Recently in India Category

This is all the more disturbing following a similar recent incident in which a video conference with Salman Rushdie at a literary fair had to be called off.

Behavior that is rewarded is repeated, and society will be poorer for it as dissent becomes physically dangerous. "After Muslim protests, Kolkata Book Fair cancels Taslima Nasrin book launch," by Molly Driscoll for the Christian Science Monitor, February 2:

After receiving threats, the Kolkata Book Fair canceled the launch of Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin’s new autobiography "Nirbasan," which had been scheduled to debut at the fair this week. Muslim leaders had protested her appearance there because of one of Nasrin’s previous books, titled “Lajja” (translated to “Shame”), which has been viewed by some of the Muslim faith as offensive.

Nasrin has enraged them before by demanding women's rights. Two people died in riots over her article "Let's Think About the Burqa" in 2010. In that article, she called for women to burn their burqas, and noted:

"Some 1,500 years ago, it was decided for an individual's personal reasons that women should have purdah and since then millions of Muslim women all over the world have had to suffer it," and: "Why are women covered? Because they are sex objects. Because when men see them, they are roused. Why should women have to be penalised for men's sexual problems? Even women have sexual urges. But men are not covered for that."

The CSM report continues:

Tridib Chatterjee, the secretary for the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which is in charge of the Kolkata Book Fair, told The New York Times that the launch was canceled not only because of threats received, but because the AC Hall, the space where the launch was to take place, was not prepared.

“We took the decision to cancel the book launch in the larger interests of the people,” Chatterjee told The New York Times. “We cannot jeopardize the safety and security of thousands of visitors to the book fair.”

The launch then took place at the stall of the People’s Book Society, the publishing company that was releasing Nasrin’s new book, though not in connection with the fair's organizers. Other authors at the book fair, including writer Nabarun Bhattacharya, launched the book at the stall unofficially. A rally occurred later at the fair, protesting the threats against Nasrin.

Nasrin was forced to flee her home country of Bangladesh in 1994 after the release of "Lajja" provoked attacks and death threats. She lived in Europe and North America for some time before moving to Kolkata, but after being attacked again and becoming the subject of riots due to a fatwa against her in the city, she moved to New Delhi, and then left India for Sweden after she said some members of the police force told her to leave the country.

Nasreen said she was taken aback that the cancellation had not prompted more outrage from the city’s residents.

“Are Kolkatans becoming cowards?” she asked the Times of India.

Showing yet again that thuggery and intimidation work. "Salman Rushdie's video conference at Jaipur Literature Festival cancelled," from IBNLive, January 24 (thanks to Sanjay):

Jaipur: Celebrated author Salman Rushdie's live video conference at Jaipur Literature Festival has been cancelled following protests by Jaipur-based Milli Council. Several activists of the Milli Council arrived at the venue of the Festival at Diggi Palace on Tuesday afternoon, demanding that the proposed video address by Rushdie be called off, claiming that it was an insult to the Muslims.

Despite Rajasthan government supporting the organisers of the festival, the link was called off amidst much drama at Diggi Palace in Jaipur.

The owner of the Diggy Palace Ram Pratap Singh said that he decided to not allow the video link fearing violence. Singh said that several people had entered the venue and threatened to take the law in their own hands if the video link was allowed.

"I have taken a decision on not to allow the video conference to go ahead on the advise of Rajasthan police. There are a large number people who are inside the property and a large number who are marching towards the property. This is necessary to avoid violence and harm to the property and my family," he said.

Jaipur Literature Festival organiser Sanjoy Roy said he felt disgraced because bering artists they were not allowed to carry put what they had planned to do.

"We are having to step down from the freedom of expression, write and tell stories. It's not a decision to support. We have been pushed to the wall. We have been informed by the police that there are large crowds gathering in various parts of the city marching towards Diggy Palace. It's unfortunate to step down. But Rajasthan Police supported us. The Police Commissioner assured us that they will give us protection if we wanted to go ahead," said Roy.

Claiming that the Festival was one of the best across the world, Roy said the issue was not about him (Rushdie) in person as even seeing his face would have been a problem.

"Ram Pratap and Naina were adamant that they wanted to protect people who were here and would not allowed it to go ahead," he said.

Roy called the entire controversy "idiotic" to loud cheers from crowd and then broke down on stage. He walked off wiping his tears amidst thunderous applause from the crowd.

The Booker-winning author was scheduled to do a video conference at 3:45 pm on Tuesday. But Milli Council, one of the organisations which had filed a complaint against four authors for reading out passages from 'The Satanic Verses' on Friday, had been protesting against the move since Tuesday afternoon.

The organisers had earlier assured that Rushdie would not break any law with his video address at the Festival. Jaipur Literature Festival organiser Sanjoy Roy had said that they would go ahead with the video link with Rushdie at 3:45 pm on Tuesday....

The problem with a law against "outrag[ing] religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs" is that outrage and insult are in the eye of the beholder. Muslims have consistently claimed to be outraged and insulted by any truthful and accurate presentation of Islamic jihad doctrine. Is truth, then, to be outlawed? And what would be the objective of those who want it to be?

An update on this story. "Writers run away after reading out Satanic Verses," from The Indian Awaaz, January 23:

JAIPUR: The four writers, who read out the banned Satanic Verses in violation the law of land, have run away from the Jaipur Literature Festival to undisclosed destination.

They were facing imminent arrest following carrying and reading out extracts from Salman Rushdie's banned novel The Satanic Verses.

William Dalrymple, the co-Director of the Jaipur Literature Festival told the Hindu newspaper that Hari Kunzru, Ruchir Joshi, Amitava Kumar and Jeet Thayil have all left the Jaipur on the advice of their lawyer.

The paper said that the police had gone to Hari Kunzru's room to question him but he had already hurriedly left town.

“What a lot of people don't realise is that even reading from a banned book is against the law. This is part of a piece of absurd and draconian legislation going back to 1867 or thereabouts. I am convinced that the writers who did the readings were not aware that this is a punishable offence and could carry a fairly long prison sentence. You can discuss book, read from other writings by the author, have conversations with him, invite him, but you cannot either possess a copy or publicly read from a book that is banned. That is a punishable offence,” Dalrymple realized after his esteemed guests already committed punishable offence.

Meanwhile noted writer Chetan Bhagat said that organizers of the festival should not make heroes out of people who have been banned.

“Let us not make heroes out of people who have been banned,” said the best- selling author in clear reference to Salman Rushdie.

“They have been banned for hurting people. They have been banned for hurting Muslims. They shouldn’t be banned but they are not heroes,” he said.

“You can say Muslims are backward, aggressive, that’s fine. But they are right to get upset when their god is attacked. I wouldn’t like it if my gods are attacked,” Bhagat contended.

The legal experts say the police should book the authors (who read out portion of the banned book) under sections 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and immediately arrest them.

As Salman Rushdie could not make it to the festival due to perceived threat to his life, authors Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar and two others used their session at the festival to read from "Satanic Verses", giving clear indications that the festival was organized to create ill will within India..

The controversial book was banned in the India shortly after it was published in 1988, for hurting the sentiments of Muslims....

"I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to eliminate me." Although he remains largely clueless about the jihad threat, Salman Rushdie has for decades now been the most visible symbol of the violent Islamic intolerance for free speech regarding Islam. Islamic supremacists have never forgiven him for his (largely unreadable) novel, and they never will.

"Rushdie cancels India visit after death threat warning," by Henry Foy for Reuters, January 20 (thanks to Java):

(Reuters) - Salman Rushdie will not attend a literature festival in India after authorities warned the controversial author he was a potential target of assassins at the event, following threats of protests from Muslim groups at his planned appearance.

Opposition from some Indian Muslim groups erupted this month after Rushdie was invited to attend Asia's largest literature festival, and senior Muslim leaders called on the government to prevent the 65-year-old author from entering the country.

"I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to eliminate me," Rushdie said in a statement read out by the festival producer.

"While I have some doubts as to the accuracy of this intelligence, it would be irresponsible of me to come to the festival in such circumstances."

The British-Indian author, whose 1988 novel the Satantic [sic] Verses is banned in India, was due to speak on the first day of the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival but organisers removed his name from the schedule last week.

Rushdie would instead participate via a video-link, festival director William Dalrymple told Reuters on Friday....

The festival's directors had previously asserted that the invitation to Rushdie still stood after rescheduling his planned appearance after Muslim leaders in Jaipur threatened to protest.

"The Muslims of Jaipur were planning a protest against Rushdie. Since he is not coming, we have cancelled it," Abdul Haq Shamshi, member of the Jaipur Jama Masjid committee told Reuters.

"If he is deceiving us, and if he comes, we will protest at a minute's notice," he said, adding that thousands of protesters would take to the streets if the author arrived in the city....

The so-called "love jihad" continues. "Love jihad sparks hate," from the Times News Network, December 17 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

BANGALORE: There was pandemonium in the legislative assembly on Friday with ruling and opposition members locked in a heated argument over love jihad (the term used for recent incidents in which Muslim youth have eloped with Hindu girls).

Raising the issue during zero hour, BJP member Mallika Prasad accused the government of not taking steps to tackle this trend in Dakshina Kannada district where Muslim youths won over Hindu girls with promises of marriage and finally converting them. "From January to November this year, 84 Hindu girls have been missing. Of these, 69 confessed they'd been lured by Muslim youths who professed love. The worrying factor is that some girls are pushed into the flesh trade," she said....

