Research and Analysis Wing RAW: terrorist organisation

The role of an intelligence agency should be different from that of a terrorist organization. The CIA, the Mussad, the ISI and the Raw must not be mixed up with LTTE, the Black Water Force and particularly the detracted groups of Taliban & Al- Qaida which are defaming not only Islam but also the Muslims all over the world. If an intelligence agency is trying to forget its prescribed aims and objects by surpassing its limits, it should not be ranked as an intelligence agency but a terrorist organization.

A few days back the Federation of American Scientists FAS issued a report which confirmed that the Research and Analysis Wing RAW, was directly involved in the secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh, and is currently engaged in similar activities in Balochistan. The FAS is a group which is engaged in analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy concerning global security, especially about the countries having nuclear capability. It is a privately funded non-profit policy organization whose Board of Sponsors includes 55 American Nobel laureates. The report says ‘“The assistance provided to RAW by the Russian KGB enabled RAW to arrange terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities throughout the Afghan War.

The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan did not end the role of RAW in Pakistan, as it established training camps in East Punjab, Indian Held Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where agents are trained for terrorist activities.” Pointing towards the role of Raw in the formerly East Pakistan the report says, ‘The involvement of Raw in East Pakistan started in 1960s when it began with promoting dissatisfaction against Pakistan . Later on Raw funded at a large scale Mujeebur Rehman’s general election of 1970. This organization not only funded Mukti Bahini but also trained and armed the workers of Mukti Bahini.’There is another shocking revelation in the report that Raw staged the drama of hijacking a plane of Indian Airlines proceeding to Lahore in 1971. The hidden aim behind this hijacking was to put all blame on the Kashmiri Freedom Fighters and to introduce them throughout the world as terrorists. In the light of the above disclosure it won’t be wise to rank Raw as an intelligence agency. Hijacking of airplanes, massacre of innocent citizens and patronizing training camps of terrorist are certainly never the job of an intelligence agency. These are the actions of a terrorist organization. It is not only Pakistan which has been suffering from the childish misdeeds of Raw since long; the list of the afflicting countries is endless.

A few months back, in one of its editorials the leading newspaper of Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror criticized RAW by saying that this agency is playing a heinous role in the regional countries to destabilize them.. Commenting on the RAW’s role in Sri Lanka, the editorial said: “The RAW in Sri Lanka has a pretty colorful record. Having raised, nursed and fortified the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, it later went through phases where it adopted ‘rock the baby, pinch the baby’ approach towards the LTTE.” The paper is of the opinion that Raw never works on serious grounds because this organization is nothing more than a vase weeded with bitter thorny and discolored wild flowers. Its workers and employers are morally bankrupt and spiritually barren. The newspaper wrote: “In 2007, ripples were created in the spy agency when one of its Colombo-based officers, Ravi Nair of 1975 batch, was found allegedly carrying on an affair with a woman working for another country’s spy agency. The ‘crime’ was considered only second to what was committed by the RAW Joint Secretary, Rabinder Singh, in 2004 when he escaped with copies of several highly-confidential documents and is believed to have passed them on to the CIA. This was after Singh’s superiors confronted him with evidence that he had spent time with a Delhi-based female US embassy officer at a resort down the New Delhi-Jaipur highway.”

According to the sources RAW and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs are provided Rs. 250 million annually as “discretionary grants” for foreign influence operations. These funds are meant for supporting the organizations fighting Sikh and Kashmiri separatists in the UK, Canada and the US. An Extensive network of Indian operatives of Raw is controlled by the Indian Embassy in Washington DC whose covert activities include the infiltration of US long distance telephone carriers by Indian operatives, with access to all kinds of information, to blackmail relatives of US residents living in India. In 1996, an Indian diplomat was implicated in a scandal over illegal funding of political candidates in the US. Under US law foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to federal elections. The US District Court in Baltimore sentenced Lalit H. Gadhia, a naturalized US citizen of Indian origin, to three months imprisonment. Gadhia had confessed that he worked as a conduit between the Indian Embassy and various Indian-American organizations for funneling campaign contributions to influence US lawmakers. Over US $46,000 from the Indian Embassy were distributed among 20 Congressional candidates. The source of the cash used by Gadhia was Devendra Singh, a RAW official assigned to the Indian Embassy in Washington. Now Raw is adopting the same philosophy and mode of action in Balochistan by patronizing the so called ‘separatist elements’ which originally do not belong to the ‘soil’.

