedabad that killed 58 and injured over 200 last July claimed he was brainwashed and ensnared into doing what he did by radical Islamist handlers.
Qayamuddin Kapadia, 28, of the Indian Mujahideen — prime accused in the Ahmedabad blasts and a key suspect in the Surat bomb-planting as well as in the Delhi blasts — spoke exclusively to The Indian Express in the custody of Surat police today.

The plan to carry out the Ahmedabad blasts and the planting of 29 live bombs in Surat, Kapadia said, was firmed up in January 2008 at a clandestine meeting of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Halol in Vadodara.

But that was only a culmination of earlier meetings, including a SIMI meeting that he attended in Kerala in August 2006. Among those who led the crucial Halol meeting was SIMI General Secretary Safdar Nagori whom the Madhya Pradesh police arrested in March last year, Kapadia said.

If Kapadia is to be believed, his transformation from an ordinary Muslim youth with ordinary dreams and a loving family to look after to one of the country’s top Terror accused, is a tale of intense indoctrination.

It started with Kapadia, a deeply religious youth, meeting up with Sajid Mansuri, the SIMI hardliner and a qualified engineer who is also in police custody now for the Ahmedabad blasts. His journey to terror began in a closed little room in Vatva.

“I met Sajid Mansuri during December 2007, we soon became friends. Both he and I were privately doing Islamic propagation work in Vadodara, and we began getting much closer to each other. Some time later, he introduced me to Abdul Subhan alias Tauqeer in a room in Vatva area where Maulana Abubashar (another key accused in the blasts) and a few other youths were there. Later, Sajid Mansuri left the place and we stayed with Tauqeer.”

Tauqeer, says Kapadia, would hold a Majlis (meetings) with them thrice a day in that room. “We were not allowed to go out even to the mosques for prayers, we were told to pray inside that room.”

The Majlis sessions were intense, appealing strongly to the religious, emotional and intellectual sentiments of the captive audience. “Each Majlis would start with the recitation of the holy Quran verses by Maulana Abu Bashar. Then Taqueer would begin by reminding us about the war sanctioned by the holy Prophet to save Islam in this world. The topic would then gradually shift to the current situation of Muslims the world over — we would be made to believe Muslims everywhere are being tortured and and murdered, giving many examples, like that of Palestine and the torture of innocent Iraqi Muslims by US soldiers.”

Then the speakers would turn closer home. “They would keep reminding us about the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the 2002 Gujarat riots. They would show us photographs of dead bodies of Muslim women and children burnt and brutally killed in communal violence”, Kapadia recalled.

“From among us, they selected enthusiastic youths who are both physically and mentally strong, and loyal to their ideology. They relentlessly kept convincing us that someone from the community should take revenge and kill people of particular community. I was one of the few Taqueer selected, and he he kept me with him for three months.”

The recruits were kept isolated. “They didn’t allow us to meet even our family members. During Majlis, they would explain to us the meaning of verses from the Quran and interpret those to convince us that we must take revenge and give a proper retaliation to persecution. Later, I came to know that the particular volumes of Quran that they had used to read out and interpret meanings was different from what is found in the market.”

Kapadia remained in Tauqeer’s company for three months from April 2008 and visited different places in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. According to Kapadia, Taqueer spoke fluent English, regularly read English newspapers, and kept watching international news on TV. “He would particularly look for news of the torture of Muslims in the other countries. Taqueer wanted to keep everything secret and had warned Kapadia not to disclose his working style even to Sajid Mansuri, he said.

Weeks went by, and soon came July 26, when the bombs they planted in Ahmedabad left a trial of blood and gore. Three months of desperate hide-and-seek with the law and then Kapadia was picked up from Indore.

“Main sirf ek baat kehna chahta hoon un Muslim ladkon se jo abhi tak in logon ki giraft mein nahin aye hain. Yeh log aapko Muslimon par huwe zulm ke photo dikhakar aur kaumwad ki batein sunakar aapko emotional karke apni taraf attract karte hain. Aur desh virodhi kaam karne ke liye uksate hain.” (I want to convey only one message to Muslim youths who haven’t been ensnared yet. They will show you photos and tell you stories of torture on Muslims and make you emotional. They will then convince you to carry out anti-national activities.)

