Terrorism

Mumbai Terrorism: Disturbing New Revelations Raises Important Questions and Specter of Inside Job

Published

December 7, 2008

Abu Reem

Less than two weeks ago, we condemned the deaths of hundreds of innocent lives, lives of Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Christians, who were ruthlessly murdered by terrorists in Mumbai. And today, we continue to mourn the unjustifiable bloodshed.

Those of you who follow my writings are quite aware that I am not much of a conspiracy theorist; I tend to believe in facts. I take stories and incidents for what is apparent of them, unless there is some strong and reliable evidence to show otherwise.

Ever since the Mumbai terrorist shootings, all sorts of rumors and conspiracy theories have been flying around in emails. Many centered around the killing of Hemant Karkare, widely praised for his discipline and integrity, who was the chief of the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism squad and who led the investigation into the Sept 29 blast which was later revealed to be the work of Hindutva supporters. Doubts were raised with regards to the suspicious circumstances of his death, and the possibility of him having been targeted for his expose.

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Some of the conspiracy emails have been circulated by Muslims, who refuse to believe that fellow Muslims could do such a thing. While I appreciate the sentiment that Muslims “truly” acting upon their religion would not do such a thing, we have to recognize that Muslims don’t always represent or act upon their religion correctly (which is no different from other religions and their adherents); in fact, I would say that Muslims are more often than not, awful representatives of their beautiful religion, which has led some to say that Islam is the best religion with the worst followers! So, the recognition that there are those amongst us who use religion for their vile purposes is an important one. We cannot believe that every Muslim involved in terrorism is planted, or a RAW/MOSSAD/CIA agent. Otherwise, we will never move forward with correction and cure.

Back to the emails: most of the conspiracy emails have actually been circulated by people who are not Muslims, whether they be Indian leftists of Hindu background, Sikhs, or others; an indication of a healthy and vibrant discussion that centers on the crime and not on hype. And while some of the discussions were compelling in terms of the kind of “benefit” that this type of terrorism provides the Hindu extremists in India (esp. the BJP and VHP types), I refused to give them much credibility in light of the apparent and “official” version.

This started to change when this “official” and credible AP news story came through yesterday, which reportsthe arrest of 2 men in Mumbai who provided direct assistance to the terrorists. Normally these arrests would sound like a boon for Indian security agencies. But then the bomb-shell hit: one of the arrested men turns out to be an undercover Kashmiri police officer:

Senior police officers in Indian Kashmir, which has been at the heart of tensions between India and Pakistan, demanded the release of the officer, Mukhtar Ahmed, saying he was one of their own and had been involved in infiltrating Kashmiri militant groups.

Now, let’s rewind a bit to the 9/11 attacks: imagine if a NYPD officer had directly provided phone SIM cards, or some other form of direct assistance to the 9/11 hijackers. Imagine how that story would reverberate and send shock-waves through the entire American security syndicate, and the media would be all over it. But unfortunately, Indian officials and perhaps the media (esp. the Indian media), are so insistent at only one angle to the story, that they are not treating this story for the significant implications it possesses.

Back to the story then, we have to remember that the terrorists heavily relied on cell-phones, and other gadgetry to coordinate their murderous spree.

Once the coordinated attacks began, the terrorists were on their cell phones constantly. They used BlackBerries “to monitor international reaction to the atrocities, and to check on the police response via the internet,” the Courier Mail reports. [Wired]

Thus, cell-phone capability was a source of direct and significant material support that was provided by an undercover police officer, with perhaps a large axe to grind:

Police said Ahmed [the undercover officer] was recruited to the force after his brother was killed five years ago, allegedly by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants for being a police informer.

This is being denied by another officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity (in the same AP report), who also insists:

“Sometimes we use our men engaged in counterinsurgency ops to provide SIM cards to the (militant) outfits so that we track their plans down,” said the officer.

While that sounds generally like a reasonable counter-insurgency technique, there is a bigger issue here: If indeed the SIM cards were part of counterinsurgency ops to track militant plans down, then how is that Mr. Ahmed, the undercover police officer, missed such a complex and significant operation by terrorists who had SIM cards provided through him?

