The Perfect Murder

An Indian summer

By Edward Luce

Published: July 1 2002 20:59 | Last Updated: July 1 2002 20:59





American diplomacy has averted the imminent threat of war between India and Pakistan. But senior members of the Bush administration know that it is only a matter of time before military tensions flare up again between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The prospects of renewed tension were underlined at the weekend with the appointment of L. K Advani as India`s deputy prime minister. Although Mr Advani was already seen as the successor to Atal Behari Vajpayee, the prime minister, his new title is a timely reminder of the hardline, anti-Pakistani elements that surround the ageing - and increasingly frail - prime minister.

``It might be three months, it might be nine months, but we all know that India and Pakistan will go back to the brink again,`` says a senior US official in Washington. ``Maybe next time they will go over the brink.``

Until now, the US has consistently respected India`s adamant refusal of third-party mediation on its core dispute with Pakistan over the divided state of Kashmir. But having sweated through the latest and most intense bout of nuclear brinksmanship, the US and its allies are quietly revising their long-held position.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1025534365666&p=1012571727282

A setback for Pakistan`s position on Kashmir. It will extremely difficult for Pakistan to sponsor more terrorism in Indian Kashmir.

--

Hard-line Islamic political party in Kashmir breaks links with Pakistan, militants in political shock

Sun Jun 30, 1:41 PM ET

By MUJTABA ALI AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

SRINAGAR, India - The most influential and hardline Islamic political party in Indian-controlled Kashmir ( news - web sites) announced on Sunday it had severed ties with Muslim militants and Pakistan, into which it has long proposed a merger of the Himalayan region.



Analysts described the announcement as one of the most significant political developments in years in Kashmir — the cause of five decades of tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and two wars. It was also a major win for New Delhi.

The reason behind the dramatic turnaround by the Jama`at-e-Islami party was not immediately apparent.

``I want to make it clear that we have no connection with the militants or militancy, particularly with the Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen,`` Jama`at`s president, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, told The Associated Press.

The Hezb-ul Mujahedeen is the biggest of the dozen militant groups which have been fighting India`s military since 1989 to separate Kashmir, or merge it with Pakistan, which also controls part of Kashmir.

An Indian intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that Jama`at has had close links in the past with the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, and was suspected of being the militant group`s political face. Many Jama`at members have been arrested or detained over the decade on the suspicion that they were working secretly for the Hezb, the official said.

Jama`at also expressed differences with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a group of 24 Muslim religious and political groups in Kashmir to which it belongs. The Conference, which opposes Indian control of the region, has boycotted the last elections in the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir and called for voters to resist going to the polls.

Indian officials have for months asked Kashmiri separatist parties to take part in the elections planned for September or October if they want to prove that they are the true representatives of Kashmiris.

Hurriyat has said it will boycott the upcoming elections, and its leader was not available to comment on Bhat`s announcement.

Bhat said that ``right now`` Jama`at has ``no plans of participating in the polls, but anything can happen in the future.``

He added that his party would not call for a boycott of the elections, which he said would be ``unlawful.``

For five decades, Jama`at has struggled politically for a merger of Jammu-Kashmir, India`s only Muslim-majority state, into Islamic Pakistan.

The Jama`at is the only one of the hard-line Islamic parties in Jammu-Kashmir that has an organized, disciplined, region-wide network and thousands of members spread across the Kashmir Valley.

Its announcement Sunday appeared to reverse all that the party has stood for, for five decades.

One of the group`s longtime senior leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has publicly described himself as a ``proud Pakistani.``

However, on Sunday in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, Bhat seemed to dismiss the party`s links with Pakistan.

``There is no mention of Kashmir`s accession to Pakistan in our party constitution. We didn`t ever even pass a resolution demanding accession since we have been working here,`` he told reporters.

The ramifications of Bhat`s announcement were unclear. Geelani is in a prison in the eastern Indian city of Ranchi, charged under a tough anti-terrorism law.

In the past, groups or leaders in Kashmir have made announcements, only to reverse them later, sometime the next day. At other times, new factions have formed, or other leaders have said the announcement did not reflect the view of the whole organization.

If Jama`at holds to Bhat`s announcement, it would be a blow to militant groups in the Kashmir Valley, and raise the possibility of the participation by some separatists in the state elections — a huge public relations victory for India.

India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring the 12-year insurgency, which has left more than 60,000 people dead. Islamabad denies the allegation.

Referring to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf`s regime, Bhat said: ``There is no dictatorship (allowed) in Islam. The people of Pakistan are trying to install a democratic government in the country.``

Musharraf recently proposed changing Pakistan`s constitution to grant himself sweeping additional powers.

Indian political scientist Haseeb Ahmad described the news as ``the biggest gain for the government of India since the onset of the militancy.``

``This is a clear indication that the Jama`at wants to reaccept ... the basic framework of the Indian democratic setup in Kashmir,`` he told The Associated Press. ``This has shaken the edifice on which the secessionist movement rests and is bound to cause more than ripples in the political scenario of Kashmir.``

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020630/ap_wo_en_po/kashmir_political_surprise_2

Watch What You Say

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

NEW YORK TIMES

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Before recounting how President Clinton burned alive dozens of Christians (this feint is known in the column trade as baiting the right), let me offer a quick historical quiz: What religion were Muhammad`s parents?

You might think that they, like most people in Arabia in the sixth century, probably worshiped tribal gods and idols. It might seem difficult for anyone to have been a Muslim before Muhammad.

If that`s what you think, bite your tongue — if you visit Pakistan.

Dr. Younus Shaikh, a teacher at a medical college, sits in a brick prison here, after being sentenced to death for blasphemy last year. I couldn`t interview him because the warden caught me trying to slip into the prison as a visitor (I didn`t look like a family member). But the issues are clear.

....more at

http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=213153

Claude Arpi

Homelands in Pakistan

One form of relaxation for me is watching sports programmes on television. On the same sports channel, Pakistan TV beams its daily news and very often I watch it for a short time. The music programmes and the serials, I must say, are not very different from Hindi serials aired on the Sahara channel. If a test were conducted and any foreigner asked which of the two countries a particular programme belonged to, very few would guess right.



The same holds true for the ads. This is no doubt normal for two nations which share 5,000 years (minus 50) of history.

But one thing is radically different and nobody can miss it: the news.

Whatever relaxation I may have enjoyed on the sports channel quickly fades away when I hear (and see) the systematic and constant anti-India propaganda. It seems that this nation (or at least its government) has had for the past 50 years only one obsession: India.

Within this obsession, there is another: Kashmir. You cannot watch a single news bulletin or debate without hearing about the `excesses of the Indian security forces` on the people of Kashmir `struggling for their self-determination`, though it is usually the same footage of security forces facing a mob during one of the Srinagar bandhs shown again and again.

Now, a new topic has recently appeared on PTV: the regrettable riots in Gujarat, which followed the Godhra incident. Since Gujarat saw an outburst of violence, PTV News seems full of delectation. The tone is, `did we not tell you that they would do this?` It is so excessive that it makes one feel Pakistan may not be fully innocent of the incident.

It is not only television but also other media who are enjoying this new occasion for India-bashing. For example, a Pakistani news Web site, Paknews.com, wrote an article titled Thank God we have Pakistan last month.

Not only did they declare that ``genocide against minorities is nothing new in India or in Indian-occupied areas``, but went one step further and announced a partition of India. For the purpose they quote some US media: ``This has led to vocal calls from Information Times, an American Media in Washington DC for the breakup of India into smaller countries where minorities are in the government and are able to protect their rights. This idea of partition has again come up after 55 years because the underlying argument of `Two-Nation Theory`, which was basis of creation of Pakistan, a home and safe haven for Muslims is once again valid and applicable on India. However, this time around, rather than creation of disparity in countries, India is eight times bigger than Pakistan, creation of smaller countries of equal area and resources should be carved out of India.

``In Pakistan as well as overseas, every Pakistani is praying for safety of fellow Muslims in India, and is thinking, `Thank God we have Pakistan`, `Thank God for the farsightedness of Iqbal and Jinnah for creating our homeland`.``

While it is not certain that all Pakistanis are praying for the breakup of India, this article raises a very interesting point: is it not Pakistan which is on the brink of breaking up?

Recently, Fortune magazine published a long article entitled `Kidnapped Nation` by Richard Behar, which is an in-depth look into the catastrophic economic situation in Pakistan. There is no doubt that Pakistan is close to an economic collapse.

Behar was told in Quetta by one of the leaders of the jihadi outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba: ``Sept 11 was all the fault of Jews, God will destroy Bush.`` He also blamed Musharraf for the Taliban`s defeat and happily provided Fortune details about the cash, supplies and soldiers Sipah had slipped across the porous border to aid the Taliban.

Behar analysed: ``Pearl`s death and the mid-March bombing of a Protestant church in Islamabad are only the most visible signs of a dysfunctional nation -- call it Problemistan -- a country that professes to be an ally of the US in its war on terrorism, but probably harbors more terrorists than any place on earth.``

This is only one of the many journalists who have begun to see that the best ally of the US in the region is in fact the largest nest of world terrorism and that Musharraf, despite all his declarations to the contrary, cannot do anything even if he wanted to (and it is not certain at all that he wants to).

Another example of the country`s bankruptcy is Musharraf`s dramatic speech on January 12 when he announced that jihadi groups would no longer be able to operate from Pakistani soil. To give his American mentors proof of his good faith, he arrested 2,000 militants (out of a few millions). Most of them are now free.

It appears that when the Lahore high court directed the Punjab government to furnish details of the records of cases against those who were picked up, the government was unable to substantiate the cases. For example, the leader of the banned Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Prof Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, who had been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order on charges of making inflammatory speeches, has been released as the MPO empowers the government to detain a person for only 90 days.

