Malik tweets peace but persists with upside-down tricolour pic
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 01.29am IST
NEW DELHI: Though Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik tweeted two days ago, thanking India for "creating positivity", the picture posted by him on his verified twitter account/website does not convey the `positivity' on his part.
Consider this: in what can raise suspicions of deliberate disrespect to the Indian flag, his account continues to carry the same photograph, the one of his meeting with his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram, which had the tricolour upside down.
The gaffe was captured by lensmen, who were covering the one-on-one meeting on the eve of the SAARC home/interior ministers' conference, on June 25.
It had taken Chidambaram's personal intervention to set the matter straight. Though Chidambaram had played down the matter as a "first visual on a (TV) channel", the persistent use of the same picture shows an uncaring attitude if not downright mischief on the part of the Pakistani interior minister.
But, now it seems the same ‘first visual' continues to catch Malik's fancy as evident from his twitter account, which has 3,738 followers from across the world, including India.
Techno-savvy Malik's penchant for the micro-blogging site can be judged not only from the number of followers but also from the kind of diplomatic statements - with Indo-Pak ties thrown in for a good measure - that he tweets regularly.
Seizing upon the criticism of home secretary G K Pillai to shift the blame for the failure of the Islamabad talks, Malik tweeted on July 22, praising both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram for restraining their aides from launching a broadside against Pakistan.
"We appreciate PM India (Manmohan Singh) and home minister India (P Chidambaram) for advising their aides not to give negative statements against Pak. Thanks for creating positivity," Malik tweeted a day after foreign minister S M Krishna surprised many by criticising Pillai in public.
The flag gaffe was not a one-off affair. Pakistan has had a history of it. Earlier, when a special PIA plane flew in with then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf to Jaipur from Islamabad in 2005, the Indian flag was upside down. The aircraft had the tricolour on one side of its nose and the Pakistan flag on the other.
The Indian flag was placed with the green on top and saffron below. However, the mistake was detected soon after Musharraf and wife Sehba left for Ajmer in a chopper, and was subsequently corrected....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMjUjQXIwMTYwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
THE CORRECTION --- POSITIVE INDEED!
Malik deletes inverted tricolour from Twitter
TNN, Jul 29, 2010, 05.22am IST
NEW DELHI: Two days after TOI reported that Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik's Twitter account was still showing the Indian flag upside-down, Islamabad on Tuesday corrected the minister's 'mistake' by removing the picture from the website.
TOI on Sunday reported the gaffe, which raised suspicions here of deliberate disrespect to the Indian flag.
The photograph — one of Malik meeting his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram which had the tricolour upside down — was captured by lensmen covering the meeting of the two on the eve of the Saarc home/interior ministers' conference on June 25.
It had then taken Chidambaram's personal intervention to set the matter right. But Malik's website continued to use the same photograph till Tuesday when it was finally removed — perhaps after sensing India's sensitivity on the matter.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
David Coleman Headley: A new twist in the tale...Has Pakistan arrested the real culprits?
Jailed Al Qama not 26/11 handler?
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jul 17, 2010, 03.14am IST
NEW DELHI: American jihadi David Coleman Headley not only unveiled the direct roles of Pakistan’s ISI and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in the 26/11 terror attack but also gave crucial details about three accused — Sajid Mir, Abu Al Qama and Abu Kahfa — while recognizing their voices when Indian interrogators played records before him of conversations between them and the terrorists during the strikes.
Headley told the team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) which questioned him in Chicago in June that Mir, Al Qama and Kahfa were the ones guiding the fidayeen during the attacks at Nariman House, Taj and Oberoi hotels respectively.
Details and descriptions given by Headley also substantiated Indian investigators’ claims that the Abu Al Qama who is in a Pakistani jail in connection with 26/11 is not the actual Abu Al Qama India has been looking for.
Sources said India has already shared these details with Pakistan, asking it for voice samples of all the seven who are in Pakistani jails, including Lashkar commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.
A senior official said, “We have even asked Pakistan to share the voice samples with any third country if it does not want to hand it over to India and get it verified.”
Of the three voices recognized by Headley, only Sajid Mir is in custody while Pakistani authorities nabbed another person calling him Abu Al Qama. Kahfa has not yet been arrested.
