Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Interfaith marriage row: Kerala HC disposes habeas moved by girls father alleging Love Jihad

2022-04-21

[oneIndia] The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the decision of a Christian woman to marry a Moslem DYFI

...The Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth arm of the CPI(M)...

leader, a decision which stirred up a political storm in the state after her relatives alleged "love jihad", as she categorically told the court that she has not been illegally detained and she was not interested in speaking to her family at present.

A bench of Justices V G Arun and C S Sudha after interacting with the woman, Jyotsna Mary Joseph, said, "She has categorically stated she has decided to marry Shejin (DYFI leader) out of her own free will and not under any compulsion.

She has also stated that as of now she was not interested in interacting with her parents or family and will do so at a later stage," the court noted in its order.

It also told the woman's family that she has said she intended to visit them after her marriage, for which an application under the Special Marriage Act has been moved and is pending consideration, and not before that.

The bench told the family that while it understands their concerns, their daughter was a 26-year-old woman, who was a nurse in Saudi Arabia

...the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the largest communist party in India. It’s part of ruling alliances in Kerala and in Tamilnadu, and was actually elected in the legislatiures of 9 states...

thereafter, made it clear that there was nothing unnatural in interfaith marriages and the campaign of 'love jihad' was a creation of RSS and Sangh Parivar.

'Love jihad' is a term used by right-wing outfits to claim that Moslem men lure women from other faiths to convert them into Islam.

The couple had denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!
of her family.

Link

India-Pakistan

'Love Jihad' in Kerala? Muslim DYFI leader’s marriage with Christian woman sparks political row

2022-04-14

[OneIndia] A recent interfaith marriage of a Moslem activist of the ruling CPI(M)'s youth wing DYFI, has stirred up a political storm after the relatives of the Christian bride alleged "love jihad", with a senior left party leader supporting the charge, only to retract his statement later.

As the issue snowballed into a major controversy, the Marxist party on Wednesday made it clear that there was nothing unnatural in interfaith marriages and the campaign of 'love jihad' was a creation of RSS and Sangh Parivar.

Relatives of Jyotsna Mary Joseph, a nurse in Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...
, levelled "love jihad' allegation after she recently walked out on her family and married Shejin, a local DYFI leader belonging to the Moslem community, without their consent.

A section of the Christian community in Thiruvambady here including nuns staged demonstrations against the alleged 'love jihad' in connection with the incident.

A statement issued by the CPI(M) district secretariat member and former MLA George M Thomas supporting the allegations of 'love jihad' on Tuesday added more fuel to the row and triggered an intense social media campaign by a section of people against the ruling party.

However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
the CPI(M) district leadership intervened and made Thomas issue a clarification.

Love jihad is a term used by the right wing outfits to claim that Moslem men lure women from other faiths to convert them into Islam.

Denouncing Thomas' remarks, P Mohanan, CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary, said today that his party has never referred to inter-religious marriages as 'love jihad'.

"Love Jihad is a term used by the RSS and Sangh forces to attack religious minorities. The CPI(M) has already made its stand clear on the topic. Marriage is the choice of individuals and the legal system of the country permits adults to get married according to their choice," he told news hounds here.

He said Thomas' controversial remark supporting the 'love jihad' charges should be seen as a slip of the tongue and the ex-MLA was also convinced of the mistake now.

Mohanan also said the DYFI leader could have informed the party leadership about the marriage plan and avoided unwanted controversy.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Big Shirley was still trying to snatch Nunzio bald-headed. She was already halfway there...
the newly-married couple denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!
by Jyotsna's relatives.

Addressing news hounds in Alappuzha, where the couple is presently staying, Jyotsna said she has all the freedom to stick to her religion till her death.

Shejin clarified that the marriage is a natural culmination of their love affair and the controversy was 'unnecessary.'

Retracting his earlier stance, George M Thomas told media today that his words were conveniently twisted by communal forces to suit their version of inter-religious marriage as 'love jihad'.

He maintained that he endorsed his party's stand on love marriages. However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
the marriage has hurt the sentiments of the Christian community, the left leader claimed.

The CPI(M) district leadership is organising an explanation meeting at Kodencherry this evening as the controversy over the wedding refused to die down despite the couple denying 'love jihad' charges.

