by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mumbai : A Mumbai court on Saturday remanded in police custody till August 31 an accused arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with a terror plot unearthed after seizure of an arms cache, official sources said on Saturday.
The accused, Avinash Pawar, 30, an employee with a prominent government ship-building company, was nabbed from Ghatkopar in north-east Mumbai late on Friday night and was produced before a court on Saturday afternoon.
Pawar has been charged under the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Substances Act, Explosives Act, pertaining to terror, criminal and terror conspiracies.
Seeking his remand, the ATS contended that he was linked with Hindutva organisations since over two years and the police had recovered a computer CPU, mobile phones and other articles from his home.
The investigators want to probe his exact role in the terror plots targeting Mumbai, Pune, Solapur and Satara, which came to light after the interrogation of those arrested following the Palghar swoop on August 10 and whether Pawar got weapons or explosives training.
Pawar’s is the fifth major arrest after the Nala Sopara (Palghar) crackdown leading to the recovery of bombs, explosives, arms and ammunition that were allegedly intended for the terror strikes around important festivals.
Besides Pawar, the ATS has arrested Hindu right-wing activists Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhnava Gondhalekar and a former Shiv Sena corporator, Shrikant Pangarkar, from Palghar and Pune.
According to the investigators, all of them are linked with prominent Hindutva groups in Maharashtra.
The ATS is exploring a multi-state right-wing terror network, probing their links with right-wing organisations in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam, and suspected connections with the sensational killings of several rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M. M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
(Books This Weekend)
New Delhi : Explore the story of Bengaluru’s underworld that has been ruled by shrewd and notorious dons; read about the Mughal emperor Akbar and his beloved Jodha in a tale abuzz with political intrigue, personal enmities and hidden rivalry; flick through the story of a boy who has had the best of his days in his undergrad years as the heartthrob of college until he falls for someone; and plunge into a mad adventure around a terror attack at an orphanage.
The IANS bookshelf has a good variety for its readers this weekend.
1. Book: The Bhais of Bengaluru; Author: Jyoti Shelar; Publisher: Penguin: Pages: 226; Price: Rs 299
For years, Bengaluru’s underworld has been ruled by shrewd and notorious dons, who grew from small-time extortionists to dreaded names in real-estate circles. Kodigehalli Mune Gowda was crowned the city’s first “don” back in the 1960s, but it was in the 1980s and the 1990s that powerhouses like Muthappa Rai, Sreedhar, “Boot House” Kumar aka Oil Kumar, Bekkina Kannu Rajendra and Srirampura Kitty emerged.
In “The Bhais of Bengaluru”, Jyoti Shelar, a print journalist with a decade of experience as a field reporter, explores this mysterious and fascinating underbelly of India’s Garden City.
2. Book: Tree Bears Witness; Author: Sharath Komarraju; Publisher: Westland: Pages: 241; Price: Rs 350
Barely a month has passed since the royal wedding of Emperor Akbar to the legendary Jodha, when the new queen’s brother, Sujjamal, is found murdered in the palace gardens. With his honour and reputation at stake, Akbar asks his trusted advisor Birbal to solve the mystery. The murder has taken place at a spot between two mango trees, and the two guards who are eyewitnesses have conflicting versions of what could have happened. Was it suicide? Was it Akbar himself who ordered the killing or was it the Rajputs who accompanied Sujjamal, his uncles and cousin, who are guilty?
Set in a period that has been described as the golden age of the Mughals, the novel draws us into the royal court of Agra, abuzz with political intrigue, personal enmities and hidden rivalries, where everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise.
3. Book: A Twisted Tale; Author: Anand Kumar; Publisher: Invincible Publishers: Pages: 149; Price: Rs 160
Akash, a.k.a. The Love Guru, had his best days in his undergrad years as the heartthrob of college, popular for his skill in acting, directing and romance, known for his poems and for his loyal friendships. Despite being a little lazy and mediocre in studies, he was the centre of everyone’s attention. However, everything changes when he joins the masters programme in the same college.
No longer Mr. Popular, Akash feels like an outcast among his new batchmates. Having broken off with his college sweetheart, his own confidence has taken a blow. He misses his old days, old friends and old life. In spite of being on the same campus, he feels lost and lonely. Every now and then, his mind and soul drift back to his undergrad days.
Then one day, Simran walks into his life and it changes forever.
Did she change his life? Did they become good friends? Did Akash correct his ways after meeting Simran? Did he start taking his life and his studies seriously? The book captures the journey and transformation of an ignorant teen into a mature man through a roller-coaster of emotions of love, friendship, responsibility, maturity, dignity, pride and, above all, self belief. Flip through the pages of this book to enjoy the story of an ordinary guy, Akash, who found himself in extraordinary situations.
4. Book: Boy No. 32; Author: Venita Coelho; Publisher: Scholastic: Pages: 183; Price: Rs 295
An explosion brings down the orphanage that is home to Battees. Buried in the debris, he realises that something impossible has happened. Someone has got inside his head. It’s Goongi who cannot speak. Battees identifies the terrorist who blew up the orphanage and he obviously wants the only eyewitness dead.
