Mumbai
26/11 two years later: Unanswered Questions
Thursday December 02, 2010 04:52:36 PM ,
Dr Ram Puniyani
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This 26/11 (2010), the nation
remembered with pain and grief about the incidents which had taken
place two years earlier. In this a group of jeans clad terrorists
rampaged the parts of Mumbai killing over two hundred innocent
people. The lone survivor from terrorist groups Ajmal Kasab is
facing the trial in the Courts. While tributes were paid to those
who died in the episode and those who laid down their lives while
trying to save the nation, some of the old questions raised by
this episode remain unanswered, showing the gaping holes in the
investigation and showing that the real truth of the tragedy is
not out yet. As the things have uncovered it seems that Ajamal
Kasab is the hand maiden of players much beyond easy visibility
and reach of Indian agencies. The phenomenon is not just an attack
launched from the soil of Pakistan; it probably has its planners
who are not visible easily and who may be beyond the landmass of
our neighbor.
The first major question which came up was about the role of
Pakistan. Sections of powers that be from Pakistan, especially the
army did have a central role as is obvious from some of the clues.
It also may be a game between different sections of Pakistan
society struggling for supremacy and so clashing with each other
within Pakistan. Pakistani army is trying to maintain its grips on
the levers of power, despite the fact that civilian government is
ruling formally. Prior to this incident, Pakistan’s President Asif
Ali Zardari, had extended the hand of friendship for India. The
Pakistani army does feel if the relations between Pakistan and
India improve, if a friendship is established between two nations,
army’s place in the power equations will go down. Has this
observation something to do with what happened? These are
questions and the answers to these are a matter of conjuncture. It
is important to keep this in mind and not to label Pakistan as a
whole for what happened. The need is to distinguish between
different power centers within Pakistan while firmly dealing with
her.
In this sequence the role of FBI-ISI agent James Coleman Headly is
very curious. The role of Headly is unmistakably there in the
whole episode. Headly’s links with ISI, FBI are there for all to
see. So is it a mere game emerging from the soil of Pakistan or
are there much bigger players with more sinister plans behind this
attack on Mumbai? Hope one day the truth will come out and the
false perceptions will give way to the identification of the real
culprits.
The second major point confronting the nation was the death of
Hemnat Karkare along with two senior officers of Mumbai police
force. Karkare was investigating the case of Malegaon blast and
came across the motorcycle of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and
others, those associated with organizations associated and
inspired by RSS ideology, some of them being the office bearers of
this organization. With Pragya Singh Thakur coming under the
scanner her associates from Abhinav Bharat, Bajrang Dal etc. also
came to light. One of them, Swami Assemanand, of VHP, has been
caught hold of recently, as he was been absconding for long.
During the period when Karkare was investigating these links of
Hindutva terror network some from this camp labeled him as anti
national (Deshdrohi) and one of their leaders went on the say that
they spit on Karkare’s face! So when Karkare was murdered there
was lot of suspicion about his murder along with two other top
police officials.
The then minister of Minority affairs, A.R. Antulay stated that
there is terrorism plus something in the whole incident. Antulay
was strongly criticized all over and he retracted his statement.
But the question persisted. The versions of Karkare’s death, the
gaps in the police version of incident were too glaring, so the
demand came up for an independent probe. Ram Pradhan committee was
constituted to probe the tragedy. One does not know what the
report has to say about the incident as Maharashtra Government is
refusing to table the report. Meanwhile widows of the slain police
officers have raised lot of uncomfortable questions, meeting with
a silence form the authorities on the matter.
The most damning thing on the issue has been the publication of
the book ‘Who Killed Karakare? by S.M. Mushrif, the retired
Director General of police Maharashtra. The book is the detailed
analysis of the events of the acts of terror which have taken
place in Maharashtra. About the 26/11 incident, the book says lot
of things. The major of these have been that IB had the prior
information about the impending terror attack. During the terror
attack there were two teams which were on the job, one doing the
major damage of lives, while another team took the life of Karkare
and senior police officers. The book has met with stony silence
from the state.
Meanwhile a case has been filed and Court has asked the Government
of Maharashtra to clarify various aspects related to Karkare’s
murder. One point about this is the intelligence report received
few days before 26/11 warning that Karakre’s life is in danger. So
the logical question is what was the response of Government to
this information?
In popular perception what has been instilled revolves more around
Ajmal Kasab, the small player in the whole game. Questions have
been planted as to why he is being treated in a royal manner? Why
he is not being hanged straight away, etc.? The norm of a
democratic country, the democratic Constitution is being by passed
while spreading these types of rumors. Should not the process of
law take its own course in all matters related to crime? Why this
propaganda is on that Kasab should be hanged straight away? Is it
that his deposition may spill some other beans which may be
uncomfortable to those spreading such opinions? The whole idea of
justice is to ensure that legal procedures are followed to bring
out the truth behind the crime. In case of Mumbai terror attack,
the tragedy is worst confounded as the truth is somewhere hidden
and attempts to unravel it don’t seem to be satisfactory.
The Mumbai terror attack once more proves that what comes to
social awareness is just a tip of the iceberg. Sometimes what is
presented is obvious and the deeper truth remains under the hue of
the hysterical response. We need to learn a lesson in public life
to treat all uncomfortable questions with utmost seriousness and
not to be dismissive of the truth hidden in the missing links of
the story.
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