Comparison:Nawaz Sharif & India's Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay

"I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet anybody. I don't understand why it has been done" [Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Nawaz Sharif]

Ajmal’s village sealed: Sharif

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/20/stories/2008122053370100.htm

And now read the Indian Union Minister for Minority

India's Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay

Weekend Edition: I am proud of my comments, says Antulay

Published on Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 02:18, Updated on Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 11:03 in Nation section Rajdeep Sardesai / CNN-IBN

Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay remains defiant in the face of intense criticism for his comments questioning the circumstances of Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, Hemant Karkare's death in the Mumbai terror attack. Speaking to CNN-IBN's Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai on the show The Weekend Edition, Antulay was unfazed, even saying he was proud of what he had said and had no regrets whatsoever.


Antulay had suggested that there should be a probe into the circumstances of Hemant Karkare's killing on 26/11.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Do you have any regrets at the end of the day, for all that you have said this week? Do you think you have embarrassed the country, the Congress party?


A R Antulay: None. No regrets. I haven't embarrassed anyone. On the contrary, those who have twisted my statement have embarrassed the country, helped Pakistan and they have done grave injustice to the nation.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You said very clearly that there should be an enquiry into Hemant Karkare's death. Why did he not go to Oberoi and Taj, why did he go to Cama hospital? Essentially, you are raising a question over someone's death who it has been confirmed has been killed by Pakistani terrorists. Why did you have to raise questions on his death, thereby suggesting that there was some foul play in Karkare's death?

A R Antulay: In all humility I submit that Karkare and his two colleagues were killed by Pakistan. It has never been in doubt. Only a fool would say so and Antulay is no fool. No Indian and no human being can say that. The only question which is correct and which I continue to stand by and will for the rest of my life - is that from CST station, rather than he going to Taj hotel, Oberoi hotel and Nariman House, how is that he went in the opposite direction to Cama hospital where there was nothing?


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir but you are a responsible member of the Cabinet and as a result, the insinuation that you are making somewhere down the line is that because Hemant Karkare was investigating the Malegaon blast in which some Hindu right wing extremists had been caught, that is why this could have been foul play - that one of them could have called up Hemant Karkare and led him to his death. You have no evidence to that effect or do you?


A R Antulay: You are from Maharashtra. I was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for 18 months and three days. I have been in Maharashtra all my life. Did you ever sense any communalism or communal tinge in me?


Rajdeep Sardesai: That's exactly it sir. You are not a communal politician and yet today, you are being embraced by fundamentalists because you are seeing as catering to the worst kind of stereotypes and prejudices and vote bank politics. Today who is supporting you Mr Antulay? The number of those supporting you are fundamentalists. You are weaking the position of the liberal Muslims, by somewhere down the line suggesting that Hemant Karkare was killed because he was investigating the Malegaon case.


A R Antulay: Let me now explain. I did not even the raise the name of Malegaon. Anybody can interpret, misinterpret and say anything. I cannot control anybody. My only question is what made a brilliant man and a brave soldier who jumped into the fray to defend his country go to Cama hospital.


Rajdeep Sardesai: But Mr Antulay you are a member of the Cabinet - a Cabinet which is conducting an investigation which has already nailed the involvement of Pakistani based terrorists - and you are raising questions on Karkare's death that can be exploited by others. The Pakistan Nation's editorial says: "The truth behind the carnage is not be established beyond any doubt, since Indians continue to refuse to share the evidence with Pakistan. Although the death of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare had raised eyebrows, the Indian Minority Affairs Minister's remark that 'he was a victim of terrorism plus something' has caused an uproar. If New Delhi were really serious about getting to the root of this attack, it would do well to investigate them." Effectively, you are voicing what Pakistan is saying here, sir.


A R Antulay: Rajdeep ji, you are so intelligent and hold a lot of esteem in my eye and in the eyes of many Indians, so are you taking the words of what a Pakistani newspaper writes as the Bible?


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir you have given Pakistan a stick in some way to sort of obfuscate the issues of 26/11.


A R Antulay: This has been done by the media. Not that you intended to do it, or it was deliberate, but the media twisted it and said it the first time that I said Pakistani terrorists did not kill Hemant Karkare.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You are always saying that Pakistani terrorists killed Hemant Karkare, but you are still raising doubts over his death. You are asking for a probe. Why do you want a probe into his death?


A R Antulay: No, because I don't think that Hemant Karkare should be treated like any Tom, Dick and Harry. Please. He was a great man and a great soldier for the country.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, your intentions may be honest but the manner in which you played them out in the end and the timing of it - a Cabinet Bill is passed and the next day you raise questions over Karkare's death. Haven't you embarrassed the Prime Minister and the Cabinet?

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A R Antulay: No that is where you know I want to say that I did not say anything. I was told in Parliament that CNN-IBN had been carrying the statement since the morning and then with the permission of the Speaker I had to clarify my stance.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, noted lyricist Javed Akhtar had said to CNN-IBN on Friday: "I don't know why we have these kind of fears that if his resignation is accepted, Muslims will get upset and if we ban organisations like the Bajrang Dal, Hindus will get upset. How long are we going to accept things which are not secular because we are afraid of upsetting one community or the other?" Please respond to Mr Akhtar's statement. Today you seem to be catering to some kind of prejudice of the worst kind, to the fears and anxieties of those Muslims who perhaps now fear that Hemant Karkare was killed for reasons other than just him being a victim of a terrorist attack.


