Some members of the Pakistani establishment and especially those agencies (nowadays this role has been taken over by the TV Anchors specifically Jang Group of Newspapers), which have assumed the role of determining what is ‘national interest of Pakistan’, and who is loyal, and who is anti Pakistan, have perhaps done more damage to Pakistan than known enemies of Pakistan. It is unfortunate that every blunder, be it at national level or in foreign affairs, is made in the name of ‘national interest of Pakistan’. People of Pakistan are perplexed as they fail to understand what is ’national interest of Pakistan. People are further bewildered when some of these leaders, perceived and declared as ‘anti Pakistan’ or ‘security risk’ are sworn in to hold some kind of office in Pakistan. There are many examples where people declared as an ‘Indian agent’ or ‘traitor’ had taken high public office; even those who had no Pakistani nationality or rescinded it, had an opportunity to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. Once these people have decided that something is in the ‘national interest of Pakistan’, they will pursue that agenda without having any system of check and balance and appraisal. If any one dares to criticize what they do in the name of ‘national interest of Pakistan’, he/she is declared as ‘anti Pakistan’. Similarly if a Pakistani person criticizes Pakistan government, or holds demonstration against the government policy, he is declared as ‘anti Pakistan’.
Malik Riaz Fiasco: On 9th June 2012, Mr Talat Hussain (PTV, ARY, AAJ TV and Dawn News) replied to the allegations on News Night with Talat - Ep 414 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I35jMmnRib0 of Mr. Najam Sethi (The Friday Times, Farooq Laghari Cabinet, Daily Times, Dunya TV and now GEO TV) on Mr. Talat in Aapas ki baat - 6th june 2012 part 4, had the program of Mr. Talat been only restricted to a reply to Mr. Najam's allegations then it would have been fine but Mr Talat Hussain took a giant step unnecessarily and inserted Islam in a worst possible way to defend himself and Alleged TV Channel Dawn News. I have used several episodes of Mr. Talat Hussain and Mr. Najam Sethi programs for my blog because both of these gentlemen are far better than other Jokers in Media e.g. Kamran Khan, Javed Chaudhry, Dr Shahid Masood, Anal Retentive Nadeem Malik, Official Haji "Asma Shirazi", Murderous Meher Bukhari w/o equally obnoxious Kashif Abbasi, list goes on and on.I wonder what was the need of showing personal Bank Accounts and Property Details on TV Show which Syed Talat Hussain did and making a joke of himself, one can raise a question that people don't hide "Black Money" in an open Bank Account. ---- Way back in 2009 : - If anyone needs evidence that Pakistan’s most popular TV anchors just reel off nonsense without checking facts, please watch the interview given by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a group of Pakistani anchors. Talat Hussain of Aaj TV, who often speaks as if he knows everything, wanted to embarrass Hillary by “proving” that the U.S, does not give Pakistan enough. In his recent shows he has been mouthing off against the “insulting language” in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid bill, which triples non-military assistance to Pakistan to $ 1.5 billion per year for five years. Talat claimed that the U.S. was paying Kyrgyzstan $ 700 million as rent for a military base in that country. Hillary corrected the arrogant and self-righteous Aaj TV anchor and said the rent was not that high but was in the range of $ 50 million. Not one to ever digest facts, especially those that prove him wrong, Talat Hussain continued on to say that must be the rent “per month.” The US Secretary of State remained polite and left the Kyrgyzstan base rent figure unresolved. None of the other “famous and popular” anchors, including Moeed Pirzada, Nasim Zehra, Naveen Naqvi, Mubashir Luqman and others, knew the figure themselves to be able to step in and correct their colleague. So, what does a simple google search reveal to be the fact? The US agreed in June 2009 to triple the rent of its base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan to $ 60 million, up from $ 17 million, PER YEAR. The US also agreed to pay an additional $ 37 million to Kyrgyzstan to build new aircraft parking slots and storage areas, plus another $30 million for new navigation systems. That adds up to a grand total of $ 127 million in the first year and a recurrent payment per year of still $ 60 million only! Here’s the link to a CBS news story one of many stories on the subject available on the internet http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/23/world/main5105784.shtml , beyond the crazy right-wing dominated Pakistani blogs. Where did Talat Hussain of Aaj get his figure of $ 700 million per year? Nobody knows. Maybe from his friends Shireen Mazari or Ahmed Quraishi—all purveyors of anti-US opinions with little regard for facts. REFERENCE: Talat Hussain makes a $640 Million Mistake Friday, October 30th, 2009 http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2009/10/30/talat-hussain-makes-a-640-million-mistake/
Bahria Town Advertisement for Dawn 11 June 2012 - Talat Hussain Alleged Rough Programs on Malik Riaz gets Advertisement from Mailk Riaz PAGE 2 Dawn 11/6/2012 http://epaper.dawn.com/Advt.php?StoryImage=11_06_2012_002_006