Surces said Headley’s interrogation report had more on ISI’s direct role in 26/11 than what home secretary G K Pillai had recently stated — the account which Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi took objection to while addressing a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna in Islamabad.
Headley told Indian interrogators that it was the ISI which had paid him $25,000 through army officer Major Iqbal for India trips in July 2006 and also paid for the boat that the 10 jihadis used to travel from Karachi coast in November 2008. Though the American terrorist got more money for his India mission, it had come through LeT members.
The interrogation report also mentioned that JuD chief Hafiz Saeed was involved at each and every stage of the 26/11 mission, right from planning to execution through top Lashkar commander Lakhvi who used to brief him almost every day about the nitty-gritty of the operation.
Referring to ISI and Saeed’s role, Headley, who was arrested by FBI in October last year, disclosed that LeT and ISI were virtually inseparable in their pan-Islamic terror agenda. He told the NIA team that he had found the same people at both ISI offices and LeT hideouts on several occasions during his visits
to Pakistan.
Sources said Indian investigators also had information that ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had met one of the handlers of the Mumbai attack, Sajid Mir, visiting him in a jail in Rawalpindi.
"All this information has been shared by India with Pakistan through the multiple dossiers given to it," an official said......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTcjQXIwMTEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Gopal K Pillai:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTcjQXIwMTEwMw==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jul 17, 2010, 03.14am IST
NEW DELHI: American jihadi David Coleman Headley not only unveiled the direct roles of Pakistan’s ISI and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in the 26/11 terror attack but also gave crucial details about three accused — Sajid Mir, Abu Al Qama and Abu Kahfa — while recognizing their voices when Indian interrogators played records before him of conversations between them and the terrorists during the strikes.
Headley told the team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) which questioned him in Chicago in June that Mir, Al Qama and Kahfa were the ones guiding the fidayeen during the attacks at Nariman House, Taj and Oberoi hotels respectively.
Details and descriptions given by Headley also substantiated Indian investigators’ claims that the Abu Al Qama who is in a Pakistani jail in connection with 26/11 is not the actual Abu Al Qama India has been looking for.
Sources said India has already shared these details with Pakistan, asking it for voice samples of all the seven who are in Pakistani jails, including Lashkar commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.
A senior official said, “We have even asked Pakistan to share the voice samples with any third country if it does not want to hand it over to India and get it verified.”
Of the three voices recognized by Headley, only Sajid Mir is in custody while Pakistani authorities nabbed another person calling him Abu Al Qama. Kahfa has not yet been arrested.
Surces said Headley’s interrogation report had more on ISI’s direct role in 26/11 than what home secretary G K Pillai had recently stated — the account which Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi took objection to while addressing a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna in Islamabad.
Headley told Indian interrogators that it was the ISI which had paid him $25,000 through army officer Major Iqbal for India trips in July 2006 and also paid for the boat that the 10 jihadis used to travel from Karachi coast in November 2008. Though the American terrorist got more money for his India mission, it had come through LeT members.
The interrogation report also mentioned that JuD chief Hafiz Saeed was involved at each and every stage of the 26/11 mission, right from planning to execution through top Lashkar commander Lakhvi who used to brief him almost every day about the nitty-gritty of the operation.
Referring to ISI and Saeed’s role, Headley, who was arrested by FBI in October last year, disclosed that LeT and ISI were virtually inseparable in their pan-Islamic terror agenda. He told the NIA team that he had found the same people at both ISI offices and LeT hideouts on several occasions during his visits
to Pakistan.
Sources said Indian investigators also had information that ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had met one of the handlers of the Mumbai attack, Sajid Mir, visiting him in a jail in Rawalpindi.
"All this information has been shared by India with Pakistan through the multiple dossiers given to it," an official said......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTcjQXIwMTEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Gopal K Pillai:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTcjQXIwMTEwMw==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Monday, July 12, 2010
Mumbai Terror attack...the reality check!
26/11: FBI officer highlights sloppy response
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jul 12, 2010, 03.56am IST
NEW DELHI: The security establishment's glaring shortcomings were all too obvious in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but the FBI officer who coordinated the US probe from Washington has now given a damning indiction of the sloppy response.
