This picture was taken recently in Chaman, the small Pakistani town on the border with southern Afghanistan. While the US and Indian media promote terrorism in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, a terror which is supported by US and Indian intelligence operatives using the Afghan soil, the reality on the ground is far from the image that American and Indian spinmasters wish to convey. [US think tanks are the latest entrants in the psy-ops against Pakistan, promoting the idea of the separation of resource-rich Balochistan from Pakistan.]
In this picture, a Pakistani Balochi is beating a donkey-shaped effigy of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
When the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Obama during his visit to the US this week, the two leaders will discuss the framework for strategic dialogue between the two countries.
Singh seeks to solidify a relationship, transformed under the Bush administration from distant friendship to that of a ‘key ally’. That transformation led to a nuclear cooperation deal, increasing trade and investment, educational exchanges and unprecedented security collaboration. He is keen to finalize the civilian nuclear deal and seek Obama’s support for his bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Singh may also seek reassurance that the Indo-US relationship will not be overshadowed by the increasing Sino-US collaboration.
Maoists in India are breaking India from within itself, While Maoists cut away India’s Eastern provinces all Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can do is just watch, and worry about Pakistan Army growing its muscles by rooting out Indian sponsored TTP from Pakistan. India’s time as regional bully will soon be over.
Two Troops Killed in Jharkhand, Railway line and passenger train attacked.
New Delhi—Preparing his Armed Forces to be ready to react to the terror drama that Indian Intelligence Agency, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) is preparing to execute before November 24,2009, when Indian Premier Manmohan Singh would be leaving for high profile US Visit, the Indian Prime minister on Tuesday gave a call to his Services Chiefs to be ready for another Mumbai like terror attack. Manmohan said on Tuesday that the regular Intelligence reports had warned of “imminent attacks” in the country and security forces needed to be prepared to meet any challenge.
Addressing the top commanders of three Services in New Delhi, he also said that the situation in India’s immediate neighbourhood had worsened, apparently referring to the developments in Pakistan which he did not spell out.
BEIJING: Beijing said on Tuesday it was ‘seriously dissatisfied’ by the visit of an Indian leader to a disputed Himalayan region, the latest tense exchange between the Asian giants over border areas claimed by both, Reuters reported.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu accused an unnamed Indian leader of ignoring China’s concerns by visiting the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told India’s police chiefs on Tuesday that a campaign against Maoist militants had failed to produce results and that militant violence was on the rise in many states. Singh’s comment is the clearest signal yet of the government’s concern at an insurgency that has virtually put a vast swathe of the countryside rich in minerals out of official control, hurting potential business worth billions of dollars.
Though the economic impact of the insurgency remains limited, with the militants largely operating out of jungle hideouts, the insurgency and the sense that it is worsening adds to risks for companies mulling investments. ‘I would like to state frankly that we have not achieved as much success as we would have liked in containing this menace,’ Singh said, underscoring concern over what he has described as the biggest home-grown threat to India’s internal security.
In the Sri Lankan cricket team case, Indian operatives crossed the border from Indian to join other Indian-origin or Indian-trained terrorists who traveled all the way from Afghanistan to Lahore
Indian terrorism training bases, intelligence outposts and personnel in Afghanistan identified
In some cases, Indian intelligence was indirectly supporting attacks against US soldiers in Afghanistan in order to worsen Pak-US military relations
India’s friends, advocates and lobbyists in Washington stunned
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was stunned when Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani handed him a dossier containing photographs of Brahamdagh Bugti and other terrorists meeting Indian agents not only in Afghanistan but also during their visits to India and the names of the Indian officials who met them. This was part of more evidence about India’s involvement in recruiting, training, financing and arming terrorists in Afghanistan and sending them to Pakistan. India’s links to the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore and other high profile terrorism cases have been established, shocking even Indian’s many advocates in Washington. Mr. Gilani gave this surprise to the Indians behind closed doors. Now India fears that Pakistan would use this meeting to expose Indian connections with two anti-Pakistan terrorist leaders and their foreign-funded terror armies: Brahamdagh Bugti and his BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army] and Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, both being supported from bases in US-controlled Afghanistan.
Found this article by an Indian writer, Kavita Krishnan, written last year. Its a fascinating read on the US imperialist plans for India, the implementation of which has so far gone largely unnoticed by the masses. A must read, particularly for our Indian readers.
