Army mum as ghost of 1995 western tourists' killing returns

August 6, 2012

army_mum

New Delhi, August 6: More than three months after the release of an explosive book on the 1995 abduction of six western backpackers by militants in Kashmir, neither the Army nor the Centre has responded to the authors' allegations that the government did not rescue the hostages despite having intelligence on the movement of the captors. TOI's attempts over a period of two weeks to get a reaction from the Army were met with silence.

The events date back to July 1995, when a terror outfit called al-Faran, an offshoot of the Harkat ul-Ansar, is believed to have abducted the tourists to negotiate the release of 21 comrades locked up in Indian prisons. These included Jaish-e-Muhammad ideologue Maulana Masood Azhar (who was released in 1999 in exchange for IC814 passengers) and British national Omar Sheikh (who would later kill journalist Daniel Pearl).

One of the abducted tourists, American John Childs, escaped; but four others — Keith Mangan (British), Paul Wells (British), Donald Hutchings (American) and Dirk Hasert (German) — vanished without a trace. A fifth, Hans Christian Ostro ( Norway), was found dead with his head 40 feet from the torso.

Now, 17 years later, those horrific events have been revisited in the book, The Meadow, written by British journalists Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark. It hit the stores in April this year.

The book does not just hint that the government wasn't keen on mounting a rescue, quoting crime branch sources, it claims it wasn't al-Faran but forces loyal to the government that had bumped off the tourists with the connivance of the special task force and the Army.

The then Narasimha Rao government, the book alleges, wanted to use the hostage crisis as a tool to build international pressure on Pakistan. It says the government had intelligence about the movement of the terrorists and the hostages, including high-resolution images taken by an armed forces helicopter.

'Raped for telling truth'

In another fantastic claim, the book says when a woman foreign tourist who had seen five hostages being taken away to Aru on July 5, 1995, reported the matter to the nearest Rashtriya Rifles (RR) camp, a major raped her.

It says the RR ran informer networks of surrendered militants (or renegades) and had put in place a cash-for-corpses incentive scheme. The renegades used to be paid between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 per corpse depending on the seniority of the slain militant; but the RR never conducted any physical verification of the bodies, the book says.

In the face of such serious charges, TOI decided to elicit an Army reply. We tried to speak to Major General SL Narasimhan, additional director general public information (ADGPI), Indian Army. We called him up at his office at South Block in New Delhi on July 10 and asked for his reaction on the book. He expressed ignorance about the book and instead asked TOI for details.

After being briefly told about the book's contents, the Major General said, "Many people will say many things about a lot of issues. That doesn't mean any of it is true." He then promised to revert with a specific response after reading the book. We called Maj Gen Narasimhan again on July 12 but his PA said he was busy and asked us to call up after 5pm. When we did, we were told the general had left for the day. We asked for the general's email ID, which the PA said he didn't have.

Next, we tried to reach military secretary Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, who was, until June, the general officer commanding of 15 Corps based in Srinagar. The RR — a crack counter-insurgency force — is under the operational command of 15 Corps. Gen Hasnain was unavailable on July 12 and the next day.

We then asked for Gen Hasnain's staff officer, Colonel Anupam Singh Randhawa. He was available. "I have read the book; but, I am afraid, I cannot say anything about it. You see, I can fix up an interview with Gen Hasnain only if the ADGPI permits. You will have to speak to him about it," Randhawa said. We turned to the ADGPI and again found him "busy".

Once again, we asked for his email ID; but this time, the PA asked us to speak to Colonel H Sawhney, director, media. He gave us an email ID and told us he would pass on the message to Gen Narasimhan. So, on Friday, July 13, we sent the email. The reply never came. We contacted the ADGPI again on July 25 to find out if he had read the book and was willing to comment. This time he was "busy having lunch".


