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Is it terror at work, or revenge at play? - Sify.com
Is it terror at work, or revenge at play?
By Rajesh Madathil | Thursday, 27 November , 2008, 12:10
Revenge is a dish, best served cold.
-Old Klingon proverb
Hemant Karkare. Vijay Salaskar. Ashok Kamte. These men who fell to the bullets as terror raised its ugly head again in Mumbai, were all professionals highly specialized in their chosen filed of law enforcement and were held in high esteem. Hemant Karkare, for instance headed Maharashtras Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), an agency which has topped headlines for reasons right and wrong, in the wake of the now controversial Malegaon blast probe. Salaskar on the other hand belonged to the Mumbais very own group of untouchables who won accolades for their much-publicised encounter killings targeting wanted gangsters and criminals.
However, the manner in which these officers were targeted and killed by the terrorists in Wednesday nights attack raises an important question: Was there a preplanned and premeditated move to eliminate these men who mattered in Maharashtras security and law enforcement apparatus, as part of plain revenge? Or was it just a matter of collateral damage, whereby they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
It is in this context that the e-mail sent by the terror group Indian Mujahideen assumes serious proportions. "If this is the degree your arrogance has reached, and if you think that by these stunts you can scare us, then let the Indian Mujahideen warn all the people of Mumbai that whatever deadly attacks Mumbaikars will face in future, their responsibility would lie with the Mumbai ATS and their guardians," read the e-mail.
"You are already on our hit list and this time very, very seriously," said the vitriolic mail sent in September. The group which has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks throughout 2008; it had further accused the Mumbai police of harassing Muslims and also claimed responsibility for a number of 2008 bomb attacks throughout India, which killed at least 130 people.
Terror strikes Mumbai again
An offshoot of the banned SIMI (the Students Islamic Movement) group, Indian Mujahideens relationship with the Deccan Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for the 26/11 attack is unclear as yet.
The IM seems to have been incensed by the tactics adopted by the ATS during its investigations; the agency was warned that "You ( the ATS) should know that your acts are not at all unnoticed; we are keeping an eye on you and just waiting for the right time to execute bloodshed. We are aware of your recent raids at Ansarnagar, Mograpada in Andheri and the harassment and trouble you created for the Muslims."
Four top police officers killed in Mumbai
"You threatened to murder them and you even misbehaved with the Muslim women and children," the e-mail alleged.
So has the Indian Mujahideen put its ominous September warning into effect? Is the Deccan Mujahideena new group altogether? Or is it the good old Indian Mujahideen masquerading as Deccan Mujahideen?
All, questions worth mulling, even as Mumbai struggles to cope with the dead and injured, whose toll continues to mount.