Anthony Tindall, who was in the thick of the action at the time, described howi ll-equipped and ill-trained policemen virtually allowed the 10 terrorists to wreak havoc in the metropolis and how it was the US agency which helped them not only in tracing Lashkar's footprints but also getting planners and conspirators arrested in Pakistan.
Sharing lessons from the 26/11 attacks with South Florida law enforcement officers in the US on Wednesday, Tindall said the Mumbai attacks illustrated how terrorists "with little funding and basic weapons" could wreak havoc in a large metropolitan area.
As reported by Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel newspapers in the US, Tindall said many Indian officers (Mumbai cops) who responded were unarmed or lacked the anti-terrorism training that officers in the US have.
Though he did not name any Indian agency, he said logistical constraints had led to a delayed response -- the episode which saw NSG commandos take over 10 hours to reach Mumbai from Delhi. He said, "Other Indian authorities with greater terrorism experience were delayed in responding because they lacked a helicopter among other emergency vehicles."
It is not a secret that the NSG commandos had to first travel to Delhi airport from Manesar in Haryana by road on November 26, 2008 and then had to take bus to reach the attack sites from Mumbai airport the next morning in absence of helicopters.
During his presentation before South Florida law enforcement officers, the US agent also showed video surveillance footage of the Mumbai attacks. As reported in US media, one surveillance video showed that a couple of armed policemen at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (railway station) had, in fact, ran away instead of confronting two armed terrorists -- an example of how poor training led to a meek response during the crisis.
Referring to Mumbai policemen, the FBI agent, as quoted by Sun Sentinel, said, "Half of those guys were unarmed. That's half the battle right there." The presentation on 26/11 attacks was done to make US policemen aware of such situations so that they could be prepared if a similar crisis confronted them.
Emphasising the role played by FBI, Tindall, who is currently based in Hawaii as the FBI's liaison to the US Pacific Command, said the US agency had immediately deployed eight agents from Los Angeles as well as technicians who were "able to glean significant information from GPS, cellphones, satellite phones, Internet data, financial records, witnesses and boats". He said, "A lot of the information led back to Pakistan."
The FBI special agent, however, also stated that the arrest of Ajmal Kasab -- the lone surviving terrorist -- by Mumbai cops was a major turning point, terming him "an incredible source of information".....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTIjQXIwMDgwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jul 12, 2010, 03.56am IST
NEW DELHI: The security establishment's glaring shortcomings were all too obvious in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but the FBI officer who coordinated the US probe from Washington has now given a damning indiction of the sloppy response.
Anthony Tindall, who was in the thick of the action at the time, described howi ll-equipped and ill-trained policemen virtually allowed the 10 terrorists to wreak havoc in the metropolis and how it was the US agency which helped them not only in tracing Lashkar's footprints but also getting planners and conspirators arrested in Pakistan.
Sharing lessons from the 26/11 attacks with South Florida law enforcement officers in the US on Wednesday, Tindall said the Mumbai attacks illustrated how terrorists "with little funding and basic weapons" could wreak havoc in a large metropolitan area.
As reported by Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel newspapers in the US, Tindall said many Indian officers (Mumbai cops) who responded were unarmed or lacked the anti-terrorism training that officers in the US have.
Though he did not name any Indian agency, he said logistical constraints had led to a delayed response -- the episode which saw NSG commandos take over 10 hours to reach Mumbai from Delhi. He said, "Other Indian authorities with greater terrorism experience were delayed in responding because they lacked a helicopter among other emergency vehicles."
It is not a secret that the NSG commandos had to first travel to Delhi airport from Manesar in Haryana by road on November 26, 2008 and then had to take bus to reach the attack sites from Mumbai airport the next morning in absence of helicopters.
During his presentation before South Florida law enforcement officers, the US agent also showed video surveillance footage of the Mumbai attacks. As reported in US media, one surveillance video showed that a couple of armed policemen at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (railway station) had, in fact, ran away instead of confronting two armed terrorists -- an example of how poor training led to a meek response during the crisis.
Referring to Mumbai policemen, the FBI agent, as quoted by Sun Sentinel, said, "Half of those guys were unarmed. That's half the battle right there." The presentation on 26/11 attacks was done to make US policemen aware of such situations so that they could be prepared if a similar crisis confronted them.
