Muslim Boys killed in Batla House were part of Indian Mujahideen terrorists

‘Boys killed in Batla House were part of Indian Mujahideen’

The Delhi police may have been right after all to go ahead with the encounter at Batla House. If the confession of Mohammad Noushad, one of the accused in the Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru serial blasts is to be believed, then the boys who were killed at Batla House were infact a part of the Indian Mujahideen  which created panic across the country in form of serial blasts.

Soon after the blasts in Delhi which killed over 20 persons, the police picked up intercepts through the Intelligence Bureau that there were some boys hiding in Jamia Nagar. The boys were killed in an encounter which in turn created a flutter among some rights groups claiming that the encounter was fake.

However, the complete confession of Noushad tell a different story. He said that he was in touch with Riyaz Bhatkal, the IM boss who is originally from Karnataka.

The moment the news of the encounter broke out and the pictures of the boys appeared on news channels and other dailies, Bhatkal is said to have told Noushad in a sad tone that these were his boys.

Noushad further claims in his confession that all the boys killed in the encounter were known to Bhatkal and these were the same boys who had helped execute the Delhi blasts.

Noushad also speaks extensively about the role played by a man called Sufi Mohammad in the blasts that rocked Delhi. Sufi according to Noushad had brought in the explosives from Kerala  into Delhi and the same was used in the blasts.

Investigating officials told rediff.com that there was an unusual pattern involved in the serial blasts that rocked Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Surat  and Delhi. All the bombs were made in Hubli, Manipal and Kondotty and then transported to the rest of the country.

Each one set up shop in these respective places and in all prepared over 30 bombs. The real requirement according to the confession of Noushad was 50 bombs, but due to technical problems they were unable to prepare the remaining 20 bombs.

The Indian Mujahideen had originally planned on using at least 20 bombs in Mumbai and carrying out blasts. However that plan had to be dropped for two reasons.

A majority of the IM men were nabbed by the Mumbai crime branch before the plan was executed. Secondly, the plans could not be executed since the consignment could not be reached on time as there were technical flaws while preparing the bombs meant to be used in Mumbai.

Two suspected Islamic terrorists held in Delhi planning to carry out attacks on Aug 15

Two suspected terrorists held in Delhi

Arunoday Mukharji / CNN-IBN

Aug 06, 2009

SINISTER PLANS: Cops claim the duo was planning to carry out attacks on Aug 15.

New Delhi: Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday night arrested two suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists.

The two alleged Hizbul-Mujahideen terrorists, Javed Ahmad and Ashiq Ali, were arrested when they were in a Santro car near the Chandni Chowk area.

Two AK-47 rifles, four cartridges, 120 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades were recovered from the Hizbul Mujahideen suspects. The police say the rifles were hidden under the backseat of the car.

On June 4 a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Mohammad Omar Madini was arrested by the special cell near Qutub Minar.

Madini was allegedly directed by LeT leaders to spot potential terrorists, persuade them to join the outfit and carry out deadly attacks.

Delhi Police are now trying to establish the exact profile of the two arrested and what their plans were.

After the ghastly 26/11 Mumbai attacks any arrest of this kind especially in the run up to Independence Day will not be taken lightly.

Security has been beefed up in the run-up to Independence Day on August 15.

Two suspected terrorists held in Delhi

Arunoday Mukharji / CNN-IBN

Aug 06, 2009

SINISTER PLANS: Cops claim the duo was planning to carry out attacks on Aug 15.

New Delhi: Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday night arrested two suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists.

The two alleged Hizbul-Mujahideen terrorists, Javed Ahmad and Ashiq Ali, were arrested when they were in a Santro car near the Chandni Chowk area.

Two AK-47 rifles, four cartridges, 120 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades were recovered from the Hizbul Mujahideen suspects. The police say the rifles were hidden under the backseat of the car.

On June 4 a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Mohammad Omar Madini was arrested by the special cell near Qutub Minar.

Madini was allegedly directed by LeT leaders to spot potential terrorists, persuade them to join the outfit and carry out deadly attacks.