Link

India-Pakistan

Killing of another RSS worker shows how deep rooted Islamic radicalisation is in Kerala

2021-11-26

[OneIndia] A member of an extremist Islamist group has been arrested in connection with the murder of an RSS worker's murder in Kerala. The officer bearer of the Popular Front of India has not been named as yet since his identification parade has to first take place as per the norms of investigation.

R Viswanath, district police chief told reporters that the accused was directly involved in the murder of A Sanjith at Mabaram. More arrests will take place soon, the police chief also said.

Sanjith aged 27 was hacked to death on November 15 while he was taking his wife to her workplace.

The police also said that they have three persons into custody. The SDPI has however rejected all allegations.

Sanjith was waylaid by a gang when he was travelling with his wife. The BJP's district president, K M Haridas has blamed the Social Democratic Party of India, the political wing of the Popular Front of India for incident. The police said that Sanjith had received more than 50 stab wounds. Following the incident security has been increased in view of the rising tensions. Further investigation is underway.

The state president of the BJP K Surendran met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency. He said that in the last 5 years, 10 BJP-RSS workers were killed in the state. He also alleged that 50 Sangh Parivar activists had also been killed.

The killing of Hindu activists in Kerala has been a cause for concern. The Intelligence Bureau has often flagged concerns about the radicalisation in the state. NIA officials probing the Kerala ISIS case say that the prime concern is that all those who have left for the ISIS in Afghanistan are educated. The officer says that a person by the name Shihas had played a major role in building up the module. He had managed to rope in several persons including one Nashidhul, who was initially opposed to the ideology of the ISIS.

During investigations, the NIA learnt that the brainwashing was so strong that many who did not subscribe to the view of the outfit ended up getting convinced. They are repeatedly told that as Muslims they are livi

Link

India-Pakistan

Kerala CM's 'Muslim country ' remark triggers protests

2010-07-26

Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's statement that radical Popular Front of India (PFI) was aiming to convert the southern Indian state into a 'Muslim country', has evoked strong protests from various quarters. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a partner of the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front, termed his remark an insult to the entire Muslim community in the state.

"It is a besmirching without parallel!"

The Congress has described it politically motivated. The CM had reportedly made the statement at a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday in the wake of arrests of several PFI activists in connection with the chopping off of the hands of a college lecturer after he had prepared a question paper that allegedly carried a blasphemous question.

"Achuthanandan's charge that the PFI was trying to encourage youth from other communities to marry Muslim girls in order to increase the Muslim population in the state is the language of Hindutva man", IUML General Secretary, P.K. Kunhalikuty said.

Take that, V.S.!

He told reporters at Calicut on Sunday that he could reply to the chief minister in the same language. "We are maintaining restraint because we do not want to destroy the ~~obvious~~ communal harmony prevailing in the state", he added. He said that both the PFI and People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Abdul Nasser Madhani had become a liability for the community. "Because of them, mosques and other Muslim institutions were being raided by the police".

"If the PFI was indulging in activities as alleged by Achuthanandan, then stringent action should be taken against them', he said, adding 'but, to accuse the community as a whole is in bad taste".

*gasp!*

He pointed out that the CPM had aligned with such organisations in the last Assembly elections in order to weaken the IUML. "That way the CPM is responsible for promoting extremism in the state", Kunhalikutty said.

Jamaa-e-Islami chief Arif Ali has also expressed the fear that Achuthanandan's charge would weaken the effort from the community to isolate the extremist forces. He pointed out that the chief minister had talked like a Sangh Parivar spokesman.

Gadzooks!

Achuthanandan had earlier courted controversy by saying that the Congress was promoting Muslim and Christian communalism in the state.

Is there no end to the outrage?

Link

India-Pakistan

Patil seeks report from Orissa Governor

2008-10-05

Pressure on Saturday appeared to be mounting on the Centre for effective intervention in Orissa in the wake of continuing violence against Christians by Sangh Parivar outfits and the demand for imposition of President's rule.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who was asked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Friday's Cabinet meeting to come out with an apprisal of the situation, is understood to have sought a report from the Governor.

Mr. Patil spoke to Governor M.C. Bhandare to discuss the situation in the State, Home Ministry sources said.