December 20, 2008 NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday welcomed former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharifís acknowledgement that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai terror attacks, is a Pakistani, says Hindustan Times. “We welcome Sharif’s statement acknowledging that Ajmal is a Pakistani. We already had that knowledge like every one does,” Sibal, who is also the science and technology minister, told reporters. “All big democracies in the world agree that resources in Pakistan were used for the dastardly terrorist attack on Mumbai,” he said. Sharif told Geo News that he checked and found out that Ajmal Kasab’s native village has been cordoned off and his parents shifted out to an undisclosed location to evade the media. REFERENCE: Congress welcomes Nawaz’s remarks on Kasab News Desk Saturday, December 20, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=19096&Cat=13&dt=12/20/2008
Nawaz Sharif Openly Admits Kasab is Pakistani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskmhhABTLk
ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 2009 Pakistani authorities, during the course of their own investigations into the Mumbai carnage, have established that the only surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani national. After a series of conflicting statements by various officials representing different sections of the government, it was officially acknowledged that DawnNews TV`s news item about the official investigation report regarding Ajmal Kasab`s identity was correct. Earlier, a high-ranking government official had told Dawn that the preliminary finding had provided enough information to conclude that the man at present in India`s custody was from a Punjab village, and perhaps belonged to a militant group that was bent upon destabilising the region by undermining the peace process. The official, who requested anonymity, said the authorities were examining all parts of the puzzle on the basis of their own investigation, as well as the information provided by India and the Americans. However, he said there was no doubt in the minds of the investigators that the captured terrorist was a Pakistani. “Sadly, it has been established that Kasab is a Pakistani national.” But within minutes of the revelation, confusing, and somewhat conflicting, statements started emanating from different sections of the government in Islamabad. While the Indian television channel CNN-IBN quoted Pakistan`s National Security Adviser Mehmud Ali Durrani as saying that Ajmal Kasab`s identity as a Pakistani had been established, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told the same channel that it was premature to say anything because the investigation was continuing. In the midst of all this, American news agency APTN quoted Information Minister Sherry Rehman as confirming that Ajmal Kasab in fact was a Pakistani national. The minister later confirmed it to Dawn that “he is Pakistani” and that investigations are ongoing. Similarly, the Foreign Office which at the initial stage appeared either detached from reality or completely out of the loop, admitted by broadcasting through the state-run PTV that Ajmal Kasab was indeed a Pakistani national. During the course of Dawn`s own investigation, a number of senior officials in the interior ministry and police said that investigations were started soon after initial reports had suggested that Ajmal Kasab might be a Pakistani national. But the authorities wanted to be doubly sure about his identity because there was no record of Kasab and his family in the national database maintained by Nadra. Details of preliminary investigations submitted to the government have still not been made public. The official who confirmed to Dawn about the preliminary investigation report said Kasab was son of Amir Kasab and Mrs Noor Illahi. But the identity of other militants killed in Mumbai is yet to be established. Senior security officials, however, said that preliminary investigations had established that the militants were operating on their own and had absolutely no link with any section of the country`s security apparatus. A top ranking western diplomat also confirmed to Dawn that there was no linkage between the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai carnage and the Pakistani security agencies, particularly the ISI. “There is ample evidence to prove that most of the terrorists belonged to Pakistan,” the diplomat said. “But there is not even a shred of evidence to suggest that the ISI or any other Pakistani intelligence agency had any links with these terrorists,” the diplomat said. “And this is not based on what the Pakistanis have been telling us, as we have double checked it on our own,” the diplomat added. The remarks belie the latest claim by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who on Tuesday had tried to up the ante by directly accusing the Pakistani security apparatus of being involved in the Mumbai carnage. Pakistan has already rejected the Indian accusation in strongest terms. In a related development, a statement by Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani also said the Pakistan`s investigations into the Mumbai attacks had made progress. He said that some information of an interim nature on Indian investigations had been received. He did not elaborate. Punjab`s dusty town of Faridkot became the centre of attention soon after the deadly Mumbai attack as the Indian authorities captured Kasab and claimed that he belonged to Faridkot. The town was thronged by local and foreign media and conflicting reports came out about the identity of Kasab. At that time the government had, for obvious reasons, decided to adopt a tight-lipped policy, maintaining that only a thorough investigation, based on concrete information, could establish whether Kasab was a Pakistani national, and a resident of Faridkot. Answering a question about consular access to Kasab, a senior official said the militant had damaged Pakistan `like no other`. “We are not yet sure when to ask for consular access. We may not ask for it. He is involved in a heinous crime,” the official said. Kasab also wrote a letter to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Pakistani authorities said they were examining the letter. REFERENCE: Ajmal`s nationality confirmed By Mubashir Zaidi Dawn (Pakistani Newspaper). 8 January 2009 http://archives.dawn.com/archives/42931