But more serious problems are in stock for Musharraf; he may pray for India`s breakup, but there are today strong possibilities that it may happen to Pakistan.

First, he has no control over very large regions of his territory, one of the worse being the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. A few of weeks ago, a news item reported the arrest of Osama bin Laden`s senior aide Abu Zubaydah in Faislabad. It appears that the US intelligence agencies had arrested some Pakistanis in Kabul, who tipped off the Americans about bin Laden`s aide.

Another story surfaced a couple of days later: bin Laden himself had been staying in the same house a day or so earlier and had just left (probably informed by one of his contacts in the ISI) when the combined raid by the Pakistani security forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation flew down to Faislabad. One can imagine the situation in the border areas renowned for their porousness if bin Laden could hide in the heart of the Punjab! (By the way, Musharraf had been announcing for months that bin Laden was dead, but this time he did not comment.)

The district known as the Federally Administrated Tribal Agencies has had a long history of lawlessness. It dates even before the 19th century when the British were the masters of the subcontinent ... except for a piece of land: the land of the Pushtoons (or Pathans). But the empire was always resourceful: a senior British diplomat, Sir Mortimer Durand, was requested to divide this land into two. He did so with a pen and the Pushtoons found themselves in two different countries: Afghanistan and British India. But to this day, the Pushtoon tribes on both sides of Durand`s border do not accept the existence of this stroke of his pen. It is even said that the bonds of tribe and ethnicity amongst the Pushtoons are more important than their Islamic faith.

The division did not help the British much and they had no option but to grant autonomy to these areas. It did not deter the population from dreaming of a reunification of the Pushtoon land. In the first years after the independence of Pakistan, the Government of Afghanistan took up the matter with Pakistan through Washington, which first was in two minds about the validity of the Durand Line. But the US administration knew that if Kabul`s claims were accepted, it would be the end of Pakistan as a state; it was not in their strategic interests to do so.

Apart from the fact that Musharraf has very little control over the area, the return of King Zahir Shah in Kabul leaves very little doubt that the issue of Pushtoonistan will resurface. The struggle between the Northern Alliance mainly composed of Uzbeks and Tajiks (like Ahmed Shah Masoud) against the Pathan regimes in Kabul is also to be seen in this perspective. It was certainly one of the reasons why Islamabad had to `control` Kabul`s regime and why the ISI with the help of the CIA installed the Taliban.

After `Problemistan` and `Pushtoonistan`, the other headache for the Pakistani general is `Sindhistan`. Though a few days ago the Mohajir leader Altaf Hussain said he was `neutral` about the referendum proposed by Musharraf, he has not always been neutral and the separatist tendencies of Sindh are very much present today.

In September last year, Hussain delivered a fiery speech by telephone from London. He said he ``will launch a struggle for self-determination`` in Pakistan`s Sindh province. He was ready to approach ``the United Nations, United States, India and other democratic countries``.

For Hussain, 54 years ``under the colonial yoke of the Punjabi establishment were enough``. He declared that it was the mission of his life to free Sindh.

Hussain, who leads the Mohajirs -- about 20 million Muslims who migrated to Pakistan from India during and after Partition -- feels that his community has received no rights in Pakistan. ``We were deceived in the name of Islam.``

He accused the Punjabi establishment of regarding the Mohajirs, the Sindhis and the Baluchis as security risks when they get government positions and concluded: ``No one will grant you your rights, you will have to take it from the usurpers.``

On top of this, Pakistan has a very serious problem in the northern areas of occupied Kashmir. An announcement from the Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported last week that the Khunjerab pass between Sinkiang and Pakistan will finally be reopened in May for the first time after September 11.

This pass is one of the most strategic regions in the world because of the old US-Pakistan-China axis. (One should not forget that it was Ayub Khan who battered the first Mao-Nixon meeting in the early 70s.) Soon after the destruction of the twin towers, it was reported that jihadi tribes had taken over the pass and no one was allowed to go through. The safest bet for China (and perhaps for Musharraf) was to close the pass.

Just before the Agra summit, the general had a series of consultations with political and religious leaders of Pakistan, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but he did not invite any representative of the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan) for these discussions. The reason came to be known later: in June 2001, Gilgit and its surroundings were in a serious state of unrest due to protests from Sunni organisations over the decision of the local administration to introduce separate religious textbooks in the schools for the Shias (who are in a majority in Gilgit). Embarrassed by the incident, Musharraf stopped all movement between Gilgit and Pakistan and imposed very strict censorship.

In the ensuing riots thousands of activists from different political Sunni groups blocked the roads to the city of Gilgit to prevent Pakistani reinforcements from reaching the spot. They had finally to be rushed by helicopters and the demonstrators were ruthlessly removed. This is only one of many incidents that have occurred recently.

An attitude similar to the one adopted by Islamabad in Sindh and Baluchistan was noted by an Indian journalist who visited Gilgit in March. He was told by Ali Mardan, the editor of the local weekly Naqqara: ``If the government continues to ignore the grievances of the Northern Areas, it could even end up facing an armed struggle.`` He added: ``Pakistan does not trust the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. To date, we have never had a local chief secretary or police chief. They are either Punjabis or Pathans.`` One of the interviewed persons told the journalist: ``At least in your part of Kashmir, though he is a puppet, a Kashmiri Muslim is at the helm.``

For 50 years these areas have never been administrated by a Kashmiri and even the National Kashmir Committee, recently created by Islamabad under the chairmanship of Abdul Qayyum Khan, has very few Kashmiri members.

Certain quarters in Pakistan may continue to `thank God for the farsightedness of Iqbal and Jinnah for creating our homeland`, but the fact remains that there are today several `homelands` in Pakistan. One does not see how the general, even if he gets a five-year new lease as the master of Pakistan, will be able to contain the centrifugal forces with his cosmetic reforms and grandiloquent anti-India speeches.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/26guest.htm

Kashmir: From earthly paradise to potential Armageddon

The Arizona Republic

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/opinions/articles/0618thomas18.html

June 18, 2002

Just before the sun dipped below the horizon, it touched the surface of Dal Lake, turning it into molten gold.

A fragrant breeze rolled off the pavilions and cascading waterfalls of the mountaintop Hanging Gardens of Kashmir and ruffled the placid surface, releasing a million shards of light and sending a ripple through the floating fields of lotus blossoms.

No wonder Mughal Emperor Jahangir had said, ``If there is paradise on Earth it is this, it is this, it is this.``

I remember the scene as if it was yesterday. I was 16 and Kashmir was a pristine paradise. Today it is an armed camp, teetering on the brink of nuclear war with roadblocks, rumbling army trucks, Indian commandos in black, suicide bombers, a dying economy and shell-shocked civilians. How did paradise turn into potential Armageddon?

Pakistan and India have fought three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir, each holding their positions at the Line of Control.

Today a fourth war - perhaps even a nuclear war - seems to be looming large. Apart from the damage it would do to the two countries (estimates range from 12 million dead from a direct hit, to a 100 million in peripheral damage from fires, starvation and disease) it would break the international taboo of using weapons of mass destruction. Ideally these are only a deterrent, not weapons of choice.

It is estimated that India has about 25 nuclear weapons and that Pakistan has about half that many. This imbalance is inherently dangerous; military strategists predict that the losing side in a conventional war would be tempted to use nuclear weapons to reverse the advantage.

The two countries have been fighting over Kashmir since 1947, when India achieved freedom from British rule and the new state of Pakistan was formed from parts of India. The Hindu maharaja of Kashmir opted at the time to sign an instrument of accession to join the Indian Union - though the population of Kashmir was predominantly Muslim - and not Pakistan. Ever since, a relentless campaign to ``liberate`` Kashmir from India has been waged from across the Indian border.

Janak Singh, a native of Kashmir and a former bureau chief of the Times of India, says, ``Extremist organizations operating under the guidance of Pakistan`s intelligence agency, the ISI, are engaged in staging relentless acts of violence all over India. Trained militants continually cross over the Line of Control into Jammu and Kashmir.``

In winter 2000 I met with the Pakistani high commissioner to India. While waiting in his New Delhi embassy, I noticed a number of pro-Islamic, anti-Indian brochures neatly stacked on a shelf.

I asked, ``Does Pakistan support Muslim militants operating in India?`` ``No, no, that is just Indian propaganda,`` the commissioner replied. When I indicated the brochures, he said, ``Oh, they (fundamentalists) just leave those here.``

According to Singh, intelligence sources reveal that there are about 30,000 Pakistani operatives in India. It is widely known that in the past the ISI has had a cozy relationship with Muslim fundamentalists, but it now seeks to distance itself from the stigma of terrorism.

About 400,000 Hindus have been driven out of Kashmir, according to the Kashmiri Overseas Association USA. They wait for someone to restore peace to Kashmir, so they can return to their ``Paradise on Earth`` as the destitute Muslim population of Kashmir awaits the same ephemeral peace.

Mantoshe Singh Devji is a Phoenix writer whose new book is ``The Mad Messiah - Osama bin Laden, and the Seeds of Terror.`` She was born in Lahore, which is now Pakistan, and is of Indian origin. She has lived in the United States for 35 years.

Kashmir: From earthly paradise to potential Armageddon

The Arizona Republic

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/opinions/articles/0618thomas18.html

June 18, 2002

Just before the sun dipped below the horizon, it touched the surface of Dal Lake, turning it into molten gold.

A fragrant breeze rolled off the pavilions and cascading waterfalls of the mountaintop Hanging Gardens of Kashmir and ruffled the placid surface, releasing a million shards of light and sending a ripple through the floating fields of lotus blossoms.

