Prime Minister Accuses Pak’s Involvement

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and asserted that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba with “sure” support from some official agencies in the neighbouring country. 

Addressing the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Dr Singh said that some Pakistani official agencies must have supported the terrorists who attacked Mumbai, given the sophistication and military precision of the Mumbai strikes. He added that terror in India was largely sponsored by outsiders, especially Pakistan.

On LeT’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks, the PM said that evidence has been gathered, including by outside agencies like the US’ FBI, to prove that.

The PM further accused Pakistan of being engaged in “whipping up war hysteria”. India remained steadfastly united even as “Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria”, Dr Singh said.

“The situation may appear challenging and it is challenging but it is by no means beyond our control,” he said. “A strong sense of nationhood” is needed to counter external and internal threats, he added.

“Unfortunately we cannot choose our neighbours,” the Prime Minister said. He added that Pakistan has encouraged and provided sanctuaries to terrorists in the past.

Admitting that there had been a security lapse in the November 26-29 terror attacks in Mumbai, he said the sea route was being exploited and explored by terrorists as an alternative to land routes.

“The terrorists who carried out the attack on Mumbai used the sea route and managed to evade our surveillance.”

Complex security situation

While inaugurating the conference, Dr Singh said that security situation in the country has become more complex since the last meet of the Chief Ministers.

The PM noted that most of the terrorists act in connivance with intelligence agencies in neighbouring countries.

While commenting on the challenges faced by India, the Prime Minister said that problems faced by our country are compounded by vulnerable security environment and fragile governments in the neighbouring countries.

The more fragile the government, the more dangerous it was, he said. Pakistan’s responses were an “obvious example”.

He further stressed on the need for a holistic approach to deal with the menace of terrorism.

Referring to insurgency in the country’s Northeast, the Prime Minister said that militants there were being sheltered by the neighbouring country, apparently referring to Bangladesh.

According to the PM, time has come to establish a permanent crisis management group to handle terrorist attack-like situations.

Dr Singh also stressed on the need to share information among intelligence agencies most important.

Underlining the need to review the current security set-up, the Prime Minister called for better co-ordination among various wings of intelligence. A review of the training and equipment for the security forces was also called for, he added.

The PM said infiltration was also taking place from Bangladesh and Nepal though it had not ceased from the Line of Control (LoC) — that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The PM said that India must “implement a policy of zero tolerance” towards terrorism and few countries had suffered from terror attacks in the way that India had.

Stressing that terror should not be conceptualised solely in military terms, the PM stated, “We must ensure the concept of terrorism is delegitimised.”

Meet’s agenda

Terrorism, strengthening of intelligence network, security of coastline and key establishments, including atomic sites, are on top of agenda at the conference.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony, and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

Chidambaram, in his first such exercise after being shifted from the Finance Ministry, will seek views from all state governments on action to beef up the security machinery to check terrorism in the wake of Mumbai terror attack, official sources said.

The conclave will focus on beefing up intelligence network and strengthening coastal security, particularly considering the fact that the terrorists involved in Mumbai carnage used the sea route to sneak into the metropolis.

Security of key installations, including nuclear power plants, will also figure prominently at the meeting.

The issue of strengthening intelligence collection and sharing mechanism (Subsidiaries of Multi Agency Centre), modernisation of police forces, setting up of commando units in all states/Union territories police forces and discussion on the modalities of the working of the newly-formed National Investigation Agency are also on the agenda of the meeting.

 

India hands over Mumbai attacks evidence to Pak

Jan 05: In a bid to nail Pakistan’s lies, India on Monday said that it has handed over to Islamabad the evidence it has collected in connection with last November’s Mumbai terror attacks. 

Addressing a brief press conference in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that New Delhi has handed over to Islamabad evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based elements in Mumbai attacks. Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Mallik to hand over the evidence, he added. 

“What happened in Mumbai is an unpardonable crime; we ask Pakistan to implement bilateral commitments it has given at the highest levels,” Mukherjee said. 