Delhi Police are now trying to establish the exact profile of the two arrested and what their plans were.

After the ghastly 26/11 Mumbai attacks any arrest of this kind especially in the run up to Independence Day will not be taken lightly.

Security has been beefed up in the run-up to Independence Day on August 15.

Agra Muslims rampage against police on the eve of Shab-e-raat

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/agra-tense-six-injured-in-stone-pelting_100228693.html

Agra tense, six injured in stone pelting

August 7th, 2009by IANS

Agra, Aug 6 (IANS) Sporadic incidents of violence took place in several parts of the city Thursday on the eve of Shab-e-raat, and half a dozen people have been injured in stone pelting, police said.

What started as a group clash over loud music late Wednesday night in the Mantola thana area, has now snowballed into a full-fledged anti-police campaign.

The situation has been described as tense after clashes in Purani Mandi area, close to the Taj Mahal. Senior police officials have reached Purani Mandi and are trying to control the flareup.

Hindustani Biradari chairman Shiraj Qureshi told IANS: “The festival season has just begun. If the situation is not brought under control soon then there could be trouble in store for the tourism industry.”

District authorities have deployed additional companies of police from neighbouring districts.

In Teli Para, groups of people clashed in the evening. In the afternoon a group of a particular community attacked a Dalit family and injured women and children.

Agra tense, six injured in stone pelting

August 7th, 2009 by IANS

Agra, Aug 6 (IANS) Sporadic incidents of violence took place in several parts of the city Thursday on the eve of Shab-e-raat, and half a dozen people have been injured in stone pelting, police said.

What started as a group clash over loud music late Wednesday night in the Mantola thana area, has now snowballed into a full-fledged anti-police campaign.

The situation has been described as tense after clashes in Purani Mandi area, close to the Taj Mahal. Senior police officials have reached Purani Mandi and are trying to control the flareup.

Hindustani Biradari chairman Shiraj Qureshi told IANS: “The festival season has just begun. If the situation is not brought under control soon then there could be trouble in store for the tourism industry.”

District authorities have deployed additional companies of police from neighbouring districts.

In Teli Para, groups of people clashed in the evening. In the afternoon a group of a particular community attacked a Dalit family and injured women and children.

Police complaint filed against Muslim actor Emraan Hashmi for promoting enmity between different communities

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mumbai/Police-complaint-filed-against-Emraan-Hashmi/articleshow/4848504.cms

Police complaint filed against Emraan Hashmi

PTI 2 August 2009

|

MUMBAI: In a new twist to the episode of alleged religious profiling involving Emraan Hashmi, a police complaint has been filed against the

actor, who had claimed that he was denied a house because he was a Muslim, accusing him of promoting enmity between different communities.

The complaint, filed by a social activist and the executive member of National Youth Committee of BJP leader Sanjay Bedia with D B Marg police station here last night, has accused Hashmi and noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt of various offences under IPC, Bedia’s lawyer Ketan Mehta said.

Bedia claimed that Hashmi had not entered into any agreement with the house owner or even paid a token amount to him. The actor had “unnecessary” raked up the issue of NOC saying it was refused by the housing society only because he was a Muslim, the BJP leader said.

“We are upset over his allegations which have been denied by the housing society,” Bedia said.

Hashmi has been accused of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion by his acts under Sections 153-A and of deliberate and malicious acts with an intention to outrage the religious feelings (Section 295-A)

He has also been accused of giving false information to authorities to initiate legal action under Section 177 and for lodging false complaint to initiate the authorities to take action under Section 182.

Mahesh Bhatt has been charged with section 120-b (conspiracy) and 34 (common intention). The complaint was also lodged against him because he had supported Hashmi by issuing statements in the media, Mehta said.

Police complaint filed against Emraan Hashmi

PTI 2 August 2009

MUMBAI: In a new twist to the episode of alleged religious profiling involving Emraan Hashmi, a police complaint has been filed against the actor, who had claimed that he was denied a house because he was a Muslim, accusing him of promoting enmity between different communities.

