IS ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI ALIVE? ISIS RELEASES AUDIO CLIP, PURPORTEDLY OF ITS LEADER

The article originally appeared on India Today on September 29.

Al-Furqan, the media wing of the terrorist group ISIS, has released an 46-minute long audio clip purported to be of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The emergence of the clip contradicts Russian claims that Baghdadi was killed in an air strike in May, claims that many - including US Defence Secretary James Mattis - denied.

Although a Reuters report said the audio was undated, the references made in it - to the North Korean nuclear crisis and to the Islamic State's defeat in Mosul (in July) - suggest that it was recorded recently.

Rita Katz, the director of SITE Intelligence Group, thinks the man in the clip is Baghdadi.

Rita Katz ✔@Rita_Katz

3) Voice definitely sounds to be #Baghdadi's based off of his speeches released previously pic.twitter.com/p3qHQuMeCI

10:01 PM - Sep 28, 2017

Katz said in a series of tweets that Baghdadi can be heard "rallying his supporters inside and outside of ISIS territory," and demanding that "lives in Mosul, Sirte, Raqqa, Ramadi and Hama not be lost in vain."  She also quotes him as saying that America is "mired in huge debt and has become politically and militarily ineffective on the world stage."

Rita Katz ✔@Rita_Katz

8) #Baghdadi further states: “…#America, #Europe, and #Russia are living in a state of terror...fearing the strikes of the mujahideen

10:21 PM - Sep 28, 2017

According to a report in The Telegraph, Baghdadi said "the US was no longer the world's only superpower and gave North Korea's threats as evidence of American decline, as well as Russia's domination of Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan."

A Middle East Eye report said Baghdadi "spent more than half of the clip discussing an ideological debate inside ISIS and pleaded with Syrian opposition groups to stop working with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, countries which have provided support to anti-Assad Islamist rebel groups."

On the Western media, he said, "Oh soldiers of Islam in every location, increase blow after blow, and make the media centres of the infidels, and where they wage their intellectual wars, among your targets."

©SantoshChaubey

BAGHDADI IS ALIVE? ISIS RELEASES AN AUDIO CLAIMED TO BE BAGHDADI'S

In what looks to be an effort to end the speculation going on around death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Russian strike and to boost up the morale of its cadres and supporters, al-Furqan, the media wing of the world’s most dreaded terror outfit Islamic State (ISIS), has released an audio clip claiming to be Baghdadi’s latest message. Baghdadi’s last recorded message came in November last year when the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS was in initial stages.

And if we go by references made in the 46 minute long audio clip, it seems to be a recent one, especially with categorical mention of the North Korean nuclear issue. He can also be heard speaking about ISIS loss in Mosul. Iraqi forces won the ISIS stronghold in Iraq in July so we can say that the clip was recorded within the last three months.

It also counters the Russian claims that it killed Baghdadi in an air strike in May this year. The Russian claim came in July but was rejected by many including US Defence Secretary James Mattis who said Baghdadi was alive.

Also, according to Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, based on Baghdadi’s previous recordings, the voice in the latest ISIS release definitely sounds to be of him. The speech was titled “Sufficient Is Your Lord As A Guide And A Helper.”

Rita Katz‏ @Rita_Katz

3) Voice definitely sounds to be #Baghdadi's based off of his speeches released previously

10:01 PM - 28 Sep 2017

Rita Katz‏ @Rita_Katz

1) BREAKING: #ISIS releases speech by leader Baghdadi, titled, "Sufficient Is Your Lord As A Guide And A Helper." Last speech issued Nov2016

9:13 PM - 28 Sep 2017

Her Twitter thread on the purported audio clip says Baghdadi can be heard trying to “rally his supporters inside and outside of ISIS territory, demanding that lives in Mosul, Sirte, Raqqa, Ramadi and Hama not be lost in vain.” In an effort to boost up the morale of his fighters, he says that America, Europe and Russia and are living in constant fear of Mujahideen attacks.

