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Showing posts from August 17, 2008

When Aurangzeb pleaded for mercy

A page from History When Aurangzeb pleaded for Mewar Rana's mercy By Ganeshi Lal Verma The Mughal-Rajput war was started after the death of Maharaja Jasvant Singh on December 20, 1678 and it continued for nearly 30 years. The Maharaja had died in Jamrud, Afghanistan, where he was posted by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor. On his death Aurangzeb expressed happiness and said: "Pillar of infidelity has fallen." He took advantage of the situation and tried to annex Marwar—the Maharaja`s kingdom. Aurangzeb went to Ajmer to make proper arrangements and overawe the Rajputs of Marwar. Meanwhile, Maharaja's family reached Delhi in June 1679. Aurangzeb ordered that the Maharaja's family along with infant Ajit Singh, the late Maharaja's son, should be sent to the royal harem. The Mughal Emperor said that Jodhpur gaddi (throne) could be given to Ajit Singh on condition of his adopting Islam. This led to a fight between the Mughal army and the Rathore warriors under the c

Counter-terrorism: Some home truths: B Raman

Source: rediff.com A stereotyped question often posed is: If the US can prevent acts of terrorism in its homeland after 9/11, why can't India do likewise? Those, who pose this question, attribute the lack of any terrorism in the US homeland to the strong legal and operational measures taken by the US authorities after 9/11. They advocate similar measures in India. A counter-question, which is relevant, is: How many acts of terrorism were there in the US homeland before 9/11 when these special measures did not exist? Hardly any. The Oklahoma explosion of 1995, the Atlanta explosion of 1996 and some fire-bombing incidents against Hindu and Jewish properties during the 1990s by a Pakistan-based organisation called the Jamaat-ul-Fuqra were not strictly viewed as acts of terrorism by religiously or ideologically motivated organisations. They were instead viewed as violent acts of marginal elements in the local society. If we exclude these incidents, there has never been any major act of

FATA is Pakistan's Fallujah: B Raman

Source: rediff.com August 22, 2008 A t least 78 persons, most of them civilian workers in a cluster of arms production factories located in the heavily-protected cantonment area of Wah, about 30 km from Islamabad [ Images ] , were reported to have been killed on the afternoon of August 21 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside different gates of the factories during shift change. The ease with which they penetrated this high security area would indicate either that they had accomplices in the security staff or that they were workers of one of the factories who had no difficulty in entering the complex. If suicide bombers could penetrate such a high-security area with so much ease, it should be equally easy for other terrorists to penetrate Pakistan's nuclear establishments one day. The expression 'high security' has ceased to have any meaning in Pakistan's sensitive establishments because of the penetration by the jihadi elements. This is the third

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND: Mohammed Hashim's confession is available with CNN-IBN. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND: Mohammed Hashim's confessio

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CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND: Mohammed Hashim's confession is available with CNN-IBN . New Delhi: That Pakistan trains terrorists and sends them across the border to Jammu and Kashmir is not news to India and the Indian intelligence agencies. Now a militant owing allegiance to the Harkat-ul-Mujaihdeen has not just confessed to this but has also spoken about the Kashmir focus of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. The confession of Mohammed Hashim alias Tarbish who reportedly infilitrated into India from Balochistan in Pakistan is available on tape to CNN IBN. Hashim was arrested by the Indian army while attempting to cross over into Kashmir last month. During his five hour long interrogation, the militant revealed explosive designs of Pakistan. Question: Do you get trained to infiltrate only into Kashmir or other palces in India as well? Answer: We must go to Kashmir is what we are told by them. The focus is Kashmir. Even if we say we want to go to to Afghanistan, they s

Agitation in Jammu and Kashmir: A study in contrast

Source: TOI JAMMU: The peaceful demonstrations in this otherwise bustling city, in stark contrast to the high decibel protests in Srinagar, said it all. If the idea was to play on the contrast with Srinagar in communicating that they have been differentiated against, Jammu's agitationists succeeded in sending across the message quite clearly. In prominence are community langars in every locality where daily wagers and the poor are being fed by households that can cook their meals even as the more than month-long bandh continues. The picture is one of bonhomie among citizens, irrespective of denomination. And clearly, any attempt to suggest that a single political party has taken over the movement that the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti has sustained for 53 days is clearly a non-starter. There is a rare unity to be seen in Jammu for a cause that seems to have built up over years of what the people here see as institutionalised neglect. Also, there is a careful attempt to ensure that i