The complaint, filed by a social activist and the executive member of National Youth Committee of BJP leader Sanjay Bedia with D B Marg police station here last night, has accused Hashmi and noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt of various offences under IPC, Bedia’s lawyer Ketan Mehta said.

Bedia claimed that Hashmi had not entered into any agreement with the house owner or even paid a token amount to him. The actor had “unnecessary” raked up the issue of NOC saying it was refused by the housing society only because he was a Muslim, the BJP leader said.

“We are upset over his allegations which have been denied by the housing society,” Bedia said.

Hashmi has been accused of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion by his acts under Sections 153-A and of deliberate and malicious acts with an intention to outrage the religious feelings (Section 295-A)

He has also been accused of giving false information to authorities to initiate legal action under Section 177 and for lodging false complaint to initiate the authorities to take action under Section 182.

Mahesh Bhatt has been charged with section 120-b (conspiracy) and 34 (common intention). The complaint was also lodged against him because he had supported Hashmi by issuing statements in the media, Mehta said.

Death sentence for 3 Islamic terrorists convicted of 2003 Mumbai blasts

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mumbai/Death-for-all-three-accused-in-2003-Mumbai-blasts-case/articleshow/4862587.cms

Death for all three accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts case

TIMESOFINDIA.COM 6 August 2009,

A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court has awarded the death sentence to all three accused in the 2003 twin Mumbai blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar.

Mohammad Hanif Syed, his wife Fehmida and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari were convicted for planting the bombs on August 25, 2003 that left 54 dead and 244 injured.

They had also planted a bomb on July 28, 2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

Syed and Fehmida have been found guilty of planting the bomb at Gateway of India. Ansari delivered the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has called it a ‘‘rarest of rare’’ case in which the trio had ‘‘enjoyed their act of killing’’. Nikam said they had been unhappy with smaller blasts that resulted in low death tolls and hence used RDX for the twin blasts.

This is for the first time that a married couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out blasts.

Death for all three accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts case

TIMESOFINDIA.COM 6 August 2009,

A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court has awarded the death sentence to all three accused in the 2003 twin Mumbai blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar.

Mohammad Hanif  Syed, his wife Fehmida and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari were convicted for planting the bombs on August 25, 2003 that left 54 dead and 244 injured.

They had also planted a bomb on July 28, 2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

Syed and Fehmida have been found guilty of planting the bomb at Gateway of India. Ansari delivered the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has called it a ‘‘rarest of rare’’ case in which the trio had ‘‘enjoyed their act of killing’’. Nikam said they had been unhappy with smaller blasts that resulted in low death tolls and hence used RDX for the twin blasts.

This is for the first time that a married couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out blasts.  End

Rediff.com  report

All 3 convicts in 2003 Mumbai blasts get noose

August 06, 2009

Three persons, including a woman, were on Thursday sentenced to death by a special court for their involvement in the 2003 blasts at the iconic Gateway of India [ Images ] and Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai, which claimed 54 lives and injured 244 others. Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimda and Ashrat Ansari were sentenced to death by a special Prevention of Terrorism [ Images ] Act Court.

This is the first time that a couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out bomb blasts. The trio was held guilty of planting two bombs that exploded at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003. They had also planted a bomb on July 28, 2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

Hanif, who was present in court dressed in a white kurta pyjama, did not show any reaction when the verdict was delivered. His wife Fahmida remained silent at the time of the pronouncement of the judgment but broke down as she left the court premises.

Speaking outside the court, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the trio deserved the death penalty as the case fell in the rarest of the rare category.

“We are happy that all three got the death penalty. It is a message to people who indulge in terrorism that the law will not spare them if they commit such barbarous acts,” Nikam said.

The trio was sentenced to death under section 3(2) of POTA, and sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120 (b) (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, he said. They were sentenced to varying prison terms under the provisions of Explosives Substances Act, Explosives Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

“Initially, they had planted a bomb in a bus but since only a few people were killed, they decided to use powerful explosives on the instructions of the Laskhar-e-Tayiba,” Nikam said.