He also says in the clip that American weakness has given Russia Syria’s control and America is “mired in huge debt and has become politically and militarily ineffective on the world stage.” A different report in The Telegraph quoted Baghdadi saying “the US was no longer the world’s only superpower and gave North Korea’s threats as evidence of American decline, as well as Russia’s domination of Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan.”

The Middle East Eye in its report on the audio clip said, “Baghdadi spent more than half of the clip discussing an ideological debate inside ISIS and pleaded with Syrian opposition groups to stop working with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, countries’ which have provided support to anti-Assad Islamist rebel groups.”

Baghdadi also threatened media outfits terming them disbelievers. 

Rita Katz‏ @Rita_Katz

12)Critical: #Baghdadi urges #ISIS attackers to target “disbeliever media centers &headquarters of their ideological wars"&"scholars of sin"

10:38 PM - 28 Sep 2017

©SantoshChaubey

CHINA IS NOW FORCING UIGHUR MUSLIMS TO SURRENDER THEIR QURAN COPIES

According to Daily Mail, China has taken its crackdown on the ethnic Muslims of its border province of Xinjiang to a whole new level, targeting now even the personal religious space in the intimacy of their houses. The Xinjiang region, China's westernmost province that borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, is home to some 11 million Uighur Muslims and other small groups of ethnic Muslims among Tajik, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Mongolian communities.

The Chinese authorities of the province are forcing the Muslims to handover the copies of Quran, Islam's central religious text, and any other related religious symbol the Daily Mail report says.

What is more disturbing is the fact that the order also includes to surrender even the prayer mats that are used to offer Namaaz (prayer). The warnings are being issued in neighbourhoods, in mosques and through social media platforms like WeChat and non-compliance means harsh punishment.

Chinese authorities of the region earlier this year started a campaign 'Three Illegals and One Item' to confiscate illegal religious items. Quran copies more than five year old were being seized as authorities blamed them of having extremist content. And now this new order means a blanket ban on all Koran copies.

"Officials at village, township and county level are confiscating all Quran and the special mats used for Namaaz", the Radio Free Asia (RFA) wrote on which the Daily Mail report based.

Dilxat Raxit, World Uighur Congress' spokesman, told RFA that "reports have emerged from Kashgar, Hotan and other regions of similar practices starting last week that every single ethnic Uighur must hand in to authorities any Islam-related items from their own home, including Qurans, prayer mats and anything else bearing the symbols of religion otherwise there will be harsh punishment."

China has already banned its civil servants in the region from taking part in religious activities, even if it means fasting during Ramadan, a ban that was extended to students as well. Muslim attire like veils and religious symbols like keeping beard are already banned and authorities regularly come up with lists of overly religious and splittist Muslim names for newborns to be banned.

In April this year, authorities came up with a “List of Banned Ethnic Minority Names” that asked the Muslim parents to desist from choosing names like Muhammad, Medina, Mecca, Islam, Quran, Imam, Hajj, Jihad, Arafat and Mujahid. The directive banned over two dozen such names which could be used to fan religious and divisive agenda.

The list further expanded the one notified in 2015 which banned names like Saddam, Hussein, Laden, Fatima, Amanet, Muslime among others. The directive didn’t stop at naming the newborns only. It further said, “If your family has circumstances like this, you should change your child’s name.”

The authorities at that time had issued a warning that the Muslim families not complying with this directive would not get ‘hukou’, the registration of their households that gives them access to state benefits of childcare, health, education and employment.

Xinjiang, China’s North-western province, that is also known as Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, borders eight countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. It came on the radar of the Chinese authorities, especially after the widespread riots in its capital city Urumqi in July 2009 between the Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese that saw around 200 dead and some 2000 injured. Ethnic Han Chinese are around 40 percent of Xinxiang’s population.

China considers Islamic terrorism emanating from Xinjiang destructive enough to become a full blown separatist movement and does all to curb its spread, especially after reports that the Islamic State (ISIS) is eyeing the region to recruit fighters and expand its base.

According to Amnesty International, mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, disappearances, shooting and torture followed the Urumqi riots. China maintains a strong vigil in the region with large rallies of security forces to intimidate the minds who dare to think otherwise.