The Centre was unhappy with the Naveen Patnaik government for the violence in the state against the Christian community and said despite half a dozen warnings, the Orissa government was not able to control the situation. The situation in Orissa acquired greater attention from the Centre after the embarrassment suffered by Dr. Singh when he met the leaders of the E.U. in France during the week when they raised the issue of attacks on Christians.

Link

India-Pakistan

AIDWA demands arrest of Orissa rape accused

2008-10-01

The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has strongly condemned the "failure" of the Orissa police to arrest Sangh Parivar cadres accused of brutally gang raping a young nun on August 25 at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district of Orissa.

Shockingly, the assault was carried out in full public view, right in front of a police outpost with 12 policemen from the Orissa State Armed Police present and watching the atrocity. The attackers also grievously injured a priest and doused him with kerosene when he courageously tried to resist them. It is outrageous that despite the fact that both victims filed First Information Reports on the same day, not a single arrest has been made in the case although it is now over a month since the incident took place, a statement issued by AIDWA said here on Tuesday. Equally shocking is the inaction on the part of the Orissa Chief Minister who has been apprised of the facts.

"The Sangh Parivar's attacks on the Christian and Muslim minorities are acts of terrorism that target the secular fabric of our nation. We express our deep concern about the vicious communal campaign of the Bajrang Dal-Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh-Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bharatiya Janata Party combine all over the country. There has been a huge escalation in the violence against minorities, and the targeting of women. The support extended by the State apparatus in Orissa and in Karnataka in the spread of this venom is an extremely disturbing development," the statement said.

Link

India-Pakistan

Situation in Kandhamal out of control: Archbishop

2008-09-29

Bhubaneswar: "Simply out of control," is how Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, described the situation in Kandhamal, the district in central Orissa that has seen sustained violence against Christians by Sangh Parivar groups since December 2007.

"I see an attempt to appease the majority, because of the coming elections, in the statement given by the Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, when he went to Phulbani [the district headquarters of Kandhamal] yesterday [on Saturday]," he told The Hindu in an interview in Bhubaneswar at the Archbishop's House. "There was not one word in his statement about the 40,000 persons displaced and in relief camps, not one word about the 4,200 homes destroyed, and not one word about the 45 persons -- including a pastor who was cut to pieces just a few days ago in front of his wife -- who have been murdered. Why did he go?"

A tired and anguished Archbishop severely indicted the State and Central governments of insensitivity and inaction in respect of the violence and injustice perpetrated against the Dalit Christians of Kandhamal.

"My impression is that the State government is trying its best to cover up the violence by giving the impression that the normalcy has been restored, and that there is no need for further action." The Supreme Court, he said, in response to a petition filed before it on September 8 seeking protection from the relentless violence against Christians, had given the State government four weeks to respond. The Archbishop said the Sangh Parivar had used this period to "systematically destroy one village after another."

"Excuse unacceptable"
The excuse of the State government that marauding mobs often outnumbered the police force present at the spot, he said, was unacceptable. "Why did they allow the numbers to swell in the first place?" "We know that in cases of attack and even rape the police just stood by and took no action. What is left to destroy now?"

The Archbishop said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh three times, President Pratibha Patel twice, Home Minister Shivraj Patil twice and Congress president Sonia Gandhi once over the situation in Kandhamal. The Prime Minister, he said, called it a "national shame" and promised help, but there had not been any real change in the situation as Dalits continue to live in relief camps and were too frightened to return to their villages.

According to the Archbishop, the Sangh Parivar has "issued a fatwa" that by September 30, residents must return to their villages to be re-converted to Hinduism. "I am issuing a letter that will be distributed to Christians telling them not to worry and to be firm. No conversion is valid unless it is free. A document signed under duress is not valid under law."

He is also planning to call a meeting of Bishops and heads of religious groups to organise a rally in Bhubaneswar protesting the grave violence and injustice against Christians in Kandhamal.

Link

India-Pakistan

Lashkar militants sentenced for possessing explosives

2007-08-07

NEW DELHI: A court here on Monday sentenced two Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for possessing arms and explosives. Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur also slapped a fine of Rs. 50,000 on each of the convicts -- Shahid Ahmed Bakshi, a resident of Ahmedabad, and Farhan Ahmed Ali, a resident of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The court had held them guilty on July 30 under various provisions of the erstwhile Prevention of Terrorism Act pertaining to unauthorised possession of arms, ammunition and explosives.