Emphasising the role played by FBI, Tindall, who is currently based in Hawaii as the FBI's liaison to the US Pacific Command, said the US agency had immediately deployed eight agents from Los Angeles as well as technicians who were "able to glean significant information from GPS, cellphones, satellite phones, Internet data, financial records, witnesses and boats". He said, "A lot of the information led back to Pakistan."
The FBI special agent, however, also stated that the arrest of Ajmal Kasab -- the lone surviving terrorist -- by Mumbai cops was a major turning point, terming him "an incredible source of information".....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDcvMTIjQXIwMDgwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Monday, July 5, 2010
David Coleman Headley on Muzammil-Ishrat Jahan-Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai's gameplan
Ishrat Jahan was an LeT fidayeen: Headley
Vishwa Mohan & Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Jul 5, 2010, 01.31am IST
NEW DELHI: Pakistani American terrorist David Headley has said that Ishrat Jahan, the Mumbai girl who was killed along with three alleged terrorists in 2004 in a police encounter, was indeed a Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen.
Sources said Headley told interrogators from the National Investigation Agency that Ishrat, a resident of Mumbra in Thane, was recruited by top Lashkar commander Muzammil who was in charge of LeT's operations in India till 2007.
The statement, while confirming that Headley is a trove of information on Lashkar's plans against India, corroborates the version of Gujarat police as well as the Centre in what has turned into a controversial case because of doubts about the veracity of the police version.
Importantly, Headley's statement tallies with claim of Gujarat cops and the Centre that Muzammil had sent Ishrat and her accomplices to Gujarat on a terror mission as part of Lashkar's plan to attack the Indian hinterland and target VIPs.
Headley's visits to India for reconaissance missions for Lashkar started in 2006, sources said, when Muzammil was Lashkar's chief commander in India.
Lashkar had owned up Ishrat immediately after the encounter, with its Lahore-based mouthpiece 'Ghazwa Times' describing her as an LeT activist and taking umbrage at the action of Indian cops in removing her veil. In 2007, however, Lashkar, in its fresh incarnation as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, disowned her, by issuing an apology to Ishrat's family for calling her an LeT cadre.
The timing of the apology was significant. It came just before Gopinath Pillai, father of Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai who was killed along with Ishrat, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, demanding a CBI probe into the encounter.
Headley's statement that Ishrat was recruited to be a fidayeen undercuts Lashkar's attempt to disown her, though it may not settle doubts about the genuineness of the encounter in which she was killed.
Ishrat and Javed were killed along with two Pakistani nationals -- Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar Abdul Ghani -- both alleged LeT terrorists, on June 15, 2004. According to the police version, they were intercepted on the outskirts of Ahmedabad when they were about to enter the city in a blue Indica on a mission to eliminate chief minister Narendra Modi.
In her petition to the Gujarat High Court, Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar had disputed the version of the Gujarat police as well as the Centre, claiming that her daughter was a saleswoman working for Javed Sheikh who dealt in perfumes. Javed's father told the SC that his son was innocent and sought a central probe.
Both Gujarat police and Centre pointed to infirmities in their version. Centre told Gujarat HC that Javed had been recruited by LeT when he was in Dubai. Gopinath Pillai had not disclosed criminal cases pending against his son, or the fact that he had obtained a different passport using his original name even though the one issued to him was still valid.
The Centre also disputed the claim of Gopinath Pillai, supported by Ishrat's mother, that he was in the business of perfumes and that this required him and Ishrat to travel across the country.
The Gujarat HC had set Monday as the deadline for all parties concerned to submit their replies to the petitions from the parents of Ishrat and Javed, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged encounter.
The case has taken on significance after a CBI probe established that Sohrabuddin, an alleged gangster, was killed by Gujarat cops in a fake encounter. It has also established that Tulsidas Prajapati, a small-time criminal who helped Gujarat cops nab Sohrabuddin, was also eliminated by the police to wipe out evidence.
Headley's account underlines his importance as a repository of crucial information on Lashkar and its plans on India. His statement to the NIA team that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed was engaged with the 26/11 attackers all through the plot has reinforced India's demand that Pakistan take action against the Lashkar chief. Sources described the information given by the Pakistani American terrorist as "vital inputs".....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA3LzA1I0FyMDAxMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan & Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Jul 5, 2010, 01.31am IST
NEW DELHI: Pakistani American terrorist David Headley has said that Ishrat Jahan, the Mumbai girl who was killed along with three alleged terrorists in 2004 in a police encounter, was indeed a Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen.
