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.

Why do Indian Muslims lag behind?

Excerpts from this BBC News article on Indian Muslims below:

Today, at over 138 million, Muslims constitute over 13% of India 's billion-strong population, and in sheer numbers are exceeded only by Indonesia's and Pakistan's Muslim community.

The community continues to have a paltry representation in the bureaucracy and police - 3% in the powerful Indian Civil Service, 1.8% in foreign service and only 4% in the Indian Police Service. And Muslims account for only 7.8% of the people working in the judiciary.

Indian Muslims are also largely illiterate and poor.

They are also poor - 31% of Muslims are below the country's poverty line, just a notch above the lowest castes and tribes who remain the poorest of the poor.

So why has the lot of Indian Muslims remained miserable after six decades of independence?

For one, it is the sheer apathy and ineptitude of the Indian state which has failed to provide equality of opportunity in health, education and employment.

This has hurt the poor - including the Muslim poor who comprise the majority of the community - most.

There is also the relatively recent trend of political bias against the community when Hindu nationalist governments have ruled in Delhi and the states.

Also, the lack of credible middle class leadership among the Muslims has hobbled the community's vision and progress.

Consequently, rabble rousers claiming to represent the community have thrust themselves to the fore.

But the failure to throw up credible leaders has meant low community participation in the political processes and government - of the 543 MPs in India's lower house of parliament, only 36 are Muslims.

The plight of Indian Muslims also has a lot to do with the appalling quality of governance, unequal social order and lack of equality of opportunity in northern India where most of the community lives.

I know very little about the Muslim community in India, so this article was an eye-opener for me. It is disheartening to know that there is a "lack of middle class leaderpship among the Muslims" in India, but I guess that makes the Indian Muslim community just like most other Muslim communities around the world (whether minority or majority).

This is even more reason for Muslims to take the first step, educate and involve themselves, and put their faith in action. Only then can we demand respect from the rest of the world.

Another European Muslim Denied Entry into the US

Update 07/02:

The family of Mr. Isakjee issued a statement today, you can read it here.

Update 07/01:

Since I posted about this, some people have forwarded me articles or even stories of their own experiences or of their relatives. You are more then welcome to do so, in fact since this is work related you can send it to my work e-mail address- ashaikh@cair.com- that way we can keep track of these trends.

One very interesting article I got was on Yahoo- and I think it will be good to see this develop because it is a way to clear people's names, however, there is no way to take your name off any Government list if you happen to find yourself on there. But it seems DHS will be will soon be requiring 10 digital fingerprints when entering the country, as well as other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans.

Wright said data was collected on visitors under strict U.S. privacy protection rules, and that the new 10-print scan would not take more time than the current check — usually about 10 seconds.

The prints are checked against U.S. security watch lists drawn up by U.S. Homeland Security and other policing agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency also have access to the prints, Wright said.

The 10-print scans would be "virtually 100 percent match accurate," he said.

"We are going to know that that's you," Wright said. Future changes include adding other biometric identifiers — such as facial or retinal scans — to better rule out fraud, he said.

But the issue is privacy and what the government will do with this information. It almost seems that this will be the first step toward requiring such "Big Brother" techniques to US citizens themselves. You ease people's fears by applying things to the "other" and soon the citizenry will become the "other" and accept it. What is further upsetting is that 34,000 people were turned away because of being on some "government watch list". It falls in with the whole notion that fewer and fewer international tourist will want to visit the United States.

Update 06/30

Unfortunately, with no explanation Mr. Isakjee was denied entry and sent back. He must now apply for a visa with the US embassy, however, he will not be able to get a future visa, having been turned away and not knowing why or how to remedy this- the US embassy will deny him his request and he will never be able to visit his family in the United States.

I believe it is one thing for the government to turn people away, however when there is no way to clear one's name it is against the tradition and values that have made America so great. We allow people the opportunity to clear their name to force the government to "prove without a doubt that the individual is 'guilty'". This may not apply in a situation where entry is denied- in fact legally the US owes very little rights to people it denies entry to.

However if this is a 'War on Terror' and part of this is to win over the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world, then this behavior is only adding to "physical" losses we are now faced with in Iraq. This constant humiliations, harassment and beseeching of guilt only lends to the feelings that this is a "War on Islam and Muslims" and the further marginalization of any good will amongst Muslims around the world.

It is no wonder that less and less people from around the world are visiting the United States:

Visiting the United States isn't as popular as it used to be mainly because of delays and difficulties in getting visas, long lines at customs and aggressive promotional campaigns from other countries.

Travel executives told a Senate panel Wednesday that people are going elsewhere for those reasons. And long lines at Customs were blamed for the U.S. losing out on the 2007 Pan American Games to Brazil and a big concern for the U.S. Olympic Committee as Chicago and Los Angeles compete for the 2016 Olympics.

You can read the article here.

However, many on the Right will probably see this as a good sign, keep them darn "aliens" out (laugh). But think of this

Lawmakers and travel executives are working on strategies to boost international tourism, which contributes $1.3 trillion and 7.3 million jobs to the U.S. economy, according to the Travel Industry Association.

No, if anything, this is exactly the time that the United States needs to, must be connected to the rest of the world and not see itself better then everyone else.

Update 6/29 12:45PM:

Barabara Morgan from the British Consulate in LA confirmed that Esakjee was allowed to finally call his family and speak to them. It has been close to 16 hours since he arrived to LAX. Around 230AM, he arrived at 8AM, an agent by the name of Miller informed the family that the "interview" (interrogation) had ended and that they had decided to deny him his visa waiver. He now must be denied entry and sent (shipped) back home. The agent also claimed that it was the British that had requested a denial of entry- Morgan strongly denied this and said that it is not in their jurisdiction to have the United States government do anything of the such. When confronted Miller changed stances and said that they can not share "sensitive" information.

To me it seems like its all a joke. No wonder there are less people coming to the United States to visit during their vacation. If hearing or being treated like second rate citizen is the norm then I wouldn't want to visit that country either.

Can some one find the article, it came out earlier this week...

BREAKING NEWS: UK MUSLIM HELD IN LOS ANGELES

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 6/29/07) - The Greater Los Angeles area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) has been informed that a Muslim citizen of the United Kingdom is being held following his arrival yesterday on a flight from London. CAIR-LA is investigating the reason for the man's detention. The 57-year-old man is reportedly scheduled to be returned to Britain on a flight later today.