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Showing posts with label India News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India News. Show all posts

Friday, February 6, 2009

New CEO of Satyam is AS Murthy

this news update by www.breakingalert.com
New Delhi: Satyam Computer Services has appointed AS Murthy as the new CEO of the beleaguered IT company. Murthy is an old timer at satyam and is currently the Global Business Head of the company.

Along with this most awaited appointment, the Satyam Board has also announced two special advisors- Partho S Dutta and Homi Khusrokhan- who will work with Boston Consulting Group to smoothen out the day to day operations of the company.

Murthy will assume the responsibility with immediate effect, the company said in a statement after a two day meeting of its Board in Hyderabad.

Satyam has also received bank sanctions for 6 billion rupees towards working capital requirements. The statement also informed that January wages of employees had been paid while salary for two weeks of February had also been given from internal cash of the company.

The company said that funding and collections will help it tide over the financial crises even as it focuses on reporting the Q3 results.

Satyam is also undertaking cost rationalisation measures, the statement said.

Satyam came into the bad light after its founder-chairman Ramalinga Raju told his Board that he had cooked the company books for years, showing inflated profits.


this news published by www.breakingalert.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 1, 2009

P Chidambaram chairs first MAC meet, discusses modalities

this news update by www.24hrsalert.blogspot.com
New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday chaired the first meeting of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), which has been given the legal backing for exchanging intelligence inputs among all intelligence agencies including that of the states.

He discussed with the chiefs of IB, RAW and Military Intelligence (MI) and other senior officials the modalities of the MAC related to the functions, powers and duties, which the Centre, established in the Intelligence Bureau, will now take up.

The meeting comes a day after an executive order was issued, under which the MAC is obliged to share intelligence with all other intelligence agencies, including agencies of the state governments and the Union Territories.

Chidambaram had yesterday said that there would be a "distinct improvement" in the gathering and sharing of intelligence relating to terrorism, terror threats and terror offences.

"The MAC, as the nodal centre on all intelligence relating to terrorism, has not been able to fully achieve its objectives. Hence, it was decided that a legal colour be given to the order establishing MAC," Chidambaram had said during his maiden press conference yesterday.

Subsidiaries of MAC have already been established in many state capitals and in due course these would be set up in every state capital.

this news published www.apakistannews.com

Sunday, December 28, 2008

this news update by www.24hrsalert.blogspot.com

Mumbai
: The identification parade of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist caught alive in the November 26 terror attack, continued for the second day on Sunday at the high security Arthur Road Jail where Ajmal was shifted on Saturday.

Officials of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and RPF visited the jail as witnesses to identify Ajmal.


In the wee hours yesterday, Ajmal was shifted from the lock-up at the Mumbai police headquarters in south Mumbai to the Arthur Road jail. According sources, the identification parade would be carried out over the next few days and around 33 witnesses have been lined up by the Mumbai crime branch against Ajmal.

The process would be conducted in the presence of a magistrate. Police officials said officers who had intercepted Ajmal and his slain partner Ismail Khan at Girgaum Chowpatty and officials from Cama hospital that was also attacked by the duo visited the jail yesterday.

Police constable Arun Kumar Jadhav, who was the only one to survive the ambush that killed three senior police officials including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, will be one of the prime witnesses.

Another witness in the case is Maruti Madhavrao Phad, a government driver who witnessed the terrorists firing at the three police officers.

S R Arasa, the owner of the Skoda car which was hijacked by the duo will also be called for the identification parade.

Last Wednesday, Ajmal was remanded to police custody till January 6.

this news www. breakingalert.blogspot.com

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Kasab’s identification parade conducted in Mumbai

this news update by www.topnews.in
Mumbai: The identification parade of the lone surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was conducted at the city’s Arthur Road Jail on Saturday.

According to sources, two GRP personnel and several witnesses took part in the identification parade. All the witnesses reportedly identified Kasab as the terrorist they had seen on November 26.