Sources said Headley told interrogators from the National Investigation Agency that Ishrat, a resident of Mumbra in Thane, was recruited by top Lashkar commander Muzammil who was in charge of LeT's operations in India till 2007.
The statement, while confirming that Headley is a trove of information on Lashkar's plans against India, corroborates the version of Gujarat police as well as the Centre in what has turned into a controversial case because of doubts about the veracity of the police version.
Importantly, Headley's statement tallies with claim of Gujarat cops and the Centre that Muzammil had sent Ishrat and her accomplices to Gujarat on a terror mission as part of Lashkar's plan to attack the Indian hinterland and target VIPs.
Headley's visits to India for reconaissance missions for Lashkar started in 2006, sources said, when Muzammil was Lashkar's chief commander in India.
Lashkar had owned up Ishrat immediately after the encounter, with its Lahore-based mouthpiece 'Ghazwa Times' describing her as an LeT activist and taking umbrage at the action of Indian cops in removing her veil. In 2007, however, Lashkar, in its fresh incarnation as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, disowned her, by issuing an apology to Ishrat's family for calling her an LeT cadre.
The timing of the apology was significant. It came just before Gopinath Pillai, father of Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai who was killed along with Ishrat, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, demanding a CBI probe into the encounter.
Headley's statement that Ishrat was recruited to be a fidayeen undercuts Lashkar's attempt to disown her, though it may not settle doubts about the genuineness of the encounter in which she was killed.
Ishrat and Javed were killed along with two Pakistani nationals -- Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar Abdul Ghani -- both alleged LeT terrorists, on June 15, 2004. According to the police version, they were intercepted on the outskirts of Ahmedabad when they were about to enter the city in a blue Indica on a mission to eliminate chief minister Narendra Modi.
In her petition to the Gujarat High Court, Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar had disputed the version of the Gujarat police as well as the Centre, claiming that her daughter was a saleswoman working for Javed Sheikh who dealt in perfumes. Javed's father told the SC that his son was innocent and sought a central probe.
Both Gujarat police and Centre pointed to infirmities in their version. Centre told Gujarat HC that Javed had been recruited by LeT when he was in Dubai. Gopinath Pillai had not disclosed criminal cases pending against his son, or the fact that he had obtained a different passport using his original name even though the one issued to him was still valid.
The Centre also disputed the claim of Gopinath Pillai, supported by Ishrat's mother, that he was in the business of perfumes and that this required him and Ishrat to travel across the country.
The Gujarat HC had set Monday as the deadline for all parties concerned to submit their replies to the petitions from the parents of Ishrat and Javed, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged encounter.
The case has taken on significance after a CBI probe established that Sohrabuddin, an alleged gangster, was killed by Gujarat cops in a fake encounter. It has also established that Tulsidas Prajapati, a small-time criminal who helped Gujarat cops nab Sohrabuddin, was also eliminated by the police to wipe out evidence.
Headley's account underlines his importance as a repository of crucial information on Lashkar and its plans on India. His statement to the NIA team that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed was engaged with the 26/11 attackers all through the plot has reinforced India's demand that Pakistan take action against the Lashkar chief. Sources described the information given by the Pakistani American terrorist as "vital inputs".....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA3LzA1I0FyMDAxMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dateline Islamabad: Jaswant Singh makes wave...thanks to his book
Re-entry fuels demand for Jaswant's book in Pak
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 30, 2010, 02.06am IST
ISLAMABAD: Jaswant Singh's return to BJP has renewed interest here in his book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Though the book -- `Jinnah: India-Partition, Independence' -- had always been a best-seller in different stores, the author's `return' is viewed as BJP's endorsement of his views on the Quaid-e-Azam.
"You guys must have read Singh's book which described our Quaid-e-Azam as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. My friends told me about the book. I would also like to read it as it will give me an insight as to what one of your respected leaders thinks about Jinnah," said Tahir Naseer Malik.
Holding Singh's book in his hand, Malik, who visited one of the biggest bookstores -- Saeed Book Bank -- here, said: "I did not read it earlier as I was waiting for its Urdu edition. I heard that Singh who was expelled from his party is now back in the BJP. It seems the `Hindu party' does not mind what Singh wrote."