I believe the AP report raises several questions and further doubts about the entire investigation and whether the ill-trained security forces (as the Indian people and Indian press have been decrying) would be able to thoroughly examine all the ins and outs of this attack and bring the “right” people to full justice for the heinous crimes committed in Mumbai :

The implications of Ahmed’s involvement — that Indian agents may have been in touch with the militants and perhaps supplied the SIM cards used in the attacks — added to the growing list of questions over India’s ill-trained security forces, which are widely blamed for not thwarting the attacks.

My only purpose with this post was to bring to light revelations that have been reported by the credible AP News. It is difficult to blame the skeptics who are no doubt emboldened by this news. While it may be reasonable for these skeptics to raise questions and the “smell” of an inside job, we must always be cautious about any conclusions, especially around complex operations and investigations such as around this attack. Also there is an array of open questions and possibilities about the undercover police officer:

He may have turned “rogue” himself, and may have been motivated by his own brother’s murder to create this conspiracy that undoubtedly hurts the Kashmiri outfits in terms of world image and support.
He may have not recognized or realized the full potential of those he was supporting. In other words, it got “out of control” really fast. Overconfidence could have been a factor.
His contribution may only have been limited to providing the SIM cards, as part of “routine” counterinsurgency, with the rest of the entire operation being not an inside-job.

As a Pakistani-American, I do believe that there are rogue and undisciplined actors within Pakistan’s security agencies. But after these revelations, I hope that Indians too will be open to the possibility of rogue and undisciplined actors within India’s security apparatus. If the intention is truly to get to the bottom of the attack, then the only way to do that is to leave prejudicial and biased arguments aside, and focus on the crimes and the trails that led to the crime. And I think most Indians (and the rest of the world) are also interested in a completely transparent investigations. But with so much at stake, a question on the minds of many people will be whether with the anger surrounding the attacks will allow for neutral and fair investigation. We sure hope so.

We also should remember that this police-officer’s involvement does not free the terrorists (and those directly responsible in the planning and training of the attacks) of the responsibility for the many lives they unjustly took. Inside job or not, those who carried out this plan should have had their own conscience and moral grounding to recognize the severe consequence of their actions.

We pray and hope that those responsible and still alive, will be brought back to full justice and given the severest of punishments. And as for those terrorists that died in the rampage, all I can say for them is that they leave with the most wicked of deeds on their scales, after committing one of the gravest sins a Muslim can ever commit (multiple times),as this verse states:

“Whoever kills a person [unjustly]… it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

See Also:

Ahmed Bedier addresses the Mumbai terrorism (part one and two).
As the Fires Die: The Terror of the Aftermath
Washington Arrogance Has Fomented a Muslim Revolution

Photo Credit: AP

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Terrorists on Murderous Rampage in Mumbai: As Muslims, We Condemn it

Abu Reem

Abu Reem is one of the founders of MuslimMatters, Inc. His identity is shaped by his religion (Islam), place of birth (Pakistan), and nationality (American). By education, he is a ChemE, topped off with an MBA from Wharton. He has been involved with Texas Dawah, Clear Lake Islamic Center and MSA. His interests include politics, cricket, and media interactions. Career-wise, Abu Reem is in management in the oil & gas industry (but one who still appreciates the "green revolution").

34 Comments

Hassan

December 7, 2008 at 6:27 PM

The biggest conspiracy theory is the one presented by Indian officials..

India many times in past blamed Pakistan, and then later backtracked and found that their own people (like a extreme right wing hindu colonel in Indian Army, whom karake was investigating) did it.

I am very skeptic about official version till Indians give concrete proof

Reply
Jawed Iqbal

December 7, 2008 at 9:00 PM

This post seems to be on the right track, but still is more apologetic than anything. The indian story was ridiculous to begin with, but it’s amazing how the indian media supresess these revelations while beating up drums of war using slogans like “india’s 9/11”.

It’s about time the patriotic Pakistanis — including hyphenated ones — start defending their homeland against the lies spread by warmongers.

By the way, it’s not really a conspiracy theory when there are clear signs of “inside job”. Maybe you should start believing more in your Muslim brothers instead of assuming that those “terrorists” were indeed Muslim.

Reply
Anastasia

December 7, 2008 at 10:56 PM

This is slightly tangential but it’s related and this is a totally honest question, so I hope you won’t mind me asking it. For the record, I am a Christian but I do know some things about Islam and I certainly don’t think–as many Christians I know do–that Islam is all about bombs and guns. On the contrary, I see the beauty in Islam. So this isn’t coming from a hostile place.