©SantoshChaubey

MATTER OF SHORT TIME BEFORE NORTH KOREA IS ABLE TO NUKE US: PENTAGON

The article originally appeared on India Today.

A top US General has said that in a very short time North Korea would be able to attack the US mainland with its nuclear weapons.

During a Congressional hearing of the Armed Services Committee of the US Senate, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford said that North Korea is now capable of launching a nuclear attack on the United States.

"It is the US military's judgement that it is a matter of a "very short time" before North Korea is able to attack the US", a report quoted him saying. Dunford informed the Congress that as North Korea has ratcheted up its war rhetoric to unprecedented levels, the US should plan accordingly.

Dunford, who is a Marine Corps General, added that the US Defence establishment is deploying 21 more missile interceptors in addition to 44 already in place and has spruced up intelligence on North Korea. While saying so, Dunford said that despite escalating its war rhetoric, North Korea has not changed its military posturing and the US forces are watching it closely.

While speaking at the UNGA on September 19, Trump warned that if the United States was forced to defend itself or its allies, it would have no choice but to totally annihilate North Korea adding that the Rocket Man was on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.

ROCKET-MAN WHO?

Trump invented the term 'Rocket Man' to describe Kim Jong-Un after a series of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea under his watch.

In response to Trump's warning, Kim described him as a gangster fond of playing with fire and displaying an unprecedented rude nonsense one had never heard from any of his predecessors.

He further said that Trump was a mentally deranged dotard, a frightened dog who barked louder and North Korea knew how to tame him. Kim concluded his statement by saying that the North Korean fire would surely and definitely tame Donald Trump. The country later also warned that it may soon detonate its most powerful hydrogen bomb yet over the Pacific.

This prompted Trump to term Kim a madman. He said that Kim Jong-Un was a madman who didn't mind starving or killing his own people and for his acts he would be tested and punished like never before. Trump further added that de-nuclearisation was the only acceptable future of North Korea and later on signed an Executive Order imposing more sanctions on the nation.

Earlier this month, on September 3, North Korea had detonated a hydrogen bomb in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date and Pyongyang had warned of more 'gift packages' for Washington which came true when it test fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on September 15.

©SantoshChaubey

TRUMP'S NEW TRAVEL BAN IS AS CONVOLUTED AS THE PREVIOUS ONE

As he had 'amply indicated' while reacting after the terror attack on London Tube or the city's rapid transit system on September 15, he is now there, well in advance, with new and 'tougher' version of his government's favourite but highly controversial policy decision.

Trump, though had denounced the terror attack and the attackers, he made his intentions clear when he went on defaming the London Police for being inactive and made a pitch for his government’s controversial travel ban plan that puts restrictions on migrants and refugees from some Muslim majority nations.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!

4:24 PM - Sep 15, 2017

Unlike its previous version, Donald Trump's new travel ban will now target two more countries - Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Libya are the old targets with new addition of Chad, North Korea and Venezuela while Sudan's name has been struck off - and the new, tougher measures will come into effect from October 18.

Chad is again a Muslim country so the number of Muslim countries hasn't come down from the previous tally of six.

The addition of North Korea and Venezuela have both possibilities.  

The US North Korea relations have hit bottom with both countries threatening to wipe out each other. That may be a reason to put North Koreans under travel ban restrictions.

But how many North Koreans really travel to America? The US has no diplomatic relation with North Korea, no embassy, no consulate and the number of travellers between the countries are negligible.

Most North Koreans who end up in the US are those victims who somehow escape its brutal regime and concentration camps. The Trump Administration, in the zeal of its misplaced priorities, is now going to block them.

And Venezuela! The decision to include Venezuela can be termed a political one based on ideological differences. True, Venezuela is going through a phase of unrest with a communist dictator overtaking the country but then Venezuela is not going to be the first dictatorship or communist country the US would snap ties with. China is the biggest example of this dichotomy. The communist dictatorship is the largest trade partner of the US.