The accused had also been charged with conspiring to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and some "Sangh Parivar" activists. However, the court acquitted them of the charges as the prosecution could not prove them.

According to the prosecution, the accused were arrested at Nizamuddin here on August 30, 2002, with 4 kg of RDX, two detonators and a Chinese-made pistol along with magazine and 15 live cartridges. It had alleged that the accused had conspired to murder Mr. Modi and others to take revenge for the riots in the aftermath of the Godhra incident. They were also assigned the task of carrying out terrorist attacks in the country, the prosecution had alleged. The court had also absolved the duo of the charges of conspiracy to wage war against the State for want of evidence.

Link

India-Pakistan

India playing politics with terrorism

2006-07-22

After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the Indian government has come under immense pressure to adopt a more robust policy toward tackling terrorism. While on the external front there is demand for stern action against Pakistan - some are even calling for military strikes on terrorist camps based in Pakistan - on the domestic front there have been strident calls for reviving draconian anti-terrorism legislation that was repealed a couple of years ago.

A series of bomb blasts ripped through suburban trains in Mumbai on July 11, killing 182 people and injuring more than 700. Investigations into the blasts are on. Hundreds have been rounded up and questioned, with three people arrested on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, India's political parties have swooped down on the tragedy to score points vis-a-vis their political rivals and consolidate their vote banks. First off the block was the Hindu right wing - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. Others who have joined in the race include the Samajwadi Party (SP), which appeases Muslim extremism.

Within days of the tragedy, the BJP organized an anti-terrorism rally in Mumbai, which was addressed by Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat. The choice of Modi as the mascot for its anti-terrorism campaign was not without reason. Modi was at the helm in Gujarat when mobs led by Hindu right-wing activists massacred thousands of Muslims in 2002. And in the years since, he has adopted a virulently anti-Muslim, pro-Hindutva (an exclusivist Hindu ideology that the right wing advocates) agenda.

In Mumbai, Modi launched a blistering attack on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's "soft" approach to tackling terrorism and demanded that Delhi re-enact the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) or else give the states the power to enact their own anti-terrorism legislation. Several other BJP leaders, including L K Advani, home minister when POTA was enacted in 2002, have demanded that it be revived. So far the government has ruled out re-enacting the legislation.

Some believe that POTA or similar legislation is essential to prevent terrorism in India. They miss the point that when it was in effect it didn't prevent terrorist attacks. India's parliament building was attacked in December 2001, when POTA was an ordinance. The Kaluchak army base in Jammu was attacked (May 2002), followed by a string of terrorist strikes on the Akshardham Temple (September 2002) and the Raghunath Temple in Jammu (March and November 2002).

In fact, POTA might have been instrumental in fueling terrorism. Its misuse - POTA was used by the Modi government in Gujarat to harass Muslim youth after the riots - is said to have contributed to deepened rage, prompting hundreds of them to join extremist outfits fighting the Indian state.

Those who are clamoring for tough new legislation to tackle terrorism are also ignoring the fact that existing legislation provides police with powers they need to fight terrorism. Soon after POTA was repealed by the new Congress-led government, some of its provisions were retained by amending other laws. For instance, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 was amended to include POTA provisions for banning terrorist organizations and their support systems, including funding.

The militant organizations banned under POTA therefore continued to remain illegal. This legislation imposes penalties that are as stiff as POTA's for a wide range of offenses, including committing a terrorist act, harboring terrorists, being a member of a terrorist group and holding proceeds of terrorism. And as under POTA, intercepted communications are admissible as evidence. And in insurgency-racked Kashmir and the northeastern states, even tougher laws - the Public Security Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act - are in operation to fight terrorism there.

After the repeal of POTA India might not have a special law against terrorism, but there are laws that contain provisions specifically meant to combat that problem.

In Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999, gives police and intelligence agencies ample powers. Yet these laws and the powers they provide the police were not sufficient to prevent the serial blasts on July 7.

To prevent terrorism, intelligence-gathering must be improved. The online Public Affairs magazine points out that "terrorism must be preempted at the planning stage, and key to this is human intelligence ... Once the terrorist planning stage is passed, and the sleeper cells and modules are activated, it becomes harder to contain the violence. Between planning and managing the logistics, officials say, there was a long gap in which terrorist attacks could be foiled, but this gap is shrinking as the terrorists get more proficient, and more confident when they see the state not pursuing them single-mindedly."