Kapadia broke down saying he has lost all touch with his elderly parents, his wife and his small daughter and they have no one to take care of them.

Mangalore’s entry into India’s Islamic terror map

Mangalore’s entry into India’s terror map

Vasanthi Hariprakash

Sunday, October 26, 2008 10:49 AM (Mangalore)
Mangalore in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district has been an unlikely newsmaker, first because of church attacks in September and now because of the number of arrests that have been made in connection with the blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

There have been six arrests of those accused in serial blasts in the country, all within a fortnight and all by the Mangalore police. Mangalore’s terror connection came as a surprise to many, most of all, in Mangalore’s Muslim dominated areas like Ullal, from where the arrests were made.

Arrests were made in the area over the course of two weeks in October, mostly on charges of supplying the explosives that would be used in the bombings in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Arrests made on October 3:

Mohammed Ali – Age 56

Javed Ali (Mohammed Ali’s son) – Age 20

Naushad – Age 25

Ahmed Bawa – Age 33

Arrests made on October 16:

Rafiq Bawa – Age 26

Fakir Bawa – Age 40

The police say that Rafiq Bawa was the driver of Riaz Bhatkal, one of the main founders of the Indian Mujahideen and who comes from the nearby town of Bhatkal.

They say Rafiq and Fakir were among five Indian Mujahideen members, who had taken a house at a remote village near Koppa taluk of the neighbouring Chikmagalur district, where they assembled the explosives and even tested them.

“During investigation, the Delhi Police got certain clues that the explosives for the serial blasts were transported from here. Whether Mangalore is a place for enhanced terror activities, it is premature to say, but it is a fact that few of the boys from Mangalore are found to be involved in the blasts,” said Ashit Mohan Prasad, IGP, Western Range, Karnataka.

Police say they have proof not just based on confessions. They found gun powder, a chemical mixing jar, a chemical-testing thermometer, and also tools used during target practice.

However, Mangalore’s Muslims and activists, unused to being linked to the geography of terror, are deeply upset. They warn that police excess may only increase the radicalism.

“The manner in which the police behaves here, during the time of riots or say during the recent church attacks, is actually pushing the youth towards terrorism. Police must conduct enquiry even thousands of people, but they should not harass the innocent,” said Umar U H, founder, Citizens Dignity Forum.

Familiar arguments from Azamgarh and Delhi’s Batla house are now heard in Mangalore, marking its tragic entry into India’s terror map.

Muslim countries flocking to Modi’s Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit – 2009

http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/
Video on vibrant Gujarat Summit

First, some facts on Vibrant Gujarat from TOI article

Gujarat has clearly marketed itself well as a destination where there is money to be made. Representatives of 30 countries and 60 transnationals are coming to the two-day event starting on Monday. There are heads of state, diplomats, political delegations, company CEOs, bankers and financial institutions flocking to Science City in Ahmedabad where the event will be held.

At the end of Vibrant Gujarat 2009, MoUs worth Rs 7 lakh crore ($140 billion) are expected to be signed. In this depressed environment, this is simply staggering.

On all growth parameters, Gujarat is ahead of other states, laying stake to its claim as ‘The Growth Engine of India’ — the catchline of Vibrant Gujarat. Link
Pied Piper to the Muslim world
11 Jan 2009, Harit Mehta, TNN

AHMEDABAD: Call it the seven-year itch. Those many years after the 2002 Gujarat riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi is changing partners. And it is having effect, as the Muslim world too now sees this tainted state and its government in a new light.

The fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2009, which will unfold on Monday, is drawing a huge participation from Islamic countries, as well as those which are predominantly Muslim.