That leaves us to the natural conclusion then that the inclusion of North Korea and Venezuela in Trump's scheme of things is just a cosmetic measure that falsely believes that doing so would convince the US courts and opponents  - that the refurbished travel ban is aimed at broadening the travel ban from being exclusively anti-Muslim to anti-terrorism.

But the very inclusion of these two countries raises serious questions that it is again a convoluted version of a convoluted document that owes its origin to a convoluted thought process.

Donald Trump's travel ban plan has always been controversial, right from its first introduction in January.

Following ban by various federal courts, the Trump administration was forced to dilute it but even the diluted version was rejected. It was finally given a go ahead by the US Supreme Court on June 26.

Accordingly, the travel ban plan that expired on September 24 targeted people from six Muslim majority nations for 90 days, i.e., Syria, Libya, Sudan, Iran, Yemen and Somalia. It also put restrictions on all refugees for 120 days that is set to expire on October 24. The next Supreme Court hearing, which will deliberate on the legality of the travel ban plan, is set for October 10.

©SantoshChaubey

PAKISTAN AND TERROR: WHAT MODI GOVERNMENT'S UNGA SPEECHES TELL US SO FAR

The article originally appeared on India Today. 

The four speeches that the Narendra Modi government has delivered from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) clearly tell where it began on Pakistan and where it stands now.

The first one, in September 2014, was addressed to the UNGA by Narendra Modi while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj delivered the other three, including the latest one on September 23, 2017.

And when we go through them for the Pakistan specific portions, we can clearly see a trend - that how India first gave its rogue neighbour a chance to mend its ways and stop sponsoring terror into India - and then how it was compelled to take a tough, non-compromising position after seeing that Pakistan was beyond redemption.

After his government's inaugural in May 2014 where Narendra Modi had invited Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif along with other SAARC leaders, he did try and gave Pakistan several chances until January 2016 when terrorists who had come Pakistan attacked Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab.

Though India had cancelled secretary level talks in August 2014 over Pakistan's stubborn attitude to include Kashmiri separatists in bilateral talks, India really never closed the doors until Pathankot happened.

Modi and Sharif met in November 2014 in Kathmandu during the SAARC Summit, then on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Ufa in July 2015, in Paris in November 2015 on the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference and in December 2015 when, in an unprecedented friendly gesture, Narendra Modi took a detour while en route to Delhi from Kabul and landed in Lahore to meet and greet Nawaz Sharif on his birthday on December 25.

And the language of Modi's UNGA speech on September 27, 2014 reflects that. The speech that mentioned Pakistan four times and terror 18 times said that "Modi was prepared to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in a peaceful atmosphere, without the shadow of terrorism, to promote friendship and cooperation" adding that, "however, Pakistan must also take its responsibility seriously to create an appropriate atmosphere for bilateral dialogue."

India's 2015 speech at the UNGA though put Pakistan directly in the dock for sheltering terrorists and spoke forcefully of Pakistan's illegal occupation of Kashmir, it didn't mention Pakistan more than three times in hopes that sense could still prevail in the mindset of the Pakistani ruling elite. Addressed by Sushma Swaraj on October 1, 2015,  the speech said that "India remained open to dialogue but talks and terror could not go together."

She added in speech where she mentioned terror 19 times, "Let us hold talks at the level of NSAs on all issues connected to terrorism and an early meeting of our Directors General of Military Operations to address the situation on the border. If the response is serious and credible, India is prepared to address all outstanding issues through a bilateral dialogue."

But Pakistan had other evil intentions. So, in spite of Narendra Modi's courageous step to heal India Pakistan ties, it backstabbed India just after a week, when terrorists, suspected to be from the United Jihad Council and Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistan based terror groups, attacked Pathankot Air Force base on January 2, 2016.    

It has been a downward curve in India Pakistan ties since then with relations coming to a freeze. Pakistan's nefarious designs did the same with the Pathankot attack probe like it has done with 2008 Mumbai terror attacks probe - absolutely nothing. Instead, it instigated a new wave of unrest in Kashmir by declaring the terrorist Burhan Wani a martyr and financially and military supporting separatists and terrorists.

