I have no faith in Indian court, says Amir Kasab

Mumbai (India) October 12: Facing trial in the Mumbai attack case for nearly six months, the lone surviving Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab on Monday said he had 'no faith' in Indian court and made a dramatic plea for transfer of the case to an international court. But Judge M L Tahaliyani rejected 22-year-old Kasab's plea saying, "It is misconceived."

"I have no faith in Indian court and this case may be transferred to an International court," Kasab said in an application to the court. He had moved the application written in his own hand in Urdu. The application was filed through jail authorities who translated it into Marathi and produced before the court.

The judge asked Kasab whether he had written the application and he replied "Ji huzoor" (Yes, Sir). The trial of Kasab, whom police formally charged in February with several offences including 'waging war' against India, began on March 23 via a video link with his Arthur Road prison in Mumbai.

Kasab and other suspected Laskhar-e-Taiba operatives killed 166 people most of them muslims in a three-day rampage in the city on November 26 last.

In another development, the judge also rejected the plea of co-accused Fahim Ansari to stay the proceedings on the ground that he had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of the 26/11 case to some other court alleging that the recording of evidence was incorrect.

"This is yet another attempt by the accused to delay the trial," noted judge Tahaliyani while rejecting Fahim's plea to stay the proceedings.

While stating that he had no trust in the trial court, Fahim had alleged that he was not being allowed to meet his wife and proceedings of the case were not being correctly recorded.

The judge, rejecting his plea to stay the trial, observed, "The accused is employing delay tactics. His wife has been issued a permanent pass to attend the proceedings. Fahim is also allowed to meet his wife every day and the meeting time also has been increased from time to time."

"Despite getting all such facilities, Fahim has been misusing them. Also, whenever he is asked queries, he does not cooperate and gives evasive answers," the court observed.

On the allegation that proceedings were not being correctly recorded, the judge said it was 'misconceived' and added that there was no provision in law to have an audio-visual recording of the trial.

"Fahim is perhaps being instigated by outsiders," the court noted. Fahim is facing the charge of conspiring with other accused in the so-called terror attacks.

Police say they recovered maps of 26/11 terror locations which he allegedly handed over to LeT conspirators in Pakistan. The court has also issued contempt notice to Fahim asking him why contempt action should not be taken against him for making allegations against it in the application. (rediffmail.com)

Death is still a livelihood in Kashmir

Sheikh GULZAAR Srinagar: In strife-torn Kashmir, unemployment is rampant. But one business has boomed, thanks to militancy - the business of death. Tomb-makers and epitaph writers are an in-demand lot. Perhaps not as in demand as they were at the peak of militancy, yet, it is a viable career option. In 1989, Srinagar had seven tomb-makers. Now, there are more than 25. All are doing good business, even though the death rate has come down considerably in the last three years. "It's all is in the hands of Allah. He plays his own games," says Shabir Ahmad, a 50-year-old tomb-maker who has witnessed Kashmir's bloodiest years. "In a state where newspapers report dozens of deaths everyday, who would not try his luck in the business," he asks. Even security forces place orders for the memorial nameplates for their colleagues killed in action. Amjid Khan, 33, who did his graduation in Urdu, switched to the booming business in 1993. And there are many like him in the Valley. "The business of death is as old as time. And if the situation is 'hot' like Kashmir, it is financially very lucrative to carve tombs and epitaphs," he says. On an average, 90 people die in a month in Kashmir. In the early Nineties, it was more than 150 per month. With untimely and unnatural death becoming commonplace, graves, like life, have changed. Instead of intricately carved tombs, people now prefer granite and marble slabs. The reason - they are cheaper and can be made quicker. "There has been a 75 percent decrease in carved tombs. People prefer slabs of granite and marble instead," says Muhammad Jamal, who makes tombs and epitaphs. A carved tomb costs between Rs 800-4,000. But, granite and marble slabs cost between Rs 250-900. "These days, we inscribe 12-15 sheets of granite every month," says Jamal. He recalls the days when business was at its peak - 1990 to 1995. "Every day, we would get orders to carve epitaphs of people who had died in violent incidents." The trend of granite and marble slabs was started by the "martyrs' graveyard" and Idgah in Srinagar where more than 500 people are buried. All of them died in militancy-related incidents. The graveyard is dotted with similar slabs. Outsourcing has caught on too. "There is a sharp decrease in the supply of stones," says Ahmad Yousuf, a supplier in Khrew. Now, most of the granite and marble slabs come from Rajasthan. The katibs - people who write epitaphs - have also seen death change their lives. "There were times in 1995 when I would write on 20 stones a day." says M. Makhdoomi, a katib. On an average, a katib charges between Rs 50-100 to inscribe an epitaph. But Makhdoomi would rather not make so much money. "May Allah bring peace to the Valley," he says. Reyaz, a shop owner in downtown Srinagar, remembers when he got his life's biggest assignment. "I had to carve granite and marble for 33 people who died when police opened fire on protestors near Khanyar," he says. "All were buried in the same graveyard near the site of incident." There are approximately 17,000 such 'martyrs' graveyards' in Kashmir. Officials put the number of dead during armed freedom strugle between 55,000-70,000. But unofficially, the toll has crossed the One-lakh 80 thousand mark.(Writer-South Asia)

