Suppose you read that the editor of a major American newspaper group -itself a division one of the largest corporations in the USA – had recently published a book suggesting there’s compelling evidence that 9-11 was an inside job co-ordinated by Mossad and the CIA with the assistance of sympathetic elements within the USA.
You might think that rather surprising.
Suppose you also read that a prominent member of the Democratic National Committee had launched the book and – far from backing down – was pursuing the issue vigorously with a series of strong follow up statements and responses to attacks from political opponents.
Unless you’re a hardened cynic or simply haven’t been paying attention, you really should find that mind-blowing.
Of course, it’s not true…
Yet something like that has been happening in India over the last six weeks. Needless to say, the western mainstream media haven’t really bothered to relay this mind-blowing story to predominantly pink-skinned nongs who rely on them for news.
Aziz Burney at his booklaunch; not on the beach over Christmas
Here in Australia, most of our so-called journalists, commentators and pundits have been on happy holidays, typically lazing on a beach, while all this drama – with such obvious relevance to our own life and times – been going on in India.
But then again, even if the Commentariat caught it on their IPads, why should they bother to report the story? They all already ‘know’ that an extremist Pakistani organisation of fanatical Muslims ‘did’ Mumbai in late November 2008 – just like fanatical Muslims ‘did’ 9-11, the 7/7 London Bombings…. and all the rest of the ‘terror’ that keeps erupting.
That’s the tale they’ve told the populace, again and again and again. And they’re sticking to it! They keep on repeating the mantra of the ‘War on Terror’, with the key memes of fanatical Muslim extremists trying to hold the world to ransom through terror and fear. Such a shame we plebs must fork out squillions of dollars (more each year) to fight those scary radical Islamists. We must fight them without respite, with more and more sophicated and expensive gear, like the unpteenth sequel of Star Wars, everywhere and forever… Amen!
Or must we? Perhaps not?
This is what is going on in India as best I can tell from south of the equator. Up there the mainstream folk – some of them at least – have taken the famous Apple slogan to heart, or so it seems. They think different. They’re not too scared to say so. It’s a joy to behold!
Aziz Burney is group editor of Rashtriya Sahara (Urdu) – part of the Sahara Group which was founded by the remarkable Bengali Subrata Roy Sahara who describes himself as ‘Managing Worker and Chairman’ and has built one of India’s largest businesses from a starting capital of less than $100. But I digress…
Mr Burney published a book in early December 2010 entitled RSS ka shadyantra, 26/11. (26/11 is the numeric descriptor used in India to describe the horror in Mumbai which actually lasted three days. I guess it’s catchy like 9/11 and 7/7. Branding of 21st century ‘terror products’ is consistent, if nothing else)
Digvijay Singh at the booklaunch; a 'Secular Lion' who puts most western politicians to shame
Aziz Burney’s book is a collection of essays by several contributors. Remarkably, its general findings have been endorsed by Digvijay Singh, who attended the launch. Between 1993 and 2003 Mr Singh was Chief Minister of the populous State of Madhya Pradesh (answerable at the time to a somewhat larger electorate than the British Prime Minister). At present he’s a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee – a member of the management committee of the party currently in government at Federal level. In short, Singh is one of the most prominent politicians in India today.
Digvijay Singh has run with the story of Burney’s unothodox take on the Mumbai bombings since the book launch, parrying political attacks and releasing newsworthy tid-bits of additional claims and related information to keep up momentum on his side of the debate. Aziz Burney’s book ran to a second edition by early January, updated to cover the controversy that’s arisen from its publication.
The best English-language overview of this amazing tale I’ve come across so far is by Pradeep Kaushal’s. Digvijaya ‘pins’ Mumbai attack on RSS was run in several newspapers on January 4th. Here’s how it begins (emphasis added):
Digvijaya Singh may love stirring the pot, but guess what lies at the centre of the book to which the Congress general secretary has lately lent his weight and voice? That 26/11 was a conspiracy hatched by the RSS, Mossad and CIA.
