Was the Mumbai Islamic Murderous Attack the work of Lashkar-e-Taiba . . .

. . . the most powerful Pakistan-based militant group fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir?

"They say I am a fanatic because I don't believe in secularism and I reject living under the tutelage of the Indian-Hindu state. Why should I? I am a Muslim who believes in an Islamic state. Under an Islamic rule of law, all people, including religious minorities, will be protected. I stand for humanity, not just for Muslims. It is nonsense to call me an extremist."
--Asiya Andrabi , leader of Kashmir's first and only women's sociopolitical movement called Dukhtaran-e-Millat

[color, italics, and bold emphasis mine. lw]

The foregoing paragraph is from the article "Live From Kashmir: Besieged By The Ballot Box" by Farhana Ali in the Middle East Times, reprinted in Muslim World Today.

The professional credentials of Farhana Ali appear to be reputable:

"Farhana Ali is a terrorism analyst, writer, and highly sought-after lecturer on conflicts in the Muslim world. She recently resigned from the RAND Corporation as a policy analyst and formerly served in the U.S. government as a political officer."

An even-handed "lecturer on conflicts in the Muslim world?" Hardly. Her employment in the United States as a RAND Corporation analyst and U.S. government political officer would lead one to believe that she could be neutral as concerns Kashmir. She makes no attempt, however, to hide her bias in favor of the anti-Indian movement there.

The article is from Muslim World Today, a source that has printed such articles as Hezbollah, An Imminent Danger , Teaching Auschwitz to the Palestinians, and Israel Owes Gaza Nothing…Except An Ultimatum, which are pro-Israel and anti-jihad.

Muslim World Today was founded by the late Tashbih Sayyed, a courageous foe of the global jihad, and its Editor In Chief is Supna Zaidi, the author of Secularism's Failure to Defend Itself and asst director of Islamist Watch at the Middle East Forum. Both, Tashbih Sayyed and Supna Zaidi, have impeccable anti-jihadist credentials, Mr. Sayyed having been a member of the Jihad Watch Board and a fellow of the Hudson Institute.

"Live From Kashmir: Besieged By The Ballot Box" has a definite pro-Pakistan, pro-Islamic resistance (if not stronger) bent.

Getting back to the Moslem woman leader featured in the immediately foregoing cited article, her statement: "I am a Muslim who believes in an Islamic state. Under an Islamic rule of law, all people, including religious minorities, will be protected", contains the usual untruths (blatant lies) peddled by Islamics determined to force all "non-believers" (in Islam) under "Islamic rule of law" (sharia*).

If you want to know why living under sharia is severe subjugation of non-Moslems by Moslems. See Top ten reasons why sharia is bad for all societies
By James Arlandson

The article we were discussing Live From Kashmir: Besieged By The Ballot Box , although written by Farhana Ali to appear equitable is clearly sympathetic to the Moslem point of view as concerns Kashmir. Read it to see whether you agree with that determination.

Here is a more balanced view of Indian Kashmir and a possible connection to the Mumbai massacre:

India-Pakistan tensions cast familiar shadow over Kashmir
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-QrFkqG1sqLglbCPraXYjhYYzfQ

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — Leaked intelligence on who might be behind the devastating Islamist attacks in Mumbai has been greeted with a deepening sense of dread and foreboding by Muslims in Indian Kashmir.

An emerging consensus suggests the well-planned assault was the work of Lashkar-e-Taiba -- the most powerful Pakistan-based militant group fighting against Indian rule in the disputed Muslim-majority region.

That means an automatic escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan, which in turn spells trouble for Kashmir, over which the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947.

One of the Mumbai gunmen holding hostages in a Jewish cultural centre had suggested that the treatment of Muslims in Indian Kashmir was one motivation behind the attack.

"Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir?" the militant told a television station by telephone during the attack.

The Kashmir issue is, to many South Asian Muslims, what the Palestinian issue is to the Arab world -- a reliable and fertile source of outrage over the mistreatment of disenfranchised Muslims.

Rights groups like Amnesty International have criticised the sweeping powers India grants its security forces in Kashmir and accused them of using torture to quash the long-running Muslim insurgency in the region.

Since June, around 50 unarmed Muslim protesters have been shot dead in unrest sparked by a state government plan to grant land to a Hindu pilgrim trust.

But for Akbar Mantoo, a 41-year-old Kashmiri contractor, having such grievances cited by a gunman on a killing spree in Mumbai targeting Indian civilians and foreign tourists was appalling.

"It is very unfortunate that one of the attackers talked about Kashmir," said Mantoo. "We don't need supporters or sympathisers like them."