It is surprising that Swamy lasted as long as he has in Harvard's hyper-politically correct environment; his original piece ran at Atlas Shrugs on July 16. At Harvard, the wheels of injustice grind more slowly than I would have expected.

In any case, here is another assault on the freedom of speech and another victory for the ongoing Leftist and Islamic supremacist attempts to demonize, stigmatize and marginalize all speech regarding any kind of resistance to jihad terrorism and Islamic supremacism.

"Harvard removes courses taught by Subramanian Swamy," from PTI, December 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):

NEW YORK: Harvard University has decided to remove courses taught by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy at its annual summer school session, terming his views as " reprehensible" in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism in India.

At a meeting of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, faculty members voted with an "overwhelming majority" to remove two economics courses - 'Quantitative Methods in Economics and Business' and 'Economic Development in India and East Asia' - that Swamy teaches at the three-month Harvard Summer School session.

The faculty meeting, convened to approve the 2012 Summer School course catalogue, resulted in a "heated debate" when Comparative Religion Professor Diana Eck proposed an amendment to exclude Swamy's courses from the catalogue, the Harvard Crimson reported.

In a July op-ed piece for an Indian publication, Swamy had recommended demolishing hundreds of mosques and suggested that only Muslims in India who "acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus" should be allowed to vote.

Anyone who actually reads Swamy's piece will see that he recommended the first in response to Muslims targeting Hindu holy places, and the second in response to the jihad to turn India into dar al-Islam. Harsh? Maybe, but Eck and Harvard offer no alternatives for how Hindus can defend themselves from the jihad. They would prefer that they sit back passively and consent to Islamization rather than say something that jars the adherents of the Religion of the Perpetually Offended.

Eck said Swamy's op-ed "clearly crosses the line by demonising an entire religious community and calling for violence against their sacred places," adding that Harvard has a moral responsibility not to affiliate itself with anyone who expresses hatred towards a minority group.

And yet Harvard accepted millions from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who after 9/11 demonized Israel by suggesting that U.S. Middle East policies provoked the 9/11 attacks. New York Mayor Giuliani was so indignant that he refused the 10 million dollar check Alwaleed had sent him for the rebuilding of New York. But as far as Harvard and the academic establishment in general is concerned, some forms of "demonization" are more acceptable than others.

"There is a distinction between unpopular and unwelcome political views," Eck said.

That's an arbitrary distinction. The anti-freedom Left and the Islamic supremacists are working very hard these days to drive all resistance to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism out of the realm of acceptable public discourse. This is just another small victory for them in that effort.

Earlier, more than 400 students had signed a petition calling for Swamy's removal after Harvard had decided to stand by him, affirming its commitment to free speech principles.

So much for free speech principles.

The striking thing about this story is that it appears to be a virtual draw between whether the "nude" "photo" (a blind man could detect the digital editing from across the room) or the mockery of the Pakistani intelligence organization is more of an outrage. Within this story lies the tacit admission that both the Pakistani and Indian public understand the ISI operates above and outside of the law, as it directs Pakistan's double game and its proxy jihadists against India, Afghanistan, and NATO.

"Pakistani model's nude photo causes fury," by Asif Shahzad for the Associated Press, December 3:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.

Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network websites since earlier this week.

Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.

Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims."

In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, however, Malik said the nude photo was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India and she was considering legal action against the magazine.

Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a "bold but not nude shot." She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.

The photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies, she said, adding "whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."...

The fundamental question in this case is one of Indian sovereignty: is Indian law the supreme law of the land in Indian Kashmir, or is Sharia? Local authorities and Muslim clergy are acting as though the latter were.

They have sought to prosecute Rev. Khanna for promoting "disharmony, enmity or hatred" due to religion, and for offending "religious feelings" by welcoming Muslim converts to Christianity. Someone ought to ask them how that logic would apply when some other Kashmiri converted to Islam. Of course, under Sharia's supremacist rule, that concept of reciprocity would not apply at all, and that is exactly the idea.

An update on this story. "Christian leaders for the release of Kashmiri pastor arrested for forced conversions," by Nirmala Carvalho for AsiaNews, November 22:

Srinagal (AsiaNews) - "The Rev. CM Khanna and seven Muslim converts to Christianity were exercising their constitutional rights to religious freedom and freedom of choice, they have done nothing illegal. " So says Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), commenting on the arrest of Channa Mani Khanna, Anglican pastor of All Saints Church in Kashmir, accused by the Grand Mufti of the region of having forced the conversion of young Muslims in exchange for money. For the Anglican bishop P.K. Samantha Roy, of the Diocese of Amritsar, "the way the police have arrested the pastor is humiliating. Rev. Khanna has never acted in secret. We ask the government of Kashmir for justice. The Anglican Church will seek a legal redress for our innocent pastor. "

A few days before his arrest, on 19 November, the Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din had called the Rev. Khanna before a sharia court, to answer charges of forced conversion. On 17 November, the Grand Mufti had then written a letter to the pastor, in which he stated: "Having failed in what I had asked, we will be forced to take action under Shari'a." In addition to Rev. Khanna, the police also arrested the seven Muslim that he baptized, beating them to obtain a confession against the pastor.

The Anglican bishop who oversees Rev. Khanna's diocese has upheld the baptisms as valid:

Msgr. Roy said he had discussed what happened in the Islamic court with the pastor: "The interrogation went on for four hours. When we spoke, the Reverend was serene and calm, not afraid because he was sure of his innocence and that he had not committed any violation of canon law or civil law. The baptisms he officiated are valid. "

"The request to appear before a Shariah court - said Sajan George - is alarming. We must stop the Talibanisation of the only Indian state with a Muslim majority. India is a secular country with a secular constitution, which states without exception, and demands respect for the principles of equality among citizens of the republic."

The state of Kashmir has no anti-conversion laws: the police arrested the pastor according to art. 153A (people who promote disharmony, enmity or hatred based on religion, race, residence, language or caste) and 295A (people who offend the religious feelings of any class, with deliberate and malicious acts).

The Indian constitution guarantees religious freedom, but Islamic rage trumps that. As Muhammad said, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him" (Bukhari 9.84.57), and authorities in India and the West believe that it is all-important to give the followers of that man exactly what they want -- or else. "Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam in India," from the Compass Direct News, November 10:

NEW DELHI, November 10 (CDN) — Police in India’s Kashmir Valley detained and beat converts from Islam and were expected to arrest Christian workers after Muslim leaders alleged that Muslim youth were being “lured” to Christianity.

Police in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley picked up seven converts who were recently baptized in All Saints Church in Srinagar, a local Christian who spoke to the converts after their release on Nov. 2 told Compass. Srinagar is the summer capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the main city of the Kashmir Valley.

The source, who requested anonymity, said police beat the converts and asked if Christians had given them money for their conversion. Most of the converts were from Budgam district, about 18 miles from Srinagar, and pastors there fearful of being arrested were in hiding, he added.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Srinagar Ashiq Bukhari was not available for comment.

Police got the names of the converts and pastors from a video recording of the baptism provided by Kashmir’s grand mufti (the highest official of religious law), Bashir-ud-din Ahmad. The video was later posted on YouTube.

The Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church, told Compass that he had been summoned by the mufti, who is also the head of the sharia (Islamic law) court. He said he would meet Ahmad on Nov. 17.

The court had issued the summons for Saturday (Nov. 12), but Pastor Khanna had a prior engagement.

India, home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population, has a few sharia courts pertaining only to civil matters.

Ahmad alleged that Pastor Khanna, whose church is affiliated with the Church of North India (CNI) denomination, was converting young Muslim men and women by offering money, and that therefore he must be arrested. The mufti told media that the video was definitive evidence that Muslims were being “lured” to Christianity, although it only shows the baptism ceremony.

Pastor Khanna said the young men converted of their own will and without his persuasion.

The Indian constitution provides for religious freedom, including the right to propagate and the right to change one’s religion....

"If the state government fails to respond within the next 24 hours, over 10,000 Muslims along with muftis and maulanas shall stage demonstrations after the Friday afternoon namaaz all over Mumbai." Islamic Tolerance Alert: "'Azaan' Movie Name Hurts Muslims : SP," from IANS, October 12:

Mumbai, Oct 12 (IANS) Bollywood movie "Azaan", scheduled to be released Friday, has run into rough weather after a Samajwadi Party leader from the city approached the Bombay High Court, saying the film's name hurts Muslim sentiments.

The case was filed after Naeem Akhtar Azmi, the mufti (chief priest) of Sunni Darul-Uloom Mohammediya Minara Masjid, Wednesday issued a 'fatwa' that no film can be named after 'azaan' -- the auspicious call to prayers to Muslim faithful.

The 'fatwa' came in response to an open query posed by Mumbai Samajwadi Party vice-president Farookh Ghosi.

"Following the fatwa, I have filed a writ petition in the high court seeking the court's directions to file an FIR (first information report) against the movie producers, director and actors for abusing and exploiting the holy name of 'azaan' for commercial gains, which has hurt Muslim sentiments," Ghosi told IANS.

The petitioner has also demanded a stay on the global release of the film Friday and a ban on the movie till the producers change its name.

The petition is expected to come up for hearing in a day or so, and Ghosi said he has written to the state government seeking its urgent intervention in the matter.

"If the state government fails to respond within the next 24 hours, over 10,000 Muslims along with muftis and maulanas shall stage demonstrations after the Friday afternoon namaaz all over Mumbai," Ghosi warned.

