Abu Jandal and the Mumbai attacks
The latest sorry episode exposes Pakistan to further isolation globally and increases pressure on it.
Hafiz Saeed, leader of the powerful Pakistan-wide religious and social work organisation, Jamatud Dawa, is in the eye of the storm again after India got Saudi Arabia to repatriate an Indian agent belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (L-e-T) who says that Saeed was directly involved in the Mumbai attacks that accounted for 166 innocent deaths.
The Indian named Zabihuddin Ansari went under 10 different fake names to hide is real identity: Abu Jandal, Abu Hamza, etc. Once in Indian custody he has started singing, the second fatal development for Pakistan, which doesn’t credit revelations made by Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist caught in Mumbai, thus deepening its isolation in the world as a country that is being undermined by terrorism but doesn’t want to admit it.
Ansari has reportedly confessed that he had gone to Pakistan illegally and was present as a trainer in Karachi when a gang of Pakistani terrorists was sent to India by sea. He says that Saeed was present in the Karachi control room when the 26/11 masterminds choreographed the carnage of Mumbai. He further damages the Pakistani stance, which had already taken a hit through David Headley’s arrest and confession. Saeed is a powerful man in Pakistan and no one can speak openly against him. He has been the champion of the rights of the Kashmiris, as his ‘freedom fighters’ were active inside the Indian-administered Kashmir, frequently spreading terror further afield inside India. He is currently the power behind the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, showing muscle in the streets of Pakistan against any reopening of the Nato supply routes. The US has repeatedly asked Pakistan to proceed against Saeed as a terrorist, annexing this conditionality (without naming him) to agreements of aid to Pakistan. It has recently announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has charged that not only was Saeed involved in the Mumbai attacks, but also that the existence of the control room in Karachi suggested that Pakistan’s state institutions were involved in the planning and execution of the attacks: “Such a control room could not have been established without some kind of a state support”. Pakistan’s then naval chief had asserted that he had found no evidence that any operation had been launched into India from Karachi.
Indian investigators got on to Ansari’s scent after Kasab named ‘Jandal’ as one of the persons who saw off the 10 attackers at the Pakistani shore, including the L-e-T’s Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi who is currently taking the rap for Saeed in a slow-moving Pakistani court. Ansari had escaped from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia on a Pakistani passport and was repatriated to India on an Indian request. Why did Saudi Arabia release him when Ansari presumably claimed that he was Pakistani? The obvious guess is that the Saudi authorities are threatened by al Qaeda’s outreach among the Saudi population and may also want to send a signal to Pakistan. There is no doubt that it sees the hand of al Qaeda in the Mumbai attacks.
The Pakistani embassy in New Delhi has responded cautiously without committing anything, clearly anticipating Islamabad’s refusal to accept the latest charge against Saeed: “Pakistan has been at the forefront in the campaign against terror. As agreed at the highest level between Pakistan and India, terrorism is a common concern and counter-terrorism cooperation is in the mutual interest of both countries. Pakistan has renewed its offer of cooperation in this domain”. TV anchors in Pakistan are silent except one who has denounced Saudi Arabia for having ‘betrayed’ Pakistan. Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has predictably rejected the Indian home minister’s charge. The latest sorry episode exposes Pakistan to further isolation globally and increases pressure on it to do something about terrorism that has sapped the writ of the state and threatens the world. If Pakistan wants to avoid being completely isolated, it has no choice but to launch a serious investigation into the Mumbai attacks and bring to book those who were involved in this heinous act.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.
The Indian named Zabihuddin Ansari went under 10 different fake names to hide is real identity: Abu Jandal, Abu Hamza, etc. Once in Indian custody he has started singing, the second fatal development for Pakistan, which doesn’t credit revelations made by Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist caught in Mumbai, thus deepening its isolation in the world as a country that is being undermined by terrorism but doesn’t want to admit it.
Ansari has reportedly confessed that he had gone to Pakistan illegally and was present as a trainer in Karachi when a gang of Pakistani terrorists was sent to India by sea. He says that Saeed was present in the Karachi control room when the 26/11 masterminds choreographed the carnage of Mumbai. He further damages the Pakistani stance, which had already taken a hit through David Headley’s arrest and confession. Saeed is a powerful man in Pakistan and no one can speak openly against him. He has been the champion of the rights of the Kashmiris, as his ‘freedom fighters’ were active inside the Indian-administered Kashmir, frequently spreading terror further afield inside India. He is currently the power behind the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, showing muscle in the streets of Pakistan against any reopening of the Nato supply routes. The US has repeatedly asked Pakistan to proceed against Saeed as a terrorist, annexing this conditionality (without naming him) to agreements of aid to Pakistan. It has recently announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has charged that not only was Saeed involved in the Mumbai attacks, but also that the existence of the control room in Karachi suggested that Pakistan’s state institutions were involved in the planning and execution of the attacks: “Such a control room could not have been established without some kind of a state support”. Pakistan’s then naval chief had asserted that he had found no evidence that any operation had been launched into India from Karachi.
Indian investigators got on to Ansari’s scent after Kasab named ‘Jandal’ as one of the persons who saw off the 10 attackers at the Pakistani shore, including the L-e-T’s Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi who is currently taking the rap for Saeed in a slow-moving Pakistani court. Ansari had escaped from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia on a Pakistani passport and was repatriated to India on an Indian request. Why did Saudi Arabia release him when Ansari presumably claimed that he was Pakistani? The obvious guess is that the Saudi authorities are threatened by al Qaeda’s outreach among the Saudi population and may also want to send a signal to Pakistan. There is no doubt that it sees the hand of al Qaeda in the Mumbai attacks.
The Pakistani embassy in New Delhi has responded cautiously without committing anything, clearly anticipating Islamabad’s refusal to accept the latest charge against Saeed: “Pakistan has been at the forefront in the campaign against terror. As agreed at the highest level between Pakistan and India, terrorism is a common concern and counter-terrorism cooperation is in the mutual interest of both countries. Pakistan has renewed its offer of cooperation in this domain”. TV anchors in Pakistan are silent except one who has denounced Saudi Arabia for having ‘betrayed’ Pakistan. Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has predictably rejected the Indian home minister’s charge. The latest sorry episode exposes Pakistan to further isolation globally and increases pressure on it to do something about terrorism that has sapped the writ of the state and threatens the world. If Pakistan wants to avoid being completely isolated, it has no choice but to launch a serious investigation into the Mumbai attacks and bring to book those who were involved in this heinous act.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.