A R Antulay: My dear son, in my constituency, there are hardly eight per cent Muslims. I don't have to cater to the constituency of Muslims at all. Predominantly, it is the Hindus who have been voting me in power continuously.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, but tell me one thing. At a time when the country needs to be united, you seem to be in some way dividing the country. Doesn't that worry you? Because you are raising an issue which could divide the people. Suddenly Hemant Karkare's death is becoming the focus, rather than the focus being on Kasab and Pakistan-based terrorism.


A R Antulay: Why do you think that somebody from the Opposition got Hemant Karkare to go to Cama hospital? I know it is in your mind and you do not say it, but you imply it. Why can't you think of someone who might be an enemy and gave him a call.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You are saying someone may have given a call to Karkare and asked him to go to Cama hospital? You don't have any proof of this.

A R Antulay: If I had the proof for this, I would not have asked for any investigation. Investigation is required when you don't have a conclusion or conclusive proof.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, effectively you are damaging the case that the entire Mumbai Police had built up that this was an operation by Pakistan-based terrorists by bringing in another agenda into it.


A R Antulay: Ten lads between the ages of 19 and 22 came to Mumbai over a period of a few days and then took the city hostage for three days. A man of the stature of Hemant Karkare would have made the terrorists shiver.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You have given your resignation to the Prime Minister. Are you serious about this or is this one big drama that you are enacting? Are you basically putting the ball in the Prime Minister and Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's court?


A R Antulay: Whether I gave the resignation to the Prime Minister or not is a moot question, I will not say yes or no - I will neither confirm it nor deny it.


Rajdeep Sardesai: Do you believe that you have embarrassed yourself, the party and India?


A R Antulay: I have done India proud, by raising the question of Hemant Karkare's death.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You don't think that you have given BJP a handle for targetting your party, you don't think that you are dividing the country, you don't think that you have given Pakistan a handle? You don't think that you have misled people? You don't think that you have politicised an issue and made a political capital out of it? None of this?


A R Antulay: On the contrary, what I want to know is who pushed Karkare in the throes of death at the hands of Pakistani terrorists. He was bold and intelligent. He would not have gone to Cama, he would have gone to the Taj hotel. I feel that I have united the country with what I have said.


Rajdeep Sardesai: You were getting marginalised in the Cabinet and this was your way of building yourself in the party, of building a Muslim constituency for yourself?


A R Antulay: Who says I was being marginalised in the Cabinet?


Rajdeep Sardesai: You have not played vote bank politics?


A R Antulay: No not at all. I have never done it and I will never do it. And I will do whatever the Party President and the Prime Minister ask me to do.


Rajdeep Sardesai: A R Antulay, appreciate your joining us and giving us your position, showing us where you stand on the issue.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/i-am-proud-of-my-comments-a-r-antulay/81029-3.html

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/weekend-edition-i-am-proud-of-my-comments-says-antulay/81029-3-p2.html

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/weekend-edition-i-am-proud-of-my-comments-says-antulay/81029-3-p1.html

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/weekend-edition-i-am-proud-of-my-comments-says-antulay/81029-3-p3.html

Forget A.R. Antulay, Javed Akhtar can learn from Michael Moore

Jawed Naqvi - Author/Correspondent

IT’S easier said than done, but India could do with a few Michael Moores to instil a healthy spirit of doubt as a foil to periodically contrived large-scale gullibility. The objective goes well with mature democracies. It seems India’s liberals, and also the ordinary curious people, are ready for alternative angles to the Mumbai horrors the way the diligent American documentary-maker offered new possibilities by raising a few good questions about the official line on 9/11. But much of the mainstream media in India, which not just follows the ‘sarkari’ line on diplomacy and other key issues but sometimes helps create it, is not enamoured of Moore-like questioning spirit. For this reason perhaps it does not like to tinker with its enormous faith in unnamed ‘sources’ that appear from nowhere in a crisis like Mumbai’s to fire its virtually rented imagination.

A.R. Antulay - Union Minister for Minorities in India

There is almost a comprador-like quality about all this. You would not have heard any serious discourse in the Indian media when Gen Colin Powell showed to the world with the help of detailed fake maps of precisely where Saddam Husain had planted his mythical nuclear missiles. India’s decision not to send Indian troops, over Powell’s spurious allegations, to Iraq, a former key ally of India on Kashmir no less, happened because of people’s pressure and in spite of the media’s quiet sympathy for the American point of view. To cite another example of this mismatch, more recently, the Indian people exulted over the now legendary shoe-thrower of Iraq. In fact, the American people with their great appetite for humour at the expense of their official line, even came up with Internet games to mock the leadership. Not so the Indian media, which, by and large, in line with the system, continues to pay obeisance to his target, President Bush. The enormity of Mumbai’s horror appears to have blunted the questioning spirit that used to be associated with otherwise liberal and usually credible lot of people.