June 11, 2008 – The Indian ruling class is striving to forge what it calls a “strategic partnership” with the United States, and in this aim the major ruling-class political parties are united. The previous government — a coalition termed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by the Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which was in power from 1999-2004, had in the wake of 9/11 strived to prove to the US rulers that India was a more stable and suitable ally on the subcontinent for the US “war on terror” than Pakistan.
The BJP-led NDA government even proposed a grandiose “Triad Against Terrorism” comprising India, Israel and the US, thereby overturning decades of Indian foreign policy that had favoured the Palestinian cause. The BJP is known for its viciously anti-Muslim agenda, is notorious for the state-sponsored pogrom which killed thousands of Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, and its goal is to turn secular India into a “Hindu” nation. The BJP, drawing on the “clash of civilisations” notion of Christians, Jews and Hindus against Muslims, spoke of a supposed “natural affinity” between India – the “Hindu homeland” – besieged by the terrorism of its Islamic neighbour Pakistan, and Israel – the “Jewish homeland” – besieged by “Muslim” Palestine’s “terrorism”. In May 2003, India’s national security advisor Brajesh Mishra, addressing a meeting of the American Jewish Committee – a Zionist outfit – in Washington, called for a “core, consisting of democratic societies … which can take on international terrorism” – and the Indo-US-Israel axis was to constitute this “core”. The NDA government had even been willing to send Indian troops to assist the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq, but nationwide protests resulted in a unanimous vote in parliament against such a move.
SRINAGAR: A large number of Kashmiris took to streets at Maisuma in Srinagar against subjecting of a shopkeeper to brute force by Indian troops here on Tuesday.
Pitched battles were witnessed between the demonstrators and the troops. People took out a procession from Medical College Srinagar to Lal Chowk to protest the anti-people policies of the puppet administration.
Indian troops, in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred one innocent Kashmiri youth during a siege and search operation at Kalihand in Doda district. [link]
Another candid video, not aired by any news or TV channel, that shows Indian soldiers assaulting kids in a play ground in occupied portion of Kashmir.
Unarmed teenagers, outnumbered by the policemen are beaten up like animals by the Brave Sons of India in a playground. When a news reporter attempts to stop soldiers, he gets a kicking too.
In the video you can clearly hear Hindi words “maro, maro salay ko, maro” – “Beat him, beat the bastard”, whereas, Professor William Baker mentions details about a 82 year old Kashmiri Muslim woman who was raped by 10 Indian soldiers.
Note: The video contain images that are extremely violent, user discretion advised.
Scenes like these are a daily occurrence in occupied Kashmir. The UN and western media has always looked the other way when it comes to Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir – the true face of the so called biggest democracy of the world.
There are many similarities in the way the Indian and Israeli brutalities are executed on innocent civilians. Innocent civilians are murdered, their homes are burnt and demolished and before every election a massacre of Muslims is carried out. A recent example being the Mumbai attacks that were staged right before state elections in India, while the Israeli attacks on Gaza just before the February 18, 2009 elections in Israel.
The biggest similarity in the two cases is the continued and shameless claim of both terrorist states of being ‘victims of terrorism’ and ‘innocent’. The unarmed children brutally assaulted and murdered in Kashmir and Gaza would beg to differ, however.
The Indian media and officials including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee have taken an extraordinary u-turn in the last few days and seem to be going out of their way to ensure peace in the region and the de-escalation of of tension – which if they are to be believed, are a product of Pakistan’s war mongering. India has now denied ever amassing its troops in the Rajasthan area, nevermind building hangars and runways. The recent statements by the high and mighty in India are not without reason, however. Lets first have a look at what has been said before we attempt to look into the reasons behind this sudden change of heart by our Indian ‘friends’.