This, even as US and European Union continue to deny Modi a visa to visit their countries on the grounds of alleged state complicity in the riots which killed over 1,000 Muslims. Also, human rights groups still allege that the Modi government has continued to thwart the process of justice for the riots victims. And terror organisations place Gujarat high on the hit-list, the latest grim reminder of which came on July 26, 2008, when 19 serial blasts killed 58 people in Ahmedabad.

Among those who have confirmed their participation is AS Vashishi, representative of The Arab League, officially called the League of Arab States. This 22-nation outfit includes members like Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) send a business delegation from the National Investment Office, representing Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain.

There are also delegations from Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Brunei, Iran and Indonesia in the list where participation has been confirmed.

Prof Dwijendra Tripati, former faculty at IIM-A in business history and former president of the Indian History Congress, said: “Gujarat had rigorous mercantile trade with countries around the Red Sea and Persian Gulf for many centuries. This trade continued even after the East India Company came on the scene. The fourth Vibrant Gujarat marks a distinct change in the outlook of the world towards Gujarat and so the Muslim countries too are coming looking for opportunities.” End

Indian Mujahideen suspects have LeT link: Cops

Suspects spill beans on LeT link: Cops
15 Oct 2008, 0536 hrs IST, S Ahmed Ali , TNN

Mumbai: Some of the 20 Indian Mujaheedin (IM) suspects, who were arrested recently for various blasts since 2005, have told the police that they were actually associated with the Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), according to investigators.

Sadiq Shaikh, co-founder of IM, told police that mastermind Riyaz Bhatkal himself is a key operative of the LeT. However, they wanted to avoid being called LeT operatives as the organisation is associated with Pakistan. Bhatkal, founder of the IM, wanted to send a message that they were Indian terrorists and therefore named his organisation Indian Mujahideen.

Shaikh himself had taken nine months of training in Bahavalpur in Pakistan, where he is believed to have met Amir Raza, a main operative of the LeT. Bhatkal has been directly taking orders from Raza, according to investigators . Shaikh told police that the entire training, ranging from indoctrination to handling arms and ammuniation, had been done in camps operated by the LeT.

The accused decided to form the IM only after the Jaipur and Ahmedabad blasts. The accused first sent a terror email to a media channel claiming responsibility after the Ahmedabad blasts. “Prior to the Ahmedabad blasts, Bhatkal had already planned to take such credit and hence he formed the media wing, led by Mansoor Peerbhoy from Pune,” said joint commissioner of police (Crime) Rakesh Maria. Peerbhoy and his two associates, Mubin Kadar Shaikh and Asif Bashir, designed the IM logo.

The media wing of the IM, which has also been charged with aiding and abetting the blasts, is allegedly responsible for sending all three terror emails. Maria said the lead role was played by Peerbhoy, a software engineer in Pune who was actually indoctrinated by Bhatkal.ources said.

History of Communal Riots In Ahmedabad

History of Communal Riots In Ahmedabad

If we take the history of Ahmedabad for last five centuries, the city was ruled by Muslims and Mughals for about 340 years the rest by Marathas & The British coming to the incidents of communal riots during this era of five centuries, the major incidences are:

(1) 1714: Holi Riots:
A Hindu named Hari Ram while celebrating Holi with his friends at his residence sprinkled ‘Gulal’ a red powder on one muslim, which was strongly protested by Muslims. A mob got assembled near Jumma Masjid under the leadership of Sunni Bohra Mulla Abdul Aziz. Afghan soldiers of the Muslim viceroy also joined the mob seeing the situation. A Kazi interfered for cooling down the angry mob.  But the mob set on fire the house of this Kazi. The rioteers thereafter looted the shops of Hindu Mohalla, Shops and set their houses to fire. The rioters could be controlled only by armed guards of a Hindu, Kapurchand Bhanshali.

(2) 1715: Another Communal Riot:
The 1715 communal riots were due to looting of shops of Hindus by Muslim soldiers. The riot came to an end with replacement of Muslim viceroy Daudkhan.

(3) 1716:  Id riots:
Consequently during the third year also, communal disturbances broke out during id in 1716.