Among the total 35 witnesses are policeman Arun Jadhav, who was in the police jeep targeted by the terrorists and SR Arasa, the owner of the Skoda car, which was hijacked by the attackers on Marine Drive.

Kasab and his associate Ismail Khan had fled in the hijacked car but were confronted by a police team at Girgaum Chowpatty. The encounter resulted in the killing of Khan while Kasab was caught alive.

“The other witnesses include the cops who saw him firing at CST station as also some of those who were injured there,’’ a police officer said.

Considering the gravity of the case, elaborate security arrangements were made at the Arthur Road Jail.

this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Not Planning military action; want Pakistan to act: India

this news update by www.thearynews.com
Islamabad: India has informed Pakistan that it has not engaged in any sort of troop build-up along the frontier and sought firm action against terrorist camps and militant groups operating from the Pakistani soil.

New Delhi has also told Islamabad that it has no plans for a military action, but wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like the Lashker-e-Taiba and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which have been linked to the Mumbai attacks.

This message was conveyed during Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal's meeting with Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir here on Friday. Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra was also present, diplomatic sources said.

The Pakistani side said any surgical strike by India in response to the Mumbai terror attacks would be seen as an "act of war". To this, the Indian officials stated that there was "no reason for the war hysteria" being witnessed in Pakistan, the sources said.

The Indian officials made it clear that there had been no build-up of troops along the Pakistan frontier and that New Delhi had no plans for military action, the sources said.

The Indian side also conveyed the message that "words and commitments" were not adequate in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which were "just a symptom of the larger problem" of terrorists operating from the Pakistani soil, the sources said.

"There is a need for firm action against such elements. We don't see the shutting down of terrorist camps. Armed militants with guns are still moving around and terrorist camps are still operational," a source said.

The sources said India wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like the LeT and JuD.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma asserted that Pakistan needed to launch proceedings against terrorism as India had already given it the needed evidence.

this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Pakistan have no Tension from indian War preparation

this news update by www.apakistannews.com
They were responding to an intelligence report saying India may be preparing to strike against Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month that it blames on elements in Pakistan, the Daily Times repored.

According to the paper, the officials said that the Pakistani political and military leadership were fully aware of the grim situation on the Indian border.

Pakistan is keeping a close watch on the army deployment along the Line of Control in Kashmir and the activities of the Indian paramilitary Border Security Force, added the officials.

The Pakistan Army has been put on high alert, and national security institutions had been meeting on a daily basis to review the day-to-day security situation. The Prime Minister, President and the defence minister are being regularly updated reports. (ANI)


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Kasab To Come Live on TV

this news find by www.apakistannews.com
New Delhi: Apparently looking to call off Pakistan’s bluff in front of the international community, investigators are now looking at the possibility of a worldwide live broadcast of Ajmal Kasab’s confession on his role in the Mumbai attacks and also reveal details about his antecedents.

What has precipitated thinking towards such a bold step, as claimed by leading English daily, is Pakistan’s continuous rejection of all concrete evidences provided by India about the complicity of Pak based groups in the recent terror attacks.

Moreover, India has also revealed names of all the ten terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks.

A high-level meeting was convened in New Delhi, yesterday, to look at the pros and cons of bringing Kasab live on TV and as per reports senior intelligence officials and home ministry officials are positively inclined towards the bold gambit.

However, the final decision lies with the Centre and reports claim that it will announce the date –when Kasab will be live on TV- shortly.

The development comes even as Kasab’s remand ends today and is due to be produced in court. Incidentally, he still has no lawyer as many of those who came forward to defend later though otherwise owing to the angry reactions from rightwing organisations.

This would be first such move of its kind by any country in which the live confession of a terrorist will be broadcast live across the world. To make the confession comprehensible, Kasab’s confession will also have English subtitles.

