Delhi: Slain Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad in his book titled 'Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taleban -- beyond bin Laden and 9/11' describes the Mumbai plan as one pushed through by Ilyas Kashmiri, a key al-Qaida ally with wide links with the Pakistan defence establishment. Shahzad, who was an authority on terrorism in Afghanistan and the neighbourhood, says in the book that the plan was authored by the Inter-Services Intelligence officers and embraced and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
ISI is the least of India's problem according to a Arundhati Roy.
In an opinion piece for
The Guardian (13 December 2008), Roy argued that the
November 2008 Mumbai attacks cannot be seen in isolation, but must be understood in the context of wider issues in the region's history and society such as widespread poverty, the
Partition of India (which Roy calls "Britain's final, parting kick to us"), the atrocities committed during the
2002 Gujarat violence, and the ongoing
conflict in Kashmir. Despite this call for context, Roy states clearly in the article that she believes "nothing can justify terrorism" and calls terrorism "a heartless ideology." Roy warns against war with Pakistan, arguing that it is hard to "pin down the provenance of a terrorist strike and isolate it within the borders of a single nation state", and that war could lead to the "descent of the whole region into chaos".
[41] Her remarks were strongly criticized by
Salman Rushdie and others, who condemned her for linking the Bombay attacks with
Kashmir and economic injustice against Muslims in India;
[42] Rushdie specifically criticized Roy for attacking the iconic status of the
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower.
[43] Indian writer
Tavleen Singh called Roy's comments "he latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian."
[44]
So please look in the mirror before you blame all your problems on ISI and Pakistan.
