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Why India must step up its global campaign to nail Pak-sponsored terror

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 Nov 30: The 14th anniversary of the gruesome Mumbai terror attacks has gone by without its perpetrators being brought to justice. Those massacred belonged to many nationalities, including 6 Americans, yet Pakistan has escaped international pressure to try those involved in planning and committing this heinous crime. A Pakistani, Ajmal Kasab, was caught, tried and hanged, providing proof of Pakistani complicity. India was counselled, as usual, to show restraint and not retaliate by the US, the EU and Russia too, because of concerns of a conflict between two nuclear powers.

It is ironical that the nuclear overhang is not a matter of concern today when a proxy war in Ukraine is being openly conducted by the world’s pre-eminent nuclear war, the US, against Russia, a peer nuclear power, seemingly unmindful of it potentially escalating to a nuclear level. Ukraine’s leader has asked for a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Russia, without causing a public storm in the West. There is loose talk in the West about Russia using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine as a viable option. The nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia is being shelled, raising the possibility of nuclear contamination, but Ukraine is being sheltered from any responsibility by the West as not doing so would compel a change in the present narrative that paints Putin as the unqualified villain and Zelensky as the unvarnished hero.

Under the cloak of nuclear-related concerns the West has sought to dissuade India from reacting strongly to Pakistan’s terrorist attacks and give a protective cover to that country as a result of a historical bias in its favour and continuing geopolitical interests there. The West has always pushed for dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries. For long, the West, without saying so too openly, has viewed Pakistan’s use of terrorism as a consequence of the unresolved Kashmir issue, implying that it had a cause. This was a way to obfuscate the terrorism issue, give it some “legitimacy” by linking it to the Kashmir issue, on which the West still equivocates.

This is apparent from the statements by German Foreign Minister Baerbok in June and October this year in the company of her Pakistani counterpart to the effect that the UN must ensure human rights in Kashmir and that Germany had a role and responsibility in addressing the Kashmir issue with the involvement of the UN. More recently, the UK Minister of State in the Foreign Office in a debate initiated by a Pakistani origin peer in the House of Lords said that the Kashmir issue should be resolved between India and Pakistan “taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” This are code words for self-determination, implying that the issue of sovereignty over Kashmir is still open. Aware that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir has been the staging ground for Pakistani terrorism against India, the US ambassador to Pakistan recently visited what he called “Azad Kashmir”.

In the case of the US, its war on terror in our region has been full of contradictions and compromises. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on its soil the US attacked Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban government. It acknowledged but overlooked the safe havens and support Pakistan gave to the Taliban in its bid to take over power in Afghanistan with the liberal use of the arm of terrorism. Eventually, with Pakistan’s assistance the Americans entered into negotiations with the very Taliban that they had ousted years earlier, unchanged in their Islamist ideology and practices. The US, despite its global combat against Al Qaida, preferred to overlook the fact that Pakistan had sheltered Osama bin Laden for several years. The US had called the Haqqani group as a veritable arm of the ISI and now that group is in charge of the security in Kabul. The decision by the US to grant $450 million to Pakistan to upgrade its F 16s for counter-terrorism purposes – which our External Affairs Minister has dismissed as a valid explanation- indicates the complexity of the challenge India faces from Pakistan’s terrorist affiliations.

The Indian government in power when 26/11 occurred not only shied away from imposing a deserving cost on Pakistan, it resumed the comprehensive dialogue with it after a few months, showing weakness in signaling that it saw no choice but to engage Pakistan. This emboldened Pakistan to conduct more terrorist attacks against India in the following years, which continued till the present government, which initially also explored the possibility of reaching some understanding with Pakistan on abjuring terrorism as a weapon against India, but then conducted surgical strikes inside Pok after the Uri attack and after Pulwama inside Pakistan as a warning that India would henceforth retaliate forcefully against any terrorist attacks.

India has since then pursued a pro-active policy in raising its concerns about terrorism bilaterally with partners and in all multilateral forums, with some gains as the phrase “cross border terrorism” has figured in our joint statements with many countries, and LeT, JeM, HuM and other jihadi organisations have been identified as terrorist organisations. Some have been included in the UN list of terrorists, but some key figures have not been because of China’s obstructionism. China, which never condemned the 2008 Mumbai attacks, protects Pakistan on the issue of terrorism by lauding its combat against it and incurring costs as a result.

Through the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which sets standards and seeks to promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing etc, Pakistan has been subjected to pressure by its inclusion in the grey list of countries that do not adequately comply with these standards and measures. In its precarious financial situation when it needs IMF financing etc, it has been compelled to satisfy the FATF on several parameters for meriting removal from the grey list. It has jailed Hafiz Saeed and some others for terror financing but not for 26/11, which means that he and others have escaped trial for master minding the Mumbai attacks, a trial that would have revealed the identity of all those in the Pakistan establishment involved in them. Pakistan has thus escaped real accountability.

