Like in our personal life, I wonder why failures and life-threatening incidents make breeding grounds for change. Proaction is a rare trait. But as a nation, like many of us, we are extremely reactive. Also our reactions seldom treat the root of the problem. We are a nation that believes in quick-fix. Of a people who certainly don't believe in win-win and collective victories. Take for instance, the rickshaw wala at the airport who will refuse to take you to your destination on 'as per meter' charges. His immediate craving is self-rewarding. There is no foresight that a trustworthy nation is a tourist's delight. That the long-term demand will outweigh his selfish motive by an exorbitant measure. And this attitude is pervasive across the socio-economic spectrum. Identify with that exporter who sells imperfect goods for a one-time windfall gain? Or the youngster who, on breaking a signal, looks behind and says with nonchalant ease "Chill guys, I'll handle it!"? The problem obviously is with how it is handled. I've done it so many times. And now it's part of my instinct. To bribe, to escape unscathed with only my self in mind. And yes, I know "That's the way it is!". But like we do with our personal inadequacies and failures, we accept the public ones too. From "That's the way I Am" ... we've moved on to "That's the way We Are". The way we become numb to our private consciences, the public conscience goes for a walk too. The harsh truth is that we seek only self-rewarding victories (even at the cost of public loss). We will hound our maids to clean the rooms but not say a word to the reckless taxi driver who leaves his mark across the city landscape. They say good judgement comes from bad experience. For India, they should've been more quantitative. You see, we're good at numbers. Someone is testing our math in a way we never wanted.
I am an optimist but an optimist often loses his grip on reality. The reality is that this is not only about terrorism. It's about our collective character. We may invest in our armed forces but the question is - "Will we look at this chink in our armour?"
Showing posts with label terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terror. Show all posts
Friday, 5 December 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Startling Revelations
Initially, the idea of this post was to throw more light on the abbreviations and jargon used by journalists to describe the mayhem unfolding in Mumbai. NSG, fidayeen, Marcos, Lashkar-e-Taiba etc... But as I investigated each link on Wiki and googled those terms, I hit upon some sinister weblinks and most of them - official. The Lashkar and other militant organizations in Pakistan are living ammunition posing a huge threat to India, America, UK, Israel and other nations on their radar...
I'd leave you and your intelligence to draw inferences from this information. Also note that some of the information and links lack context. But, disclaimers aside, it is starling...
1.Who are the NSG?
The National Security Guard (NSG) was set up in 1984 as a Federal Contingency Deployment Force to tackle all facets of terrorism in the country. Thus the primary role of this Force is to combat terrorism in whatever form it may assume in areas where activity of terrorists assumes serious proportions, and the State Police and other Central Police Forces cannot cope up with the situation. The NSG is a Force specially equipped and trained to deal with specific situations and is therefore, to be used only in exceptional situations.
Source : NSG's Official Website
2. What is a Fidayeen attack?
A fidayeen attack is a suicide tactic used by militants. Such attacks are especially common in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In a fidayeen, a militant equips himself (most fidayeens are men) with weapons and a sizeable amount of ammunition. He then proceeds to gain entrance into a military base, checkpoint or other military installation and proceeds to open fire on law-enforcement personnel. He continues his attack until he runs out of ammunition, at which point he is gunned down by security forces. Fidayeen militants sometimes do attempt to escape but are almost always shot by security forces shortly afterward because the militants rarely have a "getaway" plan chalked out. These militants, like suicide bombers are prepared to die during the execution of the attack.
But a Fidayeen attack is not a suicide attack. It is a different kind of attack usually carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir. In this attack a Fidayee heavily armed enters into a military camp or convoy and start firing bullets and throwing grenades and fights till death. A fidayee does not blow himself up with explosives and if he gets a chance after fulfilling the mission he may try to escape.
Source : Wikipedia
3.What is Lashkar-e-Taiba?
- Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), a Sunni anti-US missionary organization formed in 1989. LET is one of the three largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India, and is not connected to a political party. LET's leader is MDI chief, Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
- LET has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir since 1993. LET is suspected of eight separate attacks in August that killed nearly 100, mostly Hindu Indians. LET militants are suspected of kidnapping six persons in Akhala, India, in November 2000 and killing five of them.
- LET has several hundred members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. In their operations, LET uses assault rifles, light and heavy machineguns, mortars, explosives, and rocket propelled grenades.
