03-11-2006, 05:42 PM
Four Years, Two Attacks, One Story
B Shantanu
December 22, 2005
http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_051222.htm
See if you can spot anything unusual about these two newspaper
reports:
********
"The two groups specifically held responsible by New Delhi were
Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e- Mohammed. Pakistan vigorously denied the
charges and condemned the attack. It called for evidence of
Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed`s involvement to be made public and
said that, if such evidence were provided, it would take action. It also
offered to participate in a joint inquiry with the Indians."[1]
"Pakistan is prepared for joint impartial inquiry into the
attack..If any evidence is found in the inquiry about the involvement of
any individual or group from Pakistan's soil, Pakistan will initiate
action in its light", Pakistan's defence spokesman, Maj-Gen Rashid
Qureshi told the BBC here yesterday. [2]
********
"President General Pervez Musharraf while condemning the .blasts
has categorically noted "neither Pakistan is involved in the .blasts nor
supports militancy or terrorism but is ready to cooperate with India in
investigating the tragic incident.
President Musharraf also offered that Pakistan is ready to
cooperate (with) India in investigating the.explosions." [3]
"Pakistan fully condoles the Government of India as well as with
the families of the victims of the dastardly terrorist attack and
extends unequivocal support in any investigation," Musharraf told media
persons at the Army House. [4]
Notice anything unusual?
The first excerpt is from news reports written in Dec '01
following the attack on Parliament.
The second is datelined Nov '05 - almost exactly 4 years after the
first one - from new stories reporting the blasts in New Delhi.
Just two days after the brazen attempt by Pakistan to distance
itself from the blasts ("No evidence on Delhi blasts: Pak" [5],
Commissioner of Police, Dr K K Paul said that "Lashkar-e-Tayiba was
behind the blasts.
Addressing a crowded press conference in New Delhi Paul said,
"Lashkar-e-Tayiba was behind the blasts. Tariq came to Delhi on 4th of
October and went back to Srinagar on 6th of October. And thereafter the
conspiracy was hatched to engineer bomb blasts. The other two behind the
blasts are Abu Alqama and Abu Hafiza respectively who are acting as
Lashkar chiefs in Srinagar and Jammu respectively. Two of the suspects
are residents of Jammu and Kashmir and the other two are foreign
nationals." he said. [6]
I thought we had heard this before.
Here's Commissioner of Police, Ajay Raj Sharma quoted in The
Tribune datelined December 16, 2001 [7] "The December 13 terrorist
attack on Parliament House was carried out by five Pakistanis whose
objective appeared to be to get inside the Parliament and kill as many
politicians as possible, and the entire operation was under the guidance
of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Police Commissioner
Ajay Raj Sharma said the entire operation was carried out by the
militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad with the help of another militant
outfit Lakshar-e-Toiba."
The "official" reaction from PM Manmohan Singh (after the Delhi
blasts) was that he "continued to be disturbed and dismayed at
indications of external linkages of terrorist groups with the 29 October
bombing". [8]
Four years ago, a supposedly hard-line government in Delhi said
this after the attack on Parliament: "The punishment will be as big as
the crime," Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was quoted as
saying by his party`s spokesman V. K. Malhotra before the parliament
session. "It is an attack on our country and we will decide the
punishment." Strong words but no resolve. Lest we forget, it was the
Vajpayee government that initiated the peace process with Pakistan,
Kargil notwithstanding. [9]
The Congress of course, did one better. The day after the blasts
in Delhi (29th Oct), the Congress-led government announced an agreement
with Pakistan to open several border-crossings on LOC [10] - in theory
to facilitate relief efforts for the earthquake victims - in practice to
make it a little bit easier for ISI to push jihadists across the border
before the winter snow makes any further movement impossible.
And so it will continue.
There may be yet another terrorist attack. Pakistan will once
again condemn it and even offer assistance in investigation.
There will be a strong "official" reaction.
A few weeks later, the police will unearth evidence that Pakistan
was indeed behind the attack - and things will move on.
Nothing will change.and a few years later, we may read the same
story again - the PM may be different, the Police Commissioner will
change, the editors may change - but the story will not.
Four years, two attacks.but one story.
I despair and wonder whether there is any hope?