As U.S.-Pakistani relations have been circling the drain in recent weeks over the connections between Pakistani intelligence and the Haqqani network, Pakistan made a major show of its friendship and strategic partnership with China (never mind the Pakistani connections of jihadists in China's west).

Now, as Afghanistan pushes back against Pakistan for its double game, which has been instrumental in destabilizing the country, allowing the Taliban to regroup, and allowing al-Qaeda to survive, it has boosted its relations with India. There are, of course, many more economic, cultural, and strategic reasons for Afghanistan to cultivate that relationship, along with signaling that it has alternatives to the status quo, as Pakistan attempted with China.

But Pakistan, which is slowly destroying itself by allowing itself to be overrun by jihadists and Islamic supremacists amid its dual obsession with fighting India over Kashmir and projecting its influence into Afghanistan, can't have that. Kabul is to be a docile satellite of Islamabad, or else.

"Pakistan warns Afghanistan after pact with India," by Munir Ahmed for the Associated Press, October 6:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan warned Afghanistan to behave responsibly Thursday following Kabul's move to sign a strategic pact with Islamabad's archenemy, India, at a particularly sensitive time in relations between the two countries.

Afghanistan's interior minister recently accused Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the ISI, of being involved in last month's suicide bombing in Kabul that killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani — an allegation denied by Pakistan. Rabbani was working as chief envoy in peace talks with the Taliban.

Pakistan's protests along these lines always include the complaint that it is the worst possible time for whatever provocation has irked them. When would be a good time?

"At this defining stage when challenges have multiplied, as have the opportunities, it is our expectation that everyone, especially those in position of authority in Afghanistan, will demonstrate requisite maturity and responsibility," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters.

"This is no time for point-scoring, playing politics or grandstanding," she said in her weekly press briefing.

Then go back to your office.

Her comments seemed more confrontational than Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's statement Wednesday that Afghanistan and India have the right to maintain bilateral relations as sovereign nations. His comments were reported by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

The agreement, which was signed Tuesday, outlined areas of common concern including trade, economic expansion, education, security and politics. It was the first of its kind between Afghanistan and any country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai tried to assuage concern over the pact Wednesday, saying it was not intended as an aggressive move against Pakistan. He said the agreement simply made official years of close ties between India and Afghanistan's post-Taliban government.

You can't choose your relatives:

"Pakistan is a twin brother. India is a great friend," said Karzai during a visit to New Delhi, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. "The agreement that we signed yesterday with our friend will not affect our brother."

But Karzai's words likely carried little weight in Pakistan, which is sandwiched between Afghanistan to its west and India to its east. Pakistani officials, especially in the country's powerful army, have long viewed policy in Afghanistan through one lens: countering the perceived danger of Indian influence in the country.

"The agreement will heighten Pakistan's insecurities," said Talat Masood, an analyst and former Pakistani general. "Pakistan has always felt that it is being encircled by India from both the eastern and western borders."

Pakistan and India have fought three major wars and have been at each other's throats since the two were carved out of British India in 1947.

Pakistan carved itself out, and has kept wielding the carving knife against everyone on its borders, not to mention the former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have also been rocky, and many Pakistani officials view Karzai as too close to India, where he attended university.

Is that why someone tried to have him whacked?

To check India's power in Afghanistan, Pakistan has historically supported Islamist militants like the Taliban who are also opposed to its majority Hindu neighbor. Islamabad has also allegedly backed militants who have carried out attacks in Kashmir, an area claimed by both Pakistan and India.

Pakistan maintains it cut off ties to the Taliban and other militants following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. But Washington and Kabul say otherwise....

They say they will stand firm against "terrorism," but whether or not they will stand firm against jihad is an open question. "Deadly Explosion Strikes Courthouse in New Delhi," by Jim Yardley in the New York Times, September 7:

NEW DELHI — An explosion ripped through a reception area of an Indian courthouse on Wednesday morning, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 60 others in a bombing that renewed concerns about India’s vulnerability to terrorism. It was the second bombing of the courthouse in less than four months.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene at the Delhi High Court after the blast at 10:14 a.m., outside a reception area used by litigants, lawyers and visitors to enter the courthouse.

“It was in shambles,” said Ajay Mehrotra, a lawyer who witnessed the explosion. “There was total chaos. There was blood. People were running for their lives.”

The Indian home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, called the explosion a terrorist attack and noted that New Delhi was already in a high state of alert with Parliament in session. Mr. Chidambaram said Indian intelligence agencies had received information in July about a possible terror threat to the city, which had been turned over to local police. He did not elaborate about the intelligence report and said investigators had not yet identified a suspect in Wednesday’s explosion.

“The bomb blast took place just outside the reception center,” Mr. Chidambaram said at a news conference. “It is suspected that the bomb was placed in a briefcase.”

Reuters reported that a militant terrorist group called HuJI, for Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, based largely in Pakistan, and also Bangladesh, had claimed responsibility for the attacks, citing security officials.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking to reporters during a visit to Bangladesh, condemned the explosion as “a cowardly act of a terrorist nature.”

“We will deal with it,” he said. “We will never succumb to the pressure of terrorism.”...

Apostasy is forbidden under Islamic law. According to Muhammad's own command, the penalty is death. That is why one observes violent responses against ex-Muslims and the denial of their freedom of conscience in areas geographically far removed from one another. "Muslim Extremists in India Attack, Threaten Christian Women," from Compass Direct News, August 6 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

NEW DELHI – Four months after a recent convert to Christianity from Islam in eastern India’s West Bengal state was stripped and beaten, about 50 Muslim extremists yesterday disrupted a prayer meeting held in her home, threatening to burn it down if she did not return to Islam, area Christians said.

The extremists warned Selina Bibi of Motijil village in Murshidabad district that if she did not return to Islam, then she must either leave the area or see her house burned down. At her baptism at Believers Church four kilometers from her home on March 29, a large crowd of Muslim extremists disrupted the service, said a pastor identified only as Bashir.

“I pleaded with them to let me at least finish the worship service before they attack us,” he told Compass.

When word of her conversion to Christianity reached her village, another extremist group from Motijil led by Jamal Shaike disrupted the service. Shaike and the others verbally abused the Christians, and he ordered his son who was present at the service to leave immediately, Bashir said.

The pastor said that on April 5, two Muslim women along with members of the extremist group summoned Selina Bibi to one of their homes and forcefully stripped her naked.

“The radicals believe that when any person from the Muslim community becomes Christian, they get Christian marks on their body,” Bashir said. “When the radicals could not find such marks, they started beating her up.”

The Muslim extremists later gathered at the local mosque and resolved to ostracize her until she returned to Islam. She lives only with her two teenage sons.

Selina Bibi told Bashir that her body bore the marks of suffering for the sake of Christ, and that she was being treated like a criminal.

“She was not allowed to buy goods from the store, nor was she allowed to sell any vegetables,” he said. “They have also restricted her from procuring water from the village well. In spite of the persecutions she constantly faces from the radicals, she has started conducting a Bible study for ladies every Thursday at her home.”

After the extremist threats yesterday, study member Naseema Bibi said she and some of the other women attending the meeting went to the Murshidabad police station to file a complaint. Police called both parties, and they agreed in writing to allow each other to practice their respective faiths, and that police would prosecute any further attacks or disturbances, she said.

Burn Threat

In Natungram, Murshidabad district, Muslim extremists held three Christian women for an hour on July 21, threatening to beat and burn them alive if they continued worshipping Christ, area Christians said.....

Lashkar-e-Taiba was created by Pakistan and is still owned and operated by the ISI. LeT was also blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, and Indian officials believe them to be behind July's bombings there.

Here, India has dealt them a major setback. "Two LeT commanders killed in Kashmir: Indian police," from Agence France-Presse, August 7:

Indian troops Sunday shot dead two senior commanders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group in Kashmir during two separate gunbattles, police said.

Fahadullah, a Pakistani national, was killed during a fierce clash in northern Kupwara district, bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Fahadullah was serving as LeT's "divisional commander" for north Kashmir and his death is a "big setback" to the group, senior police officer Muneer Khan told reporters.

Police said government forces also shot dead another "senior commander" of LeT in southern Poonch district during a clash on Sunday.

The slain commander was identified as Abu Usman, police said.

The Pakistan-based LeT has been blamed by India for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. It has denied any role in the attacks.

More than 47,000 people have been killed, according to an official count, since an insurgency erupted in 1989 against Indian rule in the region.

Violence dropped after India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 but rebel attacks have escalated over the past fortnight.

He demonstrated a bit too much Islamic Tolerance toward Hindus, and wanted to reform Islamic education by adding in science and computer programming. Yet another installment of Why We Don't See More Muslim Reformers: "Muslim Seminary Chief in India Is Fired for Pro-Hindu Interview," by Hari Kumar in the New York Times, July 24:

NEW DELHI — India’s best-known Islamic seminary ousted its reformist leader on Sunday, less than seven months after he assumed the post, because he was quoted as speaking favorably of a Hindu nationalist suspected of fomenting deadly anti-Muslim riots.

The reformer, Mullah Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, was appointed in January to lead the seminary, Darul Uloom, in the city of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh State. He had become popular in part because of the success of his madrasas, or Islamic schools, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra that bridged traditional Islamic education with the needs of the modern world by teaching students secular subjects like science and computer programming. He had hoped to bring those innovations to Darul Uloom.