You mention here that some muslims behave in a way that you believe is incorrect and doesn’t convey the beauty of the religion as you understand it. And yet, they believe what they are doing is right and, perhaps, truly Islamic? Perhaps more truly Islamic than what you do and believe? Believe me, I know that Christians do things in the name of Christ that are completely contrary to what *I* think Jesus is about. I’m not singling Islam out, there. But within Christianity, I also know where to turn for an authoritative statement on what the bible means or how to live as a Christian.

It’s less clear to me where the structures of authority are in Islam. Who decides what is true Islam and what is the real meaning of the Qur’an and such. I hope my question is clear. I suspect there is a good answer and I’m just ignorant. Maybe you can help.

Reply
Jawed Iqbal

December 7, 2008 at 11:39 PM

Allow me answer that question Anastasia. I’ glad that you have an open mind and are willing to explore the issue instead of making a judgment based on stereotypes, and you should be commended for that . I guess your questions has two parts…

1) Why do Muslims behave this way when Islam forbids murder of any kind?

and

2) Where to turn to understand the REAL Islam?

Well the answer to your first question…..The Quran itself and the Sunnah (Life/biography of the Prophet Muhammad Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon him). Unlike christianity, Islam does not have a hierarchy of clergy and a group of certain people who dictate what is right and what is a sin. So the “structures of authority” in Islam, as you mentioned, are the commandments in the Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet clarifies and un-complicate whatever is in it. You can’t go wrong with these two.

You have to differentiate between the Faith and it’s followers, and to be truly honest, those who pervert it’s meaning can’t be true followers because they fail to comprehend the spirit of Islam.

I’m not a very articulate person so I hope my answer made some sense.

Reply
admin

December 7, 2008 at 11:52 PM

Salaam Alaikum, and Eid Mubarak,

thank you for this post, and while I would be one of those who don’t buy the Indian official story for a minute (that does not mean I deny the existence of takfiri stupidity in Pakistan, who spread all kindsa fitna ) — There are way too many questions that this incident has raised, remember also that the bombing of samjota express was also blamed on the ISI – and then subsequently a former indian millitary person was arrested. Furthermore, there are a number of Indian homegrown terror groups – from the fascist Hindu groups, to the way out there extremist communists. The number of such groups within India, far outnumber similar such groups in Pakistan.

The reason why Pakistan is targeted is for a few reasons – it serves India for obvious reasons, but also the Zionist entity, and the US – who, also for obvious reasons, want to continue keeping Pakistan in a pressure cooker condition. And given India’s love affairs with both the US and the zionist entity, it is not surprising that they would fall in line with the whole Muslim=terrorists nonsense. These geopolitical issues also have to be considered – not just for the purpose of identifying the killers, but also to understand the potential consequence of these actions, and the actors who will try to take advantage of such incidents for their own benefit.

Reply
Amad

December 8, 2008 at 12:04 AM

Let me add to what Jawed mentioned. While there is no official clergy or hierarchy system, there is a system of scholarship and scholars. In fact, the Quran clearly asks its followers to:

“…. Ask ahl al-dhikr [people of knowledge] if you do not know”. (Quran 16:43)

One of the systems of scholarships and knowledge is the ijazah system, whereby students of knowledge acquire knowledge from their teachers and are approved to transmit to future generations. We also have recognized universities of Islamic knowledge that produce scholars. So, the statement of following Quran and the Prophetic sayings has to be clarified and qualified. Not every lay-person can jump to the two sources of authority and derive rulings. If you listen to this debate between Dalia Mogahed and Irshad Manji, it is in fact those who bypass scholars and bypass the hundreds of years of scholarships who are creating havoc in the earth because they have taken it upon themselves to interpret the Quran and the Sunnah (prophetic sayings).

Also, let’s remember that a vast majority of scholars, scholars with any repute and following among the mainstream, decry such violence. For instance, 20,000 scholars from India’s mainstream school of thought, Deoband, condemned terrorism of all types. There are countless other links: Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks.

You can also find links to a book review “Who Speaks for Islam?” on MM pages.

There is also the historical point to consider. If truly such terrorism was part of Islam, then why is it that such targeting of innocent civilians is only a recent phenomenon (of the last 2 decades or so)? Rather, terrorism has never been a “Muslim problem”. In fact, historically, living under Islamic states was better for minorities than other nations with state religions. If indeed Muslims believed in killing all “non-believers”, then we wouldn’t have any non-Muslims left in Islamic nations of the past. Also, you see Muslims sparing churches when they entered Jerusalem for instance, yet you find no mosques left from the Islamic empire in Spain. History helps provide context.