No wonder Mughal Emperor Jahangir had said, ``If there is paradise on Earth it is this, it is this, it is this.``

I remember the scene as if it was yesterday. I was 16 and Kashmir was a pristine paradise. Today it is an armed camp, teetering on the brink of nuclear war with roadblocks, rumbling army trucks, Indian commandos in black, suicide bombers, a dying economy and shell-shocked civilians. How did paradise turn into potential Armageddon?

Pakistan and India have fought three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir, each holding their positions at the Line of Control.

Today a fourth war - perhaps even a nuclear war - seems to be looming large. Apart from the damage it would do to the two countries (estimates range from 12 million dead from a direct hit, to a 100 million in peripheral damage from fires, starvation and disease) it would break the international taboo of using weapons of mass destruction. Ideally these are only a deterrent, not weapons of choice.

It is estimated that India has about 25 nuclear weapons and that Pakistan has about half that many. This imbalance is inherently dangerous; military strategists predict that the losing side in a conventional war would be tempted to use nuclear weapons to reverse the advantage.

The two countries have been fighting over Kashmir since 1947, when India achieved freedom from British rule and the new state of Pakistan was formed from parts of India. The Hindu maharaja of Kashmir opted at the time to sign an instrument of accession to join the Indian Union - though the population of Kashmir was predominantly Muslim - and not Pakistan. Ever since, a relentless campaign to ``liberate`` Kashmir from India has been waged from across the Indian border.

Janak Singh, a native of Kashmir and a former bureau chief of the Times of India, says, ``Extremist organizations operating under the guidance of Pakistan`s intelligence agency, the ISI, are engaged in staging relentless acts of violence all over India. Trained militants continually cross over the Line of Control into Jammu and Kashmir.``

In winter 2000 I met with the Pakistani high commissioner to India. While waiting in his New Delhi embassy, I noticed a number of pro-Islamic, anti-Indian brochures neatly stacked on a shelf.

I asked, ``Does Pakistan support Muslim militants operating in India?`` ``No, no, that is just Indian propaganda,`` the commissioner replied. When I indicated the brochures, he said, ``Oh, they (fundamentalists) just leave those here.``

According to Singh, intelligence sources reveal that there are about 30,000 Pakistani operatives in India. It is widely known that in the past the ISI has had a cozy relationship with Muslim fundamentalists, but it now seeks to distance itself from the stigma of terrorism.

About 400,000 Hindus have been driven out of Kashmir, according to the Kashmiri Overseas Association USA. They wait for someone to restore peace to Kashmir, so they can return to their ``Paradise on Earth`` as the destitute Muslim population of Kashmir awaits the same ephemeral peace.

Mantoshe Singh Devji is a Phoenix writer whose new book is ``The Mad Messiah - Osama bin Laden, and the Seeds of Terror.`` She was born in Lahore, which is now Pakistan, and is of Indian origin. She has lived in the United States for 35 years.

re:Reply #: 600

Kafir K khan,

A good comparison. Agree with most of what you say though i dare say i am not sure if ABV`s personal life details are true. I also read about some such rumors. You seem to know the gory details. Why not post a refernce to your source? Anyway, why we desis are so enamoured by what our leaders do in their spare time beats me.

Comparing the 2 personalities, Kalam surely towers over ABV. He, howeer, lacks a political base. Sometimes i think instead of agreeing to be the President, he should have floated a political party and invited good men to join the party. He has a large number of admirers who would have supported such a move. I, however also know he would not do anything like that. He is basically apolitical and avoids unpleasant publicities. He did not speak out against the Gujarat carnage. He is supposed to have asked for revision of his latest book in order to delete some pages which would have caused some controversies.

Sridhar

Kafir K Khan::

Are you a Pakistani or an Indian?

If you are a Pakistani, can you inform us what your stance is on Kashmir, and India in general?

I am sorry, I dont want to sound like I am interviewing you. Its just that I have been VERY intrigued by your posts in your current and previous stints on Chowk.

Thanks in advance.

Satyavadi

Toehold on a Long Trek to Heal India-Pakistan Rift

By SETH MYDANS

ARACHI, Pakistan, June 16 — American diplomacy in Pakistan and India this month has produced a tiny victory for each side in the struggle over Kashmir, a toehold on which to proceed. But the car bomb that killed 11 people outside the American Consulate here on Friday made clear that the road to any long-term solution will be difficult and dangerous.

High-level visits to both countries this month succeeded in pulling them back from the brink of war. They opened the way for tentative steps that could address the roots of their long-running conflict over Kashmir.

But a total of one million soldiers remain on alert on both sides of the frontier of the two countries. Shelling and gunfire continue in that disputed Himalayan territory. In a worst-case scenario, both countries have nuclear weapons.

In Pakistan, Islamic militants who feel betrayed by the government`s abandonment of the Taliban in Afghanistan and now by its clampdown in Kashmir are fighting back with the only weapon they have, more violence.

If they can destabilize the government of President Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan or provoke retaliation by India, they could undermine the fragile process begun with the visits of Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

In concrete terms, those visits produced only modest gestures and assurances. But analysts said both sides seemed now to be seeking a way to end the confrontation that, as Mr. Rumsfeld emphasized, is exhausting both of them militarily and economically.

``It could be that this is just a pause in what would be seen as a perpetual crisis in South Asia,`` said Philip Cohen, a South Asia expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

On the other hand, he said, ``Sometimes out of a crisis you get a moment when both sides can move freely.

``Let`s hope this is such a moment,`` he added. ``The United States is uniquely placed now, as never in history, to do something.``

Its close economic and military relations with both countries have put it in a position to act as an impartial broker, or at least as an honest messenger between them.

The small victories won by each side addressed important concerns.

India won the support of the United States, as well as other nations, for its position that Pakistan has actively been aiding the infiltration of militants across the border and that General Musharraf could therefore cut them off.

``India has squeezed him and been successful in turning the rest of the world against him,`` said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a leader in Pakistan`s antiwar movement. ``So he`s really feeling the heat.``

As the American officials shuttled back and forth between the capitals, Pakistan gained too. Without any formal declaration, a foreshadowing of the dialogue it had been seeking over Kashmir had begun.

India has ruled out negotiation, saying the subject of Kashmir was already closed. The large portion of Kashmir that it controls, it insists, is part of India and neither Pakistan nor any other country has any role to play there.

But it is precisely this delicate game of message-carrying that opens the possibility of an eventual resolution to a deadlock of counterclaims over mostly Muslim Kashmir that has persisted since Pakistan and India were partitioned in 1947, and has already caused two wars between them.

``If left to themselves, given the personal animosities on both sides, it is hard to imagine Indian and Pakistani leaders getting together and making serious progress,`` said George Perkovich, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

Two weeks ago, General Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India were at an international conference in Kazakhstan and refused not only to shake hands but even to look at each other.

Days later, Mr. Armitage visited both leaders and carried statements of their positions back and forth between them.

``This is not mediation,`` Mr. Perkovich said. ``Let`s be clear about that. Does a telephone wire mediate? No. It basically carries messages. That`s the kind of role the United States can play.``

Part of this role will be to assure India that Pakistan is keeping its word to halt infiltration by militant groups over the border into the Indian part of Kashmir. Both countries are considering an American offer to provide technical surveillance that could include motion sensors, satellite images and observation by unmanned aircraft.

If he keeps his pledge to seal the border — to move from the military to the diplomatic arena — General Musharraf risks accusations at home that he has betrayed the Kashmir cause.

To survive a domestic backlash, from opposition parties or disaffected military men, he needs to be able to show that he has won concessions from India — a softening of its military posture and a dialogue on Kashmir.

A first hint came today that India might relax its alert status along the border. Even though there have been attacks in Kashmir in the last 24 hours that have killed a dozen people, Indian military officials said that for the first time since their Kashmir buildup began in December, some soldiers and officers would be permitted to go on leave.

As both sides maneuver delicately, they both must watch the calendar.

The crucial month is October, when local elections will be held in the Indian portion of Kashmir and national parliamentary elections will be held in Pakistan.

Indian officials have said they do not expect to remove their troops from the border before then, guarding against violence by Pakistan-backed militants bent on disrupting the Kashmir vote.

Analysts said India was determined to complete the election before opening any real dialogue with Pakistan and to use what it expected to be a favorable vote as a bargaining piece.

If war can be averted until then, Kashmir`s early snows will be likely to delay it further, making both infiltration and military action difficult and unlikely.

In that case, the next crisis may come as it did this year — or be averted by a new era of statesmanship — when the snows melt next spring.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/17/international/asia/17STAN.html

An Honest Broker`s Reward

By Jim Hoagland

Sunday, June 16, 2002; Page B07

American diplomacy centered on a single word has led to a fragile truce between India and Pakistan. By persuading Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to add the word ``permanently`` to his promises to stop aiding cross-border terrorism against India, the United States has averted immediate catastrophe and may have opened the way for a strategic realignment in Asia.

Defining precisely what permanently means -- which is an indirect way of establishing the guarantees India needs to relax its still-threatening mobilization of troops and weapons -- is a work in progress. But Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has initially coaxed enough specifics out of Musharraf about dismantling terror camps in Kashmir to allow the two adversaries to move back from the brink.

Effective diplomacy, if belated. A clearer and more insistent engagement by Washington in March or April to get Musharraf to stop double-dealing on terrorism might have averted the crisis altogether. And for the truce to hold and lead to greater reductions in tension, the United States must remain deeply engaged in the region.

But there is an existential quality to the new commitments Musharraf has given. If he follows through, the general will abandon more than the grisly tactic of murder by proxy. He will sacrifice a fundamental lie that he and his nation have told themselves about Kashmir since he seized power in October 1999.