He further announced that India will brief the resident Heads of Foreign Missions on Mumbai attack evidence in the next 24 hours. Indian Ambassadors around the world will also brief the respective governments on the same, he added. 

The minister has also written to his counterparts around the world giving details of the events in Mumbai and evidence that has been collected. 

Mukherjee also expressed hope that “the world would unite to achieve the goal of eliminating terror”. 

The move to hand over evidence to Pakistan came amid persistent denial by Islamabad that its nationals were involved in November 26, 2008 attacks. The Pakistani leadership has instead blamed “non-state actors” for the Mumbai attacks. 

India has said that all 10 terrorists who carried out Mumbai attacks were Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) members and underwent training in Pakistan’s territory. 

New Delhi has also prepared a dossier of evidence about involvement of LeT and will be handed over to the US by Home Minister P Chidambaram when he goes to Washington later in the week. 

The dossier includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the Mumbai attacks, and other technical evidence. The dossier also includes satellite phone intercepts and a record of the logbooks recovered from MV Kuber, the hijacked boat used by the 10 terrorists to reach Mumbai. 

The US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation has also conducted a parallel investigation into the Mumbai strikes and reportedly handed over the evidence collected to authorities in Islamabad yesterday. 

source: Zee news

 

Lashkar has docs, engineers as recruits: report

The Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is now attracting “more young, educated men, some of whom even hold advanced degrees,” a US daily reported on Thursday.

“The profile of those joining the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is changing,” the Washington Times said citing Brig. Gen. Mahmood Shah, who served the Pakistani Army in the largely ungoverned tribal areas along Pakistan’s porous border with Afghanistan.

“The big change is that until a few years back most of the militants were hailing from the [Afghan] frontier, but now the scenario has changed and young men from all over Pakistan are joining,” Shah was quoted as saying in a report from Lahore.

A ripe breeding ground for the new militants is southern Punjab, he told the Washington Times. Since the school system in Punjab is better than in the tribal areas, most of the new entrants to militant groups are better educated, Shah said.

The only Mumbai attacker captured, Muhammad Amir Ajmal alias Kasab, had completed only the fourth grade, according to Indian and Pakistani press reports. But in a recent interview, a Kashmir-based LeT commander told the Times that members of the group include young men with master’s degrees in business administration and bachelor’s degrees in computer science.

The militant commander, who goes by the name Abu Aqasa, spoke by cell phone from Lahore and answered other questions in writing, the Times said.

“We have doctors and engineers and computer specialists working for us,” he said. “These people don’t necessarily fight wars with us. They mainly help us spread our message in cities and villages and also help us in our dispensaries, hospitals and other charitable works.”

Abu Aqasa was quoted as saying the organization uses educated people and especially those with good communications skills to recruit supporters in religious congregations. Once a young man has embraced the militants’ ideology, he is inducted into the organization and sent for further training.

An organizer for a Lahore-based religious organization told the Times dire economic conditions are the main reason young, educated people are being attracted to militancy in Pakistan.

“People can’t find jobs and have nothing to eat,” said the man, who asked not to be identified to avoid attracting attention from the police.

“Families find it attractive that if one person is sent for jihad, then that means one less mouth to feed in their house.”

Hundreds of thousands have joined the group in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and that while they have been affected by a government crackdown following the attacks in Mumbai, they are still going strong, he was quoted as saying.

Kashif Alam, senior superintendent of police in Peshawar, told the Times the profile of the average militant in that northwest Pakistani city near the border with Afghanistan has changed but that the number of educated Pakistanis was actually decreasing.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of criminals who are working for these militant organizations,” he was quoted as saying. “More and more of their operations are being carried out by criminals. Some of the people we have captured were found with thousands of rupees in their pockets.”

However, profiles of two would-be suicide bombers captured in the tribal areas and shown to the press contradicted Alam’s views, the Times said.

Ali Raza, who surrendered to the police in November, was in his final year studying mass communications. In Dera Ismail Khan, a young man wearing a jacket loaded with explosives was intercepted inside a mosque. He was later found to have completed his high school matriculation.