As for current times, we also should try to understand the root-causes of some of this terrorism: not to justify it, but rather to recognize legitimate grievances that have led to a violent reaction. People have to understand that we can’t “exterminate” Islam and its 1.5+ billion Muslims, so blaming it (despite the fact that history that doesn’t support the extremist version) is just futile talk. Rather, we have to exterminate the causes that lead to “political radicals”, who then use religion as a proxy for political aspirations.

Hope that helps. You can also use the Open Thread where you feel the comment is unrelated to the post.

Reply
Amad

December 8, 2008 at 12:10 AM

I would like to remind everyone (not to anyone specific) about the need for caution and pause, and to avoid jumping to any conclusions. Many times we point at others for jumping the gun, yet we fall into the same mistake.

Reply
rabia gul

December 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM

please read the last qutaba of prophet mummad peace and blessings of allha be upon him to know the true Islam

Reply
Abu Aql

December 8, 2008 at 10:17 PM

EID MUBARAK to you ALL

I do not understand our Scholars always teach us not to speak about a subject ( especialy when no official investigation has been completed) that you have
1- no knowledge
2- no daleel
3- no authority in.
‘
With All due respect like other people saying things left and right, Br Amad Siddiqui whats your qualifications and daleel on the MUMBAI Genocide and who gave you the authority to make “conclusions” or force your “idiology” on this ? Did not Sh. Yassir taught you about ”
Allahu wa Aalam” or in common societal terms “Shut up” ?

Reply
Qas

December 9, 2008 at 1:54 AM

With All due respect like other people saying things left and right, Br Amad Siddiqui whats your qualifications and daleel on the MUMBAI Genocide and who gave you the authority to make “conclusions” or force your “idiology” on this ? Did not Sh. Yassir taught you about ”

So true, Amad. Are you a scholar from a remote part of the wprld who has no TV or radio? Ya’ni, I have many adila that you are not. When you do become such a scholar, then you can comment about the “Mumbai genocide”. Verily, as Abu says “Shut up”.

Reply
unknown

December 9, 2008 at 2:59 AM

assalamualikum…
to those people claiming brother Amad is wrong while passing his comment……giving the ruling that” scholars say that we aren’t allowed to speak ofwhich we dont have authority of“……i want to ask them what about the saying?? …the ahadith?? ..the way of rasool(saw)…..what he has taught us….the MANNERS he(saw) used for his speech….dont we have to put those ahadith into practise….the method he,our beloved rasool(saw)(the best of mankind) used …while correcting peoples mistakes!!!!!….can’t we think twice before submitting such rude comments???? ….May Allah (swt) guide us all to the staight path and to follow the sunnah

Reply
Miako

December 9, 2008 at 1:13 PM

You’re attaching Israel to this? Can you please cite some source?
India and Pakistan create a flammable configuration. I pray that we do not come to nuclear war, as all the world would suffer.
But simply because Israel also has a problem with nationalistic terrorists, to say that they benefit… is that not like saying that China would benefit as well?
Forgive me if I do not understand your train of thought, your writing was brief.

Reply
Abu Aql

December 9, 2008 at 1:36 PM

Unknown/Amad,

I advice you to learn the Huqm and the difference between Advicing and Condeming in Islam based on Quran and Sunnah.

I love all my believers hence I advice them first and when they cross the limits into the huqm of condeming you should condemn them as their forced perverted ideologies are affecting “others”. Whats the role of Sabr in yoiur life? Why dont you practice that (Sabr) here as well ?

Reply
Amad

December 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM

Abu Aql, I am not “Amad Siddiqui”. And if I was giving a fiqhi ruling, you could be sure I would be consulting a scholar.

Miako, who’s attaching Israel to this? Where did you read that?

Reply
Miako

December 9, 2008 at 4:31 PM

Amad,
Admin was. And I truly don’t understand his reasoning. I hope everyone can come to understand that extremists are not representative of any religion — or even nationalist group!
Peace.

Reply
Amad

December 9, 2008 at 5:53 PM

Just to clarify and avoid confusion, “Admin” is not the admin for MM.

I haven’t seen any evidence of Israel’s involvement in this operation.