On ‘evidence’ of Pakistan’s alleged hand in Mumbai:
Responding to repeated Pakistani calls for “evidence”, Mukherjee categorically said that India had provided enough evidence already. “It’s time for action,” the minister added. |Times of India | December 21, 2008
After both the Interpol and China demanded India present credible evidence before accusing Pakistan, and Pakistan laughing off the ‘evidence’ presented on India’s behalf by the US and UK, Pranab Mukherjee has changed his tone completely:
India is now in the final stages of completing its investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks. That would be shared with Pakistan and others, Mukherjee said. Pakistan, he emphasised, will have to act on evidence India gives to it. “And there has to be credible evidence that they are acting on it.” |Hindustan Times| December 30th, 2008
On the war hysteria:
As reported by Indian media last week -
New Delhi also stressed that although it has acted with “utmost restraint” so far, it had not “closed any options”, including a military strike, if Islamabad did not fulfill its anti-terror pledge. |The Hindu| December 23rd, 2008
Even as India refused to take the military option off the table while asking Pakistan to rein in the terrorists, the Indian Army’s and IAF’s quick reaction teams (QRTs) were deployed along the borders in the Western Sector. “Runways, hangars, main roads, ammunition stores and other sensitive places have been provided with additional cover. Sophisticated radars are installed at a few air bases and we are keeping watch on each and every cross-border activity,” said an IAF personnel. Indian forces were on regular firing exercises at locations like Lathi Firing Range in Jaisalmer, Mahsan in Bikaner, Suratgarh and Ganganagar.|Times of India| December 22nd, 2008
Reliable sources have told us that in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, New Delhi relayed a message to the Pakistanis via the United States, saying they would be given 30 days to crack down on Islamist militant proxies on Pakistani soil that continue to threaten India. While India used the time to prep its military forces, the United States came down hard on Pakistan behind the scenes, making clear that if Islamabad did not deliver, Washington would not be able to stand in New Delhi’s way if and when the time came for India to act. |Stratfor Report| December 23rd, 2008
India backtracks:
India has informed Pakistan that it has not engaged in any sort of troop build-up|India Today| December 27th, 2008
Denying any ultimatum being set for Pakistan to act, Pranab Mukherjee said, “no ultimatum was set. There is no question of any ultimatum. Nobody has set any ultimatum.” |Press Trust of India| December 28th, 2008
India has told Pakistan that reports it is mobilising troops along its western border are without basis |The Hindu| December 28, 2008
The reason behind this complete u-turn is to counter the growing view internationally that India has not only failed to provide any credible evidence of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in Mumbai attacks, but is threatening a war on Pakistan by mobilising its troops along the shared border. The Indian media machine as well as its politicians continue to work overtime trying to convince the rest of the world that it was Pakistan, and not India, creating the climate of confrontation between the two nuclear states.
Worryingly for Pakistan, it seems to be working:
Tough tensions have risen in the past few days, neither India’s governing coalition led by the Congress Party nor its habitually hawkish political opposition is advocating a military confrontation with Pakistan, the country’s neighbor and archrival. Pakistan’s redeployment of troops late last week to its border with India, from its tribal areas in the northwest, raised fears. |New York Times |December 28th, 2008
Failing to get a guarantee that Pakistan will not respond to India’s planned ‘surgical strikes’, the US and India now plan to play the waiting game, while reassuring Pakistan that India does not intend to attack, and in fact never did.
The US has even provided Pakistan with satellite imagery showing no movement of Indian troops along the border and implying that Pakistan’s concerns of Indian troop build up are unsubstantiated.
India’s apparent backtracking is intended to create pressure on the Pakistan Army which has been on a high alert in response to the emerging threat from India. Islamabad is said to be under increasing pressure from Washington to not just de-escalate tensions but also reduce the armed forces build up along the border.
If the Pakistan government and military leadership buy into this BS and lay down their guard, the consequences could be devastating for Pakistan.
The reason India has not attacked targets in Pakistan so far despite the green signal from Washington, is its uncertainty of Pakistan Army’s response and the fear of losing face in case its much celebrated Su30k’s are shot down. India is also aware that the Pakistan Army may not be content with shooting down a couple of jets and is more likely to respond by launching an all out war.
A de-escalation would see Pakistan army ordered back to the barracks giving India the opportunity to strike without the fear of a swift or decisive response by Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has held meetings with the heads of the Indian armed forces in the past 24 hours, while build up of the Indian Army continues. The Indian Government has also cancelled scheduled foreign tours of the services chiefs and requested them to be ready for any siutation. Top politicians including Sonia Gandhi, Lalu Parsad Yadav, Motilal Vohra, AK Anthony and Pranab Mukherjee have also attended the briefings.
The proposals under consideration by the Indian Army are:
Surgical Strikes
Squadrons of Mirage, Jaguar or Sukhoi fighters to carry out strikes on Targets such as the alleged Lashkar-e-Tayba headquarters in Azad Kashmir as well as the Jama’at-ud-Dawa headquarters at Muridke.
Commando Raids
Special Forces units cross LoC, attack a an alleged Lashkar site and return. Possibly helicopter borne.