Intelligence and police officials complain of political interference neutralizing their work. They say that the definition of a terrorist seems to change with changes in government. In the process, even if they provide input regarding possible terrorist attacks little is done by the political authorities to prevent it from happening. There were several indications that terrorists were planning to strike in Mumbai, which apparently was conveyed to the Maharashtra government. The government did not act and the result was the July 11 strikes.

It is not just laws, then, that will prevent attacks but the political will to prevent them. And the political will is often not there because politicians are constantly eyeing their vote banks even when decisions related to national security need to be made.

Despite the ban on the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and its reported involvement in terrorist attacks - the probe into the Mumbai blasts suggests that SIMI activists executed the attacks - the Uttar Pradesh government has defended the outfit. The SP, which heads the government in Uttar Pradesh, is eyeing the Muslim vote and is projecting itself as a champion of the Muslims. With the state due to go to the polls next year, the SP is wooing the Muslim vote by turning a blind eye on Muslim extremism. It is impossible, say police officials, to crack down on terrorists when the government backs them. Similar is the case with Hindu extremists in states ruled by the BJP. The UPA makes decisions regarding national security keeping in mind their electoral impact.

The Congress party blames its main rival, the BJP, for deepening Muslim alienation from the Indian state and for the flow of Muslim youth to extremist outfits. It has a point. The destruction of the Babri Masjid by the BJP and its fraternal outfits in 1993 and the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat have provided a boost to Islamic extremism in India. Videos of these events and anti-Muslim hate speeches delivered by leaders of the Sangh Parivar (the family of Hindu organizations of which the BJP is a part) constitute part of the material that Muslim extremists use to motivate their operatives.

But the Congress is no less guilty. In 1984, mobs led by Congress leaders massacred Sikhs in Delhi. The Congress carried out an intensely communal campaign in the elections soon after. It criticized the BJP for not banning the Bajrang Dal (a Hindu extremist outfit that is part of the Sangh Parivar) under POTA. But it has not proscribed the organization either for fear of turning away the Hindu vote. It made a big show of repealing POTA to score points over the BJP and to appease Muslims but quietly included many of its provisions by amending other laws. In states where it is in power, it has been soft on Muslim extremism and allowed terrorist modules to proliferate. The number of terrorist modules busted in 2005 was a third of the figure for 2004.
If Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf turns off the terror tap, a significant proportion of India's problem with terrorism will no doubt be addressed. But with terrorism in India increasingly taking on an Indian face, India will need to focus on setting its house in order. Its politicians will have to stop playing politics with terrorism.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Advani Resigns as Chief of India's Hindu Party

2005-06-08

Refusing to retract the comments he made in Pakistan, former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishn Advani resigned yesterday as president of the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party. Within hours of being asked by Sangh Parivar to "review" statements he made in Pakistan, Advani called Sanjay Joshi, RSS point man in the BJP, to his residence and handed in his resignation.

In the letter of resignation addressed to Sanjay, written "just before departing from Karachi," Advani said: "I have decided to request the party to relieve me of presidency — I have taken this decision after pondering the matter very carefully — I have not said or done anything which I need to retract or review." The Sangh Parivar, or the conglomeration of Hindu groups, did not take kindly to Advani expressing regret over the demolition of the Babri Masjid and describing Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah as a "great man" who espoused the cause of a secular Pakistan.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Modi Ordered Minority Killings, Claims Top Official

2005-04-15

In an explosive submission before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Additional Director General of Gujarat police R.B. Sreekumar has revealed how Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his bureaucrats issued orders like "elimination" of minorities, ignoring activities of the Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh (RSS) Sangh Parivar and distorting facts about the actual situation prevailing in the state during his tenure as state intelligence chief. He also revealed how Modi himself issued instructions to keep a watch and tap the phones of state Congress party chief Shankersinh Vaghela, his former Cabinet Minister Haren Pandya and certain Muslim police officers and municipal counselor.

That's why Modi's damaged goods. The Indos are going to have to dump him eventually, but it looks like he's pretty well connected. And ruthless, though clumsy.