The move reflects Indian government’s frustration about the defiant attitude of Pakistan, even as India faced the worst ever terror strike. Moreover, the move also aims to further corner the Yousuf Raja Gilani government and prove before the international community that Pakistan has repeatedly failed to live up to its commitments against terrorism.

Indian authorities have been providing substantial evidence about the nationality of those who attacked Mumbai and their masterminds but Pakistan has been categorically rejecting to acknowledge the fact that all those involved in the incident were actually its citizens, who were especially trained for the purpose by militant organisations operating from its soil.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Desperate Kasav: I am a Pakistani

this news find by www.apakistannews.com
India on Monday (Dec 22) summoned Pakistan’s Acting High Commissioner Afrasiab and handed over the letter written by Mumbai attack accused Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab, which states that he is a “Pakistani”.

Kasav, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26. In his letter addressed to the Pakistan High Commission, Kasab has stated that he and the other terrorists killed in the attack were from Pakistan.

In the letter, Ajmal has asked the Pakistan High Commission to take custody of the body of fellow terrorist Ismail Khan, who was killed in an encounter in south Mumbai the same night. He has also sought a meeting with the Pakistan High Commission.

This is the first time India is officially handing over proof of Kasav’s nationality to Pakistan and with Pakistan consistently denying that the arrested terrorist is not from Pakistan, this incontrovertible proof sumbmitted by India is likely to put Pakistan in the dock.

Kasab, who hails from Faridkot village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, was captured on November 26 soon after the group of 10 heavily-armed terrorists launched attacks in Mumbai. The terrorist, who is in police custody till Wednesday, wrote the letter last week and it was forwarded by the Mumbai police to MEA for handing it over to the Pakistan High Commission.

Islamabad has been denying that Kasab is a Pakistani national even though his father has confirmed it. Pakistani media also went to his village and confirmed his nationality through a sting operation, after which authorities ordered a clampdown to keep journalists away.

Kasab, during his interrogation, has told Mumbai police in detail as to how he became a hardcore terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba from an ordinary criminal. He has given details to police as to how he underwent training at LeT camps along with several others and later was sent by his handlers by ship from Karachi on November 26.

Earlier in the day, slamming Pakistan for not keeping its promise of ending cross-border terrorism, external affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India is “not closing any options”.

Mukherjee said the Mumbai strikes and the attack on Kabul embassy show that terrorism emanating from Pakistan is “acquiring an increasingly dangerous dimension and continues to threaten peace and stability in this region and beyond.”

Addressing a conference of Indian ambassadors and High Commissioners here, he said India has sought the support of the international community to put pressure on Pakistan to “deal effectively” with terrorism.

India has highlighted that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan has to be dismantled permanently, he told the first-of-its-kind conclave being held in the backdrop of a fresh chill in relations between New Delhi and Islamabad.

“We are not saying this because we are affected but because we believe that it will be good for the entire world and also for Pakistani people and society,” he underlined.

Describing the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan as the “greatest terrorist danger to peace and security of the entire civilised world,” Mukherjee said “there has been some effort so far by the international community but this is not enough.”

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Monday, December 22, 2008

Terror structure in Pak threat for world: Mukherjee

this news find by www.thearynews.com
NEW DELHI: Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that alleged terror structure in Pakistan poses threat to the world.

Addressing a specially convened two-day meeting of more than 120 Indian ambassadors here, Mukherjee hoped that the world would increase pressure over Pakistan to extend assistance to India in investigations of the Mumbai attacks.

Pranab Mukherjee earlier talking with media hoped that Pakistan will fulfil the promise to act against terrorists, otherwise India will punish the culprits involved in Mumbai terror attacks.
Mukherjee said that India and other countries have repeatedly said that the terrorists and militants are a threat to Pakistan. Indian external minister expressed hope that Pakistan will initiate effective drive against terrorists and militants, otherwise India will launch offensive against these groups. According to sources the focus in the moot will be on the fallout of the Mumbai attacks and ties with Pakistan; the global financial crisis is also likely to come up. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will address the envoys. Home Minister P Chidambaram is also likely to attend.

this news published by www.thearynews.com

Friday, December 19, 2008

India Obliged to consider the entire range of option: Mukharjee

GANGTOK: India on Friday said it was obliged to “consider the entire range of options that exist” with the failure of Pakistan to deliver on its
promise of not supporting terror activities.

