26/11 Mumbai Carnage - a Wakeup Call for the Civilised World

26/11 Mumbai Carnage

A Wakeup Call For The Civilised World

By

M.M.Khajooria

It would, to say the least be naïve   to look at   the 26/11  Mumbai terrorist strike  as  another round of Indo-Pak proxy conflict  The high quality of professionalism  evident   in the planning, provisioning and execution   of this  multipronged well  crafted commando terrorist operation  across the ocean in commendable secrecy sets  it apart from the routine acts of terror to which the  people in India were accustomed . To the discerning , the 26/11 Mumbai carnage     bears  unmistakeable signatures of  the  dreaded  Al Queda  which was  waging  war against what it calls the Christian-Zionist-Hindu combine “out to demolish Islam”. In fact ,Osama bin Ladin   declared war on India for the first time through the 13 April ,2006 audio  taps released by Al-Jazeera .  It was  for the first time that  Bin Ladin referred to  “a crusaders-Zionist-Hindu war against the Muslims”. “It is the duty of the Ummah “ he said  “with all its categories ,men, women,  and youth to give away themselves, money, their experience  and all types of material support   to establish Jihad,” He also lashed out at the USA for pressurizing  Pakistan to end cross border  terrorism in Kashmir affirming “that it is a Zionist- Hindu war against Muslims”. The target selection in Mumbai assault  was the sure give away.  The 26/11 dastardly assault on India’s financial hub Mumbai    all  the three enemies listed in the tapes were  targeted in a single  clean composite  comprehensive and focussed  operation

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The Jewish  ‘Chabad’-,the transit facility  in Nariman House was  seized  and the couple-Rabbi Gavnel Holzberg  and his six months pregnant wife Ravka- murdered in cold blood. Moshe ,their only baby boy was saved  by the brave and  loving   Indian maid. He has since been taken to Israelby his grand parents .The  Indian maid  accompanied  the traumatized child. “How  can I leave the poor child alone in his hour of tragedy” she told reporters

 After  forcing  entry in the Taj Hotel, the terrorists went straight to the  Reception and demanded   the passports of the American , British  and other foreign  citizens  accommodated in the hotel. The Leopold Café  favoured by the  foreign tourists  was  hit  . On the last count 30 foreigners  belonging to sixteen countries including UK, USA, France ,Germany, Italy Australia Canada, Jor dan and  Israel were slaughtered by the terrorists.

Amongst them were six US citizen .And the US government was legally obliged o investigate th crime and bring the culprits to book .A case had already been registered by he FBI and investigation commenced.

 Indians were  naturally  the prime   target, They were attacked in the Chowpati sands (sea beach) where large number of innocent and unsuspecting  men , women and children regularly gathered for relaxation and  special delicious treats like Bhel-Puri . The round the clock  crowded Shivaji central Rail terminus was another terrorist destination . Cama  hospital  became the scene of martyrdom of five police officers ,ATS chief, Hemant Karkaray, DIG Tiwari and Encounter specialist Karloskar  who confronted the terrorists . Before the nine terrorists could be eliminated and one apprehended  the  gun battles had claimed  about 200 hundred dead and three hundred wounded. This included civilian of all nationalities ,policemen, NSG, Navy and army commandos and the hotel staff.

The US secretary of State Condoliza Rice   told a press conference  in Delhi that  “Whether there is a direct Al Qaeda hand or not, this is clearly the kind of terror in which Al Qaeda participates  . She just  stopped short of naming Al Queda   as perpetrators of  the Mumbai massacre. She  may have diplomatic or tactical reasons for not    naming  the dreaded  terror network    but why  were  the Indians  fighting shy of raising a pointed finger on the source of the   Global terror that hit us where it hurt most? But if this indeed  was an  Al Queda operation why is  Lashkar-e-Tayyiba being blamed ? There were good and valid reasons  to  blaming the Lashkar.

Lashkar-e-Taiba,  “army of the pure,” was   promoted more than 20 years ago with the help of Pakistan(country of the pure) intelligence officers as a proxy force to undo   Muslim-dominated Kashmir’s accession with Hindu dominated India .“This is a group that years ago evolved from having a local and parochial agenda and bought into Al Qaeda’s vision,” said Bruce Hoffman, a professor and terrorism  at Georgetown University who had followed the growth of the  Lashkar  for several years .According to American officials “Al Qaeda was known to have  provided financing and other support to Lashkar in the past. Senior Qaeda figures have used Lashkar safe houses as hide-outs.

 The Lashkar commanders  operated  in the open, behind the public face of a popular charity with the implicit support of official Pakistani patrons .For years, American intelligence analysts have described Lashkar as a group with deadly, yet limited, ambitions in South Asia. But terrorism experts said it clearly had been inspired by the success of Al Qaeda in rallying supporters for a global jihad ?   Lashkar fighters were sighted  in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting and killing Americans.

In an  article titled “Times Topics: Terrorism in India”of December,7,2008 ,researchers Eric Schmitt, Mark Mazzetti Jane Perlez     quoted American intelligence and counter terrorism officials as saying  that “Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected of conducting the Mumbai attacks, had quietly gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan’s main spy service, assistance that  allowed the group to train and raise money while other militants were under siege.

 Director of US National Intelligence Mike McConnell  directly blamed Lashkar-i-Tayyaba for the Mumbai attacks, increasing pressure on Pakistan to eliminate the group that the US spy chief said was also responsible for other terrorist attacks inside India. “The same group that we believe is responsible for Mumbai had a similar attack in 2006 on a train and killed a similar number of people,” said Mr McConnell, speaking at Harvard University. “Go back to 2001 and it was an attack on the parliament.”