Colours of patriotism paint Jammu

Source: Daiy pioneer Kumar Uttam | Jammu Tricolour in hand, protesters shout 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' The sun is about to set on the city and the roundabout is deserted. A youth suddenly emerges from one of the bylanes, carrying a National Flag in his hand and shouting slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". Soon, the solitary protest at Kacchi Chhawani Chowk in 'paralaysed' Jammu turns into a mass frenzy as hundreds join him to express solidarity for a cause that has gone far beyond the Amarnath land row. In fact, the Tricolour has united people in this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir to fight the "neglect" they faced in the last 60 years. The controversy over allotment of a land plot to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board was a mere flashpoint. "We raised the Tricolour and were greeted with bullets. They (separatists) in Kashmir hoisted Pakistan's flag and brought the Government to its knees. It will not be allowed to continue any more," thunders Sub

Giving Kashmir away? No way :: Rajiv Sikri

Soure: Rediff.com August 21, 2008 I s it an orchestrated coincidence or random chance that on August 17, two leading national dailies prominently carried commentaries advocating independence for the Kashmir Valley? With surprising ease and lack of angst, each author has argued in favour of secession by part of an integrally constituted state of the Union of India. Tremendous efforts by all the state and non-state personae in Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of India over the last six decades have seen sharp ups and downs, almost see-saw phases in the feelings of alienation followed by assimilation, poverty followed by growing prosperity among the people of this state. The last few years have brought in the most sustained period of political stability, free and fair elections, economic recovery and strengthening integration, achieved through painstaking efforts and sagacity by all players. Heading into the November 2008 state assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, the separati

Terror's new faces B Raman

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Source: Rediff.com B Raman August 19, 2008 T he Gujarat police announced on August 16 the identification and arrest of 10 activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad [ Images ] on July 26. Nine of the arrests were made in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat and the tenth arrest, of Mufti Abu Bashir, the leader, was made with the co-operation of the Uttar Pradesh [ Images ] police in Azamgarh. According to details given by a team of senior Gujarat police officers at a special press conference, the arrested persons formed the core of a larger group of SIMI [ Images ] activists who had planned and carried out the blasts in Ahmedabad, under the name of Indian Mujahideen [ Images ] . They also said while they have definitively established the involvement of these persons and their associates not yet arrested in the Gujarat blasts, they have some indications that some of these persons might have also been involved in the seria

'Chinese success in Olympics will be our success'

Source Rediff.com August 07, 2008 O n Monday, August 4, when 16 border police guards of China's ministry of public security were killed and many others injured when two unidentified terrorists attacked their barracks near Kashgar in the Xinjiang province of China, B Raman got a telephone call in Chennai from a Chinese think-tank advising China's Olympics [ Images ] committee. Raman, India's foremost expert on terrorism, visited Chengdu and Shanghai recently to advise the Chinese on the threat to the Olympics. On the eve of the inauguration of the planet's biggest sporting spectacle, Raman discusses the prospects of the evil of terrorism in Beijing [ Images ] in an interview with Editor Sheela Bhatt . Do you think there is a possibility of some kind of terrorism in China during the Olympics? There is a medium to high probability of acts of violence, including terrorism, by Uighur elements not only in the Xinjiang province, but also against Chinese nationals and

Five mobile phones busted a terror network

Source: rediff.com August 16, 2008 21:32 IST What proved to be crucial for the Gujarat police, which on Saturday claimed to have busted a pan-India network behind the serial blasts in Ahmedabad [ Images ] and other cities in the country, were five mobile phones. Exclusive: Breakthrough in Ahmedabad blasts case "We had received leads into the case on the basis of five mobile phones used by the conspirators of the blasts," Joint Commissioner (Crime Branch) Ashish Bhatia told media persons as police claimed to have solved the July 26 serial blasts by arresting 10 alleged SIMI [ Images ] activists, including mastermind Mufti Abu Bashir. ISI's Indianisation of jihad Explaining the modus operandi followed by police to crack the case, he said, "During our investigations, we found five mobile phones with SIM cards that enabled only incoming calls were being used prior to the blasts." Blasts reveal split within Indian society Bhatia said police noticed that all

Tricolour at 8 am, rebel flags at 4 pm Avijit Ghosh|

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Courtesy: Times of India Epaper Avijit Ghosh|TNN Srinagar: At exactly 8am, CRPF hoisted the Indian tricolour at Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar on Independence Day. At 3.45pm, Lal Chowk wore a totally different look. Hundreds of slogan-shouting protesters swarmed the area and at 4pm planted the flags of Jamaat-e-Islami (which looks like the Pakistani flag) and the terrorist outfit, Hizb-ul Mujahideen, on top of the same tower where the Indian flag had been hoisted. If one were to go by the symbolism of the spectacle at Lal Chowk, the Valley’s a l i e n at i o n from the Indian Union seemed complete. One of the slogans of the protesters drove the m e s s a g e home— “Jiyo, jiyo Pakistan, hum hain Pakistani.” Other slogans included “Islam Zindabad,” “Lad ke lenge azadi” and “Allah-u-Akbar.” The crowds had a free hand through much of Friday. They were aggressive in their gestures, but did not resort to violence. Driving around the city, it was obvious that CRPF’s presence was va