The lie was that terrorism in Kashmir would significantly affect the outcome of Pakistan`s multiple disputes with India. Pakistan has no other visible hope of getting its larger, more powerful and prosperous neighbor to end its control over two-thirds of Muslim-majority Kashmir. So Musharraf has pretended that he had an answer -- one written in the blood of the Indian occupation force -- and Pakistanis pretended to believe it.

But terrorism against a billion people lacks the force of terrorism against a few million Israelis. Nor does Kashmir resemble Jerusalem as a coveted, cherished goal. What is important to both India and Pakistan is that the other not have Kashmir. Their national identities are bound up in denying possession of it to the enemy. This is a conflict even more artificial -- therefore more unyielding to reason, and savage -- than most such struggles.

Without the myth of an effective terror war, Pakistan accepts, at least implicitly, a status quo that will gradually become the final outcome: an international frontier along the present line of control in Kashmir.

Armitage did not have to dwell on the immediate risks the Pakistani general faced when they met in Islamabad on June 6. The United States had already told Musharraf it would not be able to stop the Indians from attacking if he offered no movement. Washington would not come to his aid if that happened. And China, pursuing better relations with India, had also let Pakistan know it would not intervene if war came.

Against this bleak horizon Musharraf took up the U.S. suggestion that a pledge to halt permanently the infiltration that has been episodic over the past six months was the only way to move the Indians off war footing. The change was announced that day not in Islamabad or in New Delhi but in Washington, as if to emphasize the American role in guaranteeing the promise.

The essential new element is Musharraf`s undertaking to close down the 50 to 60 terrorism ``camps`` the Indians have identified in Kashmir. These range from a collection of a few tents in fields to well-established urban neighborhoods that terrorists control. But Musharraf is now committed to ripping out the plumbing of the terror network created by his intelligence services.

India has offered a few immediate symbolic tension-reducing gestures in response, with more to come in July and then troop reductions in Kashmir if local elections there in October proceed peacefully. All this is contingent on Musharraf`s keeping his word, and surviving an expected Islamic fundamentalist backlash at home.

There is much to worry about in the short term. But India`s acceptance of America`s role as an honest broker in this crisis is a strategic shift worth developing.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seemingly overruled his hawks not because he believed Musharraf but because he believed George W. Bush. There is now an opportunity to use this crisis to reverse decades of mutual mistrust between Washington and New Delhi, which had feared Bush was resuming the U.S. ``tilt`` toward Pakistan that prevailed during the Cold War. That is the big picture the Bush administration must keep in view.

http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=211120

TAhmed:

``The latest crisis has demonstrated to the Indian government that it dress up a million troops and put them on the border, but they have nowhere to go from there; and it has demonstrated to the Pakistani government how quickly things can escalate to the doomsday situation. Both have had cold water thrown on them and hopefully things will start to improve. But I am an eternal optimist...``

Yes, you are an optimist, and I respect that. I also know that Indian Pakistani relations have not yet evolved where they are strictly business like, dependent solely on cost/benefit ratios. There are too many unknowns. Anyways, let us see how it goes. I am not an idiot. I would rather not have war as well. But, the present situation where the only victims in India seem to be the soldiers and dependents, as well as Kashmiri civillians on our side of the border, that is unacceptable. If the choice is between peace and war, I would jump at peace. If it is between proxy war and war, than war is more suitable to us.

I hope that you can understand this...I don`t speak from hatred at all. I truly get along with individuals from Pakistan, so it is not personal...more of a SWOT analysis on my part.

Al Qaeda Gathering Strength in Pakistan

Asia: Operatives are hiding in cities, with support from local extremists. The nation is the terrorists` new hub, U.S. officials say.

Los Angeles Times



http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-000042372jun16.story?null



By BOB DROGIN, JOSH MEYER and ERIC LICHTBLAU, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of Al Qaeda terrorist operatives are hiding in Pakistan`s cities after forming or renewing alliances with local Muslim extremist networks that have helped provide safe houses for communications, training and logistics, U.S. officials say.

The result, they fear, is that America`s closest ally in Central Asia has in effect replaced Afghanistan as a command-and-control center for at least some of the battered remnants of Osama bin Laden`s terrorist army.

``They don`t operate with impunity there like they did in Afghanistan,`` a U.S. intelligence official said. ``But they have lots of supporters, and it`s easy for them to blend in.`` A Justice Department official agreed, saying Al Qaeda members appear to have gone ``wherever they want`` in Pakistan`s teeming cities.

``They`re hiding in plain sight,`` he said.

Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corp. think tank in Santa Monica, says Bin Laden might have viewed Pakistan as part of a ``business continuity plan to ensure survival of leadership, financing, communications and so on`` in case Al Qaeda lost its sanctuary in Afghanistan.

Authorities say that Al Qaeda has made similar efforts to regroup by merging with local Muslim extremist groups in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. These makeshift alliances are more decentralized than the network long directed by Bin Laden, officials say, and thus might be more difficult for outsiders to penetrate.

Since last fall, the United States and its allies say they have foiled more than a dozen terrorist plots around the world and arrested more than 2,400 suspects in nearly 90 countries.

But more than half of Al Qaeda`s known leaders remain at large, including several linked to the Sept. 11 assaults and other major attacks. Officials are especially eager to catch Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, an Al Qaeda operative linked to almost every attack against the United States since the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

U.S. intelligence analysts still believe that Bin Laden and his top aides have found refuge somewhere along Pakistan`s long and lawless border with Afghanistan. Broad pockets of local sympathizers are said to exist in the semiautonomous tribal areas of Baluchistan and North-West Frontier Province.

But U.S. and Pakistani officials now estimate that hundreds more Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who fled the war in Afghanistan have disappeared into Pakistan. Many are thought to have linked up with like-minded local groups opposed to secular Muslim regimes and to the Western powers that support them.

Backers Mount Attacks

Al Qaeda supporters appear to have been responsible for at least two suicide attacks on Westerners in Pakistani cities this year, U.S. officials say. Al Qaeda leaders and followers have been arrested or tracked in nearly every major Pakistani city, including Karachi in the south, Lahore and Faisalabad in the east, Peshawar in the west, and Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the capital, in the north.

In some cases, U.S. officials say, Pakistani militants and even some members of the government`s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, known as the ISI, have openly supported Al Qaeda and have used an informal underground railroad to help fleeing terrorists.

``The ISI is filled with extremists, and I don`t think they`re trying very hard to find these people,`` said a recently retired U.S. counter-terrorism official who is familiar with the manhunt. ``In fact, they`re actively trying to hide them.``

Another U.S. official downplayed ISI`s role, citing recent intelligence reports. But ``that doesn`t rule out the possibility that there are still links between rogue elements of ISI and Al Qaeda,`` he said.

Al Qaeda`s presence in Pakistan poses a growing danger and dilemma for both Washington and Islamabad.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who visited Pakistan last week, and other U.S. officials have offered strong public support for President Pervez Musharraf`s military regime, which has provided airstrips, bases, fuel, intelligence and other critical help to U.S. forces.

Privately, however, many U.S. officials are increasingly voicing concerns that Musharraf`s crackdown on local terrorist groups this year has largely failed. Several banned groups have morphed or spawned virulent offshoots that have launched several attacks against Westerners this year. Authorities haven`t solved Friday`s car bombing outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, which killed at least 11 Pakistanis and wounded dozens more. A previously unknown group has claimed responsibility, but U.S. officials said the FBI is investigating whether Al Qaeda might be linked to the attack.

U.S. intelligence officials now suspect that groups linked to Al Qaeda were responsible for a May 8 bus bombing in Karachi that killed 11 French engineers and a March 17 grenade attack in Islamabad that killed four Protestant International Church congregants, including a U.S. Embassy employee and her daughter.

The arrest last month of an American-born alleged Al Qaeda operative, Jose Padilla, after he flew to Chicago on what authorities called a scouting mission for a possible radioactive bomb attack, suggested just how widespread Al Qaeda may have become.

U.S. officials say that Padilla, who used the Muslim name Abdullah al Muhajir, studied bomb-making early this year at an Al Qaeda safe house in Lahore, met with senior Al Qaeda officials in March at another safe house in Karachi and traveled elsewhere in the country. Pakistani police arrested Padilla`s alleged accomplice in Rawalpindi.

Although Padilla`s role was not known at the time, U.S. and Pakistani officials raided the Lahore safe house where he had stayed as well as suspected Al Qaeda compounds in several other cities March 28. Abu Zubeida, Al Qaeda`s operations chief, and several of his senior aides were captured after a shootout that night at a house in Faisalabad.

US. authorities say Abu Zubeida approved Padilla`s proposed ``dirty bomb`` plot at a meeting in December in Afghanistan and later traveled with him in Pakistan. Abu Zubeida, U.S. officials say, had been responsible for rebuilding the Al Qaeda network inside Pakistan before his capture.

A senior intelligence official said Al Qaeda ``already had a presence`` in Pakistan ``so they don`t require other groups`` for operations.

``They have always had loose alliances with fellow travelers with similar goals and motives,`` this official added. ``The memberships are very loose. People go back and forth from one group to the other.``

*

Group`s Reach Spreads

Arrests elsewhere also point to the terrorist group`s spread. Saudi Arabia acknowledged Saturday that three men arrested in Morocco on suspicion of planning attacks on U.S. and British ships in the Strait of Gibraltar are Saudi citizens. Morocco said they claim to be Al Qaeda operatives. The attacks would have been similar to the suicide bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole in Yemen--an operation also linked to Al Qaeda.