Talking to the media men, on the second last day of August, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yusuf said that involvement of external elements; including the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing in the current acts of terrorism in Balochistan could not be ruled out. As long as Kashmir issue is not settled these elements will continue to create difficulties for Pakistan. Jam Yusuf referred to various training camps in which, according to him, terrorists were being harboured and paid huge sums to create trouble. He said that none of the Baloch ‘waderas’ had the capacity to finance such an operation. RAW had been running terrorist camps in Iran and Afghanistan since long and now it has set up 30 to 40 such camps in Balochistan, each with training facility for 30 people who are paid Rs10,000 monthly.

If we compare the East Pakistan episode and the present situation of Balochistan with reference to the report issued by the FAS, we can very easily analyze the scenario. Raw is repeating the same story of ‘divide and disperse’ in Balochistan which was once employed in the formerly East Pakistan. The situation calls for a very serious attitude on the part of Pakistani politicians. They must not waste their time and efforts in digging old graves .International forces are trying their best to divert the attention of the Pakistani politicians to some very trivial and valueless issues so that they may not be able to concentrate upon the worsening situation in Balochistan. Raw is craving for giving birth to another ‘East Pakistan’ out of its old barren and out worn womb. The Pakistani politicians must keep in mind like sensible fathers that we can no more afford another pregnancy.

Pakistani Little Genius Baber Iqbal sets a new record as the Youngest MCTS

ntolerance is thy name, O India

Jaswant Singh has paid a price for being an objective observer of the history of Indian subcontinent by writing facts in his “Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence” .The division of the country has always been a matter of serious and grave disputes, but what has been most critical as far as historical inquiry is concerned is that all facts relating to the division were never made available to public or even scholars.

What we had, instead, was one version of history written by the winners in this game played out on the country in the run up to division. In this Nehru, Patel and the entire Indian elite, upper caste Congress leadership came out in flying colours and people like Muhammed Ali Jinnah and B R Ambedkar were the demons. What Pakistani children learnt by their semi-literate teachers has also been venomous. This implies that the elite of the two countries prompted and promoted hatred staking the future of the entire people of South Asia where one-fifth of he humanity inhabit, mostly in abject poverty. Official histories held good for almost five decades in both the countries and children both in India and Pakistan learnt this jaundiced view in their schools and colleges and the first generations of the two countries after Independence also transmitted their prejudices to younger people.

But this one-sided version could not stand scrutiny of times and every next generation sought fresh answers to questions that keep up popping up. Yet ambiguity ruled most of the historic events and this state of affairs suited the ruling classes, as both the Congress and the right wing Hindutva forces shared the benefits of such a demonization project, painting the Muslims and the Muslim League as responsible and Muhammaed Ali Jinnah as the villain. The Congress and Nehru family benefited the most by decades of grip on power in India.

And when the book reached the people and guileless observation of 70-year old Jaswant Singh, twice finance minister and once foreign minister, surfaced, they took the entire Indian politics by storm leading. All the parties, including “secular” Congress and Hindtva Bhartia Janata Party, spewed their venom on the author so much as to lead to his expulsion from the BJP which he formed in 1980 in collaboration with Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lal Kishan Advani and others to strengthen the country’s right wing politics and add to the extremism, reject secular thought and prompt Hindu religious and cultural thought and hatred to Pakistan. The book praised the founder of Pakistan as an upright political leader who had not been in favour of the partition and was forced to raise Pakistan slogan because of the negativism of the Jawahar Lal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress. The reaction to the book has been so strong and all the Indian political parties, including the ruling Congress, have condemned Jaswant Singh with one voice and the Gujrat state government, headed by chief minister Narendra Nath Modi, banned the book.

But the controversy has only lent the book to become one of the bestsellers in recent years and Singh now plans to get it translated in Urdu, Gujrati and Bengali after it met a tremendous response across the country. His assertion tends to correct the Indians perceptions about the reasons for the partition of the subcontinent and holding leaders other than Mohammad Ali Jinnah responsible for, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “vivisecting” India to create Pakistan in 1947 and then Bangladesh in 1971. Singh writes that Jinnah was a nationalist parliamentarian and was not the only statesman involved in India’s partition; Nehru and Patel were, in fact, equally responsible because they so tenaciously supported the centrality of India as to sacrifice a federated decentralized India to a partitioned centralized India. It is a matter of record and all independent historians have mentioned the Cabinet Mission Plan, its deliberations with political parties in India, drawing of a group scheme for provinces to decide their future, the establishment of an All-India Union and number of ministers major parties (Congress and League) would share in the Viceroy’s Executive Council have primarily been responsible for brewing political bitterness to an extent to an extent as to lead to the partition.

