Celebrity terrorism.

The character of modern terrorism is widely understood to have been shaped by a mid-19th-Century idea known as the "propaganda of the deed" - a strategy for political change in which the message or cause is contained within, and expressed by the violent act.

In a novel twist, the Mumbai terrorists might have embarked on propaganda of the deed without the propaganda in the confident expectation that the rationalisation for the attack - the narrative - would be provided by politicians, the media and terrorism analysts.

The attacks were a strike at the city's symbolic buildings

If so, then Mumbai could represent something rather different in the history of terrorism, and possibly something far more disturbing even than global jihad.

Perhaps we have come to the point where casually self-radicalised, sociopathic individuals can form a loose organisation, acquire sufficient weapons and equipment for a few thousand dollars, make a basic plan of action and indulge in a violent expression of their generalised disaffection and anomie.

These individuals indulge in terrorism simply because they can, while their audience concocts a rationale on their behalf.

Welcome to the age of celebrity terrorism.  read it all from BBC

A terrorist does not belong to any religion: L K Advani

Zeenews Bureau 

New Delhi, Nov 21: BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Leader of Opposition Lal Krishna Advani on Friday denounced all sorts of terrorism to the core saying that a terrorist has no religion. 

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Advani said, “It is wrong to brand a person as a Hindu, Muslim or Sikh terrorist.” On being asked about his comments defending Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Advani said, “I met NSA today and have spoken to PM clarifying my views about the case.”   more

The Wounded Psyche

AGENDA | Sunday, November 16, 2008 | Email | Print |  The Pioneer Vatican owes us an apology Kanchan Gupta His Majesty the king has ordered that there shall be no Brahmins in his land and that they should be banished.” “In the name of his Majesty I order that no Hindu can or shall perform marriages…”  “The marriages of the supplicants are superstitious acts or functions which include Hindu rites and ceremonies as well as cult, adoration and prayers of Hindu temples…”  “I order that no Hindu temples be erected in any of the territories of my king… and that Hindu temples which already have been erected be not repaired…'  Anybody familiar with the brutalisation of Hindu customs and practices, indeed Hindu faith and belief, could mistakenly believe these extracts have been taken from royal decrees issued during Muslim rule. The harshness with which suppression is prescribed in these decrees, the callous disregard that is advocated for the other’s sentiment, the cruelty that is so palpable in both thought and action, suggest that thesefirman could have been issued by one of the “shadows of god” who ruled this land, laying to waste Hindu lives and temples. But these are not extracts from firman issued by the Mughal court of, say, Aurangzeb. They have been taken from firmans issued by the Portuguese who ruled Goa and recognised no religion other than Christianity as the legitimate means of communion with god. It was no secular rule that they imposed, but a ruthless system of pillage disguised as trade and a cruel administration for whom Hindus were nothing more than “supplicants” to be crushed into submission or exiled into oblivion.  The horrors inflicted on Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition — the Vatican has now admitted that the Church was wrong and Galileo was right — are well known. Not that well-known, and tragically so, are the horrors inflicted by the Goa Inquisition. Every child reads about Galileo’s trial and how it is symbolic of the triumph of science over faith. But there is no reference — indeed, all reference is scrupulously avoided — to the brutal attempts of the Church to stamp out Hinduism in the territories controlled by the Portuguese in India.  And this silence is not because there exists no evidence: There exist, in full text, orders issued by the Portuguese Viceroy and the Governor. There exist, in written records and travelogues, penned not by the persecuted but by the persecutors, full details of the horrors perpetrated in the name of Christ. Hindus who dared oppose the persecution were punished, swiftly and mercilessly. Those who were fortunate, got away with being banished. The less fortunate had their property seized and auctioned — the money was used, in large measures, for furthering proselytisation. The least fortunate were forced to serve as slave labour on the galleys that transported loot from Indian shores to Portuguese coffers.  Viceroy D Constantine de Braganca issued an order on April 2, 1560, instructing that Brahmins should be thrown out of Goa and other areas under Portuguese control. They had a month's time to sell their property — it is obvious who gained from such distress sale. Those found violating the viceregal order, it was declared, would have their properties seized. Another order was issued, this time by Governor Antonio Morez Barreto, on February 7, 1575, decreeing that the estates of Brahmins whose "presence was prejudicial to Christianity" would be confiscated and used for "providing clothes to the New Christians".  The attitude of the Portuguese administrators in India and the Church hardened over the years, to a point where each fiat, each decree, each order, each letter, became an instrument of religious persecution. The Third Concilio Provincial — a gathering of bishops and other clerics — met in 1585 to review, among other things, the progress of converting the “heathens” to the “only faith”. The Concilio adopted a resolution which said, ‘His Majesty the king has on occasion ordered the Viceroys and Governors of India that there should be no Brahmins in his lands, and that they should be banished therefrom together with the physicians and other infidels who are prejudicial to Christianity, after taking the opinion of the Archbishop and other religious persons who have experience in the matter. As the orders of His Majesty in this regard have not been executed, great impediments in the way of conversion and the community of New Christians have followed and continue to follow.”  One can quote from many other orders, resolutions and instructions that resulted in the hideous Vatican-backed Goa Inquisition. The details are not unknown to most of us; they are definitely well known to the Vatican. The reason I have raised the issue of the Goa Inquisition is two-fold. First, Pope Benedict XVI should bear in mind the horrors inflicted on Hindus in the name of Christianity before he berates them for being intolerant towards Christians. Second, the Vatican owes an apology for the crimes committed during the Goa Inquisition; it must apologise and repent for its misdeeds against Hindus and gross attempts to stamp out Hinduism. Not to do so would amount to continued endorsement of the crimes and the unfair practices of missionaries.  Ten years ago, the Vatican issued a 14-page document, ‘apologising’ and ‘repenting’ for not doing enough to save Europe’s Jews from the Holocaust. While it is common knowledge that Pope Pius XII did not feel particularly appalled by Hitler’s ‘final solution’, the Vatican claimed in its 1998 document that he was unaware of the concentration camps, the mass slaughter, the gas chambers and the furnaces. The document, understandably, failed to impress Jews who have made it clear that Pope Benedict XVI is not welcome to visit Israel unless he offers an unqualified apology and makes public documents of that period which are now stored in the Vatican’s archives. The Vatican may have eliminated the phrase “perfidious Jews” from its liturgy and Pope John Paul II may have made it fashionable for the Pontiff to refer to Jews as “older brothers”, these are seen as no more than meaningless, insincere gestures.  The purpose of securing an apology for the Goa Inquisition is not to belittle the Vatican, but to drive home the point that it cannot seek to occupy the moral high ground till such time it has apologised and atoned for the sins committed against Hindus. If the Vatican can say sorry to others, there is no reason why it cannot say sorry to Hindus. Their faith is no less than those of the Book.  source