I would say that from what I have heard, MOSSAD is now deeply involved with Indian intelligence, in all sorts of ways. Ever since the cooperation increased, India’s operations have become more and more brutal in Kashmir, a stronger “iron fist”, similar to the persecution of the Palestinians. Not a very positive sign if you ask me.

Reply
Abu Salman

December 9, 2008 at 10:18 PM

I challenge anybody to look at these pictures and claim that these guys were Pakistani; it is obvious they are Indian to the core:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7773927.stm

Reply
Hassan

December 10, 2008 at 9:43 AM

I challenge anybody to look at these pictures and claim that these guys were Pakistani; it is obvious they are Indian to the core:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7773927.stm

Yes you are right, I been saying that since day one. May be to outsiders all Pakistanis and Indians look alike. But that is not certainly the case for insiders. Infact I can tell quite accurately with few exceptions where the person is from within Pakistan. These guys 110% dont look Pakistani and not even Indian muslims!!

Reply
Hassan

December 10, 2008 at 9:47 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/10/pakistan.mumbai.arrests/index.html

By the way for non-Pakistani people, Laskar-e-Tayyabah and its charity/dawah wing Jamat-ud-Dawa is hardcore Ahle Hadith people. Hafiz Saeed who leads Jamat-ud-Dawa had a brother in Boston, Hafiz Masood and one more I dont remember name. They were recently deported.

And Lakhvi family has been pre-dominantly ahle-hadith since Shah Waliullah Dehlvi (RA).

Just wanted to give some background.

Reply
Amad

December 10, 2008 at 10:24 AM

I challenge anybody to look at these pictures and claim that these guys were Pakistani; it is obvious they are Indian to the core:

salam, I am sorry but to base any sort of guilt or innocence on whether they “look” Indian or Pakistani is strange to say the least. You will find tons of people in both countries that you can hardly distinguish between. At least one of the guys look like a Pakistani cricketer for instance!

We have to be careful not to sound like really pulling for straws. Let’s stick to tangible and concrete facts or “missing facts” and avoid innuendo, otherwise it makes us look foolish.

I think there is other pieces of the story that don’t add up just as mentioned as the core of this post, so those are the kind of things we need to focus on, not how they look.

Also, there has been mention that one or more of these guys drank (?) or was/were not the most practicing of Muslims. This is similar to some of the 9/11 hijackers. I wont be surprised if these fall under the “political radicals”, whereby religion is just used as a proxy for some other grievances.

Let’s see how this unfolds…

Reply
Faisal

December 10, 2008 at 11:46 AM

At least one of the guys look like a Pakistani cricketer for instance!

Might be off-topic, but which one of them looks like a cricketer?

Reply
Amad

December 10, 2008 at 11:49 AM

That was a half-joke, but since you ask, Yunus Khan. :)

Reply
Paul

December 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM

http://www.creators.com/opinion/paul-craig-roberts/washington-arrogance-has-fomented-a-muslim-revolution.html

Reply
Amad

December 10, 2008 at 3:59 PM

Paul, the link to the antiwar column (the same one) by Paul Craig Roberts is already included in the main post.

Reply
Ar-Raheeq

December 11, 2008 at 2:31 PM

Assalamualaikum Amad,

I have been following your articles on the Mumbai terror attacks here, and i must say, i find your articles falling within the realms of logic and sound reasoning, Alhamdulillah. However, i sense in your articles repeatedly trying to wish that these men who committed these crimes aren’t of Pakistani origin (forgive me if i’m wrong). Why do you do so?? Is not the fact that these guys – even the indian guy above – are all muslims grieve you more than than the ‘theory’ that they are Pakistanis??? Who cares where they come from.

I’m an indian muslim and i know my govt does behave arrogantly at times (esp. matters within asia) and it is doing so right now. It is trying to escape from the fact that it hasn’t been able to defend its people from attacks over the course of this year and thus has conviniently put the ball in pakistan’s court by attaching the pakistani angle to it. I cant say if my govt is right or wrong with its ‘pakistani angle theory’ at the moment. However, it has been proven time and again, ever since the Kashmiri problem started that the Pakistani military has backed organisations which fight against India – many at times killing muslims as well – under the so called banner of Jihad.