The 2016 UNGA speech by Sushma Swaraj on September 26, 2016 that mentioned Pakistan six times bore the signs of frustration and the subsequent realization. The speech summed up India's efforts to reach out to Pakistan, like Modi's gestures, and how Pakistan backstabbed - "And what did we get in return? Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri."

The speech that also mentioned terror 18 times then warned Pakistan in no unclear terms, "My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. Let me state unequivocally that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so."

And 2017 only builds on that realization. Sushma's address to the UNGA on September 23 in New York mentioned Pakistan 16 times and terror 20 times and said that "Pakistan seemed only engaged in fighting India." Sushma speech that spent 655 words on explaining Pakistan's double-dealings and treachery held Pakistan responsible for the aborting the peace process between the two countries.

Clearly making a distinction between the two countries and showing Pakistan its real place Sushma said Pakistan had become a hopeless case and it had nothing to offer to the world and indeed to its own people apart from terrorism. 

©SantoshChaubey

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017 – SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017

©SantoshChaubey

AFTER KIM JONG UN'S OUTBURST, NORTH KOREA NOW TRIES TO PUT DONALD TRUMP IN THE DOCK

The article originally appeared on India Today.

After Kim Jong Un's vitriolic outburst that called Donald Trump a frightened dog and a mentally deranged dotard on his warning to totally destroy North Korea, North Korea is now trying to put Donald Trump in the dock for his "thrice-cursed sophism".

In a reaction to Trump's maiden United Nations General Assembly speech, KCNA, the official news agency of North Korea, has said that Trump's speech has shocked not just the United Nations but the whole world.

While speaking at the UNGA on September 19, Trump had warned that if the United States was forced to defend itself or its allies, it would have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea adding that the Rocket Man was on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.   

Trump invented the term Rocket Man to describe Kim Jong Un after a series of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea under his watch.

Trump's speech has been widely panned by media outfits and world leaders and that may have given North Korea a chance to browbeat its own propaganda, even if Trump didn't mean it so and it was just a bad choice of words, something that usually happens with him. 

Commentaries and reports in publications like The Washington Post, CNN, Financial Times, The Guardian and reactions of leaders like UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and many others termed Trump's assertions wrong and miscalculated. They found Trump's remarks could give rise to fatal misunderstandings as Guterres put it.

A Washington Post commentary said that Trump's words implied that he threatened not just to uproot the North Korean regime but the entire nation along with its people while The Guardian wrote that Trump's language cannot be seen as funny as "he controls a nuclear arsenal powerful enough to annihilate humanity several times over."

Declaring Trump's remarks as heinous and something that something "that can be uttered by the boss of gangsters rather than by a politician", KCNA added in its release that "the international community was raising voices of denunciation, being deeply concerned about such outbursts and wild words as "total destruction" of a sovereign state, not just "overturn of social system" and "regime change".

LATEST IN DONALD TRUMP - KIM JONG UN WAR OF WORDS

In the latest, Donald Trump has concluded that Kim Jong Un is a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his own people and for his acts he will be tested and punished like never before.

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!

3:58 PM - 22 Sep 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911175246853664768

Donald Trump's warning came after Kim Jong Un lashed on him for his UNGA speech. Trump said that denuclearization was the only acceptable future of North Korea and later on signed an Executive Order imposing more sanctions on the nation.

In response to Trump's warning, Kim described him as a gangster fond of playing with fire and displaying an unprecedented rude nonsense one had never heard from any of his predecessors.

He didn't stop at this. He further said that Trump was a mentally deranged dotard, a frightened dog who barked louder and North Korea knew how to tame him.

And like Donald Trump had warned North Korea last month that if it escalated nuclear threat, it  would be met with fire and fury like the world had never seen, Kim concluded that the North Korean fire would surely and definitely tame Donald Trump. North Korea also warned that it may soon detonate its most powerful hydrogen bomb yet over the Pacific.

Earlier this month, on September 3, North Korea had detonated a hydrogen bomb in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date and Pyongyang had warned of more ‘gift packages’ for Washington which came true when it test fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on September 15.