Politics helped Hindutva terrorists

Madhya Pradesh blast probe was put on ice 

NEW DELHI: Authorities in Madhya Pradesh had evidence that members of Abhinav Bharat (not the charitable trust by the same name) — the Hindutva terror group responsible for a string of recent bombings targeting Muslims — were preparing for a nationwide bombing campaign as early as 2002.
However, government sources told The Hindu, political pressures allowed members of the terror cell, including two suspects now being investigated by the Maharashtra Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, to walk free.
In December 2002, police in Madhya Pradesh discovered an improvised explosive device at Bhopal’s railway station. A second IED was found exactly a year later in Bhopal’s Lamba Khera neighbourhood. Both devices were made with commercial TNT cased in a four-inch tube-well pipe, linked to a detonator controlled both by a cell phone and a quartz alarm clock.  source
Investigators determined that both bombs were intended to attack delegates arriving in the city for the annual convention of the Tablighi Jamaat — an event that attracts about 5 lakh people.
Arguably the world’s largest proselytising order, the Pakistan-headquartered Tablighi Jamaat is doctrinally hostile to politics and has been criticised by radical Islamists for its pietist posture. 
However, some numbers of jihadists are known to have been drawn to terrorism after spending time in Tablighi Jamaat-linked missionary cells.
Madhya Pradesh police, the sources said, soon developed information linking the attempted bombings to local Hindutva activists, Ramnarayan Kalsangram and Sunil Joshi. Both men — now alleged by the Maharashtra Police ATS to have occupied command positions in Abhinav Bharat — were questioned, along with several other suspects linked to the Bajrang Dal’s activities. 
Later, then-Chief Minister Digvijay Singh announced that he had evidence of the involvement of Hindu nationalist groups such as the Bajrang Dal in terrorism. source

High profiled Terror

Counter Terror

Bajrang Dal. VHP. Abhinav Bharat. The names of ultra right-wing outfits are increasingly cropping up as investigators wake up to a new form of terror. RANA AYYUB tracks the dangerous trend

The Nanded blast of April 6, 2006, was the first to open up a glimpse into the activities of the country’s saffron terror modules. It took place at the residence of RSS worker Lakshman Rajkondwar, a retired irrigation department engineer, and was apparently an accident, occurring during the preparation of bombs meant to be placed outside a mosque in Aurangabad after Friday prayers. The accident had, importantly, been fuelled by a need to uphold ‘Hindu’ honour. The aim, then, was to avenge the 2005 blasts in Delhi and the 2006 blast in Varanasi, by engineering explosions in Muslim-dominated areas in central Maharashtra and killing at least 300 to 400 Muslims in each incident. This was also the intention of the blasts at Parbhani, Jalna and Purna, all of which occurred outside mosques between 1.30 and 2 in the afternoon, to ensure as many casualties as possible.  

read it all 

also read 

HIMANI SAVARKAR of Abhinav Bharat: Non Hindus are second-class citizens

Apoorva Guptay Himani Savarkar at her Pune home

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

'If We Can Have Bullet For Bullet, Why Not Blast For Blast?'