Such organisations have not only killed many innocent people but have also made life terribly hard for muslims living in India. A couple of attack by these organisations from Pakistan (eg. Attack on the Indian Parliament building) have led to the formulation & implementation of stricter laws (eg. POTA) within India and also providing unnecessary fuel for hindu right wing groups. These laws like POTA have led to the detention of many muslim males – who also are the only bread winners for their families – on charges of terrorism.

Pakistan needs to stand independently. It shouldn’t lean on America nor should it allow its military commanders to be the real power behind the throne. Just because Pakistan is a Muslim country in terms of its population figures doesn’t mean that it is always just. It stands guilty of promoting a very very ugly crime upon humanity, which is contrary to the “promotion of good” which every Muslim must strive for.

Dear Amad, i ask you to realize that good doesn’t become evil just because the person doing it is a Hindu and evil doesnt become good just because the person doing it a Muslim.

Reply
Amad

December 11, 2008 at 4:01 PM

waalikum assalam Ar-Raheeq,
jazakAllahkhair for your measured comment. But I a bit confused by the thesis of your comment. You mention that you sense something in my article, i.e. it isn’t anything that you read directly? What you may read between the lines may or may not be where my head is, and in this case I actually make no attempts to separate Pakistanis from the incident. In fact, if you read the thread of the comments herein, I dispute those who base the Pakistani/Indian origin on how the murderers looked like.

I agree that it does not really matter whether Pakistanis or Indians were involved, in terms of the crime itself, but the political repercussions are impacted by that differentiation. The point of the article, I hope, was clear. The fact that an undercover Indian OFFICER is in custody for providing material assistance to the terrorists, deserves and demands far more play and attention than the MSM is giving it. Indian role in the attack, even using Pakistani mercenaries, is an important fact of the case. And if not sufficiently addressed, I fear there may be more attacks because the investigations were half-baked. I think the goal for all decent human beings, Indian or Pakistani, Hindu or Muslim, should be that no future attacks such as these take place, and that is why an open and comprehensive investigation is needed.

Finally, I don’t disagree with your last line either, and I am not sure why you feel that my article insinuates any justification or lack thereof for the vile act, based simply on religion. The crime was as heinous whether a Muslim or a Hindu did it. And all crimes against humanity, where innocent victims are involved are heinous and cowardly. Just like the Hindu involvement in the Gujarat massacre didn’t make it any better or worse than if Muslims were involved, similarly Muslim involvement in this killing spree doesn’t make it any better or worse. I hope this is clear. And I would still love to understand which particular lines or paragraphs in my post made you sense my defensiveness towards Pakistan?

wasalam

Reply
Hassan

December 11, 2008 at 4:14 PM

Ar-Raheeq said:
I’m an indian muslim and i know my govt does behave arrogantly at times (esp. matters within asia) and it is doing so right now. It is trying to escape from the fact that it hasn’t been able to defend its people from attacks over the course of this year and thus has conviniently put the ball in pakistan’s court by attaching the pakistani angle to it. I cant say if my govt is right or wrong with its ‘pakistani angle theory’ at the moment. However, it has been proven time and again, ever since the Kashmiri problem started that the Pakistani military has backed organisations which fight against India – many at times killing muslims as well – under the so called banner of Jihad.

So should there be no jihad (even if done rightly) in Kashmir against occupiers?

Reply
Anastasia

December 13, 2008 at 1:06 PM

Thank you, that was very helpful.

Reply
Ar-Raheeq

December 14, 2008 at 9:32 AM

@ Amad
In your previous article on the mumbai attacks – the ‘condemnation’ article – you had written “that’s almost always the same reaction from the indian authorities” when the Indian authorities had pointed their fingers towards Pakistan. So what is wrong with that???

For example….this is like the boy who cried wolf. When you have a country like Pakistan that has an history of using terrorist organisations against its neighbors and above all protecting and preventing them from being brought to justice even once, why should a country like India suspect anyone else??? Given Pakistan’s background, even if they weren’t guilty India would obviously suspect Pakistan….

@Hassan
JIhad between democratic nations?? If Pakistan was a country completely governed by the Sharia, Jihad will be permissible….

Reply
Jawed Iqbal

December 16, 2008 at 9:03 PM

@Ar-Raheeq

Seeme like you’re another indian pretending to be a “pious” muslim giving us a lecture on how Pakistan should or should not behave. OH the nerves!!