Unaware of the recent development in India over Singh, Ahmad Saeed of the Saeed Book Bank -- located at Jinnah Super Market -- said: "This book is quite popular here. We have already sold over 4,000 English editions and nearly 200 Urdu editions of the book ever since it was launched last year."
Aman Ali Imran, who read Singh's book last year, said he lent his book to one of his friends the day news of the BJP leader's return to the BJP broke here. "It seems the BJP, which is known here as a party which pushes the agenda for Hindu cause, has started accepting its own leaders' views on Jinnah."
Prior to Jaswant Singh's attempts at "revisiting" Jinnah, BJP veteran L K Advani had found himself in hot water over his Jinnah-is-secular remarks. Interestingly, Advani was the prime mover in bringing Jaswant back, a move seen by some to be rooted in a desire to get the Jinnah stand endorsed.
Saeed admitted that the book sold like hot cakes when it was launched. He said the controversy over the book in India saw many readers here request the publishers to come out with an Urdu edition as well.
In his book, which hit the stands last August, Singh recalled the events leading to partition as well as the "epic journey of Jinnah from being the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, the liberal constitutionalist and Indian nationalist to the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan".
Singh, MP from Darjeeling, was re-admitted to the party in the presence of senior leaders including L K Advani in India last week.
Interest in Singh's book is, however, not limited to the Pakistani capital. A bookstore at Karachi airport saw a similar demand last year. A storekeeper, who was aware of last week's development in India, said: "Though we have not sold any copy in the last three-four days, other stores in the port city checked with distributors for additional copies anticipating demand in the wake of the fresh development in India."
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 30, 2010, 02.06am IST
ISLAMABAD: Jaswant Singh's return to BJP has renewed interest here in his book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Though the book -- `Jinnah: India-Partition, Independence' -- had always been a best-seller in different stores, the author's `return' is viewed as BJP's endorsement of his views on the Quaid-e-Azam.
"You guys must have read Singh's book which described our Quaid-e-Azam as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. My friends told me about the book. I would also like to read it as it will give me an insight as to what one of your respected leaders thinks about Jinnah," said Tahir Naseer Malik.
Holding Singh's book in his hand, Malik, who visited one of the biggest bookstores -- Saeed Book Bank -- here, said: "I did not read it earlier as I was waiting for its Urdu edition. I heard that Singh who was expelled from his party is now back in the BJP. It seems the `Hindu party' does not mind what Singh wrote."
Unaware of the recent development in India over Singh, Ahmad Saeed of the Saeed Book Bank -- located at Jinnah Super Market -- said: "This book is quite popular here. We have already sold over 4,000 English editions and nearly 200 Urdu editions of the book ever since it was launched last year."
Aman Ali Imran, who read Singh's book last year, said he lent his book to one of his friends the day news of the BJP leader's return to the BJP broke here. "It seems the BJP, which is known here as a party which pushes the agenda for Hindu cause, has started accepting its own leaders' views on Jinnah."
Prior to Jaswant Singh's attempts at "revisiting" Jinnah, BJP veteran L K Advani had found himself in hot water over his Jinnah-is-secular remarks. Interestingly, Advani was the prime mover in bringing Jaswant back, a move seen by some to be rooted in a desire to get the Jinnah stand endorsed.
Saeed admitted that the book sold like hot cakes when it was launched. He said the controversy over the book in India saw many readers here request the publishers to come out with an Urdu edition as well.
In his book, which hit the stands last August, Singh recalled the events leading to partition as well as the "epic journey of Jinnah from being the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, the liberal constitutionalist and Indian nationalist to the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan".
Singh, MP from Darjeeling, was re-admitted to the party in the presence of senior leaders including L K Advani in India last week.
Interest in Singh's book is, however, not limited to the Pakistani capital. A bookstore at Karachi airport saw a similar demand last year. A storekeeper, who was aware of last week's development in India, said: "Though we have not sold any copy in the last three-four days, other stores in the port city checked with distributors for additional copies anticipating demand in the wake of the fresh development in India."