Nikam said Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai was chosen since the trio wanted to target the famous Mumbadevi temple nearby. The historic Gateway of India was also chosen since they wanted to target the nearby Hotel Taj Mahal [ Images ], where many foreign tourists stay.

“The aim of the LeT was to destabilise India with these blasts,” the special public prosecutor said.

Along with the couple, Hanif and Fahimda, their 16-year-old daughter was also arrested for her alleged involvement in the blasts. However, she was discharged since the prosecution chose not to investigate the charges against her, as she was a minor.

Two other accused, Mohammed Ansari Ladoowala and Mohammed Hasan Batterywala, were also discharged from the case by the POTA court, after the Supreme Court upheld a POTA review committee report that said there was no case against the duo.

An accused-turned-approver had told the court that the meeting to hatch the conspiracy was organised in Dubai [ Images ] by the LeT.

LeT activists had come from Pakistan to attend the meeting, the approver, whose name has been kept a secret, said. The motive behind the blasts was to seek vengeance for the atrocities meted out against the minority community during the Godhra carnage in Gujarat in 2002, he had told investigators.

Pakistan double standards: Charges pro-Taliban cleric, but releases LeT chief Saeed

Double standards in Pakistan’s anti-terror campaign
Wednesday, Aug 05, 2009

Praveen Swami

Prosecution of pro-Taliban cleric for hate speech in stark contrast to case of Lashkar chief
——————————————————————————-

We want occupation of Islam in entire world: Saeed

Very soon we will enter India via Doda, Lashkar chief had said
——————————————————————————–

NEW DELHI: Early this month, Pakistani prosecutors charged the head of a pro-Taliban group and seven of his associates with treason, incitement to rebellion, terrorism, waging war, and conspiracy against the country.

The charges are reported to centre around a speech made by Maulana Mohammad, often called Maulana Radio, for his use of FM broadcasts to spread his message on April 19.

Maulana Mohammad, the Pakistan government says, told followers in the town of Mingora that there “is no room for democracy in Islam.” He demanded that the entire nation be placed under the Shariah law.

“Against Islam”

Pakistan’s stern action against the Taliban-linked cleric stands in stark contrast to its refusal to prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, despite the fact that he used near-identical language in several speeches made in recent years. Saeed’s speeches also contained attacks on Pakistan’s rulers, attacks on its anti-Taliban war and calls for violence against India.

During a sermon to worshippers at the Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore’s Chowburji area, reported by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website on October 14, 2007, Saeed asserted that “current political systems, especially democracy, are against Islam.”

Islam, Saeed was reported by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website as saying, had a complete system of government based on Khilafat (Caliphate) and Amirat (Leader/Head of the Muslims). As such, there “is no need of an opposition, nor is there a concept of a ruling class, or party.”

Those qualified to lead people in prayer, he argued, “are also eligible to lead the people otherwise.”

Saeed asserted that “the real objectives for the establishment of Pakistan will be achieved when the original Islamic system, established in Mecca 1400 years ago, will be implemented here.” His language closely mirrored the proclamations of Sufi Mohammad.

“We hate democracy,” the pro-Taliban cleric said in February 2009, soon after the Government of Pakistan signed a peace deal that imposed Shariah across north-west Pakistan. “We want the occupation of Islam in the entire world. Islam does not permit democracy or election.”

Maulana Mohammad and two of his sons were arrested in Peshawar on July 25. He was earlier held in May, but quietly released.

Criticism of Pakistan

Like Maulana Mohammad, Saeed often unleashed stinging attacks on the state of Pakistan. Pakistan’s rulers, he said in a March 2007 speech, “to reassure America and to prove that they are enlightened and moderate, continue to take weird and reckless measures in utter contempt of the safety, security, and well being of their people.”

In several speeches reported on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website during that year, Saeed expressed support for the Taliban. Pakistan’s rulers were, during one sermon delivered at the Jamia al-Qudsia, urged to “stop fighting the war of the enemies of Islam and Muslims in Waziristan and other places.” He demanded that Pakistan stop “trying to please the Christians and the Jews.”