Why don’t you stop blaming Pakistan for all your problems and start defending your Muslims brothers in india who are being butchered by the BJP and RSS terrorists. We don’t need a history lesson from an indian who has been brainwashed (more like brain-stained) by media propaganda. The evidence that points to an internal involvement is crystal clear.

oh, and by the way…..when your “fellow indians” are raping your women and burning you guys alive, we will be there to provide you refuge, InshaAllah.

Peace.

Reply
Amad

December 16, 2008 at 9:22 PM

Ar-Raheeq, over 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir and many abuses have been documented. Kashmir is not about Pakistan. It should not be about Pakistan. It is about Kashmiris seeking the right to self-determination and self-rule.

Gujarat saw nearly 2000 killed, including people burned alive a few years ago. There has been enough evidence of government complicity.

To be honest, if India wants to portray itself as a shining democracy, then its not Pakistan it needs to “beat”, but rather it has to emulate other democracies where the country’s own citizens are at least spared. Pakistan has struggled to find good governance from nearly its inception, let alone having a vibrant democracy.

Let’s not let a few bad apples or even Pakistan itself come in the way of a genuine and legitimate demand for human right abuses to stop in Kashmir, to have the plebiscite that both India and Pakistan agreed to more than 50 years ago, and for a full and open inquiry in the Gujarat massacres (still undone). While we can never use evil means towards a legitimate purpose, we cannot forget that legitimate grievances do indeed exist.

Reply
Hassan

December 16, 2008 at 10:20 PM

Ar-Raheeq said:

@Hassan
JIhad between democratic nations?? If Pakistan was a country completely governed by the Sharia, Jihad will be permissible….

I did not talk about Pakistan, here is my what I said:

Hassan said:

So should there be no jihad (even if done rightly) in Kashmir against occupiers?

Reply
a m malik

January 4, 2009 at 9:22 AM

Dear All,
Asslalmo Alikum,

It is the first time I read all the comments in here. You have touched only the tip of the ice berg. The Indians thinkthat they are clever. Eevery time there is a black hole discovered in their warped story they quickly up grade their version. Even now with their upgraded version there are many cracks to paper. For the sake of not giving them to plug all the holes I will zip up- for the time being. But then those of you who are from Punjab whether from Pakistan or India would you call a fellow as ‘Ajmal Kasab’ or ‘Ajmal Kasai ‘? Kasab is a typical word from Dehli or lucknow where people are called as such. Again, it was the most stupidly planned so called commando operation. And unless assisted reaching their positions with a flying speed and without being noticed must be a miracle of the sort.
Any how a Muslim who is going in the way of Allah in a suicide strike – before this would he be praying or drinking? These are only two sets of examples where the Indians have again goofed up.

However, my own analysis is that :
It was planned by raw/mossad/ modi combined if not congress. Israel is egging to take Indians on board to strike. But before this for Pakistan give a bad name to a dog and shoot him- is the famous adage. It is for sure that Pakistan will go nuclear ab initio. Both the countries will be destroyed(mentally I am prepared to vanish- a painless death). Who will be the beneficiary the real dadageer of this region? China? wrong . Russia ?wrong again. We would be dudes if we do not understand that it would be Israel. This Zionist element has been more against Pakistan than India. Muslims gave them all the refuge last century when they were being persecuted by whole of europe – and thiese ungrateful people are doing to the muslims not even a butcher would doing. Is the welfare or using Indians for their own purpose then not in the minds of The Zions?

The choice is then the first strike should go to this misheious nation and followed by to India with a personal message to mr modi. shall try to know of your where abouts in th world there after even thought it would be difficult tto locate some one on the otherside of the borders ie. in hell.

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Stinger

November 15, 2009 at 11:24 PM

Salaam,

Thank you for this article Brother, the media has been very unjust on these details of the investigation, Fareed Zakaria again did a GPS program on Mumbai after a year. What I’d like to know is why he didn’t focus on all the attacks against Pakistan including the Pakistani ISI and if there’s any Indian, outside involvement in those.

Now back on this article, I hope (though I doubt) that justice is finally done and we can really understand who backed this group of extremely ignorant people. It wouldn’t make sense that this would be by a Pro-Kashmiri group because it completely destroys their public image and undermines the legitimacy of their cause. The Indian extreme right-wing has been implicated in similar attacks in the past and has benefited most from this while Pakistan has received extremely bad publicity. This is the last thing Pakistan needs right now, this is why many people here see more to this story than the propaganda-machine media want to churn out.

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