But the effort was almost immediately derailed when he was quoted in an Urdu newspaper as saying that Muslims in Gujarat State needed to move beyond the 2002 sectarian riots there, one of the worst eruptions of religious violence since colonial India was partitioned in 1947. Hindus rampaged through Muslim areas of Gujarat, leaving about 1,000 people dead and leading to reprisals in some areas.

English-language newspapers and television stations in India portrayed Mullah Vastanvi’s remarks as implicitly condoning the actions of Narendra Modi, the controversial leader of Gujarat’s government. Many Muslims blame Mr. Modi for the 2002 violence.

Mullah Vastanvi denied that he had been praising Mr. Modi. Even so, he was swiftly suspended from his seminary post. And on Sunday, 9 of the 14 members of the council that oversees the seminary voted to request his resignation. He refused, and was then dismissed by the council, which appointed one of its members, Mullah Abdul Qasim Nomani, as his replacement....

Some Muslims in Deoband said Mullah Vastanvi’s quoted remarks disqualified him from the job. “Anybody who supports Narendra Modi, lightly or heavily, is not acceptable to Muslims,” said Ashraf Usmani, a local journalist.

But Hindu political leaders said Mullah Vastanvi had been treated unfairly. Mr. Modi’s center-right Bharatiya Janata Party said that Mullah Vastanvi had been punished for speaking the truth about Gujarat’s economic success under Mr. Modi. Gujarat is one of India’s most prosperous and industrialized states, and is a favored destination for investors from India and abroad.

The new seminary leader, Mullah Nomani, hinted that he would not follow in Mullah Vastanvi’s reformist direction.

“I will continue with the traditions of Darul Uloom,” he said. “I take my inspiration from my predecessors and follow the traditional path.”

In Human Events Tuesday I restated the obvious:

Less than three years after the coordinated jihad attacks in Mumbai, India, of November 2008, in which jihadists murdered 164 people, jihadists have again targeted the city, which is India’s financial center. Last Wednesday, 21 people were killed and well over 100 wounded in a series of synchronized bombings. “This was a coordinated attack by terrorists,” Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s home minister, said. Indian officials named as responsible a jihad terror group known as the Indian Mujahideen.

The jihadists planted Wednesday’s bombs in busy areas so as to ensure the maximum number of casualties. The first explosion went off in the Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai’s renowned jewelry market. The second detonated just one minute later in a building that houses jewelry firms in Mumbai’s business center, the Opera House district. Ten minutes after that, a third bomb went off in a populous area of central Mumbai.

There may be more to come: Narendra Modi, chief minister in the western state of Gujarat, warned that the bombings may prove to be the prelude to another large-scale jihad attack like the one in November 2008, and said that the bombers are trying to prove that “they have the strength to destroy the country.”

Because the Indian Mujahideen’s bomb-making experts are all in prison, authorities are investigating the possibility that the Pakistani jihad group Lashkar-e-Taiba helped construct the bombs used in Wednesday’s attacks. There would be no surprise in the involvement of Pakistani jihadists, or even in the involvement of elements of the Pakistani establishment. Pakistan’s intelligence service has been accused of involvement in the planning of the November 2008 massacres, and the suspicion continues in India and elsewhere that figures at high levels of the Pakistani government may have known about the attacks beforehand or even been involved in planning them.

As a result of this suspicion, last week the Pakistani government spoke out quickly in order to head off speculation that it may have been involved in these latest attacks too. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani quickly condemned the attacks Wednesday, offering condolences to the Indian government and people. Then Zardari headed off to Iran for talks with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who declared: “Iran is ready to reinforce its cooperation with Pakistan in every field.”

The Pakistani government’s latest efforts to forge close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran is just one reason why legitimate suspicion remains about its involvement in jihad attacks against India. How unequivocal can the Pakistani government be in its condemnation of these attacks when it has already been proven to have aided and abetted jihad activity in Afghanistan, and to have given American taxpayer money that it was supposed to be using to fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to those very groups?...

There is more.

One more bomb blast. One more bloodletting.
by Mathews V. George

One more bomb blast,
One more terrorist attack,
More splattered blood,
More pierced human body parts,
More hanging human body parts,
More helpless crying noise of innocent civilians,
More orphaned children,
More widows for reasons unknown to them.
One more bomb blast.

The bombs hit Mumbai last Wednesday. Then the condemnatory rhetoric pours from the mouth of Ban Ki Moon, who without any shame takes the dictates of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Then Hillary Clinton, the biggest hypocrite of the present world, condemns the terrorist act and at the same time establishes contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the forefather of all Islamic terror.

This article will not have English grammatical perfection or rhetorical beauty; however, these words are coming from a sobbing heart, a heart that is unable to even cry loudly.

As we Indians are losing all our hope of survival because of these continuing Islamic terror attacks on us, this is a humble effort to educate the civilized USA and the free Western world about the imminent danger that the West is going to face. “Today us, tomorrow you.”

The timeline of major Islamic terrorist attacks on Indian soil should be an eye opener for the USA and the West.

Varanasi, Dec 7, 2010: Two-year-old girl killed and 25 others injured in a blast which takes place between the Dashashwamedh and Shitla ghats on the river Ganga.

Pune, Feb 13, 2010: 17 people killed and over 60 injured when a bomb rips out the famous German bakery in the city.

Mumbai, Nov 26, 2008: 166 people killed in coordinated serial explosions and indiscriminate firing across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station and two five-star hotels -- Oberoi and Taj.

Assam, Oct 30, 2008: At least 77 killed and over 100 injured in 18 bombings across Assam.

Imphal, Oct 21, 2008: 17 killed in a powerful blast near Manipur Police Commando complex.

Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 29, 2008: Five people killed after a bomb kept in a motorbike goes off in a crowded market.

Modasa, Gujarat, Sep 29, 2008: One killed and several injured after a low-intensity bomb kept on a motorcycle goes
off near a mosque.

New Delhi, Sep 27, 2008: Three people killed after a crude bomb is thrown in a busy market in Mehrauli.

New Delhi, Sep 13, 2008: 26 people killed in six blasts across the city.

Ahmedabad, July 26, 2008: 57 people killed after 20 synchronised blasts in less than two hours.

Bangalore, July 25, 2008: One person killed in a low-intensity bomb explosion.

Jaipur, May 13, 2008: 68 people killed in serial bombings.

January 2008: Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills eight.

October 2007: Two killed in blast inside Ajmer Sharif shrine in Rajasthan during Ramzan.

August 2007: 30 dead, 60 hurt in Hyderabad terror strike.

May 2007: A blast at Mecca mosque in Hyderabad kills 11 people.

February 19, 2007: Two bombs explode on board a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.

September 2006: 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.

July 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai's trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.

March 2006: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20 people.

October 2005: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 people and injure hundreds.

While analyzing the above Islamic terrorist attacks and the logical conclusions that one can draw from them, one thing you can learn is that except for some acts done for appearance's sake, no single case was pursued far enough to secure the convictions of the guilty that should have been attained.

Here the power of the Islamic lobby played a dangerous role inside the government.

In my previous post, dated July 2, 2011, I wrote about the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the biggest terrorist organisation in India. It is a part of the Central (Indian word for federal) Government. This organization is represented by one Mr. E Ahamed, whose organisation was actively involved in the Narikkottiri bomb blast and the Maaraadu massacre. IUML cadres lost their lives in the Narikkottiri/Kerala bomb blast.

Now let us turn to the Indian Mujahidin (IM). What is the Indian Mujahidin? The Indian Mujahidin is the militant wing of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). All the IM terrorists who have been caught by the agencies were once active in SIMI circle. The parent organization of SIMI is Jamaat e Islami, whose ideological forefathers are Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, Sayyid Qutb, and Hassan Al-Banna. Now you have some idea how the Muslim Brotherhood works in its effort to capture the world and impose Hukkumathe Ilahi (the rule of their god) across the globe!

In India, we have already lost; at least you in the West still have a chance to be safe from this savages.

Now the irony is that the present Central (Federal) cabinet minister for Law and Minority (Muslim) Affairs of the Government of India, Mr. Salman Kurshid, was a counsel for this terrorist organisation SIMI in India’s Supreme Court after the then-central government banned this organization. This minister tried to bail out and whitewash the Islamic terrorist organization SIMI and always defended it in every public forum, just as Nihad Awad and Ibrahim Hooper defend the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hizballah in the USA. This Salman Kurshid even vied for the presidency of the India Islamic Cultural Centre, which can be equated to Hamas-linked CAIR in the USA; however, he lost.

This is the scenario in India: imagine, you who are in the USA and the West, what would be the outcome if Keith Ellison become the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State? Imagine if the Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Ibrahim Hooper, Siraj Wahaj, or Bassam Khafagi become Attorney General in your country. Imagine if CAIR became an alliance partner of the Democratic Party of the USA, or al-Mujahiroun became an alliance partner of the British Labour party. Imagine Anjem Choudhary becoming minister for legal affairs in the Government of the UK.

Yes, you can’t imagine these things even in your wildest dreams, but we, the helpless Indians, are living in just such a reality: powerful Islamic terrorists are ruling us today. We Indians are a lost cause. We Indians are resigned to our destiny. We Indians can’t even dream a beautiful tomorrow. Islamic terrorists can strike us anywhere at anytime, since our present government, led by UPA, is controlled and dictated by this powerful lobby of ministers like E Ahamed and Salman Kurshid.

Mathews V. George is a human rights activist who writes from India.