Live with Talat on Mumbai Tragedy - 1 (AAJ TV 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWpxp7N3oBA
China backed ban Amir Mir Friday, December 12, 2008 LAHORE: The United Nations Security Council’s decision to ban the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) as a global terrorist organisation could only become possible after China, which had thrice blocked similar attempts, finally gave its crucial yes vote for the UN resolution. Diplomatic analysts said this change came apparently in the aftermath of the pressure created by the Mumbai terror attacks. The Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council approved on December 10, 2008 the addition of† four entries to its consolidated list of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze and travel ban, including the JuD and its Ameer Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. According to well placed Foreign Office sources, three resolutions seeking a ban on the JuD, tabled before the UN Security Council since 2003, had been simply put on technical hold by Beijing, while using its veto right being one of the five permanent UNSC members. Each time the Al-Qaeda, Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council tabled a resolution to include the Jamaat-ud-Daawa in the list of terrorist groups, China blocked the move, while seeking credible evidence from the United Nations indicating JuD’s terror links. Technical hold requires information demanded by any permanent member of the UNSC before processing a resolution to declare someone a terrorist organisation. The Chinese authorities reportedly used to intervene in the past on the request of the Musharraf regime. However, it had become hard for Beijing to vote against the move in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks and the evidence furnished by the Indian authorities.The Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee has the mandate to impose economic sanctions on the individuals and entities associated with al-Qaeda, its chief Osama bin Laden or with the Taliban wherever located. The Committee, comprising 15 members, also entertains requests made by any member state on whose territory any terrorist organisation exists. The committee had previously declared the Lashkar-e-Taiba a terrorist outfit on May 2, 2005, while acting under a US request. The UN move was followed by the US State Department’s decision to brand Jamaat-ud- Daawa a terrorist organisation, saying it was a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Much before that, in December 2001, the US State Department had designated the Lashkar-e-Taiba a foreign terrorist organisation, following the attack on the Indian parliament on December 13, 2001, prompting the Musharraf regime to ban the group and freeze its assets on January 13, 2002. However, a few weeks before that, Hafiz Saeed announced his stepping down as the LeT chief besides launching of the Jamaat-ud-Daawa. Addressing a press conference in Lahore on December 24, 2001, Hafiz Saeed announced his resignation and the appointment of Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri as the new LeT chief. Hafiz Sahib further announced that the Lashkar has wrapped up its organisational set-up and moved its base from Pakistan to Srinagar in Kashmir. Since then, the JuD has denied having any links with the LeT, making Hafiz Saeed to go to the extent of denying that he had ever been the Lashkar Ameer. The Pakistan government had been resisting the US pressure in the past to ban the JuD as a terrorist†outfit on the grounds that it was a charity-cum-humanitarian relief organisation, having nothing to do with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. As the US treasury department accused the Jamaatud Daawa in its Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines for the US-based charities on September 29, 2006 of supporting and financing terrorists under the guise of relief work for the October 2005 quake victims, the Musharraf regime decided to place the JuD on the watch list of the Pakistani interior ministry on August 20, 2006, instead of declaring it a terrorist group. A Pakistan government spokesperson subsequently stated on May 3, 2006: “The government has no intention of designating the Jamaatud Daawa and its affiliate organisations as terrorist entities as done by the US”. However, Pakistan would be legally bound to take action if they were placed on the consolidated list of United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee. But in the aftermath of the UNSC decision to brand the JuD a terrorist group, well placed government circles in Islamabad do not rule out the possibility of Islamabad finally clamping a ban on the group. REFERENCE: China backed ban Amir Mir Friday, December 12, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=18900&Cat=13&dt=12/12/2008
Live with Talat on Mumbai Tragedy - 2 (AAJ TV 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiOMrVNbdl8