Sreekumar, whose earlier disclosures also created a furor, has made these revelations in a blow-by-blow account contained in a "semi-official" diary annexed to his petition before the CAT. This diary contains details of his interactions as additional DGP (intelligence) between April 16 and Sept. 19, 2002 with Modi and many others in the state government. An entry of June 28, 2002 says that after a meeting to discuss preparations for the forthcoming Rath Yatra, then Chief Secretary G. Subbarao told Sreekumar, "If someone is trying to disturb the Rath Yatra or planning to spoil the same, that person be eliminated." He added: "This is the policy and well-considered decision of Chief Minister Narendra Modi." When Sreekumar objected saying it was illegal, Subbarao told him that "such action can be taken on the basis of situational logic". Subbarao was not available for comments.

I guess his "situational logic" suggested he have his hair done that day.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Pakistani diplomats caught in Indian 'honey traps'

2005-02-04

A former top Indian intelligence official has penned his memoirs detailing the exploits of Pakistani diplomats between the sheets.

"Shaujaat. Chaudry Shaujaat..."

'Open secrets India's intelligence unveiled' by Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), details the intelligence games between Pakistani and Indian agents since 1956, including the "honey traps" used by both sides to gain information. The book contains several sensational claims about current Indian politicians that are causing a stir here.

"You doinked that hussy at the SAARC summit! Patel, how could you!"

Dhar writes how, as head of the Pakistan desk at the counter-intelligence wing of the IB, he tailed and video-taped several Delhi-based Pakistani diplomats in bed with various women. One diplomat had seduced the sister of a reputed journalist who was close to then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"Oh, take me, Mahmoud!"

"She had succumbed to the blackmailing of a Pakistani diplomat of NWFP origin. The Pakistan Counter Intelligence Unit documented several of their intimate meetings with appropriate light and sound. The tape was played for the prime minister and he took action..." writes Dhar in his book, an advance copy of which was made available to Daily Times.

"Tell, me, madame, what are we to make of these pictures?"
"That is not my butt!"
"The lighting is very good. And the sound is superb. Are you sure this is not your butt?"

Another Pakistani diplomat had seduced the daughter-in-law of a reputed arms peddler and defence contractor. "She had arranged two meetings of the Pakistani diplomat with a serving major general of the Indian Army," Dhar writes.

"Uncle Mukkerjee, this is my lover, Shaujaat. Shaujaat, this is Uncle Mukkerjee, the very model of a modern major general..."

Indian agencies also used "honey traps" to target Pakistani diplomats based in New Delhi. One Pakistani diplomat had pierced deep into Indian defence targets and was a great headache for Indian agencies. "His behavioural peculiarities were studied over a period and it was found he was fond of a certain lady from old Delhi. The beauty was recruited and taught certain trade secrets. A trap was laid and the diplomat was caught fabulously on celluloid," writes Dhar. He adds that the woman was later used in operations inside the high security Pakistani High Commission.

"What kind of operations?"
"Sensitive operations!"

In a claim that tears apart the stand of Hindu nationalists (Sangh Parivar) and the government, the book says that the demolition of Babri Masjid was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of the RSS, BJP and VHP. "Around February 1992, soon after the flop 'ekta yatra' of Murli Manohar Joshi, I was directed to arrange technical coverage of a key meeting of the BJP/Sangh Parivar. The meeting was to be attended by Lal Krishna Advani, MM Joshi, Rajju Bhaiya (then RSS chief), KS Sudarshan, Vijayaraje Scindia, HS Sheshadri, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharati and Champat Rai," the author says.

"Along with three dozen hookers from Peshawar and Quetta, of course."

About operations in Kashmir, Dhar says Indian democracy "has never given a sincere try to the goodwill of the people of Kashmir". He writes that India's Kashmir policy has remained hostage to the interests of the Nehru-Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah families, together with certain peripheral Kashmiri Muslims and core Pandits (Kashmiri Hindus) and a few intelligence bureaucrats. He says that around 1989, intelligence production in that state had dried up. When called to assist, Dhar writes, he raised some intelligence assets in the valley. "I deftly used the services of a Delhi-based Muslim lady to recruit a couple of Kashmiri Muslim assets. These assets were engaged in fruit and carpet trading and lived around Muslims ghettos in the Lajpat Nagar and Okhla localities of Delhi," he writes.

"I can't seduce him!"
"Oh, c'mon! Why not?"
"He smells like old bananas!"
"Well, try the carpet guy, then."

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More