“Terrorism remains a scourge for our region. If a country cannot keep the assurances that it has given, then it obliges us to consider the entire range of options that exist to protect our interests and people from this menace,” external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said, without naming Islamabad.

“We have made repeated appeals to our neighbours over the years to ensure that they do not provide support to terrorist activities and to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure…but our pleas have been ignored in spite of assurances given by them,” Mukherjee said.

He said this in his message from New Delhi to the international conference on ‘Sub-regionalism Approach to Regional Integration in South Asia: Prospects and Opportunities’ here.

It was read out by the Sikkim University Vice-Chancellor Prof Mahendra P Lama at the inauguration of the three-day conference.

Mukherjee said the terror attacks on the financial capital of the country reflected the extent to which the terrorists have spread their network in the neighbouring country.

The external affairs minister, however, did not elaborate on the course of action to be taken by the government following Pakistan’s failure to act on its assurance of dismantling terror infrastructure on its territory.

He also hinted that the state agencies of Pakistan may have provided assistance to the terrorists, whom he described as non-state actors, in carrying out the attack.

“The Mumbai terrorist attack is the latest instance of how sub-regionalism, regionalism and multilaterism are directly threatened by non-state actors with the aid of para-state apparatus,” Mukherjee said.

He said that India would fine-tune its priorities to deal with terrorism.

Referring to India’s assessment of political situation in Pakistan, Mukherjee noted that the internal security of that country continued to deteriorate “leading to emergence of multiple centres of power”.

The emergence of multiple centres of power has been reflected in attempts at cross border infiltration as also the increase in ceasefire violations besides the appalling terrorist attacks in Mumbai recently, he said.

The issue of terrorism within Pakistan being deeply embroiled in its internal politics has been found true, the minister said.

“The infrastructure of terror remained unchallenged in Pakistan and so did the logistical support to anti-Indian terrorists from multiple hands due to emergence of multiple centres of power,” Mukherjee said.

On India’s vision for a developed and prosperous South Asia, Mukherjee said, New Delhi sought to promote an environment of peace and stability in the SAARC region and the world for accelerated socio-economic development and national security.

“At the same time, one cannot choose one’s neighbour,” he said in an apparent dig at Pakistan.

“The goal of the SAARC countries should be to create a peaceful periphery to enable all of us to pursue our own development,” the union minister said and questioned the commitment of some neighbouring countries to pursue a common goal of peace and development in the South Asian region.

“The internal development in our neighbour countries, crossborder issues, ethnicities and migration among others make the bilateral relations a complex and sensitive issue as the domestic and foreign policy gets closely intertwined,” he said.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Antulay Resigns, Seeks Probe Into Karkare Death

NEW DELHI: Indian Union Minority Affairs Minister AR Antulay resigned here Friday, bowing under pressure from the public, media and his own partymen after his controversial remarks on the death of former Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare.

Antulay sent his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, which said “I hereby tender my resignation to you and pray to accept and oblige”.

Ironically, Abdul Rahman Antulay remains defiant over his remarks and did not regret or apologise.

Antulay, the most popular Muslim face in the Congress, has sought a probe into Hemant Karkare’s death in the letter written to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He also blamed the media for ‘distorting’ his remarks. According to sources, the PM is yet to accept AR Antulay’s resignation.


this news by www.apakistannews.com

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Dawood Ibrahim is Main Suspct of mumbai Attack: Russia Intelligence


NEW DELHI: The Russian government has issued a statement saying that it believes that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was directly involved in the Mumbai terror attacks and his network was used by the terrorists to carry out the multiple attacks.