Govt cracks down on Daawa after UN ban News Desk Friday, December 12, 2008 : LAHORE: Pakistan launched a countrywide crackdown on Thursday against Jamaat-ud-Daawa as the police in all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir raided Daawa offices, nabbed many of its activists and put its chief Hafiz Saeed under house arrest following the UNSC sanctions against the organisation and its four leaders. The UNSC committee Wednesday added four leaders of Jamaat-ud-Daawa to a list of people and groups facing sanctions for ties to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, including a freeze on assets and a travel ban. The four Jamaat leaders are Hafiz Saeed, the group’s chief; Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the group’s chief of operations; Haji Muhammad Ashraf, its chief of finance; and India-born Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, described as a financier for the group who served as its chief in Saudi Arabia. The same four were hit with US Treasury Department sanctions in May. The UN sanctions, covered by Security Council resolution 1267 from 1999, include the mandatory freezing of assets and travel bans. The sanctions also covered what the committee said was a new alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaatud Dawa. An Indian government minister asked the council during a special session on terrorism to include Jamaatud Dawa on the UN blacklist. Meanwhile, Lahore Police has detained Ameer Jamaatud Daawa Hafiz Muhammad Saeed at his house in 116-E Block, Johar Town for three months and heavy contingent of police have been posted outside his residence. SSP Operation Lahore Ch Shafiq Ahmad has confirmed the house arrest of JD Ameer and said that Jamia Qadisia, the headquarters of the organization at Chowburji Chowk has also been sealed. Meanwhile, government moved to shut down Jamaatud Daawa offices throughout the country and ordered its leaders be placed under house arrest. Police began closing the Daawa offices across the country on orders issued by the central government after the UN Security Council declared the charity a terrorist group. “Instructions have been issued to seal Jamaatud Daawa offices in all the four provinces as well as Azad Kashmir,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Shahidullah Baig. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani confirmed the arrest of two leaders belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba. The two men are senior members of the banned Islamist group and have both been named by Indian media as key planners of the devastating attack on Mumbai.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah were in detention and an investigation was underway, Yousuf Raza Gilani told the journalists. Meanwhile, the police are conducting raids and arresting the Jammatud Daawa activists besides sealing its offices throughout NWFP following the government announced to ban the Daawa. Soon after the announcement made by the federal government, the Peshawar police raided the office of the outfit located at Fawara Chowk in the cantonment area of the provincial metropolis. Two officers and a few constables went into the office of the organisation that bore the sign board of a monthly magazine, ‘The Voice of Islam’ on its front gate. Sources told The News that the activists of the organisation had already sealed the office before the police did so. The sources said that before the federal government made the formal announcement to ban JuD, its activists came to the office, shifted necessary goods and sealed it. The security forces, meanwhile, raided the office of Jamaatud Daawa situated at Parhana in Manshera district and arrested five of its activists. In another raid, the security personnel stormed the relief office of the Daawa in Ghazikot Township a day before Eidul Azha and sealed it. During the raid carried out by the personnel of the security agencies early Thursday at JuD’s relief camp-cum-office at Parhana, five of its members were taken into custody who were then shifted to an undisclosed location. The security personnel, the sources said, had also picked six activists of Daawa from the main relief camp of the organisation, located at the main Karakoram Highway near Ghazikot Township, and the raid was conducted at Parhana on the information extracted from these activists. Meanwhile, the authorities sealed the offices and establishment of Jamaatud Daawa in Hazar Division. Sources said the security forces raided office of the organisation in Abbottabad late in the night and sealed the office. The offices of the organisation were also sealed in Haripur. REFERENCE: Govt cracks down on Daawa after UN ban News Desk Friday, December 12, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=18899&Cat=13&dt=12/12/2008
Live with Talat on Mumbai Tragedy - 3 (AAJ TV 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RrgsHtgzi8
UN ban on Daawa Friday, December 12, 2008 ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood has said that under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267, certain individuals and entities have been designated by the Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee on December 10, 2008. He said in a statement issued here on Thursday that an official communication from the UN in this regard had been received by the government. He said that the government had initiated the process to comply with the listing of the Jamaat-ud-Daawa, certain other trusts and individuals by the Sanctions Committee. Following is the text of the statement; “Under the Security Council Resolution 1267, certain individuals and entities have been designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee on 10 December 2008. An official communication from the UN in this regard has been received by the Government of Pakistan. These entities and individuals include Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat ud Daawa. It is obligatory for all states to comply with international obligations arising from Security Council decisions. Accordingly, the Government of Pakistan has initiated the process to comply with the listing of Jamaat ud Daawa certain other trusts as well as individuals by the Sanetions Committee.
