India This Week

Ghost Terrorist, Done in by Friends; Woman Power Drives DMK in Delhi; Ground The Scaremongers: It’s About Time; Time to put the UPA House in Order

The man who was dubbed ‘Ghost Terrorist’ in Kashmir, has finally met his nemesis. Top militant commander Basharat Saleem, who managed to escape repeatedly from police cordons in the past few months, was finally killed along the Line of Control. While a spokesperson of his group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,  said that he was killed in an encounter with the security forces, police sources have told Open that he was killed by militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. A top police source claimed that he was killed on the directions of a prominent Valley-based separatist leader who didn’t like Saleem’s interference in the flow of funds from across the border. Apparently, Saleem had earlier killed a man who used to bring money for the separatist leader. Upon refusal to part with a share of that money, Saleem “bumped him off”, as the police source puts it. This angered the separatist leader so much that he got in touch with Muzafarrabad-based Hizbul Supreme Commander Syed Salahuddin, whose cadre finally killed Saleem. “They cut him into pieces,” says the police source.

Saleem, a computer enginneer, shot into prominence after he came in touch with top militants in Kashmir, including Kari Umar Inquillabi alias Mast Gul, the former chief of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir, who was later killed by the security forces. Responsible for the killing of scores of policemen and CRPF personnel, Basharat was also the mastermind behind the fidayeen attack in Srinagar in January this year. Immediately after this attack, he managed to escape the police dragnet many times, and had become a major headache for the security agencies. But now, with Saleem dead, and that too at the hands of his ‘friends’, the police is now concentrating on the remaining ‘small fish.’

Actress Khushboo sprung a surprise when she ditched the Congress to join the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK). Not long ago, Khushboo had claimed to being a huge fan of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi; and that her family had been voting Congress for several decades. The Congress was looking to regain a mass base in Tamil Nadu by roping in Khushboo and Tamil action hero Vijay. The action hero is yet to make up his mind though he occasionally visits Rahul Gandhi. The mass appeal of cine stars has translated into political power on numerous instances in the southern state. But Karunanidhi is unlikely to confine Khushboo (a North Indian by birth) to Tamil Nadu. She is likely to soon become a Rajya Sabha MP and public face of the DMK in New Delhi. The party desperately needs a person in Delhi who is fluent in English and Hindi. Dayanidhi Maran cannot fulfil this role as he is still out of favour with many members of Karunanidhi’s family. A Raja will have to keep a low profile because of the spectrum scam. MK Alagiri, the CM’s son and a Union minister, speaks little Hindi or English. The mantle, therefore, now falls on Kanimozhi and Khushboo—both of whom count their command over languages as their main weapon—to voice DMK’s point of view in Delhi.Khushboo’s move has ruffled not just the Congress. Jaya TV, the Tamil channel aligned to the AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa, has decided not to telecast Jackpot, a popular game show anchored by Khushboo.

Maulana Nur-ul Huda should have been delivering a lecture at a seminar in London where he was headed. Instead, he landed in the custody of Delhi Police and subsequently in Tihar jail.

All this, because of a paranoid co-passenger on the flight to London and an insensitive police force. Huda, who runs Farooqiya Madrasa in Deoband, was on an Emirates flight to London. A woman on the flight told the crew that she overheard a ‘dangerous conversation’ Huda was having on the phone. The police maintain the woman complained that Huda was talking on his phone about blowing up the craft in 15 minutes, while the latter maintains that he was only saying that the flight would take off in 15 minutes. In Urdu, as in Hindi, you would use the same phrase: jahaz udaane lage hain, to say ‘about to fly the plane’ or ‘about to blow up the plane.’ 

On the basis of this complaint, the police arrested the cleric on suspicion of being a terrorist. Later, the charges were dropped when the police found nothing. But this was not before the man had spent 30 hours in jail.

Back home in Saharanpur, Huda told TV reporters: “Nowadays, people are very suspicious of someone having a beard and wearing a skullcap.” 

The woman who raised an alarm we know nothing of. The police did not bother to verify whether it was paranoia, or plain mischief. The police had charged Huda under Sections 505 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code for ‘creating rumour resulting in public nuisance’ and ‘wrongfully restraining a person’. 

Ironically, as the case unfolded, it became clear that Huda was the victim of the acts mentioned in the two sections.

Earlier this month, a Dhaka bound flight made an emergency landing in Kolkata after a hijack scare. The basis for the scare was again unfounded fear. SpiceJet officials said the marshall on the flight suspected a burkha-clad woman of being a man, which led to the scare. Obviously, the woman (who the flight official suspected was a man) had entered the plane after security checks at the airport. The case is plain and simple. It is not possible for a man dressed as a woman to go past security checks, so the marshal was either an overzealous imbecile or a liar. Either way, the woman in the burkha in particular and the passengers on the craft suffered. The marshal was obviously the man to be taken to task in this case. We’d do well to remember that in the fight against terror, it is just as necessary to deal emphatically with such alarmists and their biases.

As the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government gears up to celebrate its first year of office in its second term, the ministerial indiscipline seems to be getting worse.  Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s assertion as to why she should stay in the capital while Kolkata is her ‘homeland’ is just another reflection of the lacklustre manner the Union Council of Ministers has been functioning ever since the UPA began its second stint last year.

“Delhi is not my home. When there is no Parliament session, why should I stay in Delhi? Kolkata is my homeland. Parliament is not on. I have no work in Delhi. Why should I go there?” asked Banerjee on 17 May in Kolkata, trying to justify her periods of absence from the capital. She was responding to the attack launched by the opposition for being missing in action as a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station saw two being killed and eight injured.

That Parliament meets in sessions but ministries function on a regular basis is not something a minister has to be taught. This only shows Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s weakening grip over his council of ministers.

Banerjee, however, is not the only minister taking her executive responsibilities casually. Union Fertiliser Minister MK Alagiri has hardly taken any interest in the functioning of his ministry or even Parliament. His absenteeism has, by now, become notorious.

No better are Jairam Ramesh, Kapil Sibal and A Raja—all of whom have been in thenews mainly for negative reasons in the handling of their respective ministries. Shashi Tharoor was shown the door, but much needs to be done to put the UPA’s house in order.

Basharat SaleemDMKKhushbooMamata BanerjeeMaulana Nur-ul Huda