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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Petrol and diesel prices were increased in metros on Wednesday, marking the eleventh straight day of increase since state-owned oil companies returned to the normal practice of daily reviews following a 12-week pause. With effect from 6 am, the price of petrol was increased by 55 paise per litre, and diesel by 69 paise per litre in Delhi, compared to the previous day. While the price of petrol was revised to Rs 77.28 per litre in the national capital from Rs 76.73 per litre the previous day, the diesel rate was increased to Rs 75.79 per litre from Rs 75.19 per litre, according to notifications from state-run Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailer. In the 11-day period, the price of petrol has been increased by a cumulative Rs 6.02 per litre, and diesel by Rs 6.49 per litre.

International crude oil prices retreated on Wednesday, weighed down by an increase in US crude inventories and worries about a potential second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - were last seen trading 1.0 per cent lower at $40.56 per barrel.

State-run oil marketing companies revise the prices of petrol and diesel from time to time, besides aviation turbine fuel (ATF) - or jet fuel - and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). However, since March 16, the oil companies had kept petrol and diesel prices on hold, possibly due to the volatility in global oil markets.

Fuel retailing in the country is dominated by state refiners - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. The three own about 90 per cent of the retail fuel outlets in the country.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Jaipur, Jun 17: Police have registered an FIR against a television news anchor for allegedly making an objectionable comment on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

The FIR was lodged after a complaint against News 18 India anchor Amish Devgan by a "khadim" at the saint's dargah in Ajmer on Tuesday night.

"He is running a communal agenda against the Muslim community. The dargah of Sufi saint is visited not only by Muslims but by people of all religions and his comments have hurt the sentiments of all," Syed Sarwar Chishti said.

The anchor later apologised on Twitter. "In 1 of my debates, I inadvertently referred to 'Khilji' as Chishti. I sincerely apologise for this grave error and the anguish it may hv caused to followers of the Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, whom I revere. I have in the past sought blessings at his dargah. I regret this error," Devgan tweeted.

Dargah SHO Hem Raj said a case was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act for outraging religious feelings.

Another complaint was lodged by activist Muzaffar Bharti at the office of Ajmer's Superintendent of Police.

He accused Devgan and his team of trying to incite riots through "misleading and objectionable debates on communal issues".

He said Devgan made highly objectionable remarks on the revered saint, which shall not be tolerated.

"The dargah of Moinuddin Chishti is the symbol of brotherhood and harmony and crores of people of different religions all over the world have deep love and faith in the saint," he said.

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News Network
January 30,2020

New Delhi, Jan 30: In a major shift of strategy ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to rope in its senior leaders for massive public rallies.

Its star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and other union ministers would now be addressing massive public rallies in addition to ongoing neighbourhood meetings.

"The big rallies would begin from February 1. While 'Nukkad' meetings will take place till the last day of campaigning, there would be big rallies of the top leadership of the party, " informed a senior party leader.

Sources said the BJP has changed its strategy after the success of its grassroots contact programme as the party wants to consolidate its gains.

"As part of the reworked strategy the BJP has asked its various Mandals to organise public meetings of 10,000-15,000 people in each assembly segment to reach out to the masses," sources added.

While there are two planned for Prime Minister Modi, two have been planned for JDU chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with Nadda and Amit Shah. Yogi Aadityanath too would be addressing 12 rallies.

The party is leaving no stone unturned to secure massive gains, which it feels can be converted to victory in the forthcoming polls.

Party sources feel that the relentless campaigning under the guidance of Amit Shah and Nadda has ensured that the morale of party cadre is at an all-time high.

"The neighbourhood meetings have ensured that we have been able to make the people of Delhi aware of the lack of work under the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party government. They have also been apprised about the anti-national views of the opponents and we think that this is expected to turn the polls into our favour," sources added.

Delhi is scheduled for assembly polls on February 8 and the results for the 70 constituencies will be declared on February 11.

As part of the new strategy, senior leaders like JP Nadda, Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, ministers like Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani would be holding public rallies in various parts of the city. Several other chief ministers from various BJP ruled states are also expected to be roped in for the campaign.

The strategy for reach out to the masses is an attempt at weakening the hold of AAP on Delhi. With positive feedback coming after the success of the neighbourhood meetings in the past week, the BJP is now looking to increase its potential reach with polls just days away.

Till now the party had deployed 70 union ministers to hold at least one public meeting and one 'padayatra' each as part of the campaign.

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