As regards the spate of allegations concerning the involvement of certain individuals of Pakistani origin in Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Government of Pakistan has already initiated investigations on its own. It is the firm conviction of Pakistan not to allow its territory to be used for any act of terrorism. Pakistan itself has been a victim of terrorism. However, our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to Mumbai attacks. Despite our requests, no evidence or information has been shared with the Government by India so far. Any criminal investigation proceeds from the scene of crime to thecriminal. This is standard investigation procedure. Pakistan has repeatedlyunderscored the need for serious, sustained and pragmatic cooperation between Pakistan and India to combat terrorism in either country. Our proposals for the establishment of a joint commission as well as joint investigations have been made in an earnest effort to move forward in an area, which equally concerns both Pakistan and India. As far as Pakistan’s own investigations are concerned, these will bepursued in accordance with our own laws. Pakistan is committed to internationally respected concept of “due process”. It is Pakistan’s firm determination to do whatever it can to eliminate the threat of terrorism from South Asia.” REFERENCE: UN ban on Daawa Friday, December 12, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=18908&Cat=13&dt=12/12/2008
Major Jihadi groups disappear Mazhar Tufail Saturday, December 13, 2008 ISLAMABAD: A coalition of five major Jihadi organisations, led by the once fiery militant commander Syed Salahuddin, has simply disappeared. It has temporarily dissolved itself, closed its offices, removed all signs and asked its leaders to stay quiet. The strategy follows the current Pakistan-India tension following the Mumbai blasts and the ban imposed by the UN on several such organisations in Pakistan. The United Jihad Council (UJC) is a major Kashmiri group comprising Harkat-ul-Ansar, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Jihad, Al-Barq, Ikhwan-ul-Mussalmin andTehrik-ul-Mujahideen. By early 1999, as many as 15 organisations were affiliated with the council, though only five of these were considered influential. “Following the Mumbai attacks and the subsequent tension between Pakistan and India, the United Jihad Council has decided to remain silent,” said a commander of one of the UJC member organisations, requesting anonymity. He said the incumbent Pakistani rulers were pursuing the same policy adopted by Pervez Musharraf and the statements on Kashmir issued so far by President Asif Zardari had made it clear that the present Pakistan government would extend no support to the Kashmiri freedom fighters. “In the current situation, the UJC is maintaining complete silence and has no contact with any Pakistani organisation or institution,” the UJC commander said. “The outfits banned in Pakistan, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, have never worked with the UJC nor maintained with it any direct or indirect contact,” he added while claiming that that they were fighting for the liberation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and their struggle would continue. Since the government launched a crackdown against Jamaat-ul-Dawah and started sealing its offices across Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, all the central leaders of the UJC have been maintaining a low profile and have removed signboards from temporary sub-offices of the organisations in various districts of Azad Kashmir. When The News contacted Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq, he said there was no change in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy. He said Pakistan supported the just struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination but no authority in Pakistan had any links with militant or political organisations operating in occupied Kashmir. The UJC was formed in the summer of 1994 by amalgamation of several armed resistance organisations. It is currently headed by Syed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest group operating in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This organisation was created to unify and focus efforts of various armed resistance groups fighting the Indian rule in Kashmir. This made distribution of resources like arms, ammunition, propaganda materials and communication more streamlined. It also made it easier to coordinate and pool resources of various Jihadi groups to collect information, plan operations and strike at targets of military importance in the Indian occupied Kashmir. REFERENCE: Major Jihadi groups disappear Mazhar Tufail Saturday, December 13, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=18922&Cat=13&dt=12/13/2008
Live with Talat on Mumbai Tragedy - 4 (AAJ TV 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXPdpNs-VTs