In another veiled attack on the former President, Pervez Musharraf, Saeed asserted that “Muslim rulers have disappointed the Ummah [worldwide Muslim community]. It is time to wage jihad against them. They are not Muslims. They are the agents of Jews.”

His lieutenant, Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, launched an even more acidic attack on retired General Musharraf at the Madrasa Ayesha, near Rawalpindi. Pakistan, he asserted, “is ruled by Ahmads” a reference to a heterodox sect officially proscribed in Pakistan, and long subject to persecution by Islamists. “Most of the top Generals and bureaucrats,” he continued, “are Ahmadi.”

In order to counter this pernicious influence, Makki called for “jihad and martyrdom to be made part of the curriculum. They should be taught in textbooks at school, college and university levels.”

Violence against India

But unlike Maulana Mohammad, much of Saeed’s invective was directed at India and Hindus.

In a 1999 article, he said that “the Hindu is a mean enemy and the proper way to deal with him is the one adopted by our forefathers, who crushed them by force.”

Later, in December 1999, Saeed told an interviewer that Kashmir was “only our base camp.” “The real war,” he asserted, “will be inside [India]. Very soon we will enter India via Doda and unfurl the Islamic flag on the Red Fort.”

On the eve of the Mumbai attacks, Saeed told followers that the “only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”

LeT Islamic terrorist reveals names of financiers and hawala operators: Cops

Suspected LeT terrorist sings, names financiers
Rahul Tripathi , TNN 30 August 2009

NEW DELHI: The recent arrest of a 27-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba militant has provided important links to the alleged activities of the banned terror outfit. Questioning of Mohammad Aslam, who cops claim has been a `prized catch’,  has revealed names of several financiers and hawala operators of the outfit and efforts are on to nab them. The Mumbai police and Gujarat Anti Terror Squad have also joined in the probe with the special cell of Delhi Police, which arrested Aslam from New Delhi railway station on Tuesday.

While officials of the special cell were tightlipped about the names of the financiers, sources said besides handling logistics of LeT, Aslam had recruited several youths from Maharashtra and Gujarat and sent them for arms training to PoK. “He has revealed the names of eight persons who he had picked for training in Pakistan. Many of these were in touch with Aslam and some have even been arrested by the security forces in J&K. He was supposed to hand over explosives to two men in Aurangabad, but we have not been able to zero in on them so far,” said a senior police officer.

Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad (ATS) is also looking into Aslam’s case, as according to cops, Aslam stayed in Lucknow and was enrolled in MA (Arabic) at Lucknow University from 2003 to 2005. “He was staying with two more persons. We have already seized the records from the university and are hunting for them,” said a UP police officer. Speaking to Times City, additional director general of police A K Jain said, “Our teams are in touch with special cell but we are yet to question Aslam. He was studying at Lucknow University from 2003 to 2005 and we need to question him about his other associates.”

At the time of Aslam’s arrest, cops had seized identity cards bearing the name Mohammad Salim from his possession. The police said Aslam is also trained in computers and handling of arms. “He was one of the several members of a sleeper module of LeT and was also incharge of recruitment and logistics,” said a cop from special cell.

The cops from Mumbai are expected to question Aslam in connection with the Aurangabad arms haul in which 32kg of explosives and 10 AK-47 rifles were recovered. He had been on the radar of intelligence agencies for the past two years. “Aslam revealed his involvement in many cases and we are in the process of verifying his role in any major terrorist activity,” said a senior police officer.

Three Islamic terrorists convicted of 2003 Mumbai blasts that killed 52 people and injured 184

Three convicted of 2003 Mumbai blasts
Siddhesh Inamdar

Sentence to be pronounced on August 4 

Mumbai: A special POTA court on Monday convicted three persons of carrying out bomb blasts at the Gateway of India and the Zaveri Bazaar here on August 25, 2003, killing 52 people and injuring 184.

This is the biggest judgment in a terror-related case since 100 people were convicted of the 1993 serial blasts two years ago.