The niece of Nathuram Godse, married to Veer Savarkar's nephew, is the president of the Abhinav Bharat...

OUTLOOK INTERVIEWS HIMANI SAVARKAR

| E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND - READ |

Till 2000, Himani Savarkar was an architect. That’s when she discontinued her practice to become the president of the Hindu Mahasabha. The 61-year-old Himani lives in Pune and her hardline Hindutva roots are well-entrenched. She is the daughter of Gopal Godse, the brother of Nathuram Godse, and is married to Veer Savarkar’s nephew. Himani is also the president of the Abhinav Bharat. Some members of the organisation have been linked to the Malegaon bomb attack of September 29. Himani spoke to Outlook. Excerpts: How did you become the president of Abhinav Bharat? I had known Sameer Kulkarni (the Maharashtra ATS has alleged that he was part of the team that provided logistic support for the Malegaon blasts) for quite some time. Like me, he was also part of the rss. When he decided to start Abhinav Bharat, he approached me to become its president and I accepted. What are the objectives of Abhinav Bharat? Our aim is to fight terror—spread awareness of who the real terrorists are and teach people how to oppose terrorism. This should have been done by the government but it has failed to prevent terror attacks. Since the government failed to act, there had to be a reaction. If what the police claim against Sadhvi Pragya Singh and the others is true, then it is just a reaction against the real terrorism.... But is a blast-for-blast strategy the way to tackle terrorism? Didn’t Maharashtra deputy CM R.R. Patil say that we must reply with a bullet for a bullet? Then why can’t we have a blast for a blast? Sameer Kulkarni and the others are patriots who love their country. But the government is now trying to declare them guilty to weaken the Hindus. We have become a soft state...should we all wear bangles now? The government doesn’t want to fight terrorism. That’s why it will never take action against the Muslims. The police have cracked so many cases like the encounter in Delhi where Muslim terrorists were killed. But as soon as the police takes action, there are shouts for a judicial inquiry. You have faith in the police when it comes to Muslims as terror suspects but not so when Hindus are accused by the same cops? Also, Muslims say they never got justice after the 1993 Bombay riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots? How do you respond? This is a demand made by Muslims based on their religion. If they are to make such demands, then there are so many countries for Muslims and they should go live there. There is only one country for Hindus and we must protect it. I don’t believe in reports like the Srikrishna Commission report (on the ’92-93 Bombay riots) because I know how they are managed. So, has the Nanavati Commission’s report on the Gujarat riots also been similarly ‘managed’? I don’t know much about that report. But you must remember that it is normal human behaviour to react. All that is happening today is a reaction from the Hindus. I don’t believe in the philosophy of turning the other cheek if someone slaps you. We must strike back. So, if someone takes action to defend the Hindus, then we must defend them. How should India fight terrorism? We must declare ourselves a Hindu rashtra where everyone is a Hindu. Anyone who isn’t should be declared a second-class citizen and denied voting rights. Those who have problems with this should leave and settle in other countries. The Hindu votebank must unite to vote out any government that fails to tackle terror. Then we must throw out the outsiders like Bangladeshis who live off India’s wealth and work towards destroying us.   more

Gujarat police protecting Terrorists

Congress: Modi’s stance disturbing

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday condemned the Gujarat government’s refusal to cooperate with the investigations being conducted into the Malegaon blasts by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

Reacting to reports of Gujarat police stopping ATS from picking up a suspect, party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said, “This clearly exposes the double standards and hypocrisy of the Bharatiya Janata Party.”

Further, according to her, it showed a total lack of commitment – especially Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi – in fighting terror.  

more

Stating that the Central and State governments were taking all measures to combat terrorism, Ms. Natarajan said the Modi government’s stance was disturbing.

“Those suspected in terror attacks should be interrogated and punished, and there cannot be different standards for those close to the BJP and others.”

The Congress also expressed shock at the manner in which Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Tukoji Rao Pawar “insulted” the Returning Officer for Sonkatch Assembly segment in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh.

