[Reader-list] Arrests won't affect us, jihad will continue: Lashkar

[anupam chakravartty]

"He ran his fingers through his bushy beard as he sat in a dingy room for
the interview, surrounded by boys' ages 15 to 20 that listened intently as
he spoke."


I am sorry to say but this looks like the work of a typical western
journalist stuck in Islamabad and imagining things out of his/her head. I
doubt the credibility of this report on the grounds that it was clearly
inspired from a Frederick Forsythe novel.

The statement, "we are still well organised and active" is so absurd. The
reporter calls the person a "coodinator" and then asks if they are not
organised or active. How bizzare. (And how can we forget the cliche -- safe
houses)

"They are concentrated on the tribal areas of Western provinces of
Pakistan": Even american missles knew about this. Where is the news here?

Also very conspiratorially the reporter states the problem of Jihad with a
quote from the so-called coordinator, stating the same shit (sorry but it's
true) we have been getting on television and newspaper. If Jihad is epitome
of good muslim, then the reporter should have also stated in a responsible
manner that the Holy Koran has a very different connotation of Jehad as
opposed to what a lot of non-muslims think of.

ANI is a prestigious news organisation. Care must be taken not to make half
hearted attempts to report about the real issues behind the pall of such
calamity. My point here is if you have called it extremism, used phrases
like jehad, holy war, fundamentalism, and other such things, then you must
investigate why so many are becoming a part of this agenda. what makes
a pashtoon from waziristan take up arms, who is capable of tilling the arid
soils single handedly?



On 12/9/08, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Arrests won't affect us, jihad will continue: Lashkar
> ANI
> *New Delhi/ Lahore* A Lashkar-e-Toiba coordinator has said that the arrest
> of at least 20 Jamaat-ud-Dawa activists, including the purported mastermind
> of the Mumbai terror attacks, Zaki-u-Rehman Lakhvi, on the outskirts of
> Muzaffarabad, will not stop the militant outfit from continuing with its
> activities.
>
> "We are still well-organized and active," the 'Washington Times' quoted the
> Lashkar coordinator, as saying during an interaction at a safe house near
> Lahore.
>
> The Lashkar fighter in Lahore said the group has "huge strength" and is
> concentrated in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
>
> He ran his fingers through his bushy beard as he sat in a dingy room for
> the
> interview, surrounded by boys' ages 15 to 20 that listened intently as he
> spoke.
>
> The man stood uncomfortably against the wall throughout the interview, his
> eyes avoiding contact with the interviewer.
>
> "The Lashkar definitely has the capability and the capacity to conduct
> attacks such as those which took place in Mumbai," said Rasool Baksh Raees,
> a political science professor at the Lahore University of Management
> Sciences.
>
> The Lashkar organizer denied that the group had to purchase recruits.
> "Young
> boys come to us usually because their friends have convinced them, because
> they believe jihad is the epitome of being a good Muslim or because their
> families are involved," he said.
>
> Sharmeen Obaid, a filmmaker who has covered jihadists in Pakistan
> extensively, said that selling boys into jihad is a common practice.
>
> "It's happening more and more nowadays as people become more desperate for
> money in Pakistan," she said.
>
> "After the [2007 Kashmir] earthquake when a large number of children became
> orphans, I was told that a number of them were sold to organizations such
> as
> Lashkar," she added.
>
> She said the price for one recruit could range from 10,000 to 19,000
> dollars. "Sufi shrines and mosques are usual meeting grounds for young
> boys," the Lashkar organizer said.
>
> However, Yahya Muhammed, a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba, has denied that
> the organization has training camps.
>
> "The Jamaat-ud-Dawa was formed in 1986, while the Lashkar-e-Toiba was
> formed
> in 1986 and our main aim was to help our Kashmiri brothers," he said.
>
> *India can't question Lashkar commander, says Pakistan*
>
> Pakistan ruled out giving India access to Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zakiur
> Rehman Lakhwi, who is alleged to be behind the Mumbai terror strikes,
> saying
> questioning could be done only by Pakistani authorities to ascertain
> whether
> he had any link to the attacks.
>
> Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar said India's 'concerns'
> can be discussed through a joint investigation mechanism which Islamabad
> has
> proposed to be set up to probe the Mumbai attacks.
>
> "May be we can have a joint investigation mechanism and find out who these
> culprits are," Mukhtar told a TV channel.
>
> He said Pakistani officials will question Lakhwi, who was arrested in the
> crackdown against terrorists, to find out whether there is any linkage to
> the Mumbai terror attacks.
>
> Lakhwi's name figured during questioning of Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist
> caught during the Mumbai attacks, by Indian investigators.
>
> "We do not have to rush into things. We have to move slowly to get hold of
> the right kind of people who could be involved or are alleged to be
> involved
> (in Mumbai attacks). I really do not know who they are. We are trying to
> find out. We will find out. There is no reason why we would not find out,"
> he said.
>
> Mukhtar said the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack are 'scared' of
> improvement in relations between India and Pakistan.
>
> "They are scared of these countries becoming trading partners and gaining
> confidence of each other," he said.
>
> Mukhtar said the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, chaired
> by
> Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, discussed the 'pros and cons' of
> incidents 'happening around us' and ways to continue the war against terror
> and to help Pakistan's neighbours fight the menace.
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