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Mumbai attacks planners must be brought to justice: Jaishankar

A file photo of 26/11 Attacks on Mumbai. Ten heavily armed Pakistani terrorists had landed undetected in Mumbai's Badhwar Park in Colaba from the sea Nov 26, 2008, and laid siege to several key locations, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Hotel, Chabad House and Leopold Cafe. (Photo: Sandeep Mahankal/IANS)

In 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists (LeT) carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks killing at least 166 people and leaving 300 wounded.

Terrorism threatens humanity, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday, as he remembered the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

He also said those who planned and oversaw this attack must be brought to justice. “Terrorism threatens humanity. Today, on 26/11, the world joins India in remembering its victims. Those who planned and oversaw this attack must be brought to justice. We owe this to every victim of terrorism around the world,” Jaishankar tweeted.

In 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists (LeT) carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks killing at least 166 people and leaving 300 wounded.

Last month, India hosted the two-day anti-terrorism meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), under India’s chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC).

After the meeting, a Delhi Declaration was issued which underlined that terrorists’ opportunity to access safe havens continues to be a significant concern and that all Member States must cooperate fully in the fight against terrorism.

The Declaration also recognized that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

During UNSC’s special meeting, Jaishankar highlighted that the global threat of terrorism is growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa, despite the UNSC’s best efforts to combat the “gravest threat to humanity”.

“Terrorism remains the gravest threat to humanity. The UN Security Council in the past two decades has evolved an important architecture built, primarily around the counter-terrorism sanctions regime to combat this menace. This has effectively put the countries on notice that had turned terrorism into a state-funded enterprise.”

“Despite this, the threat of terrorism is only growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa, as successive reports of 1267 sanctions committee monitoring reports have highlighted,” he added.

Jaishnkar told CTC members that their presence in Delhi at the special meeting demonstrated the importance that the UNSC member states and a wide range of stakeholders, place on this critical and emerging facet of terrorism. (ANI)

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#UniteAgainstTerrorism protest outside Pak mission in London on 26/11

A file photo of 26/11 Attacks on Mumbai. Ten heavily armed Pakistani terrorists had landed undetected in Mumbai's Badhwar Park in Colaba from the sea Nov 26, 2008, and laid siege to several key locations, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Hotel, Chabad House and Leopold Cafe. (Photo: Sandeep Mahankal/IANS)

The protest is being launched by numerous groups and concerned individuals under the hashtag #UniteAgainstTerrorism at Lowndes Square, London, at the Pakistani High Commission on the day of the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, reports Rahul Kumar

The Indian diaspora is planning a major demonstration in front of the Pakistani High Commission in London to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The protest is also to highlight the scourge of State-sponsored terror that threatens the world.

The protest is being launched by numerous groups and concerned individuals under the hashtag #UniteAgainstTerrorism at Lowndes Square, London, at the Pakistani High Commission on the day of the anniversary of the attacks.

India Narrative reached out to some of the organisers of the protest.

Medical practitioner Dr Vivek Kaul said: “This protest is important as the world has to be constantly reminded about the dangers of State-sponsored jihadi ideology and the havoc it can play with peace-loving nations.”

The protest also seeks to highlight the fact that justice has not been delivered to the families of the people who have been killed and injured by Pakistan-trained terrorists.

On why the diaspora is holding the protest at the Pakistani High Commission, the Indic Society, an online group said: “Pakistan is the only country in this world that not only uses terrorism as a State policy and strategy to inflict pain on other sovereign nations but also people residing within their geographical boundaries.” The group highlights how Pakistani armed forces have been regularly unleashing armed terrorists to create havoc in India.

On November 26, 2008 ten terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) set sail for Mumbai from Karachi in Pakistan and attacked landmarks including the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail terminus, the Chabad House, Cama hospital, Leopold Cafe and Nariman House business.

The attacks were carried out by automatic weapons and grenades. Lasting four days, the LeT terrorists killed 166 people and injured 300 including foreign tourists. Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was captured alive and hanged after a lengthy trial.

Pakistan has been sheltering LeT chief Hafiz Saeed despite being placed under the Grey List by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). A special anti-terror court in Pakistan jailed Saeed for 31 years for raising terror funds. China too has supported Pakistan by blocking India and the US to designate Saeed’s son Hafiz Talah Saeed as a global terrorist.

Moshe Holtzberg, the two-year-old son of a Jewish rabbi escaped the attack even as the attackers killed his parents. Earlier this week, he read prayers in the Israeli Knesset commemorating the Mumbai terror attack.

With terrorists and terror organisations wreaking havoc in India with support from Pakistan and China, India is upping the ante on State-sponsored terror. At the ‘No Money for Terror’ conference in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Certain countries support terrorism as part of their foreign policy. They offer political, ideological and financial support to them… There must be a cost imposed on such countries.”

Last month too India had organised a special meeting of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) which adopted the Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Pak quietly jailed Mumbai attacks handler a week before FATF meet

Pakistani authorities, had in the past claimed Sajid Majeed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proofs of his death, reports Asian Lite News

As Pakistani officials ticked items off their to-do list for submission of report to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on the implementation of the action plan for getting out of its ‘grey list’, something that strengthened their case was the conviction and sentencing of top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai attacks’ handler Sajid Majeed Mir.

Mir, 44, was sentenced by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, in the first week of this month, to 15 and a half years in jail after convicting him in a terror financing case, Dawn reported.

He was also fined 420,000 PKR and is currently serving sentence in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.

It all happened so quietly that no one came to know about such an important court verdict in such a high-profile case, except for a very brief report in one of the newspapers, which too could not attract attention, according to a source.

His detention, which apparently took place in later part of April, was also kept away from media’s prying eyes, reports Dawn news.

Pakistani authorities, had in the past claimed he had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proofs of his death.

This issue rather became a major sticking point in FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan late last year.

This was where things finally started moving in Mir’s case leading to his “arrest”.

FATF plenary in Berlin

His conviction and sentencing were, therefore, major achievements that Pakistani officials showcased in their progress report given to FATF on its action plan during the latest plenary, Dawn reported.

It indeed helped in convincing FATF members that Pakistan had finished all the required tasks.

Weak prosecution and poor conviction rate of terrorists were major shortcomings that had all along hampered Pakistan’s exit from the grey list.

ALSO READ: Pakistan one step away from exiting FATF grey list