Moscow, which has been sharing intelligence with India, further believes that Dawood’s drug network, which runs through Afghanistan, was used to finance the terror attack.

Russia has also gone public with its intelligence inputs that point to the involvement of Dawood Ibrahim, who is believed to be operating his vast network from Karachi, in the Mumbai terror attacks.

“The gathered inputs testify that regional drug baron Dawood Ibrahim had provided his logistics network for preparing and carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks,” Russia’s federal anti-narcotics service director Viktor Ivanov said in an interview to Russian government daily Rossiskaya Gazeta. He had further said that the Mumbai attacks were a ‘burning example’ of how the illegal drug trafficking network was used for carrying out terror activities.

Special representative of the Russian president for international co-operation in the fight against terrorism, Anatoly Safonov, who led the Russian delegation at the meeting of the joint working group, has said that the drug network, which finances the terror network, was a joint problem for India and Russia and that the two countries co-operate more closely in the area.

This was reflected in a joint statement released after the talks. The two sides have agreed to work together to track terror funds. “The two sides noted that curbing financing of terrorism is a key component of the counter-terrorism strategy and agreed to strengthen bilateral interaction in this field,” the joint statement said.

Safonov has said that Russia is willing to work with India to “inject new dynamism” in the convention that has been held up over the definition of terrorism. The Russian side had also offered to explain to Indian officials the steps taken by Russia after the Beslan school terrorist attack.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Hemant Karkare Murder, A R Antulay Face Probe

NEW DELHI: Minority affairs minister A R Antulay on Wednesday set off a major political row by demanding a probe into the shooting of Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare in the 26/11 terror strikes which he linked to investigations into the alleged involvement of Hindu radicals in the Malegaon blast case.

Stating that the circumstances of Karkare’s shooting “may be inquired into”, Antulay seemed to have borrowed a leaf from Pakistani TV hosts who have claimed that the Mumbai attacks were the handiwork of “Hindu-Zionists”. Antulay told the media outside Parliament’s gate number 12 that “there must have been some reason why Karkare went to Cama hospital instead of Taj and Oberoi hotels.”

Antulay said “someone” could have told Karkare and other officers with him to go to Cama hospital, suggesting that the ATS chief fell victim to a set-up as he was probing cases which involved Hindu radicals in the Malegaon case. The comments were immediately televised and triggered an uproar in Lok Sabha where BJP and Shiv Sena MPs vehemently criticised the minister who insisted that directions issued to the officer must be probed.

A red-faced Congress swiftly dissociated itself from the minister with party spokesperson Abhisekh Singhvi saying, “We don’t accept the inference and the innuendo that underline the statement (of Antulay)…we don’t agree with bringing this case (Karkare’s killing) under a cloud.”

But Antulay was unfazed, virtually daring the Congress to sack him and offering to “explain” the geography of south Mumbai to his party.

He got support from the RJD with party leader Devendra Yadav also expressing suspicion of involvement of Hindu radicals in Karkare’s killing. As his boss Lalu Prasad looked on approvingly, he said, “Two days before Karkare was killed, who had given a call for Maharashtra bandh?”

Reacting to the controversy, BJP condemned Antulay’s statement and said the minister was as good as playing ISI’s attorney and demanded his sacking. BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Pakistan could now quote Antulay to contest the account of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab. “Having made such a preposterous statement, Antulay cannot be allowed to remain in government even for a day,” he said.

Antulay has been fulminating since Tuesday evening when the Cabinet cleared the bills for a National Investigation Agency and amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He expressed apprehension that tougher anti-terror laws could well be misused, hinting that minorities were in the line of fire.