In FrontPage this morning I sum up what we know so far about yesterday's bombings in Mumbai:

Coordinated bombings in Mumbai, India murdered twenty-one people and wounded well over 100 Wednesday; Indian authorities suspect that Islamic jihadists have struck Mumbai once again. “We infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists,” said Indian home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, and other Indian officials reportedly believe that the Indian Mujahideen, which has close ties to the Pakistani jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was responsible.

The Stratfor Global Intelligence service agreed:

This marks the first major attack in India since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Though the magnitude of these explosions has yet to be determined, this attack does not appear to be as sophisticated as the 2008 attacks, which involved an assault team consisting of a number of militants that coordinated 10 shooting and bombing attacks across the city. The July 13 attack, by contrast, appears to have not involved suicide attackers but consisted of explosives placed in a taxi, a meter box and locations where they could be remotely detonated. This tactic is much more in line with those used by more amateurish groups, such [as] the Indian Mujahideen, who have targeted crowded urban areas before.

Some speculate that the synchronized explosions were a birthday gift for Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the only surviving jihad mass-murderer from the November 2008 attack in Mumbai. In any case, there is no doubt that they were planted in busy areas so as to ensure the maximum number of casualties. That in itself may have been Lashkar-e-Taiba’s handiwork: since the Indian Mujahideen’s expert bomb makers are all in prison, authorities are investigating the possibility that the Pakistani jihad group helped construct the bombs used in Wednesday’s attacks. The first explosion went off at 6:54PM at the Jhaveri Bazaar, Mumbai’s famous jewelry market. The second hit at 6:55PM in the Opera House district, Mumbai’s business center, in a building that houses many jewelry firms. Ten minutes later, yet another bomb went off in Dadar, a populous area in central Mumbai.

Mumbai is India’s financial center, which is undoubtedly why it keeps on being the target of jihad attacks. Just as with the attacks on the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, jihadists want to strike at the financial might of Infidel states, ultimately weakening them enough that societal upheaval ensues, and Sharia becomes that much easier to impose.

There is more.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is based in Pakistan. Mumbai bombings update: "At Least 17 Reportedly Dead After Explosions Rock Mumbai Markets," from FoxNews.com, July 13 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Three separate explosions tore through a business district in India’s Mumbai Wednesday, leaving at least 17 people dead and 54 injured, authorities said. Less than an hour after the series of blasts, its Home Ministry confirmed a terrorist attack and placed the entire city on high alert.

Although no group claimed responsibility, the explosions hit locations where a terror siege nearly three years ago killed 166 people. Wednesday also coincided with the birthday of the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 attack.

Three separate explosions, expected to be an act of terror, tore through a business district in India’s Mumbai Wednesday, leaving at least 17 people dead and 54 injured, authorities said. Less than an hour after the series of blasts, its Home Ministry confirmed a terrorist attack and placed the entire city on high alert.

Indian officials say they believe the responsibility of Wednesday's attack rests with the Indian Mujahideen, a group that works closely with Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is the group suspected to be behind the 2008 attack. ...

"A coordinated attack by terrorists," says the Indian government. Probably militant Methodists again. And has anyone seen Tim McVeigh? Sure, they tell you he is dead, but they tell you Osama bin Laden was behind 9/11, also. Today is the birthday of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the only surviving jihad mass-murderer from the November 2008 attack in Mumbai. Was this a present to him from his friends?

"Three blasts rock Mumbai, CM Chavan says 20 dead, 81 injured," from the Times of India, July 13:

MUMBAI: Three near-simultaneous explosions rocked Mumbai at rush-hour on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people in what the government said appeared to be another terrorist strike in the city hit by a major attack nearly three years ago.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the latest attack killed 20 people, and home minister P Chidambaram said the toll was likely to rise.

Television footage showed dozens of police officials, several of them armed, at the sites of the explosion and at least one car with its windows shattered. A photograph showed victims of a blast at the Zaveri Bazaar crowding into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital.

Because of the close timing of the string of explosions, ``we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists,'' home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

One blast hit the crowded neighborhood of Dadar in central Mumbai. The others were at the Zaveri Bazaar, which is a famed jewelry market, and the busy business district of Opera House, both in southern Mumbai and several miles (kilometers) apart, police said.

All three blasts happened from 6:50pm. to 7pm., when all the neighborhoods would have been packed with office workers and commuters....

Stratfor strongly suspects that Misunderstanders of Islam are behind this. "Red Alert: Multiple Explosions in Mumbai," from Stratfor, July 13 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Three explosions were reported in Mumbai on July 13 in the crowded Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar areas of the city. The explosions began around 7:10 p.m. and occurred within minutes of each other. There are reports that a fourth bomb, likely at the Roxy Theater, failed to detonate. Current casualty estimates indicate five people have been killed and 100 injured thus far.

This marks the first major attack in India since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Though the magnitude of these attacks has yet to be determined, this attack does not appear to be as sophisticated as the 2008 attacks, which involved an assault team consisting of a number of militants that coordinated 10 shooting and bombing attacks across the city. The July 13 attack, by contrast, appears to have not involved suicide attackers but consisted of explosives placed in a taxi, a meter box and locations where they could be remotely detonated. This tactic is much more in line with those used by more amateurish groups, such [as] the Indian Mujahideen, who have targeted crowded urban areas before.

Nonetheless, the attack comes at a critical juncture in U.S.-Pakistani relations as the United States is trying to accelerate a withdrawal of its military forces in Afghanistan. The 2008 Mumbai attacks revealed the extent to which traditional Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups, such as elements from the defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba, had collaborated with transnational jihadist elements like al Qaeda in trying to instigate a crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi. Such a crisis would complicate U.S.-Pakistani dealings on Afghanistan, potentially serving the interests of al Qaeda as well as factions within Pakistan trying to derail a negotiation between the United States and Pakistan.

Mass exoduses have been known to happen when things get "restive," a common term in news reports to describe jihad-afflicted areas. "Large contingent of Hindus from Pakistan arrives in India," from the Times News Network, July 12 (thanks to Rajesh):

AMRITSAR: As many as 600 Hindus, including women and children, arrived in India via Attari land border on Monday. Custom's deputy commissioner RK Duggal said that the group arrived here on pilgrim visas. Sources at Attari said that these Hindus, largely from Sindh province of Pakistan, had expressed their desire to permanently settle in India and have come with a large quantity of luggage and household goods.

Many of the visitors had relatives in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, said sources. Their leader Banwari Lal told security forces and customs staff at Attari that this was for the first time that such a large contingent of Hindus from Pakistan had arrived to permanently settle in India due to restive conditions in Pakistan. In the past, some Hindu families had been arriving India on board Samjhauta Express to settle here. Many of them have been living in Amritsar also, they added.

South Sudan's hopeful creation as a new nation is a glorious moment, as well as a sobering one. We should remember as to why South Sudan's existence became necessary in the first place. We must remind the world over and over that the birth of South Sudan as a independent state was long required precisely because Muslims cannot long live amicably with followers of other belief systems.  As Islamic scripture teaches quite explicitly, and as Muslim repeatedly tell themselves, devout Muslims cannot treat the unbelievers with anything approaching equality.

South Sudan's secession from Sudan is in many way a mirror image of another 'secession' that took place over 60 years ago. In the waning days of the British Empire, British India was to be divided into two countries, a Muslim one and a Hindu one, and India was to be cleaved forever into those two parts. The pain and agony of the partitioning process aside (hundreds of thousands are estimated to have died in the resulting forced migrations, associated pogroms, and resettlement), how should history judge the British decision to partition India?

While the larger Hindu India has found a modicum of political stability, has enjoyed decades of economic success, and exports its vibrant culture via its booming film industry worldwide, its Muslim counterpart Pakistan flirts with failed-nation status.

Pakistan is in fact a nightmare of state-sponsored jihadist terrorism inside and outside of its borders. Except for a tiny elite, the country only offers unimaginable squalor and poverty for its people. It has featured a string of unbelievably incompetent and corrupt governments that have exported Islamic terrorism to distant continents, as far as the UK and the USA. Pakistan harbors the world's top terrorists who are allowed to live inside its borders with impunity, free to continue conspiring and plotting mass murder. Pakistan has launched three wars of aggression in its blood-soaked history, all against India, all of which Pakistan lost. Pakistan builds nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable missiles, which it sells the technology for to any and all comers, no questions asked. Pakistan sucks up gifts such as weapons and supplies, intelligence data from the US, and especially financial aid packages from the rest of the world, and either squirrels the money away into various numbered accounts, or passes along as loot to jihad terrorists and other enemies of the Free World. Barbarous shariah laws viciously run riot and leave an ever-growing pile of broken and dead bodies in its wake. Pakistan's police and military murder journalists who question how and why such a horrid state of affairs has come to pass. And on and on.

Over sixty years of ignominious history has not been kind to the decision to create Pakistan. Pakistan itself is a bleeding sore in South Asia, and its continued existence is a shame if not an ongoing crime against humanity. If the past 64 years have proven anything, they prove that, quite unlike South Sudan, Pakistan does not deserve sovereignty, nor does it deserve to be treated as a member of the family of nations.

Given these incontrovertible facts, may I humbly suggest that Pakistan no longer be referred to as "Pakistan", the so-called 'Land of the Pure". Merely mentioning the name is, in a way, tacitly accepting its existence, which right-thinking people everywhere should instantly reject. So, from this point onwards, let us call that place by a more culturally and historically correct name: "Muslim-occupied India". For India was a Hindu land for thousands of years before the invading barbarians of Islam appeared to seize Hindu lands and slaughter its inhabitants, which laid the groundwork for the eventual Muslim calamitous maladministration of that same land.