Goongi becomes Battees’s companion as they plunge into a mad adventure — an encounter with the Eunuch Queen, being captured by the Beggar King and seeing the dirty underbelly of Mumbai city.
Does Battees manage to save himself from the terrorist and bring him to justice? Will Goongi ever be able to speak? They must find a way out of this dangerous cat-and-mouse game.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By C. Uday Bhaskar,
Almost 16 years to the day since the US embarked upon its war on terrorism against the Afghan Taliban on October 7, 2001, as reprisal for the enormity of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it appears that a White House administration is again issuing dire warnings to Rawalpindi (GHQ of the Pakistan Army) while still dangling the familiar “carrot”.
At a congressional hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington DC on Tuesday (October 4), General Joseph Dunford, Chairman, US Joints Chiefs of Staff, observed candidly: “I think it’s clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups.” This is not the first time that an incumbent in his chair has come to such a determination.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis had a similar assessment, adding that while Pakistan may have come down on terrorism, “the ISI appears to run its own foreign policy”. This is an unusually unambiguous assertion by a senior US offical but General Mattis added the caveat too: “We need to try one more time to make this strategy work with them; by, with and through the Pakistanis. And if our best efforts fail, the President (Trump) is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary.”
The war in Afghanistan, where Pakistan was accorded the status of a major non-NATO ally, has been expensive for the US both in terms of blood and treasure. A study by the Brown University estimates that, as of 2016, the US may have spent up to $ 2 trillion towards the Afghan campaign, which still remains inconclusive and messy.
As a benchmark, it may be relevant to note that India’s GDP in 2016 was estimated to be $ 2.26 trillion. The total number of people killed since the US led war against terror began in October 2001 has crossed 370,000 and the number displaced is upwards of 800,000. And the violence continues.
Will the latest warning by the Trump team have the desired effect on the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the “deep-state” in that country? It is difficult to be optimistic.
Three high-level political visits in end September frame the intractable nature of the Afghan war. They were dramatically illustrated by events in Kabul. Mattis arrived in Kabul from Delhi (September 26) and a few hours later the airport was subjected to rocket fire by the local Taliban. This attack on the Kabul airport led to a delay in the visit of Abdullah Abdullah, CEO of Afghanistan, to Delhi.
It is pertinent to note that in their public remarks in Kabul and Delhi, the two men reiterated the imperative of closing down safe havens and sanctuaries for terror groups and dismantling the infrastructure in the region that supports such bloodshed.
The not-so-subtle reference was to Pakistan and its deep-state that continues to support groups such as the Haqqani network, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliates.
This brings us to the third visit — that of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in end September to the US, where he asserted that charges of Pakistan sheltering terrorists were “untrue”, and that the only cross-border movement of terrorists was “from Afghanistan to Pakistan”!
Abbasi went further and categorically ruled out any role for India in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, adding, “Zero, we don’t foresee any political or military role for India in Afghanistan.”
This inflexible veto that Pakistan has accorded unto itself in relation to the internal affairs of Afghanistan and the brazen manner in which it continues to deny the role being played by Rawalpindi in supporting terror groups lies at the core of the political and military challenge for the US, India and Afghanistan.
This was reiterated during the Mattis-Nirmala Sitharaman (India’s Defence Minister) meeting in Delhi. A highly respected US marine corps general, Mattis has first-hand experience of the war in Afghanistan and is deeply aware of Pakistani duplicity, wherein the US taxpayers money is being spent to attack and kill US military personnel.
The (George W.) Bush and (Barack) Obama administrations were aware of this fundamental contradiction — that in September 2001 — before 9/11, Pakistan was one of just three nations in the world who recognised the Afghan Taliban and their regime in Kabul at that time.
Yet the White House chose to overlook this contradiction and allowed Pakistan to become a non-NATO ally in the global war on terror. Further ironies followed, for in October 2001, when the US and its allies were bombing Afghanistan, the wily General Pervez Musharraf was able to strike a deal with the Pentagon and safely withdraw Pakistan army personnel in Afghanistan who were assisting the Taliban.
The metaphor hunting with the (US) hounds and running with the (Taliban) hare could not be more apt.
But the more relevant question that many US citizens ask in anger is how the world’s lone superpower could allow such perfidy to continue for years. This is the question that President Trump is seeking to answer and introduce a much needed corrective to the US South Asia policy.
India, which is also a stakeholder in the war against terror, is a major development partner in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and has provided aid in excess of $2 billion. During the Mattis visit Defence Minister Sitharaman confirmed that while Delhi would not send any troops to Afghanistan, it would enhance its training role for security and police personnel.
The critical military equipment that the Afghan military needs is a complex matter and India is constrained by its own military inventory gaps and the dependence on Russian-origin equipment that cannot be supplied without involving Moscow in the deliberations.
The sub-text of the three visits illuminates both the nature of the Afghan conundrum and the difficulties inherent in crafting policy options that will be more effective than what has been the cost-benefit analysis of the last 16 years. To add to the complexity, Beijing has also become an interlocutor.