On Wednesday afternoon, Antulay added to this script, telling TV cameras that apart from terrorism, the laws should also emcompass communal riots. “Those who riot are also terrorists,” he claimed, seeking to provide what he felt was a sense of “equivalence” to the government’s actions. But soon after, perhaps dissatisfied by his efforts, Antulay reappeared to claim he suspected foul play in the shooting of Karkare.

The “Karakare conspiracy” has been articulated by some Urdu newspapers and clerics like the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid. This is despite the exhaustive account of Ajmal Kasab, who along with slain terrorist Ismail, shot Karkare, additional commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar. Also, a Mumbai police constable Jadhav, who actually survived the shooting by lying at the back of the qualis commandeered by Kasab and Ismail has given his account of the shooting as well.

Antulay’s blatant attempt to politicise the death of the Mumbai ATS chief at a time when the government was moving harder anti-terror laws may well have sounded the deathknell to the post 26/11 bipartisanship in fighting terrorism. It also places Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an arkward position. If Antulay continues as a minister without a full retraction, it would mean allowing the minister to undermine the government on the Mumbai attacks.

Antulay’s controversial comments provided fodder for an enraged Opposition. While Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete drew Lok Sabha’s attention to Antulay’s words, triggering a spat with treasury benches, the minister sought to present a defence by saying he had only questioned who had sent the top cops in the direction of Cama hospital when bigger attacks were happening at Taj and Oberoi. He was cut short by Geete that his statement was more categorical and was on TV.

Devendra Yadav demanded that home minister P Chidambaram constitute a “probe on the relation between terror and Sangh Parivar.”


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Jamaat-ud-Dawa Has Mounted its own Spirited Defence Sgainst its Ban

NEW DELHI: As Pakistan struggles to ban the Jamaat-ud-Dawa after the UN Security Council resolution, the Islamic group has mounted its own
spirited defence against its ban. Portraying itself as a charity organization and social do-gooder, the JuD has mounted a campaign on its website to convince its followers that the UNSC had proscribed the wrong organization under Indian pressure.

JuD on Tuesday published a detailed list of people who would suffer from the closure. They included thousands of the 2005 and 2008 earthquake victims, especially in Balakot, Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot. It also said it is digging wells in Sindh and Balochistan; helping out poor and destitute children, patients who avail of free surgeries and diagnostic services, people who receive dry rations in disaster affected areas, etc.

“Jamaat-ud-Dawah is always the first to reach affected people in any emergency or natural disaster; pulling out people from the rubble of destroyed homes, carrying out on-the-spot surgeries of wounded people, setting up tent cities, cooking and distributing free food, digging fresh water wells, and building shelters.”

The JuD website is relishing a BBC story about poor Pakistani Hindus protesting against the ban. Hindus even stepped out in a protest march in Hyderabad (Sindh), describing JuD as a “saviour”. One protester, Biga Ram, told a news agency: “How can an organisation be terrorist if it`s been providing food and water to us despite knowing that we`re not Muslims?”

She added: “They`re friends of humanity. We condemn the ban. It`s unjust.”

During the October earthquake in 2005, it was the profusion of JuD mobile hospitals and medical services that drew praise from many international observers, while the Pakistan government floundered in reaching basic services to the quake-affected people.

It helped in that the JuD’s recruiting public came from the PoK region, but it also surprised observers that camps they had thought have been closed were clearly in operation. And ultimately, that’s the secret of the JuD’s survival — because it has taken over a lot of the services that should actually be provided by the state. And JuD’s constituency of dependents grows.

That’s also the unfortunate truth about the ban. This terror group which has a charity front will always use the humanitarian excuse to continue working on all fronts, including training and deploying terrorists. Which is why, while JuD’s bank accounts have been frozen, the group has not yet been formally banned by Pakistan.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Legal limbo for Mumbai Attacker Ajmal Amir Iman Could be Unlawful: Rights group

India could be in breach of international law if the surviving Mumbai attacker is refused legal representation, a human rights group said, amid strong public calls for harsh retribution. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman is currently in police custody and being questioned about last month’s attacks, which killed 172 people, including nine gunmen, injured nearly 300 and provoked worldwide outrage.

mumbai attacks video

But with feelings still running high after the 60-hour assault on India’s financial and entertainment capital, the Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Court’s Bar Association has resolved not to represent the 21-year-old Pakistani. Others who say they would represent him have been publicly condemned as unpatriotic and in one case, activists of a Hindu nationalist political party ransacked an advocate’s home.