©SantoshChaubey 

TRUMP WARNS KIM JONG UN, A MADMAN, WILL BE TESTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, is a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his own people, US President Donald Trump has concluded and therefore he will be tested and punished like never before.

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

Kim Jong Un of North Korea,who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, willbe tested like never before!

3:58 PM - 22 Sep 2017

Donald Trump's warning came after Kim Jong Un lashed on him for his maiden United Nations General Assembly speech that spoke of totally destroying North Korea if it didn't fall in line. Trump said that denuclearization was the only acceptable future of North Korea and later on signed an Executive Order imposing more sanctions on the nation.

In response to Trump's warning, Kim described him as a gangster fond of playing with fire and displaying an unprecedented rude nonsense one had never heard from any of his predecessors.

He didn't stop at this. He further said that Trump was a mentally deranged dotard, a frightened dog who barked louder and North Korea knew how to tame him.

And like Donald Trump had warned North Korea last month that if it escalated nuclear threat, it  would be met with fire and fury like the world had never seen, Kim concluded that the North Korean fire would surely and definitely tame Donald Trump.
   

The government of the Rocket Man, another term invented by Donald Trump to describe Kim Jong Un after a series of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea, also warned that North Korea may soon detonate its most powerful hydrogen bomb yet over the Pacific.

Earlier this month, on September 3, North Korea had detonated a hydrogen bomb in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date and Pyongyang had warned of more ‘gift packages’ for Washington which came true when it test fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on September 15.

©SantoshChaubey 

UNGA: PAKISTANI PROPAGANDA HAS A TOUGH JOB THESE DAYS

The article originally appeared on India Today. 

The 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly is in progress in New York and the Pakistani delegation here has some tough job on its hand to do, obviously including the routine anti-India propaganda.

So the prime minister of Pakistan is busy spewing venom against India in New York where he is leading his country's delegation to the UNGA while ministers and senior officials of his government back home in Islamabad are complementing his efforts.  

And their efforts are based on negating two highly hostile perceptions about Pakistan, especially with the Donald Trump presidency in America - one,  that it is a safe terror haven and the other, that trusting Pakistan in Afghanistan affairs have been counter-productive and it is better to go with India.

So, Pakistan's prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is busy telling the world community and more importantly to the US that how India is an existential threat for Pakistan and it is rather a terror victim with an impressive track record in fighting and eliminating terrorists and the US declaring it a safe haven for terrorists is unjustified, even if he wasn't given a chance to have one-on-one meeting with Donald Trump.

The fact is, Trump has not met a Pakistani prime minister, be it Abbasi or his predecessor Nawaz Sharif, so far in his presidency and it is a telling sign that Pakistan has lost its credibility in Washington.

Like Nawaz Sharif was humiliated at the US-Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh in May this year, Donald Trump's first major interaction with the Muslim nations of the world, this time, too, the Pakistani prime minister met the same fate. Reportedly, Trump refused to meet Abbasi as 'he was too busy'.

Abbasi then had to settle down on a meeting with US Vice-President Mike Pence where, as per Pakistani claims, the two sides agreed to remain engaged "to achieve shared objectives of peace, stability and economic prosperity in the region." Also, Abbasi told yesterday, in another boastful claim, that Trump thought positively on Pakistan's role in the war against terror, refuting claims of downward spiral in US-Pakistan ties.

While the truth is, the US is disappointed and angry over Pakistan’s double-dealings, the country that has been a major recipient of US financial aid, over $15 billion in just last five years. While unveiling his government's Afghanistan centric South Asia policy last month, Trump had slammed Pakistan and had warned that the US would no longer be silent about Pakistan’s double-dealings and had demanded that Pakistan’s attitude of doublespeak had to change immediately.

Abbasi, reportedly, also complained to the US, in fact, in his meeting with Mike Pence about US policy change on Afghanistan which seeks greater Indian role in Afghanistan rebuilding process, something that Pakistan believes is hostile to its interests in the region. And today, he went on to say that Pakistan sees 'zero role for India in Afghanistan and will never accept India politically or militarily engaged in Afghanistan'.