Bohra community Muslims gathered cows and buffallows for id celebration. A Muslim Havaldar just out of pity released one of such gathered cows. The Muslim protested before the Kazi Khairullakhan seeing no outcome to their expectation, the Muslims resorted to riots arson and mass looting of Hindu establishments. The situation could come to normally with Hindu viceroy Ajitsinh’s concerted efforts.

(4) 1750: Temple Demolition:
1750 riots by Muslims were provoked simply with an excuse that their Namaz was being disturbed due to noise of ringing of bell in the adjoining temple. The Muslims while returning from Masjid after Namaz, totally destroyed the temple and thus played with the Hindu sentiments.

(5) 1941: Riots:
Communal disturbances broke out on 18th April 1941. The Muslims diverted to Muslim league programmes after incidence of these riots.

(6) 1946: Rath Yatra Riots:
1st July, 1946, was a Rath Yatra day. Rath Yatra as usual was passing through Shaher Kotda Police Station Area, on this auspicious day. There took a hut exchange between a Hindu Akhada man and a Muslim watching the procession. The incidence turned into breaking out of communal violence, viz. arson, stone throwing, stabbing etc. There was also a police firing and curfew was finally imposed, to control the situation.

(7) 1965: Shikh incidence:
The 1965 riots were resulted out of murder of two Shikh Rickshaw drivers by Muslims. The agrieved Sikhs took out funeral procession of both these dead bodies. The situation got disturbed at Delhi Darwaja and got converted into a communal riot soon.

(8) 1969: Historic Communal Riots:
These riots were biggest of its type having taken lives of about 560 persons.

It was 18th Sept. 1969, the last day of Urs. The violence crept up in the evening time on the ground that Jagannath Mandir cows going back to temple premises disturbed the URS. It may be mentioned that movement of cows was a daily routine irrespective of URS celebration taking place simultaneously. A hot discussion took place which provoked communal tension with a series of violent, incidences killing, linking, and soon in various parts of the city.

The jihadis claim, on the basis of their faith, the right to kill ordinary Hindus and secular response in India – must read

The Holy Text and Terror
S Gurumurthy, 18 Sep 2008

Wait only for five minutes from now! Wait for the Mujahideen and Fidayeen of Islam who will make you feel the terror of Jihad. And stop them if you can. Feel the havoc cast into your hearts by Allah, the Almighty, face His Dreadful Punishment, and suffer the results of fighting the Muslims and the Mujahideen. Await the anguish, agony, sorrow and pain.Await, only for five minutes, to feel the fear of death.”Within minutes of this e-mail finding its way into media computers, the jihadi bombs in Ahmedabad blew to smithereens over 50 persons. By the time terror hit Ahmedabad, such e-mails had become the pattern. The mails came ahead of the blasts in Jaipur and Bengaluru earlier. Also now in Delhi which was blasted on September 13. All in the name of Indian Mujahideen.

See how, in its Ahmedabad mail, the jihadi outfit unveils its Islamic agenda against the Hindus — read India.

“O Hindus!…Haven’t you still realised that the falsehood of your 33-crore mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman are not going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands? Nor is your fictitious faith in monkeys, pigs and nude statutes going to save you from the Wrath of Allah and His humiliating punishment.

Know that it is only the true confession of the Oneness of Allah Alone,with no associates, that can save your blood from being spilled on the streets of your own cities.

We call you, O Hindus, O enemies of Allah, to take an honest stance with yourselves lest another attack of Ibn-e-Qasim sends shivers down your spines, lest another Ghauri shakes your foundations, and lest another Ghaznawi massacres you, proving your blood to be the cheapest of all mankind! Have you forgotten your history full of subjugation, humiliation, and insult? Or do you want us to repeat it again? Take heed before it is too late!” The IM goes further, quotes the most fundamental document, the Quran, to validate its theological stand. “Yes! We — the terrorists of India — The Indian Mujahideen, the militia of Islam whose each and every mujahid belongs to this very soil of India — have returned, to execute the compulsion of Allah: “Fight them (the disbelievers), Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and give you victory over them and He will heal the hearts of those who believe.” (Quran 9:14). It goes on to quote: “Fight those disbelievers who are near you and let them find harshness in you.” (Quran 9: 123). “Go forth light armed or heavy armed and fight with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah.”[(Quran 9: 41). So the IM claim is simply this:we are doing what the Quran commands us to do against the non-believers, namely those who do not believe in Islam.