Rights groups say that if no lawyer comes forward, Iman — who faces a potential death sentence if convicted — will be denied a fair trial, putting the world’s biggest democracy in breach of domestic and international law. “Everybody has a right to be represented” during questioning and at trial, said Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch in Mumbai.

“The presumption of innocence and the right to representation is the most basic of human rights,” she told. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which India ratified, enshrines the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law at which the defendant “has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence”.

India’s own constitution also provides for the right to legal aid and representation, as well as a “fair, just and equitable procedure” in court for any defendant, regardless of whether they are a foreign national.

But the honorary secretary of the Bombay Bar Association, M.P. Rao, said the unprecedented nature of the attacks — blamed on the banned Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba — meant normal rules should not apply.

“He (Iman) has waged war on the country. If he’s waged war, the basic requirement of giving him a fair trial doesn’t really become justified,” he told AFP. “So, the majority of our bar members are of the view that he could be tried without anybody representing him on the basis of circumstantial evidence that’s available.”

Rao says the door is still open for a foreign lawyer, possibly from Pakistan, to represent Iman as there is “unchallengeable proof” he comes from India’s neighbour and rival. But his comments fit the public mood. A letter in the Midday tabloid here Wednesday described as “ridiculous” an Indian Supreme Court ruling that it is illegal to deny a defendant the lawyer of his choice.

“How can one defend the indefensible? These loopholes in the system should be plugged immediately… He (Iman) should not be given the right to defend himself in court,” the correspondent wrote.


this news published by www.apakistannew.com

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

ISI not Involved in Mumbai Attacks: Federal Bureau of Investigation

The US investigators probing Mumbai attack have concluded after quizzing the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab that there was no involvement of Inter Services Intelligence in the carnage.

Mumbai attack watch video

According to sources, Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel were allowed to interrogate Kasab for nine hours during which they were able to establish that he was a Pakistan national.

The source said FBI investigations have further established that the attackers had reached Mumbai from Pakistan, where the plan was allegedly hatched and the terrorists were provided necessary training by Laskar-e-Taiba.

Mumbai attack watch video

Based on Indian example of allowing FBI to probe Kasab, the US and UK are now pressuring Pakistan to allow their investigators to grill those arrested by Pakistani authorities.

Besides, the renewed US pressure on Pakistan government to rein in ISI, the sources said, was because of previous involvement of ISI in ‘questionable activities’.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Ajmal Kasab Case, Shiv Sena warns to Legal Community

Pune: The Shiv Sena Wednesday warned legal community to refrain from taking the case of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist caught alive in November 26 Mumbai terror attacks and demanded that he be hanged without trial.

The party, whose workers have already bashed up two lawyers in the state for coming forward to defend Ajmal, said in an editorial in ‘Saamana’ that the terrorist who was a part of the nefarious design that killed innocent people should be hanged in front of Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

The trained terrorists attacked Mumbai, the financial capital of India, in one of the most barbaric acts which were watched by the whole world on television screens.

Those who want to defend them in courts are doing it for money and publicity facilitating their prolonged treatment as government guests, the paper said.

Despite the death sentence, Afzal Guru, guilty of attack on Indian parliament has still survived and the same sequence could be repeated in case of Ajmal in the name of secular and democratic norms, the editorial said.