The Mission, headed by Sir Pathic Lawrence with Sir Stafford Cripps and AV Alexander as other members, arrived Delhi on March 24, 1946. After hectic discussions on the communal question with all stakeholders, including Congress and Muslim League and leaders like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Mission announced a six-point Plan which enunciated three groups as federations — Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan in the first; Bengal and Assam in the second and all other (mainly Hindu majority) provinces in the third. Every group will be empowered to form its own federation; a central legislative assembly and an All India Union as central government administering only defence, foreign affairs and communication as subjects. The various groups will frame their constitution followed by an Indian constitution. The Muslim League accepted the Plan which said that various federation may, after a period of 10 years, decide to go for independence. The Congress dragged the question of acceptance or non-acceptance with vague demands and explanations. But what proved to the bone of contention between the League and the Congress was the number of ministers at the centre. The Mission suggested five each from the two parties to be members for the Viceroy’s Executive Council which was to also have one Sikh and another from the Parsi co9mmunity. All including Mr Gandhi and Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad agreed but Nehru put their foot down and was enthusiastically supported by Sardar Patel demanding that the Council should comprise 15 members and a low-caste Hindu be appointed in consultation with the Congress in addition to five from Muslim League. That was the one ministry that cost the Congress the partition of India, because the Direct Action Day, observed by the League in protesting the attitude of the Congress and which led to killing of about 5,000 people in Calcutta in communal violence, proved to be parting ways with the All-India Scheme and the Cabinet Mission Plan. It was at this stage that the Quaid-i-Azam raised the slogan of Pakistan for the first time. The book is bound to create huge political ripples and Indian historians will have to have their views, generally jaundiced with their own narrow vision perceptions of partition, mollified, if not corrected.

The same goes with Pakistani historians who have refused to understand the Quid-i-Azam’s political and economic rationale behind partition and tend to promote the idea as if this country was to be transformed into a theological state. But what hurts more is that the largest democracy of the world and its wildly trumpeted secularism has demonstrated no tolerance for a divergent view and all parties have joined in condemning Jaswant Singh for speaking truth. Obviously feeling extremely disappointed upon expulsion from the party he had served for about three decades he commented that he had not thought the party to be as narrow-minded as it has proved to be.
Mahmood Zaman

ndia state chief buried, succession battle heats up

Tens of thousands of mourners shouted slogans and broke police barricades on Friday to catch a final glimpse of one of India's leading politicians, whose death has sparked a succession battle in a key state.

Y.S.R. Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, who helped engineer the Congress party-led coalition's victory in a general election in May, was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week, potentially weakening the party in the southern state.

K. Rosaiah, the finance minister, was sworn in as caretaker chief minister until the party chooses a new leader, with several lawmakers favouring Reddy's son Jaganmohan, a first-term member of parliament from Reddy's home district of Kadapa.

A text message campaign, "Jagan as CM", is doing the rounds in the state, which has other contenders for the powerful post.

Schools and offices were shut and flags flew at half mast in Andhra Pradesh, where Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi as well as leaders of the opposition paid their respects to "YSR", as he was known.

Thousands of mourners packed into a stadium in Hyderabad where Reddy's body was kept before it was flown in an army helicopter to his hometown Pulivendula for the burial on his family estate, beside his parents.

Reddy, who was known for championing popular causes and wooing investors, was given a state funeral, with Christian priests administering final rites.

Police beat back thousands of mourners holding aloft portraits and wreaths and shouting slogans of "Long Live YSR", as they broke past barricades to get closer to the coffin.

The cause of the helicopter crash, which killed all five on board in forested hills on Wednesday, has not been established. (Writing by Rina Chandran; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Breaking News : Column by Orya Maqbool Jaan