As for Pakistan, the State Department, in its annual report on global terrorism issued last month, said Islamabad had ``rendered unprecedented levels of cooperation to support the war on terrorism.`` The report noted that Islamabad broke ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, froze hundreds of thousands of dollars in suspected terrorist assets and moved to bring radical Muslim schools that served as ``breeding grounds for terrorists`` into the mainstream educational system.

Musharraf`s government also outlawed several terrorist groups and detained more than 2,000 domestic ``extremists,`` the report said. But most have now been released and might be active again.

Questions remain, the State Department warned, about whether ``Musharraf`s `get tough` policy with local militants and his stated pledge to oppose terrorism anywhere will be fully implemented and sustained.``

Part of the problem is Pakistan`s history of covert support and overt tolerance for Muslim extremist groups, starting with the Taliban.

Peter Tomsen, U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, said the ISI provided the ``weapons, resources and intelligence`` to the Taliban as the Islamic movement rose to power, and then was ``intimately involved`` as the Talibs forged ties with Al Qaeda.

On its other border, Pakistan provided similar support for years to Muslim zealots fighting to oust India from the disputed territory of Kashmir. Terrorist attacks against civilians in Kashmir and in India brought the two nuclear armed rivals to the brink of war in recent weeks, but the crisis eased after Musharraf moved to stop Pakistani militants from crossing into the Indian-held portion of Kashmir.

Until recently, however, little attention was paid to other Pakistani terrorist groups that share Bin Laden`s doctrinaire view of Islam and his hatred of the West. Many attended Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, or received arms and other support from Bin Laden, even if they didn`t formally join Al Qaeda. The contacts apparently paid off after Sept. 11.

A Pakistani official said his government estimates that at least several hundred Al Qaeda fighters slipped into Pakistan`s 10 tribal territories--mostly in the so-called Pushtun Belt that runs from Quetta to north of Peshawar--last winter. But they were exposed to U.S. satellites and other forces in the open desert, he said, and the cities seemed far safer.

Many had money to buy vehicles, supplies and guides from local warlords, this official said. And many, he said, reached out to a broad underground network of Bin Laden sympathizers and ``fellow travelers,`` mostly urban Pakistani militants.

``The network is there. You have religious groups that were sanctioned for years that no one was shutting down and are operating freely,`` the Pakistani official said. ``They are providing them with sanctuary.... It is an ongoing problem. We are cracking down on them, but they are still out there.``

Two Pakistani groups in particular--Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed--have long espoused the jihad cause against non-Muslims. They now appear to have provided haven or other assistance to Al Qaeda terrorists, the official said.

Authorities say Lashkar-e-Taiba was affiliated with the safe house in Faisalabad where Abu Zubeida and his top aides were arrested. And Jaish-e-Mohammed was linked to the January kidnapping and, later, beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi.

The State Department labeled both groups as foreign terrorist organizations in December, empowering Washington to freeze any of the groups` assets in the United States and to urge other nations to block their funds.

*

`Very Worrisome` Trend

A former Clinton administration counter-terrorism official said Pakistan`s increasing tangle of terrorist groups and their spinoffs is ``very worrisome.``

``The general turmoil has made it much more attractive for all jihadists in the region to go after American targets,`` he said. The long-range danger is that local Muslim militants backed by Al Qaeda could destabilize Pakistan, overthrow the government and set a dangerous new course for the nation.

``It is entirely within the realms of possibility that Pakistan could end up with an Islamic leadership that is a lot less sympathetic to the United States,`` he said.

Tashbih Sayyed, the Pakistani-born editor of Pakistan Today, published in Southern California, said the war in Afghanistan only ``destroyed an outpost`` of terrorism. ``The main infrastructure remained intact,`` he said. And Pakistan, he warned, ``is kind of a meeting place now for all the radical forces in the world.``

Stuka #590

//...I think my view of the situation can be summed up by taking issue with the statement ``No Pakistani leader can walk away from Kashmir, just as no Indian leader can give it away.``///

Not entirely true. A right-thinking pakistani leader would have all the reasons to walk away from Kashmir because that will be him the chance to make his country.

But an indian leader cannot give it away - because that will break his country.

re:reply #: 593

Prem

Agreed. I know i did go overboard in my last post.

Sridhar

Stuka #590 I think my view of the situation can be summed up by taking issue with the statement ``No Pakistani leader can walk away from Kashmir, just as no Indian leader can give it away.``

This of course is conventional wisdom. It is not based on, say, a referendum on the issue in India or in Pakistan. If either government had much respect for the wishes of its people, they would have sought their opinion on whether the Kashmir issue, and the associated costs (military, economic as well as in terms of poor relations among neighbors) are worth it. While it is easy to stir up a demonstration against the other country in both India and Pakistan, these demonstrations mean nothing.

As for a realistic assessment of where India, Pakistan relations are headed, I am optimistic: The latest crisis has demonstrated to the Indian government that it dress up a million troops and put them on the border, but they have nowhere to go from there; and it has demonstrated to the Pakistani government how quickly things can escalate to the doomsday situation. Both have had cold water thrown on them and hopefully things will start to improve. But I am an eternal optimist...

re: rsridhar # 591

I am Dr. Kalam`s biggest fan, but the extent of adulation we Indian have lavished on him is a bit scary. Surely, he is a good man (may be even better than me) but geez...people almost worship him!

Hope some of us will channel a little of that positive energy into removing silly and distasteful intercommunal distrusts and prejudices. If that happens, that will be Dr. Kalam`s greatest miracle to date.

P.S. Surjeet and co. disappointed me. Once Dr. Kalam`s candidature was announced, all posturing should have ended.

Pakistan Says It Seized Americans Tied to Al Qaeda

By DEXTER FILKINS

New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 12 — Several men believed to be American citizens have been taken into custody here during the past few weeks on suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda, senior Pakistani officials said today.

The Pakistani officials said most of the men had been picked up along with other suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members in joint American-Pakistani raids in the country`s remote tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan.

They said they believe that the men form a disjointed network of disaffected Westerners who converted to Islam and have been drawn to militant causes, fighting alongside Al Qaeda, the Taliban or guerrillas in Kashmir, the mostly Muslim region claimed by both Pakistan and India.

One man is believed by Pakistani officials to be an associate of Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born man detained last month on the suspicion that he was trying to build a radiation dispersal bomb intended for detonation in an American city.

He goes by the name Ahmed Muhammad, which Pakistani officials say they believe is a false name, as well as Benjamin. It was unclear whether Benjamin was used as a first or a last name.

Pakistani officials said several of those detained, including Mr. Muhammad, claimed to be American citizens. But the officials refused to verify the nationalities of any of the detainees for fear of what one called the ``legal implications`` that could impede the interrogations.

Mr. Muhammad, a Pakistani official said, was in Pakistani custody and being interrogated by the F.B.I.

Senior government officials in Washington said they had not yet confirmed that the men being held in Pakistan are American citizens. They also said they had not yet independently determined whether the men are connected to Al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations. The American officials also said they had not established a connection between Mr. Muhammad and Mr. Padilla.

Pakistani officials say they have picked up about 400 suspected members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in sweeps around the country since December. About 300, they say, have been turned over to American authorities.

They said some of those detained appear to be Westerners who have been drawn to militant Islam. Pakistani officials said today that they believed that an American citizen who had converted to Islam had been killed while fighting alongside Muslim guerrillas in Indian Kashmir in 1998.

They also said they suspected that some of the men recently detained and believed to be Americans may have studied under Mufti Muhammad Iltimas, a radical Islamic cleric who runs a madrasa in Bannu, a village near the border with Afghanistan.

John Walker Lindh, the American charged with fighting alongside the Taliban, is believed to have attended Mr. Iltimas`s religious school, and Pakistani officials say Richard C. Reid, a British subject and suspected Al Qaeda member arrested in December for trying to blow up a passenger jet with a bomb in his shoe, may also have attended the school.

Mr. Iltimas was taken into custody last month during an American-Pakistani operation in the area, and was released the next day.

Taken together, the arrests of Mr. Padilla, Mr. Lindh, Mr. Reid and others appears to offer a glimpse into a world of alienated Western men who apparently dropped out of society and tried to find fulfillment by converting to Islam and fighting for its more radical causes.

One Pakistani official said some of the detained men believed to be Americans may have converted to Islam while serving time in prison in the United States.

Mr. Padilla, who was raised a Roman Catholic and who had a criminal record, converted to Islam when he married a Muslim woman of Middle Eastern descent. Mr. Reid converted to Islam while serving time in prison.

A Pakistani official said his government was looking into the possibility that Mr. Reid and Mr. Padilla were associates during the time officials say they were in Al Qaeda.

Pakistani officials said five other men believed to be of Pakistani or Middle Eastern origin were detained in France today on suspicion of being linked to Mr. Reid.

The officials also said today that they had detained five more people here who are believed to be Pakistani citizens and associates of Mr. Padilla. At least some of those detained are believed to have knowledge of Mr. Padilla`s activities in recent months.

The Pakistani officials said they were also searching for a group of women and children who are believed to have stayed in the same Al Qaeda hideout used by Mr. Padilla and Abu Zubaydeh, the senior Qaeda commander arrested in Pakistan on March 27. American law enforcement officials say Mr. Zubaydeh formed a close association with Mr. Padilla. The women and children are believed to be family members of a senior Qaeda member, possibly but not necessarily those of Mr. Zubaydeh.

The Qaeda hideout where Mr. Padilla and Mr. Zubaydeh were alleged to have spent time together is in Peshawar, a city in Pakistan`s Northwest Frontier Province near the Afghan border. It was some time after that association began that Mr. Zubaydeh was arrested and Mr. Padilla allegedly traveled to Karachi, Switzerland and then the United States with his plans to develop the radiation bomb.