References:
1] http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/566/war4.htm
2] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011217/main1.htm
3] http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=124219
4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...281198.cms
5] http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...ntent_id=81831)
6] http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/13dblast1.htm
7] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011217/main1.htm
8] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4393532.stm
9] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/decemb...ndia_12-18.html
10]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/29/...ain994789.shtml
B Shantanu
December 22, 2005
http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_051222.htm
See if you can spot anything unusual about these two newspaper
reports:
********
"The two groups specifically held responsible by New Delhi were
Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e- Mohammed. Pakistan vigorously denied the
charges and condemned the attack. It called for evidence of
Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed`s involvement to be made public and
said that, if such evidence were provided, it would take action. It also
offered to participate in a joint inquiry with the Indians."[1]
"Pakistan is prepared for joint impartial inquiry into the
attack..If any evidence is found in the inquiry about the involvement of
any individual or group from Pakistan's soil, Pakistan will initiate
action in its light", Pakistan's defence spokesman, Maj-Gen Rashid
Qureshi told the BBC here yesterday. [2]
********
"President General Pervez Musharraf while condemning the .blasts
has categorically noted "neither Pakistan is involved in the .blasts nor
supports militancy or terrorism but is ready to cooperate with India in
investigating the tragic incident.
President Musharraf also offered that Pakistan is ready to
cooperate (with) India in investigating the.explosions." [3]
"Pakistan fully condoles the Government of India as well as with
the families of the victims of the dastardly terrorist attack and
extends unequivocal support in any investigation," Musharraf told media
persons at the Army House. [4]
Notice anything unusual?
The first excerpt is from news reports written in Dec '01
following the attack on Parliament.
The second is datelined Nov '05 - almost exactly 4 years after the
first one - from new stories reporting the blasts in New Delhi.
Just two days after the brazen attempt by Pakistan to distance
itself from the blasts ("No evidence on Delhi blasts: Pak" [5],
Commissioner of Police, Dr K K Paul said that "Lashkar-e-Tayiba was
behind the blasts.
Addressing a crowded press conference in New Delhi Paul said,
"Lashkar-e-Tayiba was behind the blasts. Tariq came to Delhi on 4th of
October and went back to Srinagar on 6th of October. And thereafter the
conspiracy was hatched to engineer bomb blasts. The other two behind the
blasts are Abu Alqama and Abu Hafiza respectively who are acting as
Lashkar chiefs in Srinagar and Jammu respectively. Two of the suspects
are residents of Jammu and Kashmir and the other two are foreign
nationals." he said. [6]
I thought we had heard this before.
Here's Commissioner of Police, Ajay Raj Sharma quoted in The
Tribune datelined December 16, 2001 [7] "The December 13 terrorist
attack on Parliament House was carried out by five Pakistanis whose
objective appeared to be to get inside the Parliament and kill as many
politicians as possible, and the entire operation was under the guidance
of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Police Commissioner
Ajay Raj Sharma said the entire operation was carried out by the
militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad with the help of another militant
outfit Lakshar-e-Toiba."
The "official" reaction from PM Manmohan Singh (after the Delhi
blasts) was that he "continued to be disturbed and dismayed at
indications of external linkages of terrorist groups with the 29 October
bombing". [8]
Four years ago, a supposedly hard-line government in Delhi said
this after the attack on Parliament: "The punishment will be as big as
the crime," Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was quoted as
saying by his party`s spokesman V. K. Malhotra before the parliament
session. "It is an attack on our country and we will decide the
punishment." Strong words but no resolve. Lest we forget, it was the
Vajpayee government that initiated the peace process with Pakistan,
Kargil notwithstanding. [9]
The Congress of course, did one better. The day after the blasts
in Delhi (29th Oct), the Congress-led government announced an agreement
with Pakistan to open several border-crossings on LOC [10] - in theory
to facilitate relief efforts for the earthquake victims - in practice to
make it a little bit easier for ISI to push jihadists across the border
before the winter snow makes any further movement impossible.
And so it will continue.
There may be yet another terrorist attack. Pakistan will once
again condemn it and even offer assistance in investigation.
There will be a strong "official" reaction.
A few weeks later, the police will unearth evidence that Pakistan
was indeed behind the attack - and things will move on.
Nothing will change.and a few years later, we may read the same
story again - the PM may be different, the Police Commissioner will
change, the editors may change - but the story will not.
Four years, two attacks.but one story.
I despair and wonder whether there is any hope?
References:
1] http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/566/war4.htm
2] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011217/main1.htm
3] http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=124219
4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...281198.cms
5] http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...ntent_id=81831)
6] http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/13dblast1.htm
7] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011217/main1.htm
8] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4393532.stm
9] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/decemb...ndia_12-18.html
10]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/29/...ain994789.shtml