- LET is based in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad. LET trains its militants in mobile training camps across Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Afghanistan. LET collects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen. The amount of LT funding is unknown. LET maintains ties to religious/military groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the MDI fraternal network.
Source : For Immediate Release
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
December 20, 2001
Description: A black AK-47 rifle, placed against a yellow sun in the center, protrudes vertically from an open, green Koran. Above the rifle, in black, is a semi-circular Koranic phrase which translates: "And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah." These images are set against a light blue background. Below the Koran is white lettering against a red background; it bears the group's original name: Markaz al-Dawa wa al-Irshad (the Center for Preaching and Guidance).
Explanation: The Koran signifies the centrality of Islam to Lashkar-e-Taiba's ideology; green is also Islam's traditional color. The blue background represents Allah's mercy and the sun symbolizes wisdom and virtue. The rifle's placement above the Koran, and the inscription above, denote the organization's belief that violent jihad will establish a society based on Islamic precepts. The red on the bottom is a symbol of strength and violence.
4. Who is Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed?
I hope these articles don't evoke an anti-Pakistan sentiment because that clearly isn't the need of the hour. Nonetheless, one cannot deny that the country is home to a FACTORY of living bombs waiting to be deployed at the point of a finger. Also, I happened to hit upon a link to Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed's official organization Jamat Dawah. Prof. Saaed as you may have read earlier is the founder and chief (which he denies on this website) of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. His claim on his official website is contradictory to the NY Times interview above. His website has so many references to the use of 'jihad' and Anti-India tones that it fails me as to how this man is allowed to function so freely.
P.S. - I am truly rattled guys. As I type these final words, I hear L.K. Advani address a gathering that - during his tenure as the home minister under Vajpayee's prime-ministership he ensured that all terrorists were invariably killed. Vote-bank politics, anyone?
I'd leave you and your intelligence to draw inferences from this information. Also note that some of the information and links lack context. But, disclaimers aside, it is starling...
1.Who are the NSG?
The National Security Guard (NSG) was set up in 1984 as a Federal Contingency Deployment Force to tackle all facets of terrorism in the country. Thus the primary role of this Force is to combat terrorism in whatever form it may assume in areas where activity of terrorists assumes serious proportions, and the State Police and other Central Police Forces cannot cope up with the situation. The NSG is a Force specially equipped and trained to deal with specific situations and is therefore, to be used only in exceptional situations.
Source : NSG's Official Website
2. What is a Fidayeen attack?
A fidayeen attack is a suicide tactic used by militants. Such attacks are especially common in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In a fidayeen, a militant equips himself (most fidayeens are men) with weapons and a sizeable amount of ammunition. He then proceeds to gain entrance into a military base, checkpoint or other military installation and proceeds to open fire on law-enforcement personnel. He continues his attack until he runs out of ammunition, at which point he is gunned down by security forces. Fidayeen militants sometimes do attempt to escape but are almost always shot by security forces shortly afterward because the militants rarely have a "getaway" plan chalked out. These militants, like suicide bombers are prepared to die during the execution of the attack.
But a Fidayeen attack is not a suicide attack. It is a different kind of attack usually carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir. In this attack a Fidayee heavily armed enters into a military camp or convoy and start firing bullets and throwing grenades and fights till death. A fidayee does not blow himself up with explosives and if he gets a chance after fulfilling the mission he may try to escape.
Source : Wikipedia
3.What is Lashkar-e-Taiba?
- Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), a Sunni anti-US missionary organization formed in 1989. LET is one of the three largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India, and is not connected to a political party. LET's leader is MDI chief, Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
- LET has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir since 1993. LET is suspected of eight separate attacks in August that killed nearly 100, mostly Hindu Indians. LET militants are suspected of kidnapping six persons in Akhala, India, in November 2000 and killing five of them.
- LET has several hundred members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. In their operations, LET uses assault rifles, light and heavy machineguns, mortars, explosives, and rocket propelled grenades.
- LET is based in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad. LET trains its militants in mobile training camps across Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Afghanistan. LET collects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen. The amount of LT funding is unknown. LET maintains ties to religious/military groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the MDI fraternal network.
Source : For Immediate Release
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
December 20, 2001
Description: A black AK-47 rifle, placed against a yellow sun in the center, protrudes vertically from an open, green Koran. Above the rifle, in black, is a semi-circular Koranic phrase which translates: "And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah." These images are set against a light blue background. Below the Koran is white lettering against a red background; it bears the group's original name: Markaz al-Dawa wa al-Irshad (the Center for Preaching and Guidance).