In a just world, such mistakes would be reversed. One day, let us hope, let us work towards the day that Muslim-occupied India becomes India once again.

July 4 in Kerala: one of the blackest days in history
by Mathews V. George

Hello and best wishes to all freedom loving Americans on the occasion of America’s Independence Day, July 4th.

While the United States of America remembers and celebrates July 4th as your Independence Day, the freedom lovers in India's Kerala state remember July 4th as one of the blackest day in its history.

On the 4th of July 2010, Dar ul kadal, the Islamic court of India/Kerala, implemented its first act of Islamic sharia law by chopping off the hand of Professor T. J. Joseph, an upright and honest professor who is an exemplary teacher.

The irony is that twenty-six people who are accused in this case are still at large and might be living in luxury in any Islamic safe haven.

Kerala is a state of India that has become a hotbed of Islamic jihad terrorists for quite some time. The tiny state of Kerala has become an exporting hub of Islamic terror across India and the world over. These Islamic terrorist activities have reached such a peak that jihadists even dared to attack the country’s armed forces in Kashmir, another hotbed of Islamic terrorism.

Love jihad is another mode of jihad activity, in which thousands of non-Muslim girls are trapped and traded across the globe; this is actively financed by Islamic fundamentalists. News of these activities has been published in the mainstream media and in India is a matter of serious debate.

The most unfortunate aspect of all this is that Kerala is ruled by Indian Union Muslim League, the strongest Islamic terrorist organization, which won 20 seats in the most recently concluded provincial assembly election in Kerala. This Islamic terrorist organization was involved in the maaraad massacre, in which eight Hindus were hacked to death while they were sleeping in the wee hours of the night.

The details of this gruesome incident are as follows. On 2nd May 2003, a group of armed Islamic jihad terrorists ambushed poor Hindu fishermen on a beach at Kozhikode, Maaradu, These fishermen were presumably of the caste that is weakest in the economic strata of the Indian/Kerala society. Islamic terrorist organizations have been active in persecuting this minority, poor Hindu fishermen, from time immemorial.

But nobody is bothered about these poor souls’ rights. Everyone was worried that the Islamic jihad terrorists might not be able to come back and occupy their houses among the Hindus. Yes, these were people who had known about the coming massacre and had strategically left the area en masse quietly a day before, and in whose mosques blood-stained swords and other weapons were found. The irony is that the women’s wing of the Islamic jihad group had formed a cordon around the mosques to prevent police from going in. The women's wing females were active collaborators in this jihad act.

Indian Union Muslim League workers were actively involved in this terrorist act, and some of them were even punished. Another incident of the same nature took place a couple of months before, in which two Hindu fishermen died in the attack by Islamic jihad terrorists. The date of that incident was 3rd Jan 2002.

And in a recent incident, there was a bomb explosion in which five cadres of the Indian Union Muslim League died while dispatching the deadly bombs to different places in India/Kerala.

It is assumed that their real intention was to place these bombs in airports and other places where people gather in large groups, so as to kill thousands of innocent civilians in India/ Kerala and spread mayhem and terror in the hearts of millions. If the plans of this jihad had succeeded, the country would have been a huge graveyard.

My intention in writing this article is to make all freedom-loving Americans aware of how a minority community of Islamic jihad terrorists can turn the beacon of freedom of speech and expression into a country of chaos and civil war. America is the light and strength of the free world, similar to India, and every freedom lover prays that it will remain so in all its glory.

Mathews V. George is a human rights activist who writes from India.

A qazi is a Sharia judge. Somehow this one got the crazy idea that because Muhammad, the excellent example of conduct (cf. Qur'an 33:21) consummated his marriage with Aisha when she was nine and he was fifty-four, that therefore child marriage must be just fine. If only our Western Islamic apologists had been there to explain it all to him!

"Sudanese held for forcing minor into marriage," from IBNLive, June 29:

HYDERABAD: Following the arrest of a qazi on Monday for trying to forcibly marry off a young poor Muslim girl to an Arab Sheikh, police on Tuesday arrested two Sudanese nationals, two qazis and two female pimps for forcing a minor girl to enter into a contract marriage with one of the foreigners. The Sudanese national Mohammed Elshafie Mohammed Elhassan alias Ansari of AC Guards, who is in the city on a student visa, married the girl to exploit her and later leave her when he completes his studies, police said. His friend also tried to take advantage of the girl.

Though there have been instances of Arab Sheikhs marrying young girls from the city, this is the first case where an African national was involved. The contract marriage came to light after the 16-year-old girl from Bela Colony in Moghulpura escaped from Ansari’s clutches and approached the police. The nikah had been performed on June 9 and the girl lodged a complaint with the police on June 23, 16 days after the marriage.

According to South Zone DCP Vineet Brijlal, the nikah was performed without the consent of the girl. “The girl hails from a very poor family and her father had expired eight years ago. She is one of five siblings,” the DCP said.

25-year-old Ansari is pursuing B.Sc from a private college at Punjagutta. Ansari’s 27-year-old friend, Khaled Elrashid Khalid, also from Sudan, is pursuing a computer course in the city and allegedly tried to outrage the modesty of the girl.

Vineet Brijlal said two pimps - Zahera Begum of Kalapathar and Ghousia Begum of Falaknuma - were operating in the Old City in search of young girls to marry off to foreigners.

The women take the help of two Qazis, Syed Shakeeluddin alias Shakeel Ahmed and Syed Abdul Malik, both from AC Guards to get the marriages performed.

“Ansari gave Rs 50,000 as meher to the girl’s family and also some amount to the pimps. The nikah was performed after showing that the girl was a major and had consented,” Brijlal said.

“Ansari did not intend to take the girl away with him.

He married her only to take advantage of her,” the DCP added. The accused had also taken the thumb impressions of the girl on the day of marriage so that they could execute a ‘Qula Nama’ (divorce) when the Sudanese leaves.

Police suspect that six to seven similar marriages have taken place in the past six months. “We are trying to identify the girls and a special team has been formed to track them,” the DCP said.

He added that they are also asking the Wakf Board to ensure strict implementation of guidelines by the Qazis while performing marriages....

Good luck with that.

This Asia News piece never specifically identifies what kind of "fundamentalists" were behind this attack. Militant Baptists? Hardcore Hindus? We only get the real picture from the name of one of the attackers: Thajuddin. And so it becomes clear that this is another story involving the peculiar Islamic "morality" that finds the prospect of a woman out bicycling at night to be immoral, but the brutal assault of that woman to be perfectly moral.

"Kerala: ‘morality police’ attacks women because she is out at night," by Nirmala Carvalho for Asia News, June 22 (thanks to Block Ness):

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – A 31-year-old woman working as an information technology technician at the Infopark in Kakkanad, Kochi, Kerala, was brutally assaulted by a group of people acting as ‘morality police’. The incident occurred last Sunday at 10.30 pm.

Tasni Banu was cycling with a friend when a group of men started shouting at them. “We won't allow you to make this place another Bangalore where girls go out in the night and party,” they said.

"Later four persons abused me using filthy language,” Tasni said. “When I questioned their behaviour, they assaulted me," she said.

The Chief Minister of Kerala asked police for a report on the incident.

It is a very serious concern that many girls have recently been attacked by anti-social elements in Kerala. In Tasni’s case, the attackers warned her to stay off the streets and not to go out at night. They also told her to avoid the Bangalore lifestyle. According to the victim, one of her attackers was probably drunk.

Police believe that fundamentalists are probably behind the incident. “We have collected certain information about the persons who attacked the girl. We will take them into custody soon,” said Thrikkakara Assistant Commissioner of Police T R Prakash.

The police on Tuesday recorded statements from Tasni, who is in hospital with severe bruises on her neck and hand. “Women are not safe in the streets of Kochi. The attack reflects the attitude of society towards women who have to go out during the night," Tasni added.

Police said they have identified Thajuddin, one of the attackers. He is said to be an auto-rickshaw driver.

According to Sajan K George, President, Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), “Such incidents are manifestations of the rising tide of fundamentalism which is taking roots in Kerala”. It shows “how a section of the Muslim community is persecuting its own.”

“A few years ago, Tasni Banu, was in the news years ago for defying the fundamentalists in Malappuram as she had opted to marry under the Special Marriage Act . At that time, she had to face the wrath of not only her parents but also a group of fundamentalists who imposed a house arrest on her and later ostracised her."

"Rana was also found guilty of providing material support to a plot to bomb a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, which had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad."

All together now: Whose prophet? An update on this story. "Tahawwur Rana convicted of aiding Mumbai attack group," from BBC News, June 9:

A US jury has convicted a Chicago businessman of supporting an Islamic militant group blamed for the Mumbai attack in 2008.

But Tahawwur Rana, 50, was cleared of the more serious charge of helping plot the attack that killed more that 160 people in the Indian city.

The Chicago jury also convicted the Pakistani-born Canadian of helping an aborted attack on a Danish newspaper.

Rana is expected to be sentenced later and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Correspondents say the trial gave a rare glimpse into the workings of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which said it carried out the Mumbai attack.

Star witness

The jurors at the federal court in Chicago reached their verdict on Thursday after two days of deliberations.

They found Rana guilty of providing material support to LeT.

But he was cleared of involvement in the Mumbai attack, in which 166 people died after group of militants stormed a train station, hotels, cafes and a Jewish centre, shooting and throwing bombs.