Tahir Mohiudin, a respected Kashmiri political analyst, said the brutal events in Mumbai risked a complete derailment of the India-Pakistan peace process begun in 2004 following a ceasefire agreement.

Although the process has yielded little in terms of resolving the main disputes between the two countries, it has witnessed a major downturn in insurgency-linked violence.

A bus service was started between Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in 2005 and in October the de facto border was opened for trade.

"The people of Kashmir have been saddened by these senseless and mindless attacks," Mohiudin said of the Mumbai killings.

"They know, ultimately, that it is they who will suffer if the peace process breaks," he added.

More than 47,000 people -- more than one third of them civilians -- have been killed since the armed insurgency in Indian Kashmir broke out nearly two decades ago.

India has long accused Pakistan of arming and funding Kashmiri Muslim rebels, a charge Islamabad denies.

Indian officials say Lashkar-e-Taiba has links to the well-funded Pakistani Islamist group Markaz-ad-Dawa-wal-Irshad, which recruits fighters for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Lashkar, which wants to fold Indian Kashmir into Pakistan, first came into the spotlight when its fighters launched a suicide attack on a border guard camp, killing officers and soldiers.

But the outfit's most audacious operation was an assault by armed gunmen on the Indian parliament in 2001, which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Lashkar has been quick to deny any involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

"Unfortunately whenever bombs go off in India, Lashkar is immediately blamed and without any investigation," its spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi told AFP on Thursday.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a senior Kashmiri separatist politician, who favours independence from both India and Pakistan, said Kashmiris had been as shocked and disturbed by what happened in Mumbai as everyone else in the world.

"I appeal to the media not to link these attacks with our political struggle. We don't approve of killing innocent people," Farooq said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-QrFkqG1sqLglbCPraXYjhYYzfQ
Copyright © 2008 AFP. AFP materials may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer except for personal non-commercial use.
_________________________________
NOTES
*sharia - the code of law derived from the Koran and from the teachings and example of Mohammed; "sharia is only applicable to Muslims"; "under Islamic law there is no separation of church and state"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sharia

Good Islamofascism Definition: [by] Muslims Against Sharia
by Bill Levinson, with due acknowlegement to Muslims Against Sharia
***
As stated by Muslims Against Sharia,

Islam, in its present form, is not compatible with principles of freedom and democracy. Twenty-first century Muslims have two options: we can continue the barbaric policies of the seventh century perpetuated by Hassan al-Banna, Abdullah Azzam, Yassir Arafat, Ruhollah Khomeini, Osama bin Laden, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, Hizballah, Hamas, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, etc., leading to a global war between Dar al-Islam (Islamic World) and Dar al-Harb (non-Islamic World), or we can reform Islam to keep our rich cultural heritage and to cleanse our religion from the reviled relics of the past. We, as Muslims who desire to live in harmony with people of other religions, agnostics, and atheists choose the latter option. We can no longer allow Islamic extremists to use our religion as a weapon. We must protect future generations of Muslims from being brainwashed by the Islamic radicals. If we do not stop the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, our children will become homicidal zombies.

3 Comments

1. These are true muslim moderates, unlike those groups such as CAIR which the media passes off as “moderate”.
Comment by Laura — November 6, 2007 @ 6:53 pm

2. Laura but they are not considered Moslems, by any other Moslems except themselves. So they hardly count in the final equation.
Comment by yamit82 — November 7, 2007 @ 8:17 am

The term “Islamofascism” has been gaining widespread use finally after a far too long wait. However, most people don’t have an idea of what that really means. In the way of an explanation let me offer:
It was introduced by French writer Maxine Rodinson to describe the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79.
It is the jihadist Islamic ideology grafted onto the totalitarian dictatorial system of fascism, where the goals of Islam are more important than the individual. It has an anti-humanist character. It seeks to re-create a mystical past (the Caliphate). It is anti-democratic, populist, expansive, aggressive,and glorifies war - jihad. Violence, intimidation, belligerent jihadist Islam, superiority over non-believers (racism), misojudaism, and anti-liberalism are all components of this ideology.
Dr. Steve Carol
Prof. of History (retired)
Middle East Consultant for Salem Radio Network News
Official Historian “Middle East Radio Forum” http://www.middleeastradioforum.org/
Comment by thehistorian6707 — November 8, 2007 @ 3:39 pm

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http://www.israpundit.com/2007/?p=6432

RE KASHMIR, ALSO SEE
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/07/indian-kashmir-revokes-decision-to-hand.html
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/01/required-different-attitude-by-indian.html