As of now Al Qaeda and Taliban have not spread their tentacles within India because they are busy fighting Americans. But after the Americans leave they will not only physically enter India but recruit many Indians who may do it for ideology or money or both. And we all know that there are thousands if not lakhs who are just waiting for this opportunity. And don’t forget the Maoists who already have a support structure in the country and who may extend their support to Al Qaeda and Taliban to fight the govt. And no, this is not too far fetched. Maoists too do not believe in our democracy and want to overthrow our govt, like Pakistan, Taliban and Al Qaeda. It will then be nearly impossible for us to keep these terrorists in their defined physical spaces. The lines will keep getting blurred and will eventually vanish.

Posted on March 13th, 2010 under Best Articles, India calling. Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, attack, stakes, strike, Taliban, women. Comments: 5

Well, its over and done with. Salman Bashir came to India, met Nirupama Rao, addressed a press conference and went back. No joint statement but just polite handshakes, some smiles and thats it. Well, the meeting achieved what it was supposed to achieve, nothing. Nothing new came out of the meeting. No fresh ideas, no change from respective pre-stated positions, in fact nothing at all to write home about. What we heard were the same old statements emanating from both sides with India harping that terror must stop and Pakistan saying Kashmir first. To be candid it was expected. No body expects anything anymore to come out of Indo-Pak talks, especially this one coming as it did after Mumbai was attacked fourteen months ago. Nonetheless, aim achieved. Yes, aim achieved.

Posted on February 27th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, Hafiz Saeed, JuD, Manmohan, options, talks, Terror, terrorist. Comments: 3

It is quite ironical that while we expect Pakistan to act against LeT, JeM and other such terrorist organisations operating from Pakistan to create terror in India our own political leaders are reluctant to act against Maoists who are nothing but terrorists, in my view. They may have a just cause or they may basically be Hindus but their methods are wrong. If killing innocent villagers, govt officials/ policemen and detonating bombs is not terrorism, what is? If this is indeed terror why is our response to these activities any different than what it is against LeT, JeM, HUJI and others? Is it because Maoists are not exactly demanding a separate country, yet? Or is it because they are also fulfilling some political objectives of certain politicians?

Posted on February 21st, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, BJP, Congress, maoists, Naxal, Silda, terrorist, threat. Comments: 7

We all love expressing ‘concerns’. Our Congress govt too loves to express ‘concern’. The Australian High Commissioner to India has also expressed his ‘concern’. The Aussie PM Kevin Rudd has also done the same. Tell you what, I give a rat’s ass to these concerns. It doesn’t mean a damn thing. Do you know why? It’s because the Aussies do not agree that they were racist attacks. They call it ‘opportunistic’ attacks. My bloody foot! When you have petrol bombs thrown at your home you got to be an absolute moron to call it ‘opportunistic attack’. And what about more than 500 attacks which have taken place in Australia in the last few years out of which more than 100 have been in the last one year alone? Were they all ‘opportunistic attacks’? Bullshit. May be a few could have been routine robberies or muggings but most of them were plain racist. The pattern is there for all to see. And by the way, a recent survey by BBC says that Aussies have been rated as the most sinful country in the developed world. They have been ranked first overall in a study of the seven deadly sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. They are in top ten in six and first in, you got it, envy. These attacks are a reflection of this very sin which these guys are very good at.

Posted on February 1st, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, Aussie, Australia, Congress, crime, hate, punish, racism, study. Comments: 9

Though they keep saying that politics should not be mixed with sports but we all know better than that. On most occasions politics dictates sports in our country. And it is politics of 26/11 terror attacks that has forced the govt to direct the bosses of IPL not to pick Pakistani players. Had that not been the case and there was indeed an issue of security of Pakistani players, as brought out by franchisees, IPL should not have included their names in the list of players to be auctioned. In any case security of players was the problem of security forces and not the franchisees. By saying that there were problems on this score are these people implying that our security apparatus was not good enough for these players? Also, may I remind them that attack on international cricketers took place in Pakistan not in India. As you can see the reasons given by them can only be termed as flimsy at best.

Posted on January 23rd, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, Cricket, IPL, KKR, Pakistan, Priety Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, SRK, Terror. Comments: 13

Americans, on their part have been very cagey about Headley from the very beginning when in August this year reports first started coming in of his arrest. They initially linked him only to a plot to kill a Danish cartoonist. Later on there were reports of Headley’s links to LeT. Later still, they said that he was an agent of DEA (US agency which fights the drug menace) but now it has become amply clear that not only was he involved in planning and execution of 26/11 attacks he was also on the payroll of CIA. Another very important reason why I’m getting increasingly convinced about US knowing much more about 26/11 than what they told us is the fact that our team which went to US to meet Headley in connection with his involvement in 26/11 attacks was not allowed to do so even as he was being charged for the same offence which was committed here in India. If this is not bizarre I really wonder what is?

Posted on December 21st, 2009 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: 26/11, 9/11, agent, attack, headley, Mumbai, rana, terrorist. Comments: 3

“A section of senior police officers refused to be on the ground and take on the terrorists. By doing so they chose to ignore the need of the hour. Yes there was a dearth of eagerness on the part of a handful of senior officers to be on the ground during those days.” These are the words from the horse’s mouth, Hassan Gafoor who was the Commissioner of Police during 26/11. Here’s some more.

“K.L. Prasad refused to come to the Trident and then decided against hitting the roads. Deven Bharti, K. Venkatesham and Parambir Singh did not appear keen on responding to the situation.” Here’s yet another disclosure.

“I attended a meeting with the DGP and home minister. I was told to withdraw the NSG and instead use the Mumbai Police for the ongoing operations.”

Posted on November 30th, 2009 under India calling. Tags: 26/11, attack, BJP, CNN IBN, Congress, dud, Kamte, Last Bullet, leak, Mumbai, panel, Pradhan, Rajdeep Sardesai, report, Terror, Vinita. Comments: 4

When 9/11 happened America converted this crisis into an opportunity. They ensured that another 9/11 does not happen again on their territory and they have succeeded. They did not let 9/11 just become history before they dealt with their present. Can we, as Indians let 26/11 just become history without dealing with our present? The question is for all Indians to answer for. And I’m not talking about candle light vigils or some such stuff here.

Posted on November 26th, 2009 under India calling. Tags: 26/11, 9/11, attack, holocaust, Mumbai, nuke, response, Terror, war. Comments: 14

“Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” And “The longing for vengeance is like craving for poison.” These lines are from an article written by Pierre Lavalle, a Canadian therapist, published in Times of India dated 22 Nov 09. He goes on to say that though it is very difficult for us but we should try and forgive those who carried out these terror attacks in Mumbai last year. Well, it had to come to this someday but it is rather surprising that Times of India published this article within just about an year of the most horrific terrorist attack on our soil. The call first got diluted from an all out war against Pakistan to just action against perpetrators of 26/11, then it got further watered down when Pak govt let go of one perpetrator after another while at the same time giving lip service of all possible help against terrorists even as our govt watched it helplessly and now sections of media within our own country are telling us that we should move on and forgive those murderers altogether, albeit on the prodding of westerners.

Posted on November 22nd, 2009 under India calling. Tags: 26/11, attack, forget, forgive, Kasab, Mumbai, Pakistan, Terror. Comments: 13