Repeating Pakistan's rant on Kashmir, an integral part of India where Pakistan is fuelling terror and separatism, that India is suppressing the freedom struggle of the Kashmiris, Abbasi, after a long time, again took the line that Pakistan has developed tactical nuclear weapons to take on the Indian threat. Pakistan had left the practice of issuing hollow nuclear threats to India after the surgical strike last September in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir that left Pakistan's ruling elite humiliated and divided.

Back in Pakistan, its ministers and officers are busy extending helping hands to their prime minister.

Its Foreign Office is repeating the routine Pakistani propaganda that "India is involved in funding terrorism in Pakistan" with a new vigour. Apart from blaming India for fomenting terror in its provinces including the restive Balochistan province, Pakistan is also blaming India to fund the anti-Pakistan campaign by Baloch activists in Geneva while the reality is the world community has now started accepting Pakistan's atrocities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

The country is also taking on other countries like Japan that endorse the Indian viewpoint that Pakistan is a terror sponsor nation. The Indo-Japan joint statement last week during Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's India visit had denounced Pakistan as a country harbouring terrorists.

Yesterday, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan accused India of trying to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $50 Billion Chinese investment that passes through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, legally an Indian territory. The same minister had last week boasted that it was not Pakistan's job to satisfy the US. And only a week later, the Pakistani prime minister is trying to woo the US administration in the US. 

©SantoshChaubey

IN HIS MAIDEN UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPEECH, DONALD TRUMP TARGETS TERROR SAFE HAVENS AGAIN

The article originally appeared on India Today.

US President Donald Trump, while speaking at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, reiterated his government's resolve to hunt down and kill terrorists wherever they are.

Reaffirming his government's resolve to fight terrorism he said, "We must deny the terrorists safe haven, transit, funding, and any form of support for their vile and sinister ideology and we must drive them out of our nations."

And then, in a clear warning again to nations harbouring terrorists, he said it was time to expose and hold responsible those countries who support and finance terror groups like Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Taliban and others that slaughter innocent people. Though not named here, the world clearly knows that Pakistan is indeed a safe haven for terror groups like Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

And like he had said just a week ago, speaking during the 9/11 Memorial Observance at the Pentagon, he repeated that the US and its allies were working together to crush terrorists and stop the re-emergence of safe havens

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

It was a great honor to have spoken before the countries of the world at the United Nations.

#USAatUNGA🇺🇸#UNGA

https://instagram.com/p/BZPRctNg-5U/

His Afghanistan policy, that he unveiled in July, found a place in his maiden UNGA speech. He said that from now on, the US security interests will dictate the length and scope of its military operations.

While speaking on the policy last month, Trump had slammed Pakistan for being a safe haven for terrorists and had sought to increase India's role in Afghanistan. Earlier, Modi-Trump Joint Statement in June had called Pakistan a safe haven for terrorists and the term made its way to the US Country Report on Terrorism in July.

The US is disappointed and angry over Pakistan's double-dealings, the country that has been a major recipient of US financial aid, over $15 billion in just last five years.

While detailing his South Asia policy, Trump slammed Pakistan and warned that the US will no longer be silent about Pakistan's double-dealings. He demanded that Pakistan's attitude of doublespeak had to change immediately.

Pakistan was still reeling under the pressure of an increasingly demanding US to crack down on terror networks when another powerful bloc of countries, the BRICS, alluded to Pakistan to rein in the terror groups operating from its soil.

It was a double whammy for Pakistan because the censure came from a multilateral platform which had its all-weather ally China as one of founding members besides India, Russia and Brazil.

Trump's warning again, this time from the world's only organization with a truly global participation, the United Nations, should only add to that pressure, when he made his priorities clear in unequivocal terms that "the US will stop radical Islamic terrorism because it cannot allow it to tear up his nation, and indeed to tear up the entire world."

©SantoshChaubey

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017 – SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017

©SantoshChaubey

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017 – SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017

©SantoshChaubey

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017 – SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

SHREE SIDDHIVINAYAK

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA 2017

©SantoshChaubey

NEW LASHKAR COMMANDER IN KASHMIR: WHO IS ZEENAT-UL-ISLAM?