Pak-Libya trade cooperation Libya to invest $147m

TRIPOLI, Libya: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has stressed the need for increased trade and investment cooperation between Pakistan and Libya in various fields including oil and gas, housing, construction, tourism, agro-industry and defense for the mutual benefit of two countries.
"There is lot of trade and investment potential in Pakistan and Libya, which can be exploited for complementing each other's economies", he said.
The Prime Minister, who is on a three-day visit for participation in the 40th anniversary of Al-Fateh Revolution on the invitation of Libyan leadership, was talking to Libya-based Pakistani business leaders here at an Iftar dinner hosted by Pakistan's Ambassador in Tripoli Jamil Ahmad Khan on Monday night.
The Pakistani business leaders, who were representing major Libyan companies in construction and oil and gas sectors including Mecko, CKT, Camco, ENI and Zveltina, discussed with Prime Minister Gilani the prospects of business opportunities in Pakistan particularly in the fields of oil and gas, agro industry, tourism and construction related industries.
They assured the Prime Minister of full cooperation and support in promoting the trade and economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries.
The Prime Minister said as the Libyan government is investing US$ 147 million for the construction of housing units over next five years, Pakistan can export cement and other related material to Libya.
The Pakistani business leaders also pointed out some problems and delay in the issuance of visa by Libyan authorities for Pakistani businessmen. The Prime Minister said he would raise the issue with the Libyan side.
He said the Libyan Labour Minister will soon undertake a visit to Pakistan, which will help boost the export of Pakistani manpower to Libya.
The Prime Minister said with Pakistan having a good gas distribution system and Libya working on exploration, the two countries can also share each other's expertise in the oil and gas sector.
He said Pakistan's PPL and the OGDCL are interested to get license for exploration in Libya.
Prime Minister Gilani apprised the Pakistani business leaders of the challenges faced by the country including economic recession, terrorism, law and order, food and energy shortages and on how the government was tackling these problems.
He informed the business leaders that the government took strict action against the sugar hoarders and increased supplies to the Utility Stores for sale on subsidized rates, which helped check the surging price of this vital commodity.
The Prime Minister said the government has initiated short, medium and long-term measures to address the issue of electricity shortage in the country, with plans also being made to avoid expected water shortage.
Gilani said the work is in progress on various power projects and he will inaugurate a power project every month.
He said the government was fully cognizant of the issue and will do everything to address the electricity problem.
The Prime Minister in this respect also referred to forward movement during the present government on Thar Coal project, adding, all options of power generation including wind, thermal, hydle and nuclear are being considered and pursued actively to address this problem.
He also mentioned the abolition of FCR in FATA and the approval of Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 for Northern Areas as some of the achievement of the government and said the new CFC Award will also be announced soon.
The Prime Minister also apprised the Pakistani business leaders of the recent successful military operation in Swat and Malakand and said most of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) had returned to their homes.

:. Autonomy to Gilgit, Baltistan:

Hundreds March in Chinese City Hit by Riots in July

Protesters push against a security force in Urumqi, in the Xinjiang region. The mostly Han Chinese crowd was angry over a series of syringe attacks in the city. (Associated Press)

By Christopher Bodeen

Associated Press
Friday, September 4, 2009

BEIJING, Sept. 3 -- Hundreds of Chinese protested deteriorating public safety Thursday after a series of mysterious syringe attacks further unnerved residents in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people.

People living near the city center reached by telephone said hundreds, possibly thousands, of members of China's Han majority marched peacefully in the city center. They waved Chinese flags, confronted local Communist Party leaders to demand they step down, and shouted "Severely punish the hooligans" -- a reference to the July 5 rioters.

The protest underscored public jitters and lingering grievances despite the city's still-high police presence. It also posed a challenge for the Beijing leadership and a propaganda drive portraying all of China as harmonious ahead of the 60th anniversary of Communist rule Oct. 1.

July's rioting -- in which ethnic Muslims set upon Hans, who then retaliated with vigilante attacks -- was the worst communal violence in a decade in Xinjiang, an often tense Central Asian frontier region with valuable oil and gas deposits.

Thursday's protest came after days of rumors that gangs were roaming the city and stabbing mostly Han people with hypodermic needles. City officials and state media confirmed the attacks, saying 21 people had been detained. A report on Xinjiang TV's newscast Thursday said 476 people had sought treatment for stabbing, though only 89 had obvious signs of being pricked.

While no motivations for the attacks were given, the report gave a breakdown of the victims showing that almost all -- 433 -- were Han Chinese, with the rest drawn from eight other ethnic groups, suggesting that the attacks were ethnically motivated.

Concerns about the stabbings may be high because Xinjiang has the highest rate of AIDS virus infections in China, with the problem fueled by needle-sharing among drug users.

The mostly Han demonstrators seemingly took care not to rile ethnic grievances, calling out "Maintain ethnic unity" and venting their anger on local officials. They called for the ouster of Wang Lequan, who is the Xinjiang party secretary and an ally of President Hu Jintao.

Troubles in Xinjiang are magnified by ethnic resentments. The Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim group that sees the region as its homeland, complain about being displaced by the Han, who have poured into the area in recent years. The Han resent government affirmative action policies for official jobs and university spots given to Uighurs.