Dateline Islamabad: The promise
Pakistan promises a united fight against terror
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 27, 2010, 04.17am IST
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may give India voice samples of the seven accused in the Mumbai terror attacks, currently standing trial. This would be one of the positive "outcomes" that India is looking for. After a day of talks with Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik, Chidambaram declared, "We are looking for the outcome. Only outcomes will decide that we are on right track."
"Every day is a new day and every meeting is a new meeting. The meeting with Rehman Malik was a good meeting...I am confident that something good will emerge from the meeting".
Wrapping up a maiden visit as home minister to Pakistan, Chidambaram stressed that India wanted to see others prosecuted for the Mumbai attacks : "We know that seven people are being prosecuted in the case. How far the prosecution is gone is for Pakistan to say. I understand that it has been adjourned by a week. We believe that more people have been involved in 26/11 and that this has been put forward to the Pakistani government. We want them to be prosecuted also".
A PTI report quoted Malik as saying, "We will provide every possible assistance in addition to what you are talking about — voice samples." Malik added that the last dossier by India had been sent to Pakistani investigators.
Keeping the warmth going between the two sides, Malik praised Chidambaram for his leadership and wisdom and announced that the Pakistan FIA and the Indian CBI would interact and coordinate together on terrorist cases including the Mumbai attacks. "We will work together and give a united fight to terrorists", he said.
Malik insisted, "We are not there to create any hurdle in the investigation. Rather we will assist and cooperate with India. India has extended hand of friendship. We accept it."
Chidambaram said: "Now we are trying to pick the threads again. Foreign ministers are talking to each other, the prime ministers have met."
Although Chidambaram and Malik tried their best not to mix-up the Saarc agenda with their bilateral negotiations, questions relating to the 26\11 attack came back during the meet. But Pakistan seems sure that people like Hafiz Saeed remain untouchable. Malik said, "We cannot pressurize the courts. Our judiciary is very independent and therefore I have been requesting my Indian friends that whatever the decision comes from India, we welcome with full heart. We expect whatever decision comes from Pakistani courts should be accepted now"..... http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA2LzI3I0FyMDAxMDg=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 27, 2010, 04.17am IST
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may give India voice samples of the seven accused in the Mumbai terror attacks, currently standing trial. This would be one of the positive "outcomes" that India is looking for. After a day of talks with Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik, Chidambaram declared, "We are looking for the outcome. Only outcomes will decide that we are on right track."
"Every day is a new day and every meeting is a new meeting. The meeting with Rehman Malik was a good meeting...I am confident that something good will emerge from the meeting".
Wrapping up a maiden visit as home minister to Pakistan, Chidambaram stressed that India wanted to see others prosecuted for the Mumbai attacks : "We know that seven people are being prosecuted in the case. How far the prosecution is gone is for Pakistan to say. I understand that it has been adjourned by a week. We believe that more people have been involved in 26/11 and that this has been put forward to the Pakistani government. We want them to be prosecuted also".
A PTI report quoted Malik as saying, "We will provide every possible assistance in addition to what you are talking about — voice samples." Malik added that the last dossier by India had been sent to Pakistani investigators.
Keeping the warmth going between the two sides, Malik praised Chidambaram for his leadership and wisdom and announced that the Pakistan FIA and the Indian CBI would interact and coordinate together on terrorist cases including the Mumbai attacks. "We will work together and give a united fight to terrorists", he said.
Malik insisted, "We are not there to create any hurdle in the investigation. Rather we will assist and cooperate with India. India has extended hand of friendship. We accept it."
Chidambaram said: "Now we are trying to pick the threads again. Foreign ministers are talking to each other, the prime ministers have met."
Although Chidambaram and Malik tried their best not to mix-up the Saarc agenda with their bilateral negotiations, questions relating to the 26\11 attack came back during the meet. But Pakistan seems sure that people like Hafiz Saeed remain untouchable. Malik said, "We cannot pressurize the courts. Our judiciary is very independent and therefore I have been requesting my Indian friends that whatever the decision comes from India, we welcome with full heart. We expect whatever decision comes from Pakistani courts should be accepted now"..... http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA2LzI3I0FyMDAxMDg=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Dateline Islamabad: The Headley saga hits the headline
Lashkar and ISI united in pan-Islamic terror, Headley tells NIA
Vishwa Mohan & Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Jun 27, 2010, 01.31am IST
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: In a chilling disclosure with serious ramifications for India, Pakistan and the international community, 26/11 accused David Coleman Headley told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month that Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI are virtually inseparable as far as the pan-Islamic terror agenda is concerned.