Rana was also found guilty of providing material support to a plot to bomb a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, which had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The plan was never carried out....

Perhaps more so. They are sheltered and sponsored in Pakistan even more than al-Qaeda, which is a foreign group, while LeT is homegrown, and owned and operated by the ISI. And they have already "plotted mayhem and murder from nondescript locations in the United States."

LeT is much more central to Pakistan's double game. "LeT as dangerous as al-Qaeda: US," from the Hindustan Times, May 27:

The US joined India on Friday to call for “effective steps by all countries” to eliminate safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism, ranking the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the same league as the al Qaeda. “I think in my judgment, the LeT ranks right up there with the al Qaeda and related groups as terrorist organisations, one that seeks to harm people and take innocent lives,” US secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano said on Friday at the end of the first Indo-US Homeland Security dialogue.

Napolitano’s assertion comes in the backdrop of Chicago trial of Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana, a co-accused in the 26/11 case, in which Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley is the star witness. He has exposed the close links between the Pakistan spy agency ISI and the Lashkar.

Home minister P Chidambaram opened the dialogue earlier in the day, saying Pakistan, the global epicenter of terrorism, had become a “fragile” state, with terror groups nurtured for long as an instrument of state policy joining hands against the state.

With the dialogue coinciding with US secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Islamabad visit, Napolitano avoided any reference to the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan at a presser later in the evening.

In a joint statement, India and the US pledged to defeat the forces of terrorism. Without naming Pakistan, the statement also “called for effective steps by all countries to eliminate safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism”.

To a question on the US approach towards the Lashkar, Napolitano, ranked the outfit in the same bracket as the al Qaeda.

“Our perspective, the US perspective, is LeT is very very, I do not want to say important as that gives it too much credibility, but an organisation that is of the same ranking as the al Qaeda-related groups,” she said, with Chidambaram by her side at the press conference....

Act of war. "David Headley carried out surveillance at Indian nuclear plant," from the Press Trust of India, May 26 (thanks to Block Ness):

Chicago: David Coleman Headley, the Mumbai attacks co-accused, visited a nuclear power plant in India at the direction of his handler in Pakistan, Major Iqbal in April 2008, according to unsealed court documents released on Wednesday.

According to these documents, unsealed after Chicago Tribune petitioned before the court, Major Iqbal, said to be an ISI officer, also gave him Indian currency notes for his operation in India.

"Additionally, based on instructions from Major Iqbal, Headley visited a nuclear power plant in India to conduct surveillance," federal prosecutors said in its 57-page documents giving details of the case and the modus operandi of Headley and other Lashkar operatives with regard to the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

In April 2008, Headley returned to Mumbai. As instructed, he conducted surveillance of potential landing sites, and took boat rides around the Mumbai harbor, using the GPS and making videos.

"Headley also performed surveillance of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) train station. Additionally, based on instructions from Major Iqbal, Headley visited a nuclear power plant in India to conduct surveillance. After completing these surveillance activities, Headley returned to Pakistan and met with Zaki, Sajid, Abu Qahafa, and another Lashkar member," it said.

Abu Qahafa downloaded the contents of the device and used Google Earth to view images of the locations, it said adding that Headley recommended a landing point for the attackers near a small fisherman's bay on the coast of Mumbai.

Headley further recommended that, after landing, the attackers could use taxis to reach their attack locations....

Islamic law forbids Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men. As far as these mothers are concerned, to have allowed such marriages would have been worse than murdering their own daughters. “We killed them because they had brought shame to our community. How could they elope with Hindus? They deserved to die. We have no remorse.”

"Turned over to kin after elopement, Baghpat women killed by mothers," from Indian Express, May 14 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):

Two Muslim women in an Uttar Pradesh town, 40 km east of Delhi, allegedly killed their daughters because they had eloped and married migrant Bihari Hindu labourers, police said.

The victims had sought police protection after they returned to their homes in Baghpat earlier this week, but the subdivisional magistrate sent them home to reconcile with their mothers.

On Wednesday night, Khatun and Subrato, both of whom are widows, allegedly tied their daughters, 19-year-old Zahida and 26-year-old Husna, to cots and threw a rope around their necks. They then held the girls down and tightened the noose until the victims suffocated to death, police said.

Khatun and Subrato have been arrested. A third woman called Momina, their neighbour in Baghpat’s Muslim-dominated Mughalpura area, who allegedly helped them commit the murders, is on the run.

“We killed them because they had brought shame to our community. How could they elope with Hindus? They deserved to die. We have no remorse,” Khatun and Subrato said Friday....

Peace between India and Pakistan is not desirable as far as Hafiz Saeed is concerned, because he believes that the jihad must continue until all Muslims in India as well as Kashmir are free from kuffar rule.

"JuD chief slams cricket diplomacy, vows jihad," from Zeenews, April 12:

Islamabad: The 26/11 attacks mastermind and the founder of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed has once again rubbished the efforts by India and Pakistan to improve bilateral ties in the pretext of a cricket World Cup match between the two nations.

The JuD founder, while addressing a gathering of his supporters in Islamabad, slammed the good will gesture initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which led to his Pakistani counterpart accepting the invite to come to Mohali for the India-Pakistan match played on April 30.

And on the sidelines of the epic cricketing encounter, both leaders had held talks on ways to strengthen the bilateral ties.

But Saeed is, for obvious reasons, livid, he said, "This cricket diplomacy, these so called trade and friendship efforts have no value. We want to be clear about this. We are with the Kashmiri people and will continue to give our full support till they are free. We will stand by the Kashmiri people until they have achieved freedom.”

In his highly provocative rant, the JuD chief said that his organisation will continue to support the people of Kashmir against their suppression by Indian forces till they achieve their ultimate goal of freedom.

Saeed made these remarks while leading the funeral prayers for Kashmiri leader Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, killed in Srinagar last week, and vowed for a "jihad" in J&K....

"The path the Pakistani government is adopting, to gain India's friendship is not acceptable to Pakistan under any circumstances and we want to be clear about this, we are with the Kashmiris and, god willing, we will fulfil our commitment," Saeed reportedly told his armed supporters.

Saeed also claimed that the movement in Kashmir would serve as an example for "Muslims in Hyderabad and Junagarh who want independence from the oppression of Hindus"....

While the Muslims are the "best of peoples" (Qur'an 3:110), the unbelievers are "the most vile of created beings" (Qur'an 98:6). Afridi clearly thinks in such terms. Notice also the projection: Afridi blames tensions between Pakistan and India upon the Indians. Little things like the Mumbai jihad and the ISI's role in it don't induce him to alter this view. It is rather like the Palestinian jihadists blaming Israel for the incessant (and also jihad-caused) failure of peace talks there.

"Indians not as large hearted as Pakistanis: Afridi," from PTI, April 4 (thanks to Slothy):

ISLAMABAD: Days after winning the hearts of numerous Indian fans with his remarks after his team's loss in the World Cup semifinal, Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said Indians are not as large-hearted as Pakistanis.

Afridi also slammed the Indian media for its "very negative approach" and said the Pakistani media was a "hundred times better" than its Indian counterpart.

"In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I don't think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us," Afridi said during a talk show on Samaa news channel when he was asked about relations between the two countries.

"It is a very difficult thing for us to live with them (Indians) or to have long-term relationship with them. Nothing will come out of talks. See how many times in the past 60 years we have had friendship and then how many times things have gone bad," he said as the audience in the TV channel's studio applauded him repeatedly.

"We don't want to fight with each other but a third country - everyone knows which one it is - is trying to spoil our relations. (This country) is taking advantage of Pakistan and wants to take advantage of India. I don't want to go into details but these people will not let us come together," he added....

"No, Rafiq, don't touch that cable to that other one --"

There really needs to be a fatwa from Sheikh Qaradawi or someone about whether or not the mujahedin killed in these Premature Detonation accidents get their virgins. (IUML = Indian Union Muslim League.) "3 IUML workers killed in bomb explosion," from the Express News Service, February 27 (thanks to Mathews):

KOZHIKODE: Three persons died and eight others injured in a bomb explosion that occurred at Narikkattery, near Nadapuram, on Saturday. The deceased are Riyaz, Shameer and Rafiq. The injured have been admitted to Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode. The condition of one person is said to be critical. The incident took place around 10.30 p.m.

According to Nadapuram SI PJ Noble, the persons belonging to the IUML were involved in bomb-making when the incident occurred. Several of the bomb-manufacturing devices were seen shattered at the site, police said.

Before the police reached the spot, local people had started the rescue operations. Earlier in the day, the police had unearthed 10 pipe bombs at Payanthongu, near Nadapuram. The bombs were found in the raids conducted by the police in connection with the attacks held here on Friday. Bombs were hurled at 13 houses here and stones were pelted at a house on Friday. However, no one was injured in these attacks.

While there are certainly some wedding reception disc jockeys that I would like to see run afoul of this ban, this Sharia Alert from India simply indicates yet again that...there is no fun in Islam*.

"Muslim clerics to boycott marriages with disc jockeys," from PTI, February 26 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Muzaffarnagar, Feb 26 (PTI) Muslim clerics here have decided to "boycott" weddings that engage disc jockeys (DJ).A meeting held yesterday by cleric Shahar Qazi Mufti Tanmik and attended by Qazi Irfan, Qazi Abdul Rehman Hafz Nasarat Ali, Hafiz Murtaza Hafiz Sattar decided to avoid performing nikah in such marriages.The clerics said use of DJs during marriage is against the Shariat law.