To date, Americans have been detained on suspicion of fighting with the Taliban and with Al Qaeda as part of the Afghan conflict. Today, Pakistani officials said they had confirmed that an American convert to Islam was killed while fighting alongside Muslim guerrillas in Kashmir. The officials said they confirmed the man`s death after seeing a story about him in a magazine called ``Blow of the Believer,`` published by the Army of Muhammad, a Pakistan-based group battling Indian rule in Kashmir. The story did not identify the man by name.

The Army of Muhammad has been outlawed in Pakistan and declared a terrorist organization by the United States. One of its members, Ahmed Omar Sheikh, is charged in the kidnapping and murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl.

Pakistani officials said that after the story appeared, they contacted members of the guerrilla group and were satisfied that the account was accurate. The Pakistani officials said the American man was killed during an operation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, another guerrilla group battling Indian rule in Kashmir. The group has been outlawed in Pakistan.

The article is entitled ``The story of an American Shaheed,`` using the Arabic word to describe someone who dies in the act of defending Islam against nonbelievers. The magazine said the man, whose Muslim name was Abu Adam Jibreel al Amrikeeas, joined the Kashmiri movement as a 19-year-old in 1997 and was killed in the fall of 1998 during an attack on an Indian Army base.

The article said Mr. Adam was ``born into a considerably wealthy family,`` and grew up in Atlanta, where he attended the Ebeneezer Baptist Church as a child. Much like Mr. Lindh, who has been described as a precocious young man who explored different religious faiths, Mr. Adam is said to have read deeply about various religions, including Judaism and Buddhism, before finally deciding on Islam.

re: Abdul Kalaam

Once in a while this nation of 1 billion people produces a son worthy of its name. Abdul Kalaam (nicknamed ``Iyer`` for his scholarship in sanskrit)is one such illustrious son. His rise to the very top instils hope in the poorest of the poor in that country. Meritocracy, though not much in vogue in India, is not dead as yet.

This man is a bachelor, lives the life of a sage, writes poetry in Tamil, quotes sanskrit verses left and write when giving speeches. He has single handedly transformed the defense preparedness of India, putting India on the missile map. His motto is ``a strong India is a must for India`s prosperity``. His vision for 2020 includes many original plans, which if successfully implemented will see India as a developed nation by 2020. One may read more about this man in the website: www.abdulkalam.com. The following is the article that appeared in the HT today:

``Kalam just a click away

Anuj Dhar

New Delhi, Jun 13

Getting to know our would be President is now a few clicks away. Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is not only going to be India`s first scientist President, but also the first President to have a site in his honour. Promoted by Kalam`s friends and admirers, www.abdulkalam.com, also available in Tamil, is a treasure trove of information on the man and his mission.

The masthead declares it to be ``a site for inspiration and nation building`` and it sure is: it encapsulates Dr Kalam`s vision of India expressed in his performance, thoughts, speeches and dreams for the nation.

While the homepage upfronts the presidential prospects for Dr. Kalam, the surfers are bound to end up rediscovering the extraordinary person he is. For instance, did you know that Dr Kalam has been associated with developing an external cardiac pacemaker for patients suffering from bradycardia (prevalent mainly in mal-nutritioned population) or that he has plans for establishing clinical connectivity between remote villages and hospitals in cities, making healthcare accessible to all?

On a personal level, the site showcases the inimitable Doc, as he is known to people close to him. Soon after he was conferred the Bharat Ratna, he issued a circular saying he should be spared from all felicitations. He warned officers not to be present at the airport to receive him with garlands. He prefers to travel in an old Ambassador car without a beacon light and VIP cap. More importantly, his pilot vehicles are instructed to follow the traffic rules!

For good measure, Dr Kalam is humble enough to admit that his life could be an inspiration to many: ``I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness?`` ``.

Sridhar

TAhmed

``I am surprised that you think the choice is not between war and peace, but war and war by other means. This is at odds with the post you wrote a couple of weeks back at the height of the current round of tensions. I agree that women and children and farmers keep dying on the borders from shelling. ``

I think you misunderstood my previous post. When I say the choice is between war and war by other means, I am merely being realistic and no, I am not talking about the shelling on the border.

Regardless of the 2 countries moving away from war, the root cause of Kashmir has not been addressed. Yes, the infiltration is going to stop temporarily, but the proxy war will start again. In realistic terms, India will try and finish of the insurgency in the next few months, or at least bring it down to manageable levels. Then we will hold elections, freer and fairer in the past. Sure, we may not completely like the people who win, but it will be those who at most ask for autonomy, not independence. Pakistan, seeing itself cut out of the deal, will unleash Jehadi forces again. Result: War

What Pakistanis do not seem to realize is that we have no give on Kashmir. We cannot let it secede voluntarily, and when we get the thousand`th cut, we will have to go to war. I am not couching this in moral terms, because neither country can be defended in that sense. It is also a copout to blame Jehadis only for the Pakistani involvement in Kashmir. The fact remains the Jehadis came on the scene coz the liberal elite wanted them to do the dirty work. Also, Kashmir is a Pakistani agenda, not just an Islamic one.

``I see both sides heading toward peace - due to the grim realities of nuclear war (with decision makers on both sides personally risking death, their nationalistic fervor and dreams of glory rapidly disappear), and due to international pressures (who realize that they could have the fallout entering their lungs at some point). I think the Day of the Mullah is already over in Pakistan as a result. The next few months and years will I am sure prove me correct.``

No Pakistani leader can walk away from Kashmir, just as no Indian leader can give it away.

``I dont think therefore that it is too early to start changing the tone of Indo-Pakistan relations now. So, hope you will continue to stay above the Indo-Pak armchair warriors on chowk.``

:) I am being realistic. I would be quite happy to be proved wrong. If there is a genuine peace, if we can leave Kashmir on the backburner, and improve relations in 10 other areas, kinda like India has done with China, then I would be the happiest person. I don`t believe in fighting for the sake of fighting.

However, in India the gov`t never aroused public opinion about the border dispute with China. Therefore, we can deal with them in commerce and technology and a 100 other things without arousing public opinion. The opposite is true in Pakistan. ``Kashmir Banega Pakistan`` is embedded in the public consciousness, and the Pakistan Army cannot lose it`s raison d`etre by expanding commercial ties with India.

I would love to be proved wrong, but there have been too many false starts in South Asia. The problem is not with the people, it is with our respective national identities. I do apologise if I have come across as unduly harsh towards my perception of Pakistan Gov`t`s policy vis a vis India. I am not interested in apportioning blame, just recognizing the efect of our policies.

I look forward to your reading of the situation, based on current geo-political realities, not human emotion.

AlephNull #583
Would`ve been better if it was 6 LeT :(. Ideally indigneous militants would be rehabilitated not killed by foreign terrorists(who definitely need to be dispatched to an early reward)

re: Tough challenge at home

The following is the Editorial article by Najam Sethi in The Friday Times. If this article does not convince the average reader in Chowk that the present day Pakistan is moving towards lawlessness and anarchy, nothing else will.

``Greater challenge at home



Najam Sethi`s



On June 11, Muhammad Yusuf, convicted two years ago of blasphemy by a sessions court, was shot five times in the chest with a .30 handgun at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. The next day, the press reported that the gun was allegedly brought into the prison by one of the jail staff and given to a prisoner on death row. The said prisoner didn’t have the stomach for it, so he passed the gun on to a fellow-convict, Tariq Mota of Gowalmandi, Lahore, a member of the banned extremist outfit, Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba. Tariq, after killing Yusuf, shouted “Allah-o-Akbar” and declared that he had done the deed to win eternal salvation.

Reports in the press say that the sessions judge who gave Yusuf the death sentence in the first place was a close relative of General Zia-ul-Haq and had made it clear during the trial that he was moved more by religious passion than solid evidence. Yusuf had appealed the sentence in the High Court and his case was pending. Since there were some serious flaws in the earlier judgment, legal experts had opined that his sentence would be set aside. Unfortunately, some newspapers began calling him kazzab (pretender) even before he was convicted and have continued to label him thus after his murder. All this before his guilt could be conclusively proved at the High Court.

A few days before Yusuf’s murder, on June 7, a group of lawyers and mullahs nearly came to blows in the Supreme Court. The Court was hearing a petition filed by the United Bank Limited against a 1999 verdict banning bank interest. Eminent lawyers Raja Akram and Raza Kazim appeared for UBL while Ismail Qureshi of the Jamaat-e-Islami represented the party defending the 1999 verdict. In arguing their case, the former quoted verses from the Quran. To this, the clerical crowd raised objections saying Raja Akram was not employing the “right accent” when quoting from the Quran. They also took exception to the presence in court of Dr Rashid Jallundhuri, a scholar of Islam. Qazi Hussain Ahmad of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Engineer Salimullah of the JUP (N), ex-convict Maj-General (retd) Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, and Maulana Allah Wasaya were also present. The defendants’ lawyer Ismail Qureshi also protested the removal of Justice Taqi Usmani from the Bench. Justice Usmani had been part of the court consensus against riba in 1999. Matters came to a head and the assistants of both sets of lawyers came to blows. The honourable court warned the mischief-makers but took no action, clearly embarrassed by the presence of a powerful religious pressure group in the court.