In October, Pakistan was removed form the grey list. India reminded the global community that it was in its interest that Pakistan continued to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terror financing emanating from territories under its control. Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list twice before and was removed despite maintaining its terrorist infrastructure. With the radicalisation that has occurred in Pakistan, visible in the street power of the Islamist groups that the political establishment has not been able to handle without compromises, and which is now being mobilised by Imran Khan, it would be a leap of faith to believe that the extremist groups well integrated with the society at large in Pakistan would give up their vocation for jihad and not raise funds for that purpose.

With India still serving its term on it, the UN Security Council held a Special Meeting of its Counter Terrorism Committee in India on October 28/29. India did well to expose the Committee to the 26/11 attacks in a programme in Mumbai, including exchanges with those that lived through that horror. It reminded the Committee members of the need to bring to justice the perpetrators who remain protected and unpunished (a reference to Pakistan), as well as the inability of the UN to act in some cases because of political considerations ( a reference to China). India conveyed a message on issues that still need addressing: terrorism still gets the necessary financial resources to thrive, UN efforts need to be coordinated with the FATF and the Egmont Group, the Security Council sanctions regime should function transparently and effectively on the listing of terrorist groups etc.

India rightly drew attention to the misuse of the emerging technologies by non-state actors and “lone wolf attackers” for terrorism purposes. These have thrown up new challenges for the governments and regulatory bodies. The internet and social media platforms have become potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist groups along with the use of unmanned aerial systems against strategic infrastructure and commercial assets. In Punjab we have seen Pakistan using drones to drop weapons and drugs across the border. The Delhi Declaration of October 29 expresses these concerns in the context of the need to counter the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.

The cause of justice in the case of 26/11 was not served by India itself by resuming our dialogue with Pakistan despite those abominable attacks, the conspiracy theories that sections of our political class in India built around what happened, the equivocation of the West on taking Pakistan to task for its own geopolitical interests and the fact that India itself seemed reconciled to what it suffered by re-engaging Pakistan, and China’s double dealing on terrorism issues in support of Pakistan.

India is doing well, however, to keep drawing the attention of the international community to the threat of terrorism, even as Pakistan seems off the hook on the issue with its changed ties with the US, outreach to it by Russia and support of China, and with the “war on terror” now off the US agenda. India remains vulnerable with Pakistan and a Talibanised Afghanistan next door, not to mention the emergence of the Islamic State elements there. By maintaining the focus on terrorism India is indirectly maintaining pressure on Pakistan to contain its terrorist proclivities.

(Kanwal Sibal is India’s former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Russia. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative)

Crime

CBI books ex-SBI branch manager in Assam for illegal assets of Rs 80 lakh

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CBI

New Delhi, June 30: The CBI has booked a former manager of the State Bank of India branch in Assam for possessing allegedly illegal assets worth over Rs 80 lakh, an official said on Monday.

Pinku Kumar, former Branch Manager, SBI, Ramkrishnanagar Branch, Karimganj, is also facing a separate investigation over his alleged collusion in a multi-crore scam involving sanction of loans using forged documents, the official said.

CBI’s Shillong-based Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered the latest Disproportionate Assets case against Pinku Kumar on June 27 after receiving a complaint from a preliminary investigator.

The complaint alleged commission of criminal misconduct by Pinku Kumar while intentionally enriching himself illicitly, during the check period from April 1, 2019 to March 27, 2025.

During this period, he was found in possession of pecuniary resources/property, disproportionate to his known sources of income which he cannot satisfactorily account for, to the tune of Rs 99.20 lakh -(81.84 per cent DA), said the CBI FIR filed against the former bank manager.

Taking note of the preliminary probe conducted in the matter of criminal misconduct, the CBI’s FIR said, “The facts mentioned in the aforesaid complaint, prima facie, reveal commission of congnizable offences, punishable under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended 2018) on the part of Pinku Kumar.”

Section 13 of the Act defines various forms of criminal misconduct by public servants. These include actions like abusing their position, misappropriating property, or possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Earlier in March, the CBI booked Pinku Kumar twice in separate corruption cases naming two brokers Sumen Paul and Jadab Paul, along with the former, in each of the cases.

Raids conducted by the federal agency in these two cases led to seizure of 481 grams of gold, 11.11 gram of diamond-studded jewellery and 1,092 gram silver.

The CBI investigation showed that the former bank manager conspired with the two brokers and allegedly approved loans base on forged papers, leading to a loss of crores of rupees to the SBI.

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Kolkata law college rape case: College ignored criminal antecedents of accused

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Kolkata, June 30: As the investigation into the rape of a law student within her college premises at Kasba in South Kolkata, West Bengal, continues, information has surfaced that the said college authorities allegedly ignored criminal antecedents of one of the three prime accused, Monojit Mishra, while giving him contractual employment.

Sources said Mishra originally got admission for the LLB course in the same college in 2012.

In 2013, he was booked in a police case on charges of hooliganism in the Kalighat area in South Kolkata, in which he chopped off the finger of an individual.

Thereafter, his admission at the same college was cancelled, and he remained absconding and away from the state for over three years. He returned to Kolkata after the case against him was settled and got re-admission at the same college in 2017.