Pakistan fails to act on Ajmal Kasab’s letter Amir Mir Monday, January 05, 2009 LAHORE: The Pakistan government is in a fix as to how to react to the letter written by Ajmal Kasab, the lone Mumbai attacker captured alive by the Indian security forces, wherein he had claimed to be a Pakistani belonging to a Faridkot village and a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who killed many people on November 26 in Mumbai. The Indians had provided Kasab’s letter as well as his confessional statement to the Pakistani authorities on December 23, saying he wanted legal assistance from Islamabad before his police remand comes to an end on January 6. The Pakistani foreign office had confirmed receiving Kasab’s letter the same day, saying it was forwarded to the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi by the Indian authorities. Ten days later, however, the interior ministry and the foreign office circles say they are still examining the letter besides trying to ascertain if Kasab was actually a Pakistani national. The covering letter containing Kasab’s request to Islamabad for legal assistance said that the Mumbai Crime Branch eagerly awaits a response from the Pakistan Consulate General in Delhi before it starts looking for other legal options for Ajmal Amir Kasab. The covering memo further states, since Ajmal Kasab has already confessed to his crime in the letter dispatched to Pakistani High Commission [in New Delhi], Pakistan should inform the Indian High Commission in Islamabad as early as possible whether or not it wants to provide legal assistance to Kasab. However, interior ministry sources say the National Data Registration Authority (NADRA) does not verify Kasab’s claim of being a Pakistani national as it lacks official data to prove his assertion. But they added that the Pakistani authorities have not yet concluded their investigations into Kasab’s claim and they would respond to his request shortly.
However, the foreign ministry sources in Islamabad do not take Ajmal’s letter or his confessional statement seriously, saying the confessions of a prisoner cannot be treated as ample proof. “The Indian authorities should produce some credible evidence to establish Kasab’s identity since some Indian papers have already reported that Kasab is in fact an Indian national”, said a foreign office source while requesting anonymity. Even otherwise, he added, Kasab’s statement does not amount to admissible proof under any penal code anywhere in the world, including India or Pakistan. In his confessional statement provided to the Pakistani authorities, which has already appeared in several Indian newspapers, Kasab gave a detailed account of his training, his trainers, his role in the terror strike as well as the role of nine other LT militants in the Mumbai attacks. Kasab has further requested the Pakistani high commission to claim the body of his colleague Abu Ismail who was with him during the operation, and take it for burial to Pakistan. Although Kasab has mentioned about the death of nine other LT operatives, he has specifically written about the death of his fast friend Ismail. Citing Ajmal’s letter, the Mumbai Crime Branch has reportedly written a separate letter to the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi, asking it to claim the bodies of the nine Pakistani nationals. However, the Pakistani authorities have not yet responded to any of these letters.
In his confessional statement which Ajmal Kasab allegedly gave to the Mumbai police and which has already been published by Indian newspapers Hindu and Daily News & Analysis, he has stated: “I had been residing in Faridkot in Okara district of the Pakistani Punjab since my birth and I studied up to class IV in a government school there. In year 2000, however, I left the school and went to stay with my brother in Tohid Abad Mohalla, near Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore. I worked as a labourer at various places till 2005, visiting my native place once in a while. In 2005, I had a quarrel with my father. I left home and went to Data Darbar in Lahore, where boys who run away from home are given shelter. The boys are sent to different places for employment”. The statement added: “One day, a person named Shafiq came there and took me with him. He was from Jehlum and had a catering business. I started working for him for Rs120 per day. Later, my salary was increased to Rs200 a day. I worked with him till 2007. While working with Shafiq, I came in contact with Muzaffar Lal Khan, 22... Since we were not getting enough money, we decided to carry out robbery to make big money. So we quit the job and went to Rawalpindi, where we rented a flat. Afzal had located a house for us to loot... We required some firearms for our mission... While we were in search of firearms, we saw some LT stalls at Raja Bazaar in Rawalpindi on the day of Eidul Azha. We then realised that even if we procured firearms, we would not be able to operate them. Therefore, we decided to join LeT for weapons training.