Film lyricist Javed Akhtar and his actor wife Shabana Azmi

Film lyricist Javed Akhtar and his actor wife Shabana Azmi were usually known for questioning the ‘official account’ on any number of burning issues. But after Mumbai, even they find themselves aligned with the official theory on what happened in Mumbai and how. Ironically for them Minorities Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay, known otherwise as the system’s man, has become the cheerleader of the people who have heaps of questions to ask about Mumbai. Mr Akhtar (and the pliant media) believes Mr Antulay should resign for raising doubts about the way the head of Mumbai’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) Hemant Karkare was killed during the Mumbai attacks. But the liberals and ordinary people, including a good many Muslims, are applauding Mr Antulay for asking the questions that are needed at worst of times in any democracy.

Michael Francis Moore is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, author, and liberal political commentator.

Mumbai-based group Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD), of which Mr Akhtar is president, said in a statement last week that it was “shocked and horrified by the highly irresponsible and outrageous statement” of Mr Antulay. “He has expressed doubts over the identity of the killers of the former chief, Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police, Mr Hemant Karkare, insinuating that the killing of Mr Karkare and his colleagues in the ATS was the result of a conspiracy. The suggestion is that it was the job of some Hindu extremist groups in collusion with their sympathisers with men in uniform.”

Mr Akhtar goes on to express his outrage through the MSD statement. It says: “The world is convinced – on the basis of evidence provided by the Indian government – that the terrorists responsible for 26/11 camefrom Pakistan and belonged to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, a terrorist outfit and a sworn enemy of India. That is why there is demand from governments all over that the Pakistan government act, firmly and swiftly against the Pakistan-based perpetrators of terror. Not surprisingly, the Pakistan government is dragging its feet claiming it has yet to be shown ‘incontrovertible evidence’. Very surprisingly, and shockingly, Mr Antulay, a minister in the Union Cabinet, has similar doubts.”

The fact, however, is that Mr Antulay, who is otherwise not a patch on Mr Javed Akhtar’s credibility as a well-meaning citizen, merely wanted to know (perhaps with an eye on elections) one or two things. One of them was why the police officer was sent and who sent him to a certain street where he was ambushed by suspected Pakistani terrorists. Another question Mr Antulay asked was why the government had not introduced a bill against communalism, which it had promised to do at the start of its innings five years ago.

In his eagerness to criticise Mr Antulay, Mr Akhtar has ignored a few facts. He obviously does not include the Middle East in ‘the world’ that is ‘convinced’ of the Indian government’s line. Mr Akhtar should read Atul Aneja’s analysis in The Hindu about how neither the governments nor the people in the Middle East seem convinced that the Mumbai attacks were a straightforward act of terrorism and not anything more far reaching. Iran’s deputy foreign minister Mohammed Mahdi Akhoundzadeh who was in Delhi last week told senior journalists at a breakfast meeting that the Mumbai attack was ‘complex’ and appeared to have benefited people who were against the proposed gas pipeline between Iran, Pakistan and India. “Who were the gainers and who the losers?” he asked. It’s too unwieldy a question for even Mr Antulay to handle. According to Aneja’s dispatch: “The Mumbai terror attacks have generated a vigorous debate in West Asia. In most major countries, these are being interpreted as an incident that is likely to usher in a new phase in the so-called global war on terror led by the United States. The war on terrorism, which has so far focussed on Iraq and Afghanistan within the strategic ambit of West Asia, has moved into South Asia with India as its new pillar.” Has the Indian media even bothered to look at it from a global perspective?

You can call it a conspiracy theory or theories, but Aneja was wise enough to file them. He says: “Many, especially in Iran and Saudi Arabia, see the attacks as part of a plot hatched by Washington and some of its allies to stoke a major geopolitical realignment in the wider West Asia-South Asia region. Several commentators are of the view that in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, India has either been co-opted already as an active partner of the US, Israel and the UK in this war or is being ‘trapped’ to join the unseemly coalition.”

It is nobody’s case that Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish as well as other obscurantist groups in Pakistan that preach hatred and violence need to be weeded out, but that should be done in any case regardless of who ever carried out the mindless massacre in Mumbai. And whoever carried out the attacks has helped cement India’s military nexus with the so-called war on terrorism, an understatement for becoming America’s sherpas like Pakistan has been for ever since we can remember. To that extent the attack in Mumbai could be seen as India’s Pearl Harbour, giving it an excuse to indulge in global military adventurism. One hopes this won’t happen. And that is the point for Mr Akhtar to ponder. Forget Mr Antulay. He is probably doing a small favour to the Congress party by playing on Muslim sentiments even if he has asked a few good questions in the process. Mr Akhtar won’t be able to play that role with any conviction. He needs to put on his thinking cap, like Michael Moore.

Forget A.R. Antulay, Javed Akhtar can learn from Michael Moore by Jawed Naqvi

December 22, 2008

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/jawed/jawed.htm