The jihadis have openly challenged the pure Islamic theologians to deny that the position it takes against the Hindus is not the position of pure Islam. No Islamic theological school, not a single mullah or maulvi has shown the guts to tell the jihadis that non-believers in Quran do not mean non- Muslims. The Islamist scholars have kept deafening silence. The jihadis have thus effectively shut the Islamists’ mouth by quotes from the holy Quran.

But what about the secularists? The terrorists are misguided youths, angered by the Hindu outfits in Gujarat and elsewhere, they would counsel. The grievances of the terrorists need to be addressed, they would pontificate, to dissuade them from the wrong path. But what the secularists miss is that the jihadis claim, on the basis of their faith, the right to kill ordinary Hindus.

Do the secularists have the guts to ask the Islamic scholars to come out and deny that the theological position of Islam is not what the terrorists claim it to be? But, not surprisingly, not a single secular media or editor, nor any political party or leader would dare ask why the Islamic theologians are silent on the terrorists’ view of the holy book. What has their grievance against Hindu outfits or the governments to do with their claim that Islam mandates them to attack non-Muslims? The real issue is whether the Islamic faith mandates so. If the jihadis are aggrieved then they can take to violence against the state. Terrorism normally isolates the terrorists from mainstream society.

But when the terrorists claim that they have been directed by their holy text to kill people of other faiths and that view is not challenged by the mainstream scholars or the secularists, then the terrorists cannot be isolated. This is what the secularists seem to have preferred to miss out.

Thus neither have the mainstream Islamic scholars challenged the jihadis’ view that their holy text authorises them to kill the non-believers nor have the secularists asked mainstream Islamic scholars to deny the terrorists’ version of the Islamic faith. Emboldened the terrorists have now moved a step further in the Delhi terror mail.While, in the Ahmedabad mail, the jihadis have embarrassed Islamic theologians by quoting the holy text, they have embarrassed the secularists in the Delhi terror mail by relying on the secularists’ view to justify their terror against the Hindus. The secular enthusiasts had carried on a relentless hate campaign against the BJP and Narendra Modi after the Gujarat riots. They had even trivialised the Godhra terror attack that had roasted over 60 Ramsevaks, saying that it was an accident or that the victims themselves had set fire to the bogey, which enraged Hindu outfits even more. Later when acts of terror increased, the secular media even rationalised them by citing the Gujarat riots as justification for terrorists’ anger.

This secular largesse did not assuage the extremists. Instead it has put the Islamist terror on an escalator. Not surprisingly the jihadis have, in the Delhi email, used the very logic of the secular media, and very photographs carried by it a thousand times, to claim that they were taking revenge for the Gujarat carnage! While the jihadis see terror as a mandate of the holy book, the secular media remains juvenile in its oration. It still cites Shabana Azmi’s inability to get a fourth flat, in the building of her choice in the place of her choice as illustrative of the failure of constitutional equity to minorities, and asks how there could be peace with such injustice! But, no section is more badly treated or discriminated than the untouchables in India. If the secularists’ logic for jihadi violence is applied to them, they can legitimately turn terrorists. But mere grievances cannot produce that deadly hate. It is the jihadi theological claim, uncontested by the Islamist clergy and the secularists, that makes terror a religious duty, and a deadly one at that. Injustice,minus theology, cannot breed that deadly terror. Unless the debate on terror transcends the trivia and gets to the root of the terror — the theological motive for terror —the secularists will end up promoting terror, not containing it.Will they introspect?

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About the author:

S Gurumurthy is a well-known commentator on political and economic issues.