It further said that the so called human rights groups should be alive to people’s outrage and a legal defence of the terrorists would continue to draw reaction from Shiv Sena.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Ajmal kasab is Pakistan National: US Investigators

Islamabad: American investigators who questioned Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attack, are convinced he is a Pakistani national and that the terrorist strike was planned and executed by the Lashkar-e-Toiba, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were given access to Ajmal for nine hours and after questioning him, they came to the conclusion that he was a Pakistani national as contended by Indian authorities, the sources told a news agency.

The sources, familiar with the probe being conducted by the FBI team dispatched to Mumbai, said American investigators were also convinced that the Mumbai attacks were intricately planned and directed by the LeT leaders based in Pakistan.

“The investigators believe the attacks were planned, coordinated and directed from Pakistan by LeT leaders,” a source said.

These findings fit in with comments by top American leaders like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Admiral Mike Mullen, the senior-most US military official, who have asked Pakistan to take quick action against “non-state actors” based on Pakistani soil who were linked to the Mumbai attacks.

Though Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ruled out allowing the British police to quiz the suspects Pakistan had detained in connection with the Mumbai attacks, the diplomatic sources said it would be hard pressed to take such a stance if the FBI made a similar request as India had already given American investigators access to Ajmal.


this news published by www.apakistannews.com

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Srikkanth asks Dravid to take a break: Reports

Dravid may have failed to put an end to his failures in Chennai, but the former captain continues to receive the backing of all the men who matter including the selectors.

However, there are suggestions from the five wise men that he should take a break from the game so he can regain his focus and come back afresh.

Reports suggest that after the win in the Chennai Test, chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth had a closed door meeting with Dravid amidst the team celebrations. It is understood that he suggested a break for Dravid.

The chairman of selectors is even learnt to have offered to Dravid to bat down the order at number five instead of his regular number three position; and have VVS Laxman bat at number three. The Wall was offered a central contract on Monday and more importantly retained in Grade ‘A’ despite his poor form over the last one year.



Karuna:Prabhakaran at “his last gasp” in Kilinochchi

Tamil Tigers and their supremo V Prabhakaran are at their “last gasp,” facing imminent defeat at Kilinochchi as the Sri Lankan army is on the verge of overrunning LTTE’s defacto capital, former top LTTE commander Karuna Amman has said.

In an interview to state owned Independent Television Network (ITN), Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, once the second in command in the LTTE, said the rebel leader was about to be “punished for his insensate crimes”.

“Former Comrade in arms of Prabhakaran, Karuna said that the LTTE leader is at his last gasp in Kilinochchi and he is about to be punished for all his cruel and insensate crimes,” the Defence Ministry quoted Karuna as saying.

Karuna also told the channel that Prabhakaran had claimed that the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was carried out without his knowledge.

He said he had raised the question of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the attack on the ‘Temple of the Tooth’ in Kandy with Prabhakaran and told him that these acts created opposition all over the world against the Tamil movement.

“The LTTE leader’s simple explanation was that those (acts) had been done without his knowledge,” he told the channel.

He added Prabhakaran “was simply lying” in this statement as no decisions in the LTTE are taken without his knowledge.

Karuna, who formed the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) group after he quit the tigers, said he left the LTTE over disagreements on acts of terrorism practiced by the group, the Defence Ministry quoted him as saying in the interview.

“Prabhakaran refused to listen to me and the late LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham when we disagreed openly (with him),” Karuna said, adding, “Many others in the LTTE dared not disagree with him and criticised him only behind his back”.

The TMVP leader termed Ranil Wickramesinghe’s signing of the ceasefire with Prabhakaran “a historical blunder” as it allowed the LTTE time and space to “raise funds, import arms and ammunition and recruit cadres by force”.

He said people like Nadesan, Daya Master and Susai, who are hailed as LTTE leaders in the media were actually figures of no importance and Prabhakaran is “an obstinate Fascist dictator”.

“Prabhakaran did not care two hoots for them and for what they thought,” Karuna said, adding “Mahattaya” alias Mahendraraja had also disagreed with the LTTE leader.

(Agencies)

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