Pakistan outlawed the LT after the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament but  the ban was not enforced. It was known to the United States  that  Pakistan had allowed LT and the people associated with it to function under various pseudonyms but opted to look the other way.

The Lashkar was already on the US State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organisations, which described it as one of the largest and most dangerous terrorist outfits in South Asia with close links to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  The department also maintained  lists of  a dozen odd group used by the LT to cover up  its true identity .Many  US counterterrorism and military officials  felt it  was necessary  to reassess  the capability  and spread of the Lashkar  after the recent  assault on Mumbai .They agreed that   now posed  a  much greater threat than  previously recognized.

The Al Queda- Lashkar connections go back to nineties. when Osama bin Ladin set up  the International Islamic Front  for  Jihad against Jews and Crusaders( read Christians) sometime n 1998.  Lashkar-e- Tayyiba  was  amongst its  founder members. Two other Pak ISI  collaborators Harkat-ul Mjahideen, and Harkat ul Jihad –e-Islami likewise participated in the foundation conclave. Even at that time, American investigators had collected a mass of evidence  of deep linkage between these anti India  terror groups and Al Queda.

The  Al Queda  organizational   structure  was strategically  fashioned  as a global  network  linked to  already existing or contrived indigenous extremist groups  .It operated through such affiliates especially  in countries  where favourable  environment for the presence and operations  by its own cadres did not exist.

The Queda net work had grown enormously over the years. By now, Its tentacles were spread in South-East Asia through Jemaah Islamiyah etc , the formation of embryonic groups in North Africasuch as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and countless cells of potential terrorists exploiting the power and anonymity of internet technology. In the UK alone  the authorities were reported to  have detected around 200 separate plots of indiscriminate criminal activity . Even Europe was not free from its  infiltration. There were credible reports of recruitment of cadres and establishment of modules in Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain  and Germany .

  The MUMBAI  attacks  demonstrate the professional skills, technological access, acquisition of sophisticated weapons and enormous reach  of the Al Queda network .It should serve as the wake up call for the entire civilised world. The global peace  ,  security of citizens, vital economic and military installations  and symbols of heritage(remember the vandalisation of Banyan carving inAfghanistan) were under terrorist   threat  as never before. An axis of evil comprising of AlQueda,  its well organised, fully equipped    , intensely committed and highly motivated  affiliates  and its moles, supporters and sympathisers capable of    calling he shots in number of countries notably Pakistan were on the prowl. They  were frantically striving to upgrade their military prowes through acquiring  nuclear capability independent of the Pakistan nuclear arsenal.  In fact, the outcome of the ongoing spat between the civilised world and   a  belligerent, unstable and bankrupt but nuclear  Pakistan  being pushed by fundamentalist hawks towards military adventurism  could very severely impact  the future course of the war against  terrorism and fundamentalist hegemony.

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According to a despatch by Anwar Iqbal from Washington dated 21st December’  carried by  daily Dawn Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of State and  Stephen Hadley , National Security Advisor bluntly told  the visiting Pakistan National Security Advisor Durrani and Pakisan Ambassador to Washington Haqqani that  ‘Global terrorism is not just an India-Pakistan dispute. We see LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa at par with al Qaeda. Pakistan should stop thinking of this as just another round of India-Pakistan altercations”.   The curt message that Mr Durrani and the Pakistani team received from the Americans was: this is not 2002 and you cannot do what President Musharraf did after 9/11. “In the past, you swept everything under the carpet while the problems were allowed to fester. No more” added  Iqbal  quoting a senior diplomatic source familiar with the talks

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Through the  Mumbai carnage   ,   Al Queda  sent a loud and clear message to the USA , its western  allies   and  Israel  , “ While we prepare to hit targets in your front porches and backyards ,    we will draw blood  of your citizens in other  countries. We dare you to protect them ”. This warning can be ignored only at the peril of civilised world.

  
The situation forced both the incumbent and incoming US administrations to take a strong stance against the attacks. The outgoing president made a special appearance on the lawns of the White House .  President Bush In his nationally televised address vowed not to allow the terrorists to have the final word .“The killers who struck this week are brutal and violent. But terror will not have the final word,” he said. “We pledge the full support of the United States as India investigates these attacks, brings the guilty to justice and sustains its democratic way of life. As the people of the world’s largest democracy recover from these attacks, they can count on the people of world’s oldest democracy to stand by their side,” said Mr Bush.

“The people of India are strong. They have built a vibrant, multiethnic democracy. They can withstand this trial. The leaders of India can know that nations around the world support them in the face of this assault on human dignity,” he added.

        His successor Barack Obama spoke with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reiterate Washington’s offer of both moral and material support to India.“ These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India’s great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them,” Mr Obama said in a statement issued after his call .“The United States must stand with India and all nations and people who are committed to destroying terrorist networks, and defeating their hate-filled ideology .” he added Those calling shots in Pakistan, were however   not impressed

The entire world community was watching with shock and disbelief the antics ofPakistan establishment on a matter of grave concern to them Three vital questions arise here. As the US appeared to be getting nowhere with  advise and admonition  what would , if any ,be  next  US move?  what  would be expected of India when Pakistan  establishment stubbornly refused to either demolish terrorist training facilities on her soil or handover  the perpetrators of terrorism  despite evidence supplied by India and the USA  ?  India was morally and legally obliged to apprehend and put on trial all those responsible for acts of terrorism on her soil ,  slaughtering of her  non combatant citizens and  innocent visitors from other countries.   Surely no one repeat no one had the right to expect a country of the size, economic strength and military power of India to meekly surrender before an enemy who was working on a strategy to bleed  her  through thousand cuts ?   lastly  , when would the civilised world wake up to the enormity and immediacy of dangers posed to its very  survival by  the Pan Islamic terror machine?