Judge M.R. Puranik announced that Haneef Sayyed (46) and his wife Fahmeeda (43) from Marol and Ashrat Ansari (32) from Juhu Galli would be sentenced on August 4.

The three were held guilty of carrying out a bomb blast in a bus at Ghatkopar on July 28, 2003, which killed two people and injured 60, and of planting a bomb, which however did not explode, in a bus in the Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone.

They were convicted under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 427 (damaging property) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

They were also convicted under Sections 3 (damaging property) and 4 (damaging property by fire or explosive) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act; Sections 3 (causing an explosion to endanger life) and 4 (making an explosive to endanger life) of the Explosive Substances Act; and Sections 5 and 9B (licence for the use of explosives) of the Explosives Act.

The alleged mastermind of the blasts, who claimed to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, had turned approver. The prosecution on Monday filed an application for his discharge from the case.

Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam called the conviction a blow to the LeT. He said this could be the last case to see convictions under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, since repealed.

The prosecution examined 103 witnesses and the defence, four. Hailing the verdict, Investigating Officer Suresh Walishetty said it was the fruit of their hard work.

To go on appeal

Defence lawyer Sushan Kunjuraman said: “I am shocked and surprised by the convictions. The prosecution’s case was very weak. Neither did the LeT ever take responsibility for the blasts nor did the prosecution prove that the accused were LeT operatives. The ones who assembled and handed over the explosives have been discharged, while the planters have been held guilty. We will appeal against this judgment.”

The three convicted were nailed by the testimony of taxidriver Shivnarayan Pandey, whom they had hired on the day of the blasts. Mr. Walishetty said: “His testimony was our clinching evidence. We will now ask the Public Prosecutor to demand maximum punishment.”

Investigations revealed that the blasts were carried out by members of the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force to avenge the communal riots in the State in 2002. Two other accused — Ansari Ladoowala and Hasan Batterywala — were discharged from the case after a POTA review committee gave them a clean chit in 2005. The 16-year-old daughter of Sayyed and Fahmeeda was also an accused, but was later acquitted.

The police claimed that Nasir Ahmed, one of the conspirators, was killed in an encounter in September 2003. However, the couple and Ashrat Ansari were acquitted under Sections 5 and 6 (making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) of the Explosive Substances Act. “These are very minor offences,” said Mr. Nikam. The accused were LeT operatives and had committed serious offences. “We will [therefore] argue for the highest punishment.”

Muslim Prophet’s picture in textbook stirs row in Uttar Pradesh

Prophet’s picture in textbook stirs row in Uttar Pradesh
Indo-Asian News Service
Lucknow, July 28, 2009
 
Taking serious note of a picture of Prophet Mohammed published in an officially prescribed textbook, the Uttar Pradesh Minorities Commission on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to the state government.

This followed an uproar among Islamic scholars and the clergy, who consider publication of the Prophet’s picture “blasphemy”.

“We have asked the state higher education department to clarify how it could give its go-ahead to a textbook, prescribed for B.Ed courses, to carry the picture of the Prophet,” newly-appointed minorities commission chairman SMA Kazmi told IANS in Lucknow.

The textbook is prescribed for the B.Ed course run by the Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University based in Faizabad.

The book titled “Udayimaan Bhartiya Samaj ke Shikshak” (Teachers in Emerging Indian Society) is authored by Karan Singh, a retired university professor, and published by Lakhimpur-based Govind Prakashan.

Earlier, a meeting of Islamic scholars and clerics was convened at the Islamic Centre of India here Monday evening. Prominent among those who attended the meet were Maulana Khalid Rasheed, the Naib Imam of Lucknow and head of Firangi Mahal, Lucknow’s oldest Islamic seminary and Maulana Athar, president of the All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board.

“Firstly, it was against the tenets of Islam to carry any picture of the Prophet and secondly, no one on this earth has a picture of the Prophet; therefore, sure enough the picture carried in the said book was simply imaginary,” observed Maulana Khalid Rasheed.