Explanation: The Koran signifies the centrality of Islam to Lashkar-e-Taiba's ideology; green is also Islam's traditional color. The blue background represents Allah's mercy and the sun symbolizes wisdom and virtue. The rifle's placement above the Koran, and the inscription above, denote the organization's belief that violent jihad will establish a society based on Islamic precepts. The red on the bottom is a symbol of strength and violence.
4. Who is Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed?
I hope these articles don't evoke an anti-Pakistan sentiment because that clearly isn't the need of the hour. Nonetheless, one cannot deny that the country is home to a FACTORY of living bombs waiting to be deployed at the point of a finger. Also, I happened to hit upon a link to Professor Hafiz Mohammed Saeed's official organization Jamat Dawah. Prof. Saaed as you may have read earlier is the founder and chief (which he denies on this website) of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. His claim on his official website is contradictory to the NY Times interview above. His website has so many references to the use of 'jihad' and Anti-India tones that it fails me as to how this man is allowed to function so freely.
P.S. - Some Shocking Links :- (PLEASE VISIT THEM)
If you read the date on this writeup, it reads 25th April, 2008
- The students were shouting slogans such as, “The only remedy of correcting those who have insulted the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, is Jihad”
- "The rally was so humongous that it stretched from the Press Club, all the way to the G.P.O."
- "They also demanded an end to the oppressive GRE test system for admission to universities"
Please understand that this is Prof. Saeed's official website. Date reads 21st May 2008
"In a statement issued here yesterday, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said Muslims should wage jihad against countries that have disrespected the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, instead of signing trade and friendship pacts with them"
"He said Muslims should implement Islamic laws and values in accordance with the teachings of the Quraan and Sunnah in their homes, and urged Muslim women to cover themselves and instill Islamic values in their children, and to abandon Hindu traditions and customs. The solution to all the problems of Muslims lies in turning back to the Quraan and the Sunnah, he stressed."
Amidst this madness, I found solace in a website named Bharat Rakshak
P.S. - I am truly rattled guys. As I type these final words, I hear L.K. Advani address a gathering that - during his tenure as the home minister under Vajpayee's prime-ministership he ensured that all terrorists were invariably killed. Vote-bank politics, anyone?
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Mumbai is Bleeding...
As I write, the news keeps pouring in... our city is bleeding... from indiscriminate firing, sporadic blasts and our indifference. Tomorrow we will wake up with the comfort that our kin escaped the mayhem. Tomorrow we'll flash our 'Things-To-Do' list and catch up on the lost time tonight... As I write, 5 die in Vile-Parle ... but you see I am unaffected. At home. Safe. My family is upset. Like your family is. But you see... we are unaffected.
This clearly cannot go on. Our country is not a playground. I am at a loss for words and solutions. But this cannot go on. Just Cannot. I am willing to do anything that is asked of me to contribute to our nation's security. I cannot live in this fear. Because I realize that I've only been lucky until now. Sorry, but I am not going to wait until my misfortune catches up on me or my loved ones.
Mumbai is Bleeding... And today... even I am.
P.S. - It is getting much worse. It is apalling.
P.P.S - Wake up and smell the blood. This is a threat to our fundamental Right to Freedom. It's 2.15 am and some of India's top cops have died. The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai's iconic ambassador to the world is in a blaze. Is this India's 9/11? I hope it is. Because after 9/11 I haven't heard of a single terror attack on America. More importantly, I hope the night comes to an end soon. No more deaths man. No more deaths.
This clearly cannot go on. Our country is not a playground. I am at a loss for words and solutions. But this cannot go on. Just Cannot. I am willing to do anything that is asked of me to contribute to our nation's security. I cannot live in this fear. Because I realize that I've only been lucky until now. Sorry, but I am not going to wait until my misfortune catches up on me or my loved ones.
Mumbai is Bleeding... And today... even I am.
P.S. - It is getting much worse. It is apalling.
P.P.S - Wake up and smell the blood. This is a threat to our fundamental Right to Freedom. It's 2.15 am and some of India's top cops have died. The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai's iconic ambassador to the world is in a blaze. Is this India's 9/11? I hope it is. Because after 9/11 I haven't heard of a single terror attack on America. More importantly, I hope the night comes to an end soon. No more deaths man. No more deaths.
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