* The Ayatollah Khomeini said that.

"The only solution to the Kashmir issue is jihad," said Saeed. And oddly enough, it is virtually certain that all 20,000 people in attendance understood him to mean war, not an interior spiritual struggle. Misunderstanding of Islam rampant in Lahore: "JuD leaders chant 'jihad', would not mind Indo-Pak N-war," from PTI, February 6:

Extremist leaders, including Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, have stepped up calls for jihad against India, even advocating the use of nuclear weapons if needed in the "war for Kashmir".

The vicious comments at a massive rally organised by Jamaat-ud-Dawah to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day, have come at a time when India and Pakistan are trying to find ways to revive the peace process.

At the rally, speaker after speaker espoused the use of jihad or holy war to settle the Kashmir issue and Saeed said this approach should be adopted even if even leads to a "nuclear war" with India.

Saeed, blamed by India for masterminding the Mumbai attacks, said: "I want to give a message to (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh--quit Kashmir or get ready to face a war".

He was addressing a rally of about 20,000 supporters on the Mall, one of the main thoroughfares of Lahore, yesterday.

"You (Singh) must remember that the movement of the Kashmiri people is nearing an end and I am telling you very clearly to immediately leave Kashmir.

"Otherwise we are ready to start a war against you to get this at any cost," Saeed told the rally held to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day.

"The only solution to the Kashmir issue is jihad," said Saeed.

The jihad should continue "as long as Kashmir remains under Indian occupation" and there would be "no problem" if the fighting leads to nuclear war between Pakistan and India, he contended.

JuD deputy chief Abdur Rehman Makki demanded that Pakistan's prime minister should set up an independent ministry for the jihad in Kashmir.

"The JuD will provide the budget for this ministry if (the prime minister) accepts our proposal," he said.

Offering to provide one million trained fighters to wage the jihad, Makki called on the Pakistan army chief to provide Kalashnikovs for these fighters.

Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Liaquat Baloch, who also addressed the rally, said it was obligatory for Muslims to be ready for jihad....

Hafiz Saifullah Mansoor, one of Saeed's close aides and chairman of the Kashmir Action Committee, said the government should use its atomic weapons, if needed, in the "war for Kashmir".

Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith leader Rana Nasrullah said Pakistan's nuclear weapons were not for deterrence alone and should be used against India for the "independence of Kashmir"....

Saeed further claimed the Indian government would not be successful with such a "trap" as the JuD would continue its struggle for Kashmir....

Though even the US has said that the Kashmir dispute could trigger a nuclear war, the JuD is not afraid of such a war, he said.

He rejected the labelling of the JuD as a terrorist group and said it was only taking up the Kashmir cause and helping Kashmiris in their "freedom movement".

India could not prove anything against the JuD after blaming it for the Mumbai attacks, he claimed.

Yes, I'm sure it is as pure as the driven snow.

What a friend we have in Pakistan! "Pakistan says it will defend spy chief in US suits," by Nahal Toosi for the Associated Press, December 30:

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will strongly contest two U.S lawsuits that link its spy chief and his agency to the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, the government said Thursday....

It appeared that the goal of the tough Pakistani stance was to get the lawsuits dismissed....

No kidding, really?

The court papers repeat long-standing allegations that Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence has "nurtured and used international terrorist groups," including Lashkar.

"Defendant ISI provided critical planning, material support, control and coordination of the attacks," the lawsuits allege, pressing wrongful death and additional claims against the ISI, its chief Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha and others.

The ISI is a powerful military institution that operates largely independently, with little oversight by the civilian government.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pasha cannot be made to testify in a U.S. civil court and that the New York City cases should be dismissed.

The Foreign Ministry's statement Thursday indicated that Pakistan, through its embassy in Washington, will seek to get the lawsuits tossed out. It declared that Pasha, the ISI and other Pakistani officials named will be "fully and properly" defended and noted the prime minister's view against pursuing the court cases.

Pakistan has denied any government agency was involved in the attacks in India, its archrival. The two countries have fought three wars since 1947. Pakistani security has detained seven suspects in the case, but their trials have stalled....

Not surprisingly, there is a possible connection to the Pakistani government: "In his interrogation, Headley claimed that he frequently combined missions for Lashkar-e-Taiba with missions for the main Pakistani spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI)."

"India issues nationwide terror alert," by Jason Burke in the Guardian, December 28 (thanks to David):

Indian authorities have deployed thousands of security personnel following warnings that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group, is planning an attack over the New Year weekend.

Police officers and paramilitaries were on high alert across the country, including in India's financial capital, Mumbai, Indian officials said. House-to-house searches were under way in some areas of the city, which was attacked by Lashkar-e-Taiba in November 2008. Airports and railway stations, the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat and the popular beach resort state of Goa were also on high alert following the warning, said to be based on "human" intelligence and received in recent days.

Most of the locations covered by the alert had been visited by David Headley, a Pakistani-American and member of Lashkar-e-Taiba who travelled widely in India before the Mumbai attack, one official told the Guardian. Headley was tasked by the extremist group with surveillance of targets in Mumbai itself but also visited Goa and the city of Pune, where there was a blast in February.

According to a secret report by Indian investigators of their interrogation of Headley in June, the undercover militant brought back film and notes on potential targets in India such as Jewish centres and tourist resorts favoured by Israelis which he passed on to his handlers.

In his interrogation, Headley claimed that he frequently combined missions for Lashkar-e-Taiba with missions for the main Pakistani spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). His last trips to India before his arrest in Chicago in October last year were on behalf of a veteran Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaida called Ilyas Kashmiri, he said....

"Police search Mumbai for 4 in alleged terror plot," by Rajnish Kakade for Associated Press, December 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):

MUMBAI, India - Police searched India's financial capital on Friday for four men who authorities believe entered Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack, a top police official said.

Authorities issued a terror alert for the city, where a three-day terrorist seige [sic] in 2008 killed 166 people. Since then, police tend to take even minor threats seriously and have periodically raised the alarm, but there have been no subsequent attacks in the city. Despite checkpoints and some road closures, traffic and activity in most of Mumbai was normal on Friday.

Police have received credible information that at least four men belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group have entered the city and were planning to strike during the holiday season, said Himanshu Roy, joint police commissioner of Mumbai Police. India blames Lashkar for the 2008 assaults.

"The four men are planning violent attacks that are going to cause destruction," Roy said. "The four have recently arrived in Mumbai. We believe the threat is serious."

Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment....

Yes, they're busy collecting their latest anti-terror check from the U.S.

India has called on Pakistan to crack down on terrorists thought to be operating from their soil. Lashkar-e-Taiba is banned by Pakistan's government but it still thought to have support in Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence community.

In the 2008 attack, several gunmen laid siege to two luxury hotels -- including the Taj Mahal -- a Jewish center, a popular restaurant and Mumbai's crowded main train station. The lone surviving gunman was captured and earlier this year sentenced to death.

New Delhi has repeatedly accused Islamabad of complicity in terrorist attacks against India. Pakistan denies the charge saying it only offers the militant groups political and diplomatic support.

Oh, well, that's all right, then!

War Is Deceit, doncha know. "Wikileaks: Pakistan hoaxed by bogus anti-India cables," from the BBC, December 10 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Pakistani newspapers have admitted they were hoaxed after publishing reports based on fake Wikileaks cables containing anti-Indian propaganda.

US diplomatic cables were reported on Thursday as confirming many right-wing Pakistani views and conspiracy theories about their regional arch-foe.

They claimed US envoys thought one Indian general was "rather a geek", and accused India of genocide in Kashmir.

The fake cables are believed to have been planted by Pakistani intelligence.

The Guardian, a British newspaper which has all of the 250,000 leaked Wikileaks cables, said that an extensive search of the database had found nothing to match any of the claims in the Pakistani media.

'Deep regret'

A spokesman for the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said they were "appalled" such a baseless story had attracted such wide exposure.

According to the fake cables, Indian spies were said to be supporting Islamist militants in Pakistan's north-western tribal region of Waziristan and the south-western province of Balochistan....

What a surprise. An update on this story. "India says local Islamists bombed pilgrim city," by C.J. Kuncheria for Reuters, December 8:

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said Wednesday a home-grown Islamist group with ties to Pakistani militants was behind a bomb attack in one of its holiest cities, and local media reported two people were questioned over the attack.

Home Secretary Gopal Pillai said traces of explosives were found at the site of Tuesday evening's blast in the northern city of Varanasi that killed a two-year old girl and injured 37 Hindu worshippers and foreign tourists.

Pillai said the crude bomb was set off by the Indian Mujahideen (IM), a local group India says has been trained by militants based in Pakistan, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The IM claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to local media, police said. That email was traced to a Mumbai suburb and two people were questioned over it, local media said.

"The main players of Indian Mujahideen are based in Pakistan and they are definitely running the game from there," Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal told a press conference.

Pillai has said it was "too premature" to say if individuals or groups operating from Pakistan were involved....

Doubtless it was those extremist Christians again. "Bomb wounds 20 in Indian temple city of Varanasi," from AP, December 7 (thanks to Louis):

LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- Police say a bomb explosion wounded 20 people attending a Hindu ritual in what appears to be a terrorist attack in India's temple city of Varanasi.

Police official Brij Lal says the bomb was hidden in a milk canister on the Sheetla Ghat, one of many stone staircases leading to the Ganges river....

Lal says the blast Tuesday evening "appears to be a terrorist attack." It was not immediately clear who might be responsible.