This is one of the many points that Aziz Burney, group editor of Rashtriya Sahara (Urdu), puts forth in his book, “RSS ka shadayantra, 26/11”. It was at the launch of this book on December 6 that Singh claimed he had talked to Hemant Karkare before he was killed, and that he appeared concerned about threats to his family from saffron activists.
Burney calls Digvijaya a “like-minded person”. “When two like-minded people talk, you can’t say who has influenced whom, but yes, we both benefit from each other,” he says.
Since the December 6 speech, Burney has brought out a fresh edition of his book, incorporating Digvijaya’s remarks and the “expected furore” it generated.
Hemant Karkare: Honest cop and Indian hero. Parallels with John O'Neill?
Who is Hemant Karkare? A well-known figure to Indians, outsiders may recall he was the police chief killed at the outset of the Mumbai atrocities. In fact, Karkare was Chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad. He’d been investigating a series of unsolved terrorist incidents, his integrity was widely-respected – and he would undoubtably have continued leading the response to the Mumbai attacks had he not been fatally shot, along with colleagues in the anti-teror squad, on the morning of November 26th at the beginning of the series of horrifying incidents in Mumbai that persisted for three agonizing days until November 29th.
People familiar with the story of 9-11 may note possible parallels with the case of John O’Neill, an American anti-terrorism expert, who worked as a special agent and eventually Assistant Director in the Federal Bureau of Investigation until late 2001. O’Neill reportedly left the FBI after ‘friction’ with other FBI top brass and the Bush Administration to become the head of security at the World Trade Center, where he reportedly died during the September 11, 2001 attacks. O’Neill had only just started the new job. Like Karkare, he’d been investigating terrorist incidents of key potential relevance to the attack in which he met his death. The story goes he’d been on the trail of Osama Bin Laden and the mysterious ‘Al Qaida’, no less.
Pradeep Kaushal’s article Digvijaya ‘pins’ Mumbai attack on RSS explains some of the theories propounded by essays in Aziz Burney’s book (emphasis added):
“Communal forces under the patronage of foreign agencies want to destroy India. America wants to destroy Pakistan and encircle China. Therefore, it wants India to get into the influence-zone of America and Israel. That is why Americans, British and Israelis [as well as Indians] were targeted. The Nariman House, according to eyewitnesses, was a centre for unknown Israelis. It is possible these people may have been involved in the attacks and may have killed their own people.”
“Was the Israeli Rabbi actually killed in the attack?,” the book asks, seeking to know if anybody had seen a photograph showing him injured. Burney adds the building had a hidden CCTV camera at the entrance. Shopkeepers apparently said they were unaware of the arrival of any strangers at the building. “How could nanny Sandra Samuel save a child? Why was she flown to Israel though she was an important eyewitness to the attack?”
For those who may be surprised by the thesis that Jews were killed with the help of Mossad, the book offers a counter-question: “Why not?” Zionism, it is argued, is known for killing ordinary Jews just as Hindutva is known for killing Mahatma Gandhi.
As for the “US link” to 26/11, the proof is David Headley, “who might have been an agent of al-Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Toiba, but who came to India in his capacity as an American”. “When he was inducted into LeT, he was taken in as an agent of FBI,” the book argues. “Whenever he was released after arrest for drug trafficking, he was let off only when he consented to be used by the FBI.” “The forged passport on which he came to India had been made at the instance or FBI or CIA.
Chaos in the magic city: Fear and Loathing in Mumbai, December 2008
The Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also discussed in the book as relevant to the real 26/11 conspiracy.
This is the aspect of the alternative narrative has provoked most debate so far in India. That’s understandable, but it may not be what matters most to India. If the other allegations are true. cutting out malign and murderous outside influences is the most crucial task.
RSS is a large organisation in a very big country with a highly controversial history. Supporters love it; opponents hold it in more or less contempt. But whatever one’s view about the role of RSS in Indian history, which is ultimately a matter of opinion, is somewhat besides the point. No one is suggesting the entire organisation was directly complicit in 26/11, but rather that elements within the RSS may have co-opted by the manipulative foreign influences. Likewise, surely it’s inconceivable that Hindu nationalists – except for a criminal fringe – would knowingly collaborate with murderous foreigners to the detriment of fellow Indians?