Artillery Barrage
Long-range artillery fires at militant forward bases across the LoC. Bofors and Russian 130 mm guns have 30 km range – Given theguns would be fired from about 5 kms inside India, to be precise the targets would be anything between 8 to 10 kms inside Azad Kashmir.
Mobilization Threat
India mobilizes its land, sea and air forces across the western front. One or two armoured corps make short incursion into Pak territory. India would use Cold Start doctrine and launch a small conventional attack below the nuke threshold. 10th or 11th Corps in Punjab could be mobilised for this.
Naval blockade of Karachi
This is high on the list of the most effective measures India can take, but also the least likely one as US supplies to Afghanistan pass through this corridor. The recent arrival of three Chinese Navy ships in the area on an anti-piracy mission – armed with special forces, helicopters and missiles – can also serve as a deterrence.
Despite the attempts to lure Pakistan into a false sense of security, Pakistan Army continues to be in a heightened state of ‘Red-Alert’, deploying forces as well as equipment in border areas. The army had been installing anti-aircraft guns at roofs of various buildings of strategic importance on Monday while choppers patrolled the skies, prompting hundreds of onlookers to chant ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ and ‘Pak Fauj ko Salam’. The deployment of missiles in strategic locations is complete while NATO’s supplies to Afghanistan have been halted until further notice on the pretext of clearing the area of militants.
In the foreground, Pakistan has officially called on India to deactivate its forward airbases, return troops to “peacetime” positions and resume a dialogue suspended after last month’s militant attacks in Mumbai.
If the recent Israeli action in Gaza is anything to go by, India will use the window between the start of the new year and Barack Obama swearing in on January 20th to attack targets inside Pakistani territory, provided Pakistan takes its eye off the ball.
India wants to launch air strikes inside Pakistan: McCain
WASHINGTON: U.S. Senator John McCain has voiced his deep concern over tense South Asian situation, saying India was preparing for some kind of attack on Pakistan in the wake of last month’s Mumbai attacks.
“The Indians are on the verge of some kind of attack on Pakistan,” such as an air attack on suspected militant camps, he told a daily newspaper in his home state Arizona published Monday. [source]
It has now been more than a month since the Nov. 26 Mumbai attacks, and India has not responded militarily in Pakistan. Some war preparations have been made and New Delhi has by no means taken the military operation off the table, but the crisis, for now, has hit a temporary lull. In a recent unscheduled conversation between Indian Director-General of Military Operations Lt. Gen. A. S. Sekhon and his Pakistani counterpart Maj. Gen. Javed Iqbal over the crisis hotline between New Delhi and Islamabad, Iqbal may well have overtly reminded Sekhon of Pakistan’s longstanding nuclear first-use policy. India may have consequently taken a step back to re-evaluate its options and the consequences of direct military intervention in Pakistan.
Today, 18th December 2008, is a historic day. It marks the beginning of a process wherein my `theory’ about the Mumbai attack might just turn out to be true. But there is no joy. There is just an emptiness, a sadness at Karkare’s death and the killing of hundreds of innocents by the Hindutva-Mossad-CIA combine and International/Israeli mercenaries.
The Minorities Affairs Minister AR Antulay was once a firebrand leader. But he has been quiet for long–too long; today he spoke and questioned directly Karkare’s killing in the Parliament. Antulay is a cabinet Minister; he is not known to speak out of line. Despite Abhishek Singhvi’s remark distancing the Congress from what Antulay said, the latter, it seems, definitely has the sanction of the Congress High Command at some level. Anyone supposing something else is deluding himself/herself.
A sinister game is being played here that is reaffirmed as Delhi’s claims were fully endorsed by the United States and Britain. A carefully orchestrated and well formulated strategy is practised to shape the international opinion regarding Pakistan. Ignoble mention of Pakistani nukes, defamatory statements regarding Pakistan army and her premier spy agency ISI and declaration of Pakistan as the biggest threat to the world security are just a few examples of how well the script written in Washington DC is being executed.
Times of India | West Asia may not take the wind out of the sails of India’s diplomatic campaign against Pakistan, but it is certainly not being of any help either. In fact, if media reports are any indication, several countries in the region are getting more and more apprehensive about India’s conduct in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.
