TENSIONS ESCALATE BETWEEN INDIA & PAKISTAN
2nd December
A blast has been reported in Assam, in the Lumbing-Tinsukhia passenger train. As of now, 3 have died and 30, injured.
Update: After the pivotal CWC meeting, Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh has agreed to step down after overwhelming doubts pertaining to the recent 26/11 Mumbai blasts. The front runner for the post is now Ashok Chavan, the Revenue Minister and son of veteran Congressman S.B. Chavan. This comes after the Cabinet Minister of Power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, fell out of the contest.
Also, the Shiv Sena has begun to demand the President’s rule in Maharashtra.
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WHAT ELSE DO PEOPLE SAY? LET’S SEE.
- Fox News (Richard Miller)
- New York Times (Suketu Mehta) – a personal and inspiring read.
- Reuters (Bryson Hull)
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30th November
Reports have come out that the captured terrorist has begun to leak the details of the 26/11 Mumbai attack plans. For more information, visit: IBN Breaking News – Video. Moving on, at the recent Congress Workers’ Committee (CWC) meet earlier today, Home Minister Shivraj Patil faced all the heat as the party’s slumber ended with Sonia Gandhi saying “We will not tolerate terrorism anymore”. Consequently, Patil has stepped down claiming “moral obligations” for the crisis. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has now been offered the additional charge of the Home Ministry. It is believed that even Manmohan Singh was not satisfied with Patil’s work in the cabinet.
Also facing the heat was Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who claimed that their Police were stretched for strength and resources. The most glaring lapse now happens to be that the Mumbai Police and, even more specifically, the Taj administration, had been informed of the attacks two days prior to its occurrence by dead ATS Chief Hemant Karkare. The meeting concluded with the PM stressing the need for the modernisation of India’s police forces, tougher laws and greater cooperation.
An all-party meeting has been called for in the coming week. Terrorism stands to be the prominent issue again; however, the BJP and the Shiv Sena have issued statements saying they will not attend the meeting.
My opinion? The BJP, in their stead, will also call for everyone to stand together in the face of a crisis such as this, but how can they hope to make any difference when they don’t come together for an all-party meet? The Congress must not be bothered about the opposition’s ideas and whatever they decision they make, it must be an independent, conclusive and responsible one.
Update: CM Vilasrao Deshmukh may be asked to quit.
Update: Pakistan has also, for the first time, called for an all-party meeting to fight terror. The Pak government is now irked because of the possibility of another war-like situation between the two nations, whose relationship already stands stressed because of the recent happenings. The many internal strifes and the insurgency from Afghanistan are the principal occupations of the Pakistani Army, but a government official, who selectively briefed the Pak media ealrier today evening, has said that 1,00,000 troops are being moved east to the Indo-Pak border from the Pak-Afghan border.
29th November
The 60 hour terror rampage in Mumbai has just been ended, leaving 217 dead and more than 500 injured. The Maharashtra government has announced that 9 terrorists were killed, with 1 captured alive. The terrorists apparently wanted to go down in history as the perpetrators of India’s ‘9/11’.
Update: The arrested terrorist has been remanded to police custody till December 11.
Earlier, after the NSG and the ATS announced that the landmark Taj hotel, next to the Gateway of India, had been cleared of all miscreants and sanitised, it was found that 3 terrorists were still lurking inside. A bystander was also hit when they began firing and lobbing grenades from the windows. A resweep of the location was conducted earlier today and the three remnants were killed. However, the events at Nariman House were a bleak affair when the 2 terrorists inside killed their 5 hostages, including a Rabbi and his wife, before they were slain by the NSG. One commando, Gajraj Singh, lost his life in this operation.
As the Taj awaits a lot of impending renovation, the picture is beginning to get enlarged after it was revealed that the port which the terrorists used to set sail from Pakistan was controlled by Dawood Ibrahim, who is now hiding there. Furthermore, the boats seized off Juhu Chowpatti bore a Karachi registration. The ISI Chief, General Pasha, has been invited to India; Pakistan did consent to this requested, but has now denied it. The Indian External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has already issued a statement to his Pakistani counterpart that the “peace process will be affected”.
’11/26′ or ’26/11′, whatsoever it may be referred to hence forth, is but the Black Wednesday India will now have to bear on the pages of her history. The Deccan Mujahideen, a previously unknown outfit, had claimed responsibility for the attacks via emails sent to the various newspapers. Now, however, instead of seeming like an act of a separate terrorist outfit, the rampage in Mumbai appears to be part of a greater conspiracy. Even the USA has purportedly sent FBI investigators to resolve this issue.
Update: The Pakistani Foreign Minister has issued a statement saying “Pakistan not involved in Mumbai attacks“.
Narendra Modi, in a separate interview, has claimed that he had been breaching the topic of Gujarati fishermen being caught off the coast of Pakistan by their Coast Guard, but it was never taken as seriously as it should have been. The boats, he claims, were retained by the authorities there and can now be seen ferrying terrorists to India.
The Taj
(Photo courtesy: Arun Shanbhag. For more pictures, visit: Arun Shanbhag on WordPress.)
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