What to Make of the Bombay Massacre

Terror attack it is, but the questions of "why?" resounds loudly. I am not sure what exactly this is all about, Pakistan and India have been rocked by such attacks. While Pakistan, just days after my departure, my Mom was shopping in a open air market, an hour after her departure, that market was attacked by a suicide bomber.

I have seen articles about "marginalized Muslims of India" and "al-Qaeda" and on "Kashmir rebels". One thing I have to admit, in all the Indian reports, this attack is described in plain simple "terrorist" and "criminal" terms. No association with Islam or Muslims and when used, its largely in the Western Press.

Here is a run down that I got in an email on this issue. I havent read through everything provided, but found the end part to be more interesting.

Here are some excerpts from the news.

The whole affair smells like a false flag event designed to bring India into a more active role in the War on Terror, and rein in control of the Indian/Afghani/Pakistani region with NATO/US forces.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7752625.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7752625.stm>

Then, the "foreign looking, fair skinned" men, as Mr Mishra remembers them, simply carried on killing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7756073.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7756073.stm>

1004: Maharashtra state chief minister says no evidence that Mumbai attackers are British citizens, Reuters news agency reports

http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=41293
<http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=41293>

The BBC reports <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7752625.stm> that three men walked into the Leopold Cafe, drank beer, settled their bills and walked out. Then they fished out guns from their bags and began firing. Just one problem there, alcohol is forbidden in Islam.

The BBC further reports <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7752625.stm>
an eye witness account from Gaffar Abdul Amir, an Iraqi tourist from Baghdad, stating he saw at least two men who started the firing outside the Leopold Cafe.

They did not look Indian, they looked foreign. One of them, I thought, had blonde hair. The other had a punkish hairstyle. They were neatly dressed.

The whole affair smells like a false flag event designed to bring India into a more active role in the War on Terror, and rein in control of the Indian/Afghani/Pakistani region with NATO/US forces. With much of the world now demanding Pakistan agree to inspections and an investigation, they seem to be winning the minds of those who don't bother to question what they are spoon fed on the television.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=116812&d=29&m=11&y=2008
<http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=116812&d=29&m=11&y=2008>

A high-level team of terrorism experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) arrived in Mumbai yesterday and guided the Indian security forces fighting terrorists there, according to reliable sources in the state government.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7759309.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7759309.stm>

They also said that Qasab is a 21-year-old and a fluent English speaker.

That description seems to be at odds with the general population in the village he is said to hail from.

They captured but one of the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack. Someone that they are claiming is from Faridkot, Pakistan. But there's just one problem, as McClatchy now reports, no one from Faridkot has ever seen or heard of this person that supposedly was born and raised there.
<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/56808.html>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7757500.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7757500.stm>

We are checking whether the gunmen had any local support. But what we are sure is that they were not from India, and had trained in and were carrying stuff - AK-56, AK-47 and 9mm revolvers and hand grenades possibly of Chinese make," said an investigator.

They also found lots of dry fruits, Indian and American currency, ammunition and fake Mumbai college student identity cards in the bags the gunmen had left behind during the attacks.

Post-Ramadan Lull?

I don’t think many of us realize how lucky we are to be practicing Islam in the US. The ease with which we are able to practice our religion is something we take for granted. Think about how easy Ramadan was. Sure, the days were long this year round, but food was readily-available for iftar. We had alarm clocks to wake us up for suhoor. Most of us live ridiculously close to multiple masajid and have access to eminent scholars.

We only have to look to other countries to see how much struggle some of our brothers and sisters endure to practice this beautiful deen. I’m posting a excerpts from some articles I found touching during Ramadan.

Ramadan 'alarm clocks' tread risky path in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - In the pitch-dark early hours, men beating drums walk the narrow lanes of Indian Kashmir to wake people from their beds for a hearty pre-dawn feast ahead of a day of Ramadan fasting.

The human alarm clocks are the only ones who dare venture out at night in the revolt-hit region, where nocturnal pedestrians run the risk of a tough grilling or even a bullet from nervous Indian security forces. …

But the tradition goes back years, perhaps centuries, and the drum beaters say the Ramadan job is a vital source of income. …

"My heartbeat increases when I approach a security bunker. You never know, but I think now they (the Indian soldiers) are aware of the tradition." …

During the early years of the insurgency, the Indian army did not take too well to cries of "Wakhta-e-Sahar" -- often accusing the drum beaters of alerting militants ahead of security raids.

"It takes them time to comprehend what I am doing, but now they understand I am not out there for fun," Gulzar Lone, another wake-up man, said of the Indian security forces.

---

Food price hikes weigh on Malaysian Muslims this Ramadan

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - It's Ramadan in Malaysia and the days of the Muslim fasting month usually mean fairy lights, dinner tables groaning with dishes, and an upbeat mood.

But this year many householders such as 45-year-old Siti Nora are upset and frustrated as sharp increases in the price of staple foods have meant that "breaking fast" is a much more meagre affair. …

"Definitely, the hike in prices will dampen our merry mood as we Muslims prepare for Eid al-Fitr celebration," she said, referring to the festival which marks the conclusion of Ramadan this weekend.

The cost of basic items such as chicken, eggs, flour and condensed milk have all risen by up to 50 percent thanks to a price creep which began last year and has spiked in recent weeks.

"A 250 gram pack of butter is now priced at 2.80 ringgit, up from 1.80 ringgit last year," she said, adding that her monthly grocery bill has jumped to at least 500 ringgit (147 dollars) from 300 ringgit (33 dollars) before.

---

Paris Ramadan radio raps Muslim ignorance of Islam

PARIS (Reuters) - It's late of a Ramadan evening in Paris, the iftar dinners are finished and Muslims from around France are calling Ahmed el Keiy to ask questions about Islam.

"Can I wear perfume during Ramadan?" a young girl asks. "How about hair gel?" a boy wants to know.

El Keiy, a lawyer-turned-journalist, devotes his nightly radio phone-in show to Islam during the holy month and wants to discuss big ideas.

But his listeners keep asking about details.

"Why do we get so many questions about how to practice Islam?" he asks listeners and three imams invited to the cramped studio of Beur FM, a popular station for "beurs" -- the French-born sons and daughters of North African immigrants.

"Nobody teaches us religion," says one caller named Nacera. "Our parents were illiterate," caller Najet adds, "so you see people who don't know how to say their prayers properly, or exactly what to do during Ramadan."

France has Europe's largest Muslim minority. Thanks to a long tradition of relations with the Arab world, it is home to many Muslim intellectuals -- both foreign and French -- and experts on the Islamic world.

But in the poor areas where many of the country's 5 million Muslims live, ignorance prevails.

Illiterate elders follow a sketchy folk Islam, many imams preach at Friday prayers without any training and many young people construct a do-it-yourself religion.

Most of the 1,200 imams in France have no formal training and one-third do not speak French.