It has also come to light recently that of the 12 high-profile cases of sectarian violence, none was brought before the anti-terrorist courts after the expiry of the one-month deadline set for the production of the accused belonging to the banned Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba and Sipahe-e-Muhammad. Earlier, Pakistan’s most notorious sectarian killer Riaz Basra was killed in a “police encounter”, which many analysts thought was stage-managed to avoid bringing the case to court. The reason for this was not only that the police usually fail to investigate the case effectively but that the judges at the lower courts are subject to threats from religious organisations. Scores of highly qualified and public-spirited doctors have been killed in Karachi by the religious terrorists. Despite pledges of tough action, the killings have continued and some medical practitioners have quietly left Pakistan because they know the state’s writ does not extend to those who strike terror in the heart of the nation. Even police officers have been quoted in the press as saying that they cannot stand up to the terrorists because the state is unable to protect them. Interior Minister General (retd) Moinuddin Haider was the only member of General Musharraf’s government who chose to call a spade a spade and spoke out against the religious mafias that run riot in Pakistan. He was warned of dire consequences by many recognized clerical bodies. His brother was then cruelly done to death in Karachi. General Musharraf himself was threatened with physical removal by Maulana Akram Awan of the Tanzim-al-Ikhwan in 2001.

Such is the power of the terrorist in Pakistan. The elements that the state has unleashed on the nation over the past two decades now threaten its very existence. The economy is starved of investments, which have dried up in the face of runaway terrorism in Karachi, Pakistan’s industrial and commercial hub. Wary investors euphemistically call this terrorism “Pakistan’s unsatisfactory law and order situation”. The fallout of the 1999 anti-riba verdict of the Supreme Court Appellate Bench compounds the threats that booby-trap the national economy.

The groundswell of support for General Pervez Musharraf when he first came to power in 1999 had sprung from the citizen’s desire to see the military putting an end to Pakistan’s internal anarchy. Unfortunately, state and society have both become more undermined since 1999 and the country is clearly unable to withstand external challenges while the government is unable to protect it from internal dangers. As the Musharraf government faces off with India, it would do well to remember that the greater challenge is at home.``

Sridhar

Reply #: 578

harish_hyd

``In her eagerness to appear impartial, Ms. Versey, seems to have completely lost sight of objectivity.``

Do not wory. Ms Vershey never had objectivity in the first place. Most journalists from India rarely do.

Sridhar

Pakistani Crackdown Gives Rise to Doubts

South Asia: Curbing Islamic extremism is widely seen as key to easing tensions over Kashmir. But to some, it borders on betrayal.



By TYLER MARSHALL, TIMES STAFF WRITER

MANSEHRA, Pakistan -- The first hint of a government crackdown against Muslim extremist groups in this dusty market town came in January, local businessman Jamil Ahmed recalls.

That`s when police told him to stop collecting money for the militant Al Badr organization, which for nearly a decade ran a training camp in the nearby hills. Locals say it was one of eight such camps in the Mansehra area that turned young Pakistani volunteers into Islamic warriors--known as jihadis--and then launched them across the frontier to fight in the Indian-controlled portion of disputed Kashmir.





By March, jihadi recruiting posters that had lined the streets of this town in Pakistan`s Northwest Frontier Province for years quietly came down, as did billboards proclaiming Indian atrocities against the predominantly Muslim Kashmiris. Then, Ahmed and other residents say, the camps themselves were closed about two months ago and those who ran them vanished. For political moderates here and in India, that`s good news.

Curtailing the jihadi groups is widely viewed as a vital first step in scaling back a crisis that has led India and Pakistan to mass about 1 million troops on their border and raised the frightening prospect of the world`s first war between two nuclear-armed states.

Pakistani officials say the crackdown in Mansehra is part of a broader move against Islamic militant groups that began tentatively this year and appears to have gradually gained greater purpose. Leaders of many of the militant groups were detained last month, according to authorities.

Today, there is little visible evidence in Mansehra of either the jihadis or their cause.

After initial skepticism, India appears to have accepted that Pakistan has stopped militants from crossing the so-called Line of Control that divides Kashmir, but the extent to which their activities inside Pakistan have been halted remains unclear. India, for example, says that at least three training camps still operate in the area around Mansehra--a charge that Pakistan rejects.

``I can say with authority there are no training camps operating now,`` declared army Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, who is leading Pakistan`s efforts to shut down the extremist groups.

Locals, however, refused to take a foreign reporter to visit the camp locations, saying they were afraid of possible reprisals from ``the agencies``--a reference to Pakistani intelligence organizations, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, that for years have been the jihadis` main backers within the country`s military establishment.

The government`s follow-up on the initial arrests of suspected militant group members has also raised questions about the crackdown`s effectiveness. For example, 21 militants arrested here in April under an anti-terrorism law were set free recently for lack of evidence.

For President Pervez Musharraf, shutting off support for the jihadi groups means stepping back from a decade-old strategy: using religiously motivated fighters to harass India with a persistent, but effective, low-grade guerrilla campaign in Kashmir.

The mountainous, spectacularly beautiful territory, claimed by India and Pakistan, has been the object of two of their three wars in the last 55 years. After suffering defeat twice in conventional conflicts at the hands of superior Indian forces in Kashmir, Pakistan embraced the jihadis in the late 1980s.

Although government support for the jihadis has always been denied publicly, the groups for years recruited openly, published magazines, solicited donations and operated sophisticated training camps.

Two years ago, Al Badr leader Bakht Zameen even brought a group of Pakistani reporters based in Peshawar to the group`s camp near here to watch a colorful graduation ceremony for recruits who had completed basic training before heading for Kashmir.

``The level of discipline was amazing,`` said one witness who declined to be identified. ``It was like watching an army.``

A 22-year-old volunteer jihadi from Peshawar who used the nom de guerre Uqab said in an interview this week that his main training camp instructors were retired Pakistani army members. He went through a camp run by the Hezb-ul-Moujahedeen group two years ago near Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani-held portion of Kashmir.

Uqab said the camp offered three types of courses, including three-week basic training and a special forces session that taught recruits how to use a variety of weapons, including hand grenades and rocket launchers. The third course lasted six months and was for suicide bombers.

``Very few people are selected for this course,`` Uqab said.

In recent months, actions attributed to the jihadi groups, including a daylight attack in December on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, have exacerbated political tensions between the two nations.

For Musharraf, moving against the Islamic militants carries considerable domestic risks in a country where the struggle to break India`s grip over Kashmir is imbibed with mother`s milk.

Pakistan`s vociferous fundamentalist Islamic minority already resents Musharraf`s decision to abandon Afghanistan`s Taliban government and side with America and the West in the war against international terrorism after Sept. 11. Some now see Musharraf`s clampdown on the Kashmir militants as dangerously close to betrayal.

``People aren`t happy about this,`` said Junus Khattak, a local leader of Pakistan`s largest religious-based party, Jamaat-i-Islami. ``Jihadi groups should be allowed to operate [in Kashmir]. Their fight is on the side of good, on the side of the oppressed.``

But the biggest danger for Musharraf as he moves forward might not be from an angry populace but from disgruntled elements within his ruling establishment, including the ISI and senior ranks of the army.

Some officers in both institutions see the guerrilla campaign not just as an effective and low-cost response to India`s huge military superiority but also as part of a far larger global struggle to end the oppression of Muslims. As such, these officers have developed strong loyalties to the militants.

``Pakistan had success diplomatically after Sept. 11 when it became the centerpiece of an anti-terror campaign, but militarily, it has suffered a huge setback in Kashmir,`` said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a regional specialist at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, the capital. ``The question now is if this really leads to a de-escalation and genuine dialogue for a peaceful settlement of the issue.``

International diplomatic efforts, such as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld`s visit to the region this week, are expected to dwell on measures to verify the frontier`s stability and to coax both sides to pull back military forces and, eventually, begin talks.

Many Pakistanis worry that Musharraf has conceded too much. With the jihadis cut off from Indian-controlled areas, they fear, India`s security forces are likely to move more freely against indigenous Kashmiri separatist groups. Any such action from New Delhi would put pressure on Musharraf to unleash the jihadi groups again, especially if there is no progress toward negotiations.

``If he gets nothing [from India], he`ll ask the militants to lie low and consider his options,`` Rais said. ``He`ll keep the structures [of the militant groups] intact.``

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-000041298jun12.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dworld

Ref scout #: 575

[anNy #567,

and you should get married to ali1 and watch the floor break ;) ]

Ali1 is a raunchy old goat. Get him a bakra and leave anNy out of this!

Ref Condom Horse #: 579

[harimau

``...........
Whats that ?]

I am seriously thinking of changing my handle to OBC....``



HARIMOU

Other Backward Class, the category under which Maasaanamuthu got into a professional college.

sadna #582

{Foreign Lashkar vs local Hizbul

Doda: Turf war sparks off fight, six Hizbul men killed}

Bravo! The wolves devour one another.

http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=4294

Foreign Lashkar vs local Hizbul
Doda: Turf war sparks off fight, six Hizbul men killed
Pradeep Dutta

Jammu, June 12: In a new twist to militant violence in the Valley, this time signalling growing differences between ‘‘foreign’’ and indigenous groups, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen fought each other in an apparent turf war last night.

Seven militants, including six of the Hizbul, were killed and three injured in the ‘‘encounter’’ in Kishtwar tehsil of Doda district, said Senior Superintendent of Police, Doda, Vijay Singh Samyal.


According to officials, security forces got to know of the clash through a wireless intercept in which a Lashkar commander was reported as communicating the death of Hizbul men to his seniors across the border.

The slain Hizbul militants have been identified as area commander Shaheen Kashmiri of Anantnag, Ishtiyaq Ahmed Lone codenamed Captain Aijaz of Marwah, Gulzar Ahmed alias Hazari of Nawapachi, platoon commander Ansari of Thatri, Afaq and Shahnawaz of Kishtwar. The lone Lashkar militant killed was Major Altaf of Pakistan.

While tension between the two groups has been evident ever since the Hizbul condemned the Lashkar’s fidayeen attack in Kaluchak, last night’s gun-battle is reported to have been sparked off by a turf war.