As always in this new era of the bogus ‘War on Terror’, Muslims served as patsies. But that wasn’t always the case. Perhaps, as the RSS claims, it was not in fact involved in planning the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of modern India?
Much political debate in India reflects the understandable defensiveness of the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist political party with which it has links. The BJP is currently the second largest party in the Indian Parliament. It accuses Digvijay Singh of spreading communal tensions. He denies it.
Digvijay Singh claims he was phoned by Hemant Karkare only hours before the latter’s untimely death. A flavour of the political debate currently underway in India comes through in this extract from Digvijay’s dramatic disclosure about Karkare in the Indian Muslim MilliGazette:
Digvijay Singh, former MP chief minister and Congress General Secretary, made a sensational disclosure that Hemant Karkare, the slain Maharashtra ATS chief, had spoken to him a few hours prior to his mysterious killing and had divulged to him over the telephone that he and his parents were facing threats. The disclosure exploded like a bombshell making not only the Hindu outfits protest and asking for his arrest and resignation but even the widow of the slain officer strongly condemned politicising his martyrdom, while the Congress party seemed baffled by his statement. Unable to decide whether to own up or disown it, the party preferred to distance itself from it by observing that he was speaking in his personal capacity.
There is no denying of the fact that by his approach, Karkare had earned the ire of rightwing outfits. A concerned Karkare had met Maharashtra DGP Julius Robeiro, to convey his problems. However, immediately after 26/11 these very outfits had declared him a patriot and martyr.
BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu
The BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu certainly has attracted the ire of the BJP leadership. India Today reports:
BJP) General Secretary Venkaiah Naidu slammed his Congress counterpart Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday for reiterating the allegation that Hindu organisations had threatened slain Maharashtra cop Hemant Karkare. Naidu said that Singh was trying to ruin the Congress all over the country after his home state Madhya Pradesh.
Naidu refused to believe Singh’s claim that Karkare had told the latter that his life was in danger. “I am in politics since 32 years. At least I know that if a police officer is facing threats he will inform the home minister, chief minister or the prime minister. Why Karkare would have called Digvijaya to say that his life was under threat? Digvijaya has ruined the Congress in MP in his 10 year tenure. Now, he is going to ruin the party all over the country,” Naidu said.
So there we have it. There real debate at the centre of Indian politics over whether that nation’s most famous ‘terrorist event’ of modern times was really orchestrated and carried out by Muslim extremists backed by Pakistan, with links to ‘Al Qaida’ (Islamic Terror Central) – or whether a mix of Zionist criminals, western spooks, local villains and unfortunate Muslim patsies made it happen?
Visnu
It’s parallel to the debate in the west over 9-11 or 7/7 – but in India this is now mainstream political discourse because of the centrality of the protagonists.
What an amazing turn of events – but perhaps it was to be expected? The Indian media may well be less dominated by Zionists than the western media – and more able to do what media mass should do: report accurately and with fairness.
What’s of supreme importance is that the truth is established in this case. It’s really not – or shouldn’t be – a matter of partisan or sectarian advantage. Ultimately, the only people who lose out from establishing the truth are criminals. Whoever they are – their guilt does not tarnish an entire religion, ethnicity or nation.
Murders must be investigated thoroughly; justice must be done and seen to be done. It’s just basic.
In countries such as the USA, Britian and Australia, powerful criminals and compliant liars have been able (just, so far) to keep the lid on the most heinous false-flag operations. 9-11 and 7/7 are the most obvious examples. The result of the criminals getting away with these crimes has been a world falling deeper and faster into misery, division and chaos.
At this crucial time in human history, does the ancient and magnificent civilisation of India have the moral strength and spiritual purpose to lead humanity towards a better way, a way guided by the truth?
Can eastern civilisation help restore the foundation of what’s best in western civilisation: respect for truth?
Can wise men and women from the east succeed where westerners have been floundering?
This is no game, but the stakes are as high as can be imagined.
You can't fool all the people all of the time. For sceptics, solidarity is strength