“We reached the LT office and told a person there we wanted to join the LT. He noted down our names and addresses and told us to come the next day. The next day, there was another person with him. He gave us Rs200 and some receipts. Then he gave us the address of a place called Markaz-e-Toiba, Muridke, and told us to go there. It was a LeT training camp. We went to the place by bus and showed the receipts at the gate of the camp. We were allowed inside... Then we were taken to the actual camp area. Initially, we were selected for a 21-day training course called Daura Aam. From the next day, our training started... After Daura Aam, we were selected for another training programme, which was also for 21 days. We were taken to Mansehra in Buttal village, where we were trained in handling weapons....
“After that, we were told that we will begin the next stage involving advanced training. We were taken to a LT camp in Shaiwai Nala near Muzaffarabad for advanced training... We were then taken to Chela Bandi Pahari area for a training programme, called Daura Khaas, of three months. It involved handling weapons, using hand grenades, rocket launchers and mortars... There were 32 trainees in the camp of whom 16 were selected for a confidential operation by one Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi alias Chacha. But three of them ran away from the camp. Chacha sent the remaining 13 with a person called Kafa to the Muridke camp again. At the Muridke camp, we were taught swimming and made familiar with the life of fishermen at sea. We were given lectures on the working of Indian security agencies. We were shown clippings highlighting atrocities on Muslims in India. After the training, we were allowed to go to our native places. I stayed with my family for seven days. I then went to the LT camp at Muzaffarabad.
“After the training Chacha selected 10 of us and formed five teams of two people each on September 15.... The date fixed for the operation was September 27. However, the operation was cancelled for some reason. We stayed in Karachi till November 23 and then left from Azizabad in Karachi, along with Zaki and Kafa. We were taken to the nearby seashore... We boarded a launch. After travelling for 22 to 25 nautical miles we boarded a bigger launch. Again, after a journey of an hour, we boarded a ship, Al-Huseini, in the deep sea. While boarding the ship, each of us was given a sack containing eight grenades, an AK-47 rifle, 200 cartridges, two magazines and a cell phone. “Then we started towards the Indian coast. When we reached Indian waters, the crew members of Al-Huseini hijacked an Indian launch. The crew of the launch was shifted to Al-Huseini. We then boarded the launch. An Indian seaman was made to accompany us at gunpoint; he was made to bring us to the Indian coast. After a journey of three days, we reached near Mumbai’s shore. While we were still some distance away from the shore, Ismail and Asadulla killed the Indian seaman in the basement of the launch. Then we boarded an inflatable dinghy and reached Badhwar Park jetty. “I then went along with Ismail to VT station by taxi. After reaching the hall of the station, we went to the toilet, took out the weapons from our sacks, loaded them, came out of the toilet and started firing indiscriminately at passengers. Suddenly, a police officer opened fire at us. We threw hand grenades towards him and also opened fire at him. Then we went inside the station threatening the commuters and randomly firing at them. We then came out of the railway station searching for a building with a roof. But we did not find one. Therefore, we entered a lane. We entered a building and went upstairs. On the third and fourth floors we searched for hostages but we found that the building was a hospital and not a residential building. We started to come down. That is when policemen started firing at us. We threw grenades at them...
