The US considers India as a “strategic ally” while Pakistan is treated as a “hired gun”, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said, as he blamed President Asif Ali Zardari for not daring to upset New Delhi for its alleged involvement in terror attacks in the country. Khan has said that Zardari does not want to “ruffle any feathers in New Delhi” or blame India for being “involved through Afghanistan in terrorist attacks in Pakistan.” “He (Zardari) doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers in New Delhi. He basically does what Americans want him to do. He is petrified of anything where he would get Americans upset,” Khan said.

Khan noted that the Inspector General of Police of the North West Frontier Province had publicly stated that there was an “Indian hand” in a recent suicide attack in Peshawar. “Yet Zardari didn’t utter a word. Well, India and America (have a) strategic alliance. India is considered a long-term strategic ally while Pakistan really is a hired gun and Zardari is a hired gun, petrified of saying something. And so he (Zardari) is scared of blaming India when the other government functionaries keep saying that India is involved through Afghanistan in terrorist attacks in Pakistan,” Khan told his biographer Frank Huzur in an interview.

Over the past few weeks, top Pakistani leaders have claimed that India is fomenting unrest in different parts of the country. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said evidence about India’s alleged role in such activities will be made public at the appropriate time. India has dismissed these allegations as baseless. The chief of the Pakistan Tekrik-e-Insaf party, who recently offered to media between the government and militants, said he did not care if his opponents labelled him as “pro-Taliban” or “anti-terrorist.” “I pity the understanding of my opponents and political adversaries. It doesn’t make any difference whatever opponents think.

My vision is clear. I want to see a sovereign Pakistan. The government is fighting an American war for a fistful of dollars. We are earning blood money,” he said. “If my party comes to power, I will make sure these people are punished so that nobody ever repeats these offences. The military operations produce militants,” Khan told Huzur, whose “Imran Versus Imran An Untold Story” is scheduled to be published next year. Khan also dismissed media reports about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

“New Delhi should stop worrying about such eventualities and repose faith in the gallantry of Pakistan Army to defend its precious assets. There is no threat to our nukes, either from within as touted in certain quarters as from extremist elements or sympathisers of the Taliban in rank and file of the army. The Pakistan Army is not only moderate, it is also secular in its outlook,” he said. He claimed there is a growing perception in the Pakistani public that the “Indian government is fuelling militancy and encouraging terrorists a lot of suicide attacks, whereas our army and police believes Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan are carrying out these attacks.

But civilians believe Indians are behind the attacks. It is unfortunate such sentiments have set in. However, India is more popular on Pakistani streets than America today.” Asked if India-Pakistan relations will improve in the next five to 10 years, Khan replied, “I can’t say, but first the war on terror should be resolved. There will be no movement forward without resolving some core disputes. First, the Kashmir issue must be resolved. And, it must be resolved through dialogue with India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership on the table. I don’t believe in military solutions.” He added: “India today feels Pakistan is at the weakest, so they are pushing hard. They think this is the time to corner Pakistan and get maximum concessions out of Islamabad. The basis of all terrorism is all political. There will be another Hafiz Saeed unless we resolve political issues.”

What drives a terrorist to indulge in mindless massacre of innocent people without batting an eyelid? This question still haunts the mind of 16-year-old Arshiya Mittal, a survivor of 26/11 terror attacks.

“A person has to believe there is no goodness left in him or in the world for him to go on a killing spree. I believe
every person is born good and so the terrorist in a person has to be killed rather than killing the person,” Arshiya, who was at the Hotel Taj on the fateful night, said.

The 26/11 attacks that left behind a trail of death and destruction has changed Arshiya’s perception about the metropolis. “Before 26/11, Mumbai was just one of my favourite cities in the world, but after the attack it became my dear home.”

Arshiya, along with her mother and cousin, was dining at the Wasabi restaurant in Taj on the night of November 26 when a group of backpack-toting terrorists struck at the iconic building in South Mumbai.

“Every Mumbaikar changed from being just another inhabitant to being a part of a joint family during and after the attack,” she said.

Arshiya and her family was rescued from the hotel within six hours of the attack, but she feels sad about those who perished in the mayhem unleashed by the terrorists.

Mumbai police sources on Friday (November 13) revealed that David Coleman Headley, arrested by the FBI for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror attacks in India, met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives Fahim Ansai, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal during his visit to the city prior to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Sources added that both Tahawwur Rana and Headley had strong links with Indian Mujahideen’s top brass, including Saddiq, who is currently in the custody of Mumbai police for his alleged involvement in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts. Sources said that both Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal are absconding and are believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Investigations conducted by the Mumbai police have also revealed the Indian Mujahideen’s link is traced back to top LeT commanders in India and Pakistan.

Fahim Ansari was a prized catch of the Mumbai police and was arrested from Rampur, UP on the February 10, 2008. Ansari is accused of facilitating the 26/11 terror attack and is said to have been in touch with perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. Detailed maps of the city recovered from this LeT operative, revealed that Ansari conducted recce of areas in Mumbai prior to the attacks.

Meanwhile, Riyaz and Iqbal are accused for the Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Jaipur serial blasts of 2008. Riyaz is reportedly said to have co-founded the Indian Mujahideen.

Sources within the Mumbai police also revealed that both Headley and Rana came to the city during 2007-09 on several occasions. Sources added that Headley posed as a Jew and tried to befriend Jews in the city. He is also said to have done a recce of Jews installations in Mumbai. This bit of information is been seen as a breakthrough in the 26/11 case, after the Jewish Chabad House in Colaba was attacked by two terrorists during the dastardly terror strike, which killed over 160 people.

Incidentally, when Headley was arrested, the FBI recovered from him a copy of a book — How To Pray Like a Jew — indicating the level of preparation he undertook while visiting his targets. Headley might have carried this book even when he was in Mumbai for a recce of Chabad House.

The FBI has been trying to find out whether Headley and his accomplice Rana, also arrested in the US, were involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and whether handlers of the duo and attackers of Mumbai were same. “The process of verification on his (Headley) visit to India between 2006-09 was on and we will be able to give a clear picture only after a week,” an official said.

During his stay in Mumbai, Headley used to reside at various places. During his last visit, he had stayed in a hotel in south Mumbai near CST. Mumbai Police had already approached the hotel seeking information like his entries in the register and on the people who used to frequent him during his stay.

The 49-year-old Headley was arrested last month at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel to Pakistan. FBI also arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, for his alleged involvement in terror activities.