Home minister P Chidambaram used the NIA dossier detailing Headley's disclosures to drive home the point that stringent measures are needed against terrorist groups operating with impunity from Pakistani soil.
The NIA dossier, which establishes the virtual closing of ranks between LeT and ISI, clearly indicates that both are acting independently of the government and pose a threat to Pakistan's governance.
It took two days of persuasion for Headley to waive his right to silence under US law and detail every meeting he had with his LeT handlers, including Hafiz Saeed and Sajid Mir, and ISI officials in Muzzaffarabad and Lahore before the 26/11 attacks.
Sources said that Headley told the NIA team comprising Loknath Behera, Swayamprakash Pani, Sajid Shapoo and special prosecutor Dayan Krishnan that his reconnaissance missions and its results were closely and jointly monitored by LeT and ISI before he received fresh instructions. The 11th dossier, which India handed over to Pakistan on June 18, contained every statement by Headley, who spoke for seven to eight hours every day, continuously for eight days.
Questioning only stopped for lunch, tea and loo breaks. Sources said Headley agreed to answer every question posed by the NIA once he was assured no magistrate was on the team because that would have made his remarks akin to a confession admissible in Indian courts.
Headley's remarks would have been tantamout to a commission recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code making it admissible evidence before Indian courts, but the NIA had assured him no magistrate was on the team.
Headley broke into Hindi several times while answering questions, taking by surprise the three US federal attorneys, two lawyers of Headley and the five sleuths from FBI who were present everyday. These were translated for their benefit but it was a difficult task to get a proper translation of the crude jokes Headley cracked.
Points raised by Headley also surfaced in the bilateral talks Chidambaram had with Rehman Malik on Friday. Though Pakistan promised to act on details and verify what even FBI shared with it, India does not seem to have any option right now except wait. Malik, however. said Pakistan wouldn't stand in the way of a full probe.....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA2LzI3I0FyMDAxMDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan & Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Jun 27, 2010, 01.31am IST
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: In a chilling disclosure with serious ramifications for India, Pakistan and the international community, 26/11 accused David Coleman Headley told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month that Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI are virtually inseparable as far as the pan-Islamic terror agenda is concerned.
Home minister P Chidambaram used the NIA dossier detailing Headley's disclosures to drive home the point that stringent measures are needed against terrorist groups operating with impunity from Pakistani soil.
The NIA dossier, which establishes the virtual closing of ranks between LeT and ISI, clearly indicates that both are acting independently of the government and pose a threat to Pakistan's governance.
It took two days of persuasion for Headley to waive his right to silence under US law and detail every meeting he had with his LeT handlers, including Hafiz Saeed and Sajid Mir, and ISI officials in Muzzaffarabad and Lahore before the 26/11 attacks.
Sources said that Headley told the NIA team comprising Loknath Behera, Swayamprakash Pani, Sajid Shapoo and special prosecutor Dayan Krishnan that his reconnaissance missions and its results were closely and jointly monitored by LeT and ISI before he received fresh instructions. The 11th dossier, which India handed over to Pakistan on June 18, contained every statement by Headley, who spoke for seven to eight hours every day, continuously for eight days.
Questioning only stopped for lunch, tea and loo breaks. Sources said Headley agreed to answer every question posed by the NIA once he was assured no magistrate was on the team because that would have made his remarks akin to a confession admissible in Indian courts.
Headley's remarks would have been tantamout to a commission recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code making it admissible evidence before Indian courts, but the NIA had assured him no magistrate was on the team.
Headley broke into Hindi several times while answering questions, taking by surprise the three US federal attorneys, two lawyers of Headley and the five sleuths from FBI who were present everyday. These were translated for their benefit but it was a difficult task to get a proper translation of the crude jokes Headley cracked.
Points raised by Headley also surfaced in the bilateral talks Chidambaram had with Rehman Malik on Friday. Though Pakistan promised to act on details and verify what even FBI shared with it, India does not seem to have any option right now except wait. Malik, however. said Pakistan wouldn't stand in the way of a full probe.....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA2LzI3I0FyMDAxMDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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