Hindu Zionists Behind Mumbai Attacks – Zaid Hamid

Hindu Zionists Behind Mumbai Attacks – Zaid Hamid

By Inam Abidi Amrohvi

Islamabad: I felt that a section of the Indian media acted a little immature by linking the terrorists to Pakistan even before the official word. Playing to the gallery gets you TRPs but doesn’t help the greater cause. Agreed the men came from Pakistan (as shared by the government later) but the country is itself fighting the same monster. It’s high time that we work together on countering this threat together rather than play the age old blame game. If Pakistan is serious we will get closer to the people who masterminded the Mumbai carnage. And for that it needs to do more than just mere assurances.

Replying to the Indian claims of the terrorists coming from Pakistan, a TV channel (News One) there has come up with its own weird conspiracy theory. I couldn’t watch the entire programme as it was too far fetched to digest and in a way mocked the sacrifices of some very brave men.

The video features Zaid Hamid. Hamid is an idependent Pakistani security expert and also the founder of BrassTacks – a Pakistani Think Tank devoted to the study of regional and global political events and their influence on Pakistan. He comes from a military background having signed up as a volunteer in the Afghan war. His jihadi roots speaks for his biased opinions and weird logic. On a lighter note he is a good entertainer with his kind of imagination.

Over 3-years' dialogue sans change in Kashmir situation

Over 3-years' dialogue sans change in Kashmir situation
Srinagar: The Pak-India dialogue process, started in January 2004 when President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee met in Islamabad, has entered into fourth year. Since then, international community and more importantly, Kashmiris have been continuously pinning its hopes that these talks focused mainly on the core issue of Kashmir would help improve the ground situation in occupied Kashmir. But to the dismay of all, the situation remains as it was; Kashmiris are facing the same ordeal as before 2004. According to the data since January 2004 to March 2007, Indian troops in their continued acts of state terrorism have killed 3906 Kashmiris, including 332 in custody. Among the killed are also 117 women and 102 children. During this period, 997 structures, including shops and residential houses, have been destroyed, 328 women molested, 830 youth disappeared, 625 women rendered widowed and 1684 children orphaned. This mind-boggling number of human rights violations occurred in an era when the people of the 21st century are struggling for universal peace end harmony.
A couple of months ago, the exhumation of the dead bodies of Abdul Rahman Paddar, Maulvi Shoukat Ahmed, Ghulam Nabi Wani, Ali Mohammad Paddar and Nazeer Ahmad Deka and their subsequent DNA tests conducted at Chandigarh Forensic Labs had, in fact, established the flagrant phenomena of disappearances and killings of Kashmiri youth in custody and fake encounters by Indian troops. Although India endeavored to color the incidents as the crimes committed by some individuals among the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Indian Police, however, the explicit matters of routine in occupied Kashmir are hard to conceal.
All the atrocities being inflicted upon the Kashmiris are systematically governed by Indian state policy to continue them to the extent that they withdraw from their legitimate struggle against illegal Indian occupation. Indian authorities by the exhumation of the dead bodies of the above-mentioned Kashmiris during the preceding months have tried to prove that HR violations in occupied Kashmir are driven by a few disgruntled individuals among SOG. To augment the effect, India has also suspended some of its policemen due to their involvement to prove the notion that these are the individuals and not the state that is responsible for HR violations in the occupied territory. Though, it is only the tip of the iceberg of the killings of Kashmiri youth in fake encounters and during custody who afterwards are labeled as foreign militants, yet it is a solid proof of the day-to-day acts of Indian state terrorism in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