Fanfundamentalism: Malegaon blast: Shabridham ashram inmates questioned

Fanfundamentalism: Malegaon blast: Shabridham ashram inmates questioned

VHP worker shot dead in Kandhamal

The Hindu , Nov 6, 2008

Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: Tension prevailed in riot-hit Kandhamal district of the Orissa on Wednesday following the killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad worker by suspected Maoists.

Assailants fired 18 rounds at the VHP worker Dhanurjay Pradhani (36) at Kumbharigaon village around 1 p.m., police sources said.

Pradhani, who worked as a small-time contractor, was inspecting the construction of a school building at the time. He hailed from the nearby Jhinjirigaon village.

Maoists, who are active in Brahmanigaon and adjoining Tumudibandha, had recently put up banners threatening to eliminate Pradhani and several other local leaders of the Sangh Parivar.

District Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar reached Kumbharigaon with additional forces. One company of the Central Reserve Police Force also reached the area. source 

Malegaon :' Why were only 6 people killed?’ Sadhvi Pragya Thakur asks Ramji

Vignesh Iyer Vignesh Iyer, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, November 04, 2008

First Published: 00:47 IST(4/11/2008)

Last Updated: 01:24 IST(4/11/2008) 

“Why were only six people killed when we had planned for more?”

This statement, the prosecution claimed in court on Monday, was from a conversation between Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Ramji, one of the suspects in the blasts that ripped through Malegaon on September 28.

According to the witness’ statement, Ramji replied: “As the area was crowded, I could not park the vehicle where it could have created maximum damage”.Special public prosecutor Ajay Mishar claimed that that this conversation was overheard by a witnesses, who gave a statement to the magistrate under the provisions of CrPC Section 164.

According to the witness’ statement, Ramji replied: “As the area was crowded, I could not park the vehicle where it could have created maximum damage”.  Ramji allegedly told Thakur that he was scared of being caught.

The witness also claimed that Thakur had said that if the motorcycle, on which the bombs were planted, was seized, she would say that she had sold the motorcycle a long time ago.

When asked about the significance of the witness, Mishar said the actual sequence of events took place as per the conversation between Thakur and Ramji. “After the blasts, Thakur told the police that she had sold her motorcycle long back,” said Mishar.  source 

Asghar Ali Engineer: And Now Hindu Terrorists?

And Now Hindu Terrorists?

By Asghar Ali Engineer

03 November, 2008
TwoCircles.net

Muslims for long had been objecting to the term Islamic terrorists and when the term Hindu terrorists was used by a section of the media the Sangh Parivar members protested how can one use the term 'Hindu Terrorists? The first to object to this term was Mr. Ram Madhav of RSS told The Asian Age "There is no such thing as Hindu terror at all. It is an orchestrated campaign to protect the real terrorists." Also when asked about the Sadhvi Pragya's arrest, he immediately tried to distance RSS from her. The "involvement of individuals, he said, "had nothing to do with any Hindu organization."

Similarly Mr. Advani, the opposition leader, also distanced BJP and RSS from the Sadhvi. He claimed he had no knowledge as to who Pragya was till now. Advani told Times of India that it seemed obvious that she would have parted ways with the pariwar outfits because her thoughts and methods did not match with those propagated by the organizations which she may have belonged to. This was reason enough for her to move out of them."  more 

Bajrang Dal attack on minorities inside Mangalore Jail

BANGALORE: No sooner was the ex-chief of Bajrang Dal Mahendra Kumar released on bail from the Mangalore sub-jail on Saturday than the district police conducted searches in the prison and seized hemp, knives, iron rods, SIM and mobile handsets.

Searches were conducted on the pleas from several quarters that illegal activities and liberty given to a section of the prisoners had led to the attack of the two suspected terrorists on Thursday.

Terror suspects Fakeer Bava and Rafique were bashed up by their jail-mates who are said to be the sympathisers of Bajrang Dal.  With serious injuries, the two have been admitted to the district hospital.

The inspection team, that included district revenue officials, was led by Superintendent of Police N. Sateesh Kumar. The district administration will prepare and submit a report to the government soon, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Members of Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD), have urged the district commissioner to suspend the jail superintendent as inmates of a particular community were being ill-treated often.

Incidentally, Kumar who was received by a group of his admirers on his release, pledged to carry out the works he had been doing for the Dal. Though he quit the leadership he would remain an active member, Kumar vowed. 

He has also alleged that Christians were getting support from various political parties for the act of conversion. Kumar was held on September 19 for his alleged role in inciting passions against Christians who he said had been proselytising Hindus.  more 

Tehelka Interview with Bajrang Dal head, Prakash Sharma

Politics and Minority