Again in March 2018, two female students of the same college accused him of sexual harassment, following which he was partially suspended for some time from attending the college, except for appearing for examinations. However, somehow the matter against him did not proceed for a long time, and he started attending the college regularly.

In March 2023, he was again accused of sexual harassment by a female student of the college. In December 2023, some students filed a complaint at the local police station, accusing Mishra of entering the college with outsider anti-social elements and beating them up.

Now, questions are being raised about how the college authorities gave him a contractual appointment, ignoring his criminal antecedents.

College insiders said that Mishra happened to be an extremely close confidant of the ruling party MLA, who is also in the governing body of the same college, whom the accused used to address as “uncle”.

Questions have started surfacing on why just “initials” of the three persons accused of raping a law college student in Kolkata were mentioned in the FIR instead of full names.

The names of the three accused are Monojit Mishra, Jaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, all linked to the Trinamool Congress’ student wing, Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

However, in the FIR registered in the case, the three accused persons were referred to as “M”, “J” and “P”.

While the leaders of the opposition parties claim that this mention of just the initials of the three accused in the FIR was done deliberately by the cops to conceal the fact that the accused persons were linked to TMCP, even legal experts feel that in this case, there was no reason for the police to mention just the initials instead of the names.

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Human rights body condemns rape of Hindu woman by local politician in Bangladesh

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Dhaka, June 30: In yet another disturbing incident of violence on minorities and the atrocities against women in Bangladesh, a Hindu woman was brutally gang raped in her own home in the Cumilla district, while her attackers filmed the assault and circulated the footage, a human rights body said on Monday.

So far, five accused have been arrested, including the main accused, Fajar Ali, who is a politician of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) said that the culprits circulated the video of the brutal assault “like a war trophy.”

“On the night of June 26, 2025, a Hindu woman in Muradnagar, Cumilla District, endured one of the most brutal forms of violence imaginable: her home was forcibly invaded, her dignity shattered, and her trauma recorded and circulated like a war trophy. She was gang raped by multiple assailants, her cries echoing through the silence of a country that has, for decades, looked away from the suffering of its most vulnerable,” read a statement issued by the HRCBM.

The human rights organisation also mentioned that the law enforcement officials failed to arrange a mandatory medical examination, delayed filing her First Information Report (FIR) until June 29, and later deflected blame by claiming it was “up to her” to pursue medical treatment.

The HRCBM mentioned that the critical delays in filing the FIR, failure to conduct a medical examination within the first 24 hours, and a dismissive attitude toward the survivor’s rights point to “systemic negligence,” adding that suggesting the survivor should arrange her own medical exam represented a “gross violation of procedural and ethical standards.”

The human rights body also said that despite public pressure and “media manipulation by Islamist groups portraying the crime as consensual,” one primary perpetrator and several accomplices involved in the distribution of the assault video were eventually arrested. However, several others remain at large.

The HRCBM asserted that in video statements received by the organisation from members of the local Muslim community, some of them were attempting to “downplay” the incident and “protect” the primary accused, Fajar Ali, and his gang — despite the “brutal nature of the assault.”

Such actions by community actors, it further stated, “obstruct justice and enable the normalisation of gender-based violence against minorities.”

“This incident is not isolated. It is a horrific example of an entrenched pattern in Bangladesh where minority women are routinely targeted, raped, abducted, forcibly converted, and shamed into silence,” it said.

According to the HRCBM, since April 2025 alone, 13 gang rape cases have been recorded in Cumilla District involving Hindu women. Additionally, across the country, reports of headless bodies, mass abductions, and forced conversions of young minority girls are rising at an alarming pace.

“Families now contact HRCBM regularly, pleading to rescue their daughters,” said the human rights organisation.

The HRCBM also criticised the mainstream Bangladeshi media for its largely silent response. They noted that the Muradnagar case, similar to many others, would likely have been “buried under layers of political denial and communal pressure” if it weren’t for the viral circulation of the assault video, which compelled public and institutional attention.

The HRCBM is preparing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a judicial inquiry into the condition of minority women and girls in Bangladesh.

At the same time, it called upon the international community — UN agencies, human rights defenders, and global civil society — to support its efforts, pressure the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, and push for accountability mechanisms.

Condemning the horrific incident, Bangladesh Students League President Saddam Hussain said that in a country that increasingly resembles a “fascist Islamist regime,” the cries of women and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh continue to go unheard.

He stressed that each passing day brings another chilling tale of “temples desecrated, families displaced, and daughters brutalised.”

“The latest horror comes from Cumilla, where a young Hindu mother of two was raped at knifepoint by Fazar Ali and others. He is reported to be an active member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a party which has a long and controversial history regarding its treatment of religious minorities,” he said in a post on X.

“Her ordeal didn’t end there; they filmed the assault and continued to beat her mercilessly. The video, too disturbing to share, stands as a grim testament to the escalating violence and persecution faced by Hindu women and minorities in Bangladesh,” he said in a post on X.

“Her only crime: being a Hindu woman in a land where religious identity has become a target. As the nation turns a blind eye and justice remains elusive, the question lingers: How long will the Hindu community and women in Bangladesh be forced to live in fear? How much more must they endure before the world pays attention?” the post added.

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