The SOG personnel who carried out the above heinous killings were allured by the Indian policy of giving rewards and promotions for such acts. The puppet regime, therefore, had duly rewarded the SOG personnel with 1,20,000 Indian rupees. Indian intransigence in its policy towards Kashmiris is evident from myriads of examples, one of them being Indian stubbornness for not releasing thousands of Kashmiris living in distressed conditions in different jails of India and occupied Kashmir. Among illegally arrested Kashmiris are also included prominent Kashmiri liberation leaders, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Zamruda Habib, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, Ashiq Hussain Fakhtoo, Bilal Siddiqi, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori and many others.
Another striking fact of India's intransigence is that despite the ongoing peace process, it has blatantly shunned from repealing black laws implemented to suppress Kashmiris. Under these laws Indian troops enjoy full impunity to suppress Kashmiris (by killing, arresting, harassing). These laws include Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Terrorism And Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and the Jammu And Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act (DAA). Under the DAA, Indian troops have extraordinary powers, including authority to shoot the suspected and to destroy structures merely on suspicions. TADA gives Indian troops special powers for the use of force, arrest and detention. POTA has equipped Indian troops with extraordinary lethal powers. According to it, any act committed with any weapon (even licensed) can be described as a terrorist act. The suspects can be detained for three months without charges being brought against them and three more months if allowed by a special judge. Following intense international pressure, TADA and POTA was repealed, however, cases are still filed under this draconian law. Glaring examples in this regard are those of the cases filed against prominent Kashmiri Liberation leaders, Syed Ali Gilani and Muhammad Yasin Malik.
AFSPA gives armed and paramilitary forces sweeping powers that facilitate arbitrary arrests and detentions and extra-judicial executions and reinforce the impunity of offenders acting under it. PSA permits administrative detention for a period of up to two years on vaguely defined grounds to prevent people "from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the state or the maintenance of public order". Important legal and constitutional safeguards including the right to be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest and to consult a lawyer of one's choice, are not available to anyone held under preventive detention legislation. Thousands of people over the years have been detained under the Act. Under the above-mentioned black laws, confessions made before police, and army officers have been described as admissible in the courts of law. The result has been that many Kashmiri youth like Muhammad Afzal Guru and Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo were awarded death sentences and life imprisonments on the basis of their so-called confessions recorded under severe torture during interrogation.
There are thousands of Kashmiris who for years have been searching for their missing kin in Indian troops' custody in every nook and corner of India and the occupied territory. During this time, most of them have also heavily greased the palms of Indian officials only to have a single look either of a missing son, father, husband, brother, mother or a sister. According to the data released by the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), the number of those missing in troops custody exceeds ten thousand. Among the missing are also included children less than 10-year old. Missing for over a decade, their mothers faintly hope them to have grown up as adults.
No day passes in occupied Kashmir without a forceful protest demonstration, sit-ins or strikes, in which decades-suppressed IOK people call upon International community to press upon India to stop its troops' ever-growing human rights violations. India needs to realize that it will have to take serious measures to improve human rights situation in the occupied territory such as repealing the draconian laws and pulling out of its troops from the towns and populated areas as the first phase of demilitarization from the occupied territory. The rights violations committed by Indian troops can indeed be done away with if the demilitarization of Kashmir as proposed in the four-point formula of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is implemented in its letter and spirit. As for International community, it should take cognizance of the unabated acts of Indian terrorism and press upon India to allow international human rights bodies to investigate into the massive acts on Human Rights violations to know the crude facts of the last 18 years.