“A bullet hit my hand and my AK-47 fell out of my hand. When I bent to pick it up another bullet hit me on the same hand... Ismail was injured in the firing too. The police removed us from the vehicle and took us to a hospital where I came to know that Ismail had succumbed to injuries. My statement has been read to me and explained in Hindi and it has been correctly recorded”, concludes Ajmal Kasab in his alleged confessional statement published by some Indian newspapers. A sympathizer of Lashkar-e-Taiba, however, told The News that alleged confessional statement by Ajmal Kasab was cooked up by Indian agencies to defame the LT, which is engaged in legitimate struggle. He said New Delhi attempted to kill two birds with one stone by concocting this statement. One the one hand it wanted to embarrass the Pakistani government and on the other hand it desired to harm Kashmir freedom movement. REFERENCE: Pakistan fails to act on Ajmal Kasab’s letter Amir Mir Monday, January 05, 2009
Live with Talat on Mumbai Tragedy - 5 (AAJ TV 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUPbLuGoBww
National security adviser sacked Mariana Baabar Thursday, January 08, 2009 ISLAMABAD: The government has finally admitted that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November attacks in Mumbai, is a Pakistani national. The Foreign Office spokesman, who is currently in Kabul said, “According to our preliminary investigations, Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani national. Our investigations are continuing.” Coming on the heels of this admission, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sacked his National Security Adviser Major General (retd) Mehmud Ali Durrani for giving a statement on Ajmal Kasab without taking him into confidence. Before the formal announcement, Prime Minister Gilani told Geo News on telephone that Durrani had given a statement to an Indian news channel regarding Ajmal Kasab without taking him into confidence.
The prime minister said that Durrani’s statement had tarnished the country’s image. “So I decided to sack him,” he told Geo News. Earlier, the Foreign Office was reluctant to confirm the report with even Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir denying Kasab’s nationality in an interview to an Indian TV channel. His ministry was only willing to do so after other senior officials and ministers from other ministries came out in the open and confirmed Kasab’s nationality when asked by the foreign news agencies. Confusion reigned supreme in Pakistan on Wednesday evening with several official voices speaking at the same time, but ensuring that they were not on the same page regarding the nationality of Ajmal Kasab. These officials proved to the world that they were strangers to ‘coordination’, and nobody knew who was in charge.
As far as Kasab’s nationality is concerned it was the Ministry of Information that had the final word in interaction with AP and Reuters where Information Minister Sherry Rehman confirmed that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national. Later, state-run television carried the version of the minister. In the end the Foreign Office was left with no choice but to agree. What has emerged very clearly is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was very much out of the loop on Wednesday and decisions and announcements were made elsewhere with a clueless and embarrassed Foreign Office shaking its head in disbelief.
“I really do not know what is happening and this is certainly a very sad state of affairs. I myself am confused. We are trying to get through to the spokesman who is in Kabul,” one frustrated official at the Foreign Office told The News. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to have the final say when the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen (retd) Mehmood Durrani, was quoted as saying that Ajmal Kasab was very much a Pakistani citizen while the Foreign Office rebutted this and sent out a one liner from Kabul saying, “investigations to determine the nationality of Ajamal Kasab are still in progress, it is still premature to say anything in this regard — and the information given to us by India is being ‘seriously’ examined.”
The Foreign Office spokesman, who is ambassador-designate to Afghanistan, is still in Kabul and in his absence the national security adviser, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Information Minister Sherry Rehman talked to the foreign media, including India. This is something Durrani and Bashir are reluctant to do where the Pakistani media is concerned. Durrani was quoted by the Indian media as saying that the identity of Kasab had been established and he was a Pakistani while Bashir was at pains to tell the Indian media that investigations were still continuing.
This led to a media circus where reports were being updated every hour, something not seen before in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whose statements are taken as the Gospel truth. Earlier, a few weeks ago, the spokesman had stated that they were still examining the letter written to them allegedly by Kasab and they would soon issue a statement regarding the decision that the government would take. The spokesman had issued a statement early in the afternoon and referred to different reports that had appeared, and said that the information received from India is being ‘seriously’ examined. “Pakistan remains fully determined in its investigations to uncover full facts pertaining to the Mumbai incident and is cognizant of the need for establishing legally tenable evidence.”
“Pakistan regrets the propaganda campaign unleashed by India to malign the country. Blame game and political point scoring is counterproductive and unacceptable. “Terrorism is a pernicious problem afflicting South Asia. Pragmatic and responsible approach, including cooperation between the relevant investigation departments, is the imperative need of the hour to deal with the Mumbai terrorist attacks and to prevent any such incident in India, Pakistan or elsewhere.” The morning papers had quoted ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha as saying, “We may be crazy in Pakistan but not completely out of our minds”. The different ministries in Pakistan should rephrase this to say, “We are all crazy in Pakistan and completely out of our minds.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would certainly agree. REFERENCE: National security adviser sacked Mariana Baabar Thursday, January 08, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=19476&Cat=13&dt=1/8/2009