Even as the Mattis-Abdullah visits were taking place, the second meeting of the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan (CAP) Practical Cooperation Dialogue was held in Kabul (September 26, 27).
Weaning Rawalpindi away from supporting terror groups will not be a swift binary choice and the White House has considerable experience in the matter. Whether President Trump will be able to cut the Gordian knot remains moot.
(C. Uday Bhaskar is Director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi. He can be contacted at cudayb@gmail.com. The article is in special arrangement with South Asia Monitor)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Sending a strong message to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Monday pledged their commitment to jointly fight to end terrorism as the visiting Afghan Foreign Minister minced no words in equating Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad terror groups with Taliban, Al Qaeda and Islamic State in Afghanistan.
The two countries called for an end to all forms of support and state sponsorship of terrorism after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani held the second Strategic Partnership Council meeting here.
“Both sides expressed grave concern at the incidents of terror and violence in Afghanistan resulting in loss of innocent lives,” a joint statement said.
Noting that terrorism presented the greatest threat to peace, stability and progress of the region and beyond, the two sides called for dismantling safe havens and sanctuaries to terrorists against Afghanistan.
After the talks with Rabbani, Sushma Swaraj addressed a joint media conference and said India and Afghanistan remained “united in overcoming the challenges posed by cross-border terrorism and safe havens and sanctuaries to both our countries”.
Rabbani emphasised that India and Afghanistan had suffered from terrorism and violent extremism that has threatened the region’s stability.
“Together they are killing our people on Afghanistan and destroying infrastructure,” Rabbani said.
The visiting Minister said “Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been launching attacks against India and indiscriminately killing civilians of this country”.
The Pakistan-based groups active in Jammu and Kashmir were “engaged in similar activities along with Taliban, Al Qaeda and Daesh in Afghanistan”, he said.
The two countries also agreed to strengthen security cooperation with New Delhi extending further assistance for the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces in fighting “the scourge of terrorism, organised crime, trafficking of narcotics and money laundering”, according to the joint statement.
“The Indian side reiterated its support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process. It was agreed that concrete, meaningful and verifiable steps for immediate cessation of violence were essential for the success of regional and international efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
The joint statement and Rabbani’s assertion assume significance as US President Donald Trump’s insistence of upholding the importance of India’s role in war-torn Afghanistan’s reconstruction and leaders of the BRICS nations naming the Lashkar and Jaish as terror threats in their summit-level meeting in China earlier this month.
The two countries also signed a host of agreements in development sectors, including in health, agriculture and education.
Sushma Swaraj said India honoured the supreme sacrifices by Afghan Defence and Security Forces for the cause of entire humanity.
“We are indebted to them for ensuring safety of Indians working in Afghanistan,” she said.
She said India would begin implementation of the new 500 scholarships programme for next of kin of the martyrs of Afghan National Defence and Security Forces from the academic year 2018.
“Today, building upon our economic and development cooperation, we jointly agreed to embark on a New Development Partnership in keeping with the priorities of Afghanistan..
“One hundred sixteen new High Impact Development Projects would be jointly implemented that would bring socio-economic and infrastructure development, especially in the suburban and rural communities in 31 provinces of Afghanistan.”
Sushma Swaraj said India would assist in building the Shahtoot dam in the Kabul river basin and drinking water supply project for Kabul, low cost housing for returning refugees, water supply network for Charikar city, and a polyclinic in Mazar-e-Sharif among others.
“Focus will continue on building governance and democratic institutions; human resource capacity and skill development, including in the areas of education, health, agriculture, energy, administration, application of remote sensing in resource management and space technology in governance,” she stated.
Stating that both sides discussed measures for enhancing trade and investment cooperation, Sushma Swaraj said that India has liberalised its visa regime, especially for Afghan businessmen.
She also referred to the Afghanistan-India air freight corridor launched in June this year and said that this would provide direct access for Afghan farmers to the Indian markets.
“We are expediting the development of Chabahar Port in trilateral cooperation with Iran.
“We will begin supply of wheat to Afghanistan in coming weeks through Chabahar port,” she said.
India and Afghanistan also signed a Motors Vehicle Agreement with Sushma Swaraj hoping “that it would pave the way for overland transit”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Urumqi (IANS) : Religious leaders, scholars and government officials from China and other countries urged Muslims to resist religious extremism and condemn terrorism at a symposium.
Participants from Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on Wednesday gathered in Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to share their insights on Islam and experience in combating terrorism, Xinhua reported on Thursday.
The symposium is hosted by the China Religious Culture Communication Association and China Islamic Association.
Keynote speakers said a surging number of terror attacks in the name of Islam in recent years has made it more important than ever to call on Muslims to uphold the spirit of harmony and unity implied in Islamic thought.
Chen Guangyuan, chairman of the China Islamic Association, said opposition to religious extremism is part of Islamic teachings and required in Muslims’ daily behaviour.
Wang Zuo’an, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, urged effective regional cooperation against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, said people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang have suffered from terrorism and moved voluntarily to act against religious extremism and maintain social stability.