“Earlier, it was a Danish cartoonist who sought to sketch the Prophet in a derogatory manner and now it is this book. While there was nothing derogatory about the Prophet in the contents of the chapter on him, yet considering the sensitivity of the issue, the book needs to be immediately withdrawn,” he stressed.

“The picture of the Prophet needs to be removed from the book before it is brought back into circulation in the market,” the Maulana added.

Kasab remains a ‘gunman’, rather than a ‘terrorist’, for the New York Times and other leading American newspapers

Confession or no confession, Kasab remains mere gunman for NYT, others       

Jul 26
New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was captured in a chilling photograph and now he has confessed his role in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but he remains a ‘gunman’, rather than a ‘terrorist’, for the New York Times and other leading American newspapers. And with a reason.

After his surprising and dramatic confession before a special court in Mumbai Monday, Kasab is hogging headlines in the American media that is revisiting the semantic-ethical issue of which attacker qualifies as terrorist.

For the New York Times and the Washington Post, Kasab is strictly a gunman.

‘Mumbai Gunman Enters Plea Of Guilty’, the Post headline read a day later, and the 428 words of the report from New Delhi do not include ‘terrorist’ — not even to qualify the ‘attack’.

Kasab is ‘one of the 10 gunmen who laid siege to India’s financial capital for three days last November’, Lashkar-e-Taiba is ‘outlawed, Pakistan-based group’ and the attack that claimed more than 170 lives is ‘the deadly carnage’.

The NYT report with the headline ‘Suspect Stirs Mumbai Court by Confessing’ has 1,050 words, but terrorist is not among them. Kasab is ‘suspect’, ‘gunman’ and ‘attacker’.

The Wall Street Journal calls the incidents ‘terrorist attacks’, but those behind them were ’10 suspected gunmen’. For the Los Angeles Times, the 21-year-old Pakistani is ‘the only suspected gunman’.

This is, of course, no different from the terminology the American media used in reporting those ghastly events on Nov 26-29 last year.

Why is, so to say, one man’s ‘terrorist’ another man’s ‘assailant’?

The answer was given by the NYT’s public editor Clark Hoyt.

Writing in December when those gory images were still fresh in memory, Hoyt noted that the ’10 young men’ who ‘went on a rampage with machine guns and grenades, taking hostages, setting fires and murdering men, women and children’ were described in The Times by many labels.

‘They were ‘militants’, ‘gunmen’, ‘attackers’ and ‘assailants’. Their actions, which left bodies strewn in the city’s largest train station, five-star hotels, a synagogue, a cafe and a hospital — were described as ‘coordinated terrorist attacks’. But the men themselves were not called terrorists.’

He reprinted a comment posted on the newspaper’s website by a reader: ‘I am so offended as to why the NY Times and a number of other news organisations are calling the perpetrators ‘militants’. ‘Murderers, or terrorists perhaps but militants? Is your PC going to get so absurd that you will refer to them as ‘freedom fighters?”

Hoyt noted that the Mumbai terror attacks ‘posed a familiar semantic issue for Times editors: what to call people who pursue political, religious, territorial, or unidentifiable goals through violence on civilians’.

He referred to a two-page memo written by James Bennet, the Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief during 2001-04 and now the editor of the Atlantic, on the use of ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’.

The memo, still cited by NYT editors though the newspaper has ‘no formal policy on the terms’, says it was easy to call certain egregious acts terrorism ‘and have the whole world agree with you’.

‘The problem, he said, was where to stop before every stone-throwing Palestinian was called a terrorist and the paper was making a political statement,’ noted Hoyt.

‘I do not think it is possible to write a set of hard and fast rules for the T-words, and I think The Times is both thoughtful about them and maybe a bit more conservative in their use than I would be.

‘My own broad guideline: If it looks as if it was intended to sow terror and it shocks the conscience, whether it is planes flying into the World Trade Center, gunmen shooting up Mumbai, or a political killer in a little girl’s bedroom, I’d call it terrorism — by terrorists.’

But the NYT and others seem to be waiting for more evidence as far as the Nov 26 attacks are concerned.

(Ashish Mehta can be contacted at ashish.m@ians.in)

Ashish Mehta