Lashkar, which is dominated by foreign mercenaries, has the upper-hand in Rajouri and Poonch districts while Doda is considered to be Hizbul’s area of operation.

Last night, Lashkar militants were reportedly directing Hizbul cadre to work under them. When the Hizbul commander refused, they started firing and lobbing grenades at each other. Wireless intercepts reveal that the group clash has worried Pak’s ISI, who have asked the commanders of both outfits to remain alert and prevent a backlash.

This is not the first time that the Lashkar has tried to take on the Hizbul. Differences between the two groups reportedly cropped up when the Lashkar killed a 13-year-old girl, Roshni, and a woman, Mughli, in the Sadhu Ganga area of Kupwara — considered to be a Hizbul stronghold — despite the latter’s warnings against intruding in their ‘‘territory’’.

And to add salt to their wounds, a few days later, Lashkar militants reportedly abducted a top Hizbul leader, Mushtaq Ahmad, in Kupwara and tortured him.

Confirming this, Abu Obeida, a newly-appointed commander divisional commander of the Hizbul, warned that they would lose their patience if the Lashkar didn’t mend its ways.

Earlier this year, the Lashkar killed four women and a girl belonging to the minority community in Kreeri Posh and Hogam villages of Anantnag. On investigation, security agencies found out that the killings were probably sparked off by Obeida’s statement to the press warning Jaish and Lashkar to stop killing innocent locals.

Four days before the killings, Obeida had gone on record to say that these killings had given a bad name to the cause. The Lashkar is reported to have purposely chosen soft targets in the Hizbul stronghold in defiance.

The Lashkar’s ‘‘inhuman’’ acts in Hizbul areas have sparked resentment among the local militants. The wedge between the two widened further in the last fortnight, when 21 Hizbul militants surrendered in Kupwara .


 

Ref Impacted-Wisdom-Tooth #: 525

[And another quote dated June 2, 2002 from Praveen Togadia of the VHP: “Ab jahan jahan Godhra hoga wahan wahan Gujarat bhi hoga.” This was not a personal opinion but voiced at a meeting of senior VHP leaders at Ayodhya.]

You know, Hindus aren`t followers of Hazrat Isa so please don`t expect them to turn the other cheek when slapped.

[And I am being asked why I have not condemned Godhra. Readers will recall that there have been many ‘theories’ propounded about how Godhra could have happened. I did not get into the ‘diabolical schemes’. I did not justify them.]

Why don`t you investigate how and why Godhra happened? Aren`t you claiming to be a journalist who seeks after the truth?

[And I did not go around asking Hindus to apologise for Gujarat.]

Good thing you didn`t ask for any apology but enough people were already apologizing for being Hindus, for being on the train, for passing through Muslim territory, for chanting Ram`s name, in fact, for being born. Check out Chowk.

[I also wonder how a taxi ride can make people discover what’s going on in the minds of burqa-clad creatures (PS: political correctness is the last resort of the scoundrel)]

Well, when one has the option of not wearing the burqa or even not going out at all if one was afraid of communal violence, it would seem reasonable to assume that they weren`t afraid. It does not require mind-reading, just simple logic.

[…if it is sought to be conveyed that they can walk about in some suburban lane without any worry despite being easily identifiable as belonging to a certain community, then it is a darned patronising attitude.]

If you read what I wrote, I pointed out that Hindu women and men were also wandering around with apparent unconcern. You see, I am an equal opportunity patronizer.

[All I can say is that the easiest way out for some people is to call someone a hypocrite. (And the problem is that Muslims who do not weave carpets or make brass vessels are called elitist.) If it makes them feel good, fine.]

You are a hypocrite for the simple reason you see the beam in India`s eye while steadfastly ignoring the mote in Islamic countries` eyes. Cut out the crap about you are concerned about India because it is your country. Indians are as human as the next person and respond the same way to provocations as others. So, if some Kashmiris get some fancy ideas about independence or joining Pakistan, Indians are not going to put up with that crap. Those who want to be part of Pakistan can pack up and move. And we don`t want any sympathy for them from you.

[There are millions of Indians who go through a good deal of privation before they can achieve anything; they do not use that as a bullet to shoot others with.]

On the other hand, they accept their fate and get on with their lives as opposed to others who whine or people like Sudalaikkannu who sheds crocodile tears.

[The other strategy, if they want to sound reasonable, is to play what their version of a reasonable Muslim is against me. I do know for certain that Zafar does not enjoy this.]

I suppose you can read Zafar`s mind who is in Australia but I cannot figure out what goes on in people`s minds when they walk about with no concern on the streets of Bombay. Would that be feminine logic, Islamic logic or Bombay logic?

Ref Zafar Al-Talib #: 501

[And Mr Harimau! Now that you have introduced “Love Queen” as a character into our paradigm, it is only a matter of days, IMO, before a certain person takes on this handle and incorporates it into their stable of personas. I hope you’re happy. Whatever you do, DON`T mention Amma. Please. Otherwise we could find ourselves having to give ten percent of our words to somebody`s idea fund whenever we post...]

Maybe 12-head will choose to use Maasaanamuthu instead!

I have of course a steady supply of names including Palyagasalai Mudukudumi Peruvazhudi, Kulamutrattu Tunjiya Killivalavan, Thaeypuri Pazhankayitrinar, and Chembulappeyaneerar that 12-head can use.

I am seriously thinking of changing my handle to OBC.

It is unfair to accuse the PM`s call to troops on the LoC as a politician`s preparation for elections. If the prime minister of a country does not encourage the morale of his troops facing harsh weather conditions in a state of perpetual wait, what was he supposed to do? Tell that they were all going to perish in a nuclear cloud? The fact is that the PM`s exhortations for a decisive victory sent alarm bells ringing across the border in Islamabad, forcing the General to act. For too long, General Musharraf had taken things easily in the belief that India would dare not attack Pakistan, because of American troop presence in the country. He (and most Pakistanis) was under the impression that the Americans` presence had granted him some kind of an immunity from the impending attack, and that the Americans would never allow India to attack, as that would jeopardize the on-going operation against the Al Qaeda. The ISI had taken this as a virtual license to kill and create terror in Kashmir, that dastardly attack on the Kaluchak camp, in which the victims were mainly women and children, being just an example.

Ms. Versey also perhaps needs to ponder over this: Everybody knows Abdul Ghani Lone was a moderate, and as such, a prime target for the pro-Pakistan militants. Would any outfit dare claim responsibility for the assassination? He was the among the very few Hurriyat leaders who openly shunned violence, and had outrightly rejected violence as the way to bring about a solution. That the ISI (and hence Syed Salahuddin and his ilk) resented this is an open secret. Kashmiris, fed-up of nearly a decade-and-half of violence, are more open today than ever before for a negotiated settlement.

In her eagerness to appear impartial, Ms. Versey, seems to have completely lost sight of objectivity.

Ref Maasaanamuthu aka Pearl of the Graveyard #: [Leave the old man be. He`s battling a phantom of his own creation. Soysauce this, soysauce that - the man is working out his bigotry in public...]

So, I am working out MY bigotry in public, eh? How about the slogans on the walls in Trichy, ``If you see a brahmin and a snake, kill the brahmin first``? That would be social engineering and not bigotry, I suppose.

If you attempt to justify that by the so-called misdeeds of brahmins in not giving water to your ancestors, tell me why you hold the current generation responsible for the sins of their forefathers. By the same token, why the hell do you not support punitive measures against Muslims for the misdeeds of THEIR forefathers? Will you support the statement ``If you see a Muslim and a snake, kill the Muslim first``?

[Our friend harimau has been pestering me to explain the lyrics of some the ``poets`` he is allergic to but is fascinated enough by them nonetheless to warrant such close attention to the garbage they turn out. harimau is our ultimate sewer-inspector.]

I AM fascinated by the utter degradation of a society by you Sudalaikkannu types. This is what you fought for, isn`t it? To be able to publicly broadcast pornographic verses? That is the meaning of your Tamil movement.

By the way, you just need to walk down the streets to hear that song being played on boomboxes from every corner teashop.

[Unkalji, i`m not a movie buff. The last tamil movie that i was forced to watch was hey ram and i was utterly revolted by the violence.]

But you are not revolted by the violence that Father Big Man and his followers have unleashed in Tamil Nadu, have you? How about this: in Thinnayam village in Trichy District, where the Dravidian parties hold sway, an Adi Dravida family (this would mean aborigines) was forced to eat dried sh!t because they were cheated out of Rs. 2000 by the village chief who promised them housing and they demanded their money back. That is the extent of your anti-brahmin sentiment. If the weakest and poorest brahmin had demanded his money back, you wouldn`t have returned the money but you mufukkas wouldn`t have the ba!!s to do what you did to that aborigine. So, that has been the commitment of the Dravidian Progressive Party to the Dravidian cause.

[On the other hand most indians (& most tamils) seem to devote their weekends to watching all the crap that they turn out from bombay, madras or hyderabad and a large majority of them, as far as i could tell, are brahmins. So there!]

How do you know? Do the brahmins let you into their houses?

Samina: No, i know they had yoga in egypt, but not sure what the method was.

Peace.

anNy #567,

and you should get married to ali1 and watch the floor break ;)

A Good Voice Silenced: Kashmir`s Loss Is Also Mine

By Pamela Constable

Sunday, June 9, 2002; Page B02

KABUL, Afghanistan

Two weeks ago, I was in a dingy government office in northern Afghanistan, interviewing a police official. A small TV set flickered in the corner, but I barely noticed it until I suddenly glimpsed a familiar, grizzled face frozen on the screen. Underneath was a