Accurate Reporting on Mumbai Blasts
By Ahmed Quraishi
Islamabad , Pakistan
Hours after the three consecutive blasts in India’s Mumbai, our team of India analysts at PakNationalists.com released a brief report titled, Fearing Inside Job, India Plays Wise, So Far.
The crux of our argument was simple: India hasn’t formally accused Pakistan yet for a very simple reason. Almost all low-impact terror attacks in India in the past three years were the work of Indian extremists trying to increase pressure on Pakistan.
These new blasts come at a time when the West has an interest in opening the Indian front amid tensions with Pakistan.
Our report was markedly different and our analysis was entirely based on recent cases from the Indian judicial system and reporting by major Indian news sources. At a time when Indian and American news outlets were insinuating a Pakistani connection based on the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, our analysts wrote that eight serving and retired Indian military intelligence officers are under investigation for murdering 43 Pakistani goodwill visitors near New Delhi in 2007. After that attack, the Indian government and British and American media outlets accused Pakistan’s ISI of masterminding the attack to derail peace talks.
It turned out Indian military officers encouraged Hindu terror groups to kill Pakistani visitors and blame it on ISI. The sick plot was meant to keep the premier Pakistani spy service under pressure.
Between 2007 and 2009, Indian military officers organized similar attacks across India. And they were caught.
Our argument is that the Indian government was careful this time, fearing the three consecutive, low-impact blasts in Mumbai might have a similar objective, pushing India toward a confrontation with Pakistan at a time when the West is searching for every possible opportunity to raise the heat with Islamabad.
Now, more than 24 hours after the Mumbai blasts, the world media is increasingly picking up the angle that we floated, that the blasts are probably the work of domestic Indian terrorists, almost certainly linked to Hindu terror groups, with some prodding from extremist elements within Indian military.
See our earlier report below.
Fearing Inside Job, India Plays Wise, so far, on Mumbai Blasts
New Delhi : Indian authorities in the city of Mumbai have taken the wise step of not characterizing the three blasts in different parts of the city today (July 13) as terrorist attacks, which could have political implications.
They have also refrained from accusing Pakistan, although Indian and American news outlets were quick to insinuate a Pakistani link by referring to alleged Pakistani hand in the terrorist attack of November 2008.
Reports indicate 21 Indians have been killed and dozens injured. The numbers could rise in the next few hours.
Diplomacy is not the only reason behind Indian official restraint.
In the past four years, a majority of similar low-impact blasts have been the work of Indian terrorists. This means the involvement of extremist elements within Indian military working in concert with Hindu terrorists to create tensions with Pakistan. Another goal has been to force Indian government to go after Kashmiris and Indian Muslims.
Some sections of the Indian media have been highlighting this disturbing development. But American and British news outlets have largely censored any news highlighting Hindu terrorism. India is a close ally of the United States, which is building New Delhi up as a regional bulwark against China.
Probe into the murder of 43 Pakistanis – burned alive in a train blast near New Delhi in early 2007 – revealed the involvement of serving Indian military intelligence officers, and several terrorists from Hindu extremist groups. But in June 2011, after three years of investigations, Indian authorities protected eight suspected Indian intelligence officers by limiting the indictment in the case to Hindu extremists.
Indian military intelligence is cooperating with local terrorists to mount attacks inside India to be blamed on Pakistan.
A series of attacks in public places between 2007 and 2010, including an attack on a German bakery, were blamed on either Kashmiri freedom groups fighting Indian occupation, or on Pakistan. But Indian investigators ultimately uncovered more sinister Indian links. [For details on the exact blasts and the evidence uncovered, see Hindu Terror: The Mirror Explodes, an excellent investigative report by Indian Outlook magazine.]
The Mumbai Taj Mahal hotel attack of November 2008 was partially planned in Pakistan. The plot’s largest portions took place outside Pakistan, including inside India. Indian authorities are loath to probe these aspects and have been using the terror attack to get back at pro-Kashmir groups.
In recent months, Pakistani officials said in private talks with Indian counterparts they stopped short of demanding the custody of two Indians, a serving Indian army officer and a Hindu extremist, for their role in killing 43 Pakistani visitors near New Delhi in 2007.
Pakistani experts have been predicting that Washington and New Delhi would try to open an Indian front against Pakistan amid Pakistani tensions with the United States over Afghanistan.
The ideal scenario for this would be a couple of blasts in India.
India has many domestic enemies. Most of northeastern India is plagued by violent separatist movements. The Indian army has been involved in massive violations bordering on genocide in Kashmir, where more than half a million Indian soldiers are suppressing Kashmiri demands for self-determination under UN supervision.
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