What may also worry India is the growing perception that Pakistan itself is the victim of the crisis and that India is on its way to joining the so-called unholy nexus comprising the US, UK and Israel. It wouldn’t be wrong to state, going by the popular mood, that most of the countries have not just fallen for Pakistan’s `babe in the woods’ appearance but have also been critical of India’s stand vis-a-vis its proximity to the US.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are two countries where the media seems to have already made up its mind that India has joined hands with the US and Israel. “The Indian brother may have already given the Americans a mandate to launch wars in the Indian subcontinent, whose management will be India’s responsibility, since it is possessed by the same `vengeance obsession’ that struck the Americans in 2001,” said the influential Saudi daily Al Hayat in a recent editorial.
The media in Iran too seems to have taken a position diametrically opposite to India’s stated stand. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, of course, had said immediately after the attacks that it might have been the handiwork of people from outside the region. Iranian newspaper Kayhan, in fact, has gone to the extent of suggesting that the attacks were staged together by India, Israel, US and UK.
The media has also expressed resentment against attempts by the US to draw parallels between Mumbai and 9/11. “If there is a connection between the Mumbai attacks and those of September 11, it is to be found in the American response. Seven months after planes flew into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Rice described those tragic events as `an enormous opportunity’ to `create a new balance of power’. Washington now sees a similar opportunity arising from the carnage in India to pursue its interests in South Asia,” said Islamic Republic New Agency which is run by the Iran government.
Sadly for India, there have been few editorials, if any, laying the blame on Pakistan for the attacks. On the contrary, many have underlying sympathy for Pakistan. “Terrorism also threatens Pakistan’s very existence, and directly or indirectly harms its sovereignty over its territory, every time the US attacks what Washington claims is a `terrorist’ target within Pakistan. India is furious while Pakistan, already in an extremely complex economic predicament, definitely needs no more crises to add to its existing ones,” stated Saudi’s Al Madina in an editorial.
West Asia is another dampener for India after China where People’s Daily, the government’s official mouthpiece, had described the Mumbai attacks as the handiwork of Hindus. The report had claimed that the terrorists were wearing a sacred thread around their wrists and this proved that they were Hindus.
Hezbollah in Lebanon had earlier warned India against joining the Americans and Israelis. The organisation has blamed Takfiri sect of Sunni Muslims for the attack. Nevertheless, it went on to state that India’s stand should be independent of “the hegemony of the arrogant”. “We have noted that these kinds of attacks that struck India are often a prelude to US security and military interference that confiscates the sovereignty of states at the pretext of fighting terrorism. These attacks will be an opportunity for the US administration to blackmail both Pakistan and India and infringe on their sovereignty,” it said in an official statement.
Why it took so long to contain this attack of only ten shooters will remain a serious question, but the terrorists, only one of whom was taken alive, were obviously well prepared. They separated, attacked at least five separate sites, knew their way around the places they assaulted, and in some degree were aided by the early unwillingness of police to shoot back. Moreover, the terrorists apparently came prepared for the long haul with ample supplies of ammunition and bags of sliced almonds to stave off hunger. In that respect they did not behave like martyrs, although they certainly had reason to expect death. But the puzzles they left behind are certainly much larger than life.
The official Indian narrative, at least as of now, is that the terrorists were members of a Pakistani group called Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). That group is usually associated with the half-century old Indo-Pak struggle for Jammu and Kashmir, and it reportedly has a suicide group called the fidayeen. However, the principle link of the Mumbai attacks to the LeT is the confession of the surviving member of the group of ten. That statement appears to have been obtained after several hours of interrogation by Indian authorities who have no qualms about torture, and therefore the smooth and complete story that emerged could be as much if not more a matter of what he was led to say rather than what he confessed. We are unlikely to know.
Pakistani authorities have not bought the story, and they have asked for proof. Meanwhile, they have rounded up a number of LeT members, but they have refused an Indian request to extradite the Let members to India. The LeT prisoners, say Pakistani authorities, will be dealt with under Pakistani law.
Why it took so long to contain this attack of only ten shooters will remain a serious question, but the terrorists, only one of whom was taken alive, were obviously well prepared. They separated, attacked at least five separate sites, knew their way around the places they assaulted, and in some degree were aided by the early unwillingness of police to shoot back. Moreover, the terrorists apparently came prepared for the long haul with ample supplies of ammunition and bags of sliced almonds to stave off hunger. In that respect they did not behave like martyrs, although they certainly had reason to expect death. But the puzzles they left behind are certainly much larger than life.