The article originally appeared on India Today.

Intelligence inputs say Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) has chosen Zeenat-ul-Islam alias Alqama, as its new commander. Islam is the first local face to head Lashkar operations in Kashmir. He hails from Sugan Zanipura in Shopian in South Kashmir.

He was elevated after LeT commander Abu Ismail - the mastermind behind the July 10 Amarnath attack, which killed seven people, was killed in an encounter by the security forces. Abu Ismail, a Pakistani terrorist, was made chief of Lashkar in the Valley last month after Abu Dujana, another Pakistani terrorist and Lashkar commander was killed by the security forces.

According to the reports, Islam is 28-years-old. He was recruited in November 2015, and is considered an expert with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

He is one of the main accused in the Shopian attack which took place on February 23, 2017. Terrorists ambushed army patrol in Mulu Chitragam area of the district which left three soldiers and a woman dead.

He was arrested for the first time in 2008, and was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for being a member of Al-Badr. He was also in touch with different terror outfits and was working as an over ground worker for their members, arranging them food and supplies.

After his release in 2011, he initially worked with his father and got married before joining LeT. His father is an Imam (muezzin) in the local mosque. He completed his Bachelor of Arts from a local college.

Zeenat-ul-Islam is among the five most wanted terrorists by the security forces in the Valley.

The list includes Zakir Rashid Bhatt alias Musa who defected from Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and is now heading Ansar Gazhwat-ul Hind, Al Qaeda's India branch; Reyaz AH Naikoo alias Zubair, tech savvy HM commander; Wasim AH, alias Osama, another LeT commander from Shopian who was in Burhan Wani's group; and Abu Hamas, a Pak terrorist who is believed to head Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in India.

Indian security forces are on a hunt to eliminate terrorists from Kashmir and Abu Ismail was the fourth Lashkar commander killed this year - Abu Ismail, Abu Dujana, Junait Mattoo and Bashir Lashkari. Major HM terrorists hunted down this year include Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, Sajad Ahmed Gilkar and Yasin Ittoo.

According to South Asia Terrorism Portal, since 2013, over 600 terrorists have been eliminated from the Valley.

©SantoshChaubey

TRUMP'S RESPONSE ON LONDON ATTACK INDICATES HE IS GOING TO PITCH FOR EXTENDING HIS TRAVEL BAN

The article originally appeared on India Today. 

US President Donald Trump sees opportunity in every development to sell his government's decisions it seems. And the opportunity for him this time came after an attack on London Tube, the city's urban transit system which the London Police is treating as terror attack. The fifth terror attack on London this year was carried out by a homemade bomb that left some travellers with facial burns.

Trump, though denounced the terror attack and the attackers, made his intentions clear when he went on defaming the London Police for being inactive and made a pitch for his government's controversial travel ban plan that puts restrictions on migrants and refugees from some Muslim majority nations.

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!

4:12 PM - 15 Sep 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908642277987356673

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!

4:18 PM - 15 Sep 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908643633901039617

Trump's reaction on the latest terror strike on London came in a series of tweets where he termed terrorists as losers and emphasised on the need to cut off and better regulate internet, their main recruitment tool.

Then he went on to make his sales pitch. Making a case for his travel ban plan, that is going to expire in October, Trump said that "the travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific - but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!"

His government's travel ban plan has always been controversial, right from its first introduction in January. Following ban by various federal courts, the Trump administration was forced to dilute it but even the diluted version was rejected. The travel ban plan that targeted people from six Muslim majority nations for 90 days, i.e., Syria, Libya, Sudan, Iran, Yemen and Somalia and all refugees for 120 days, was finally given a go ahead by the US Supreme Court on June 26.

That means Trump's travel ban on the people of these six Muslim nations is set to expire on September 23 and his refugee ban on October 23. The next Supreme Court hearing, which will deliberate on the legality of the travel ban plan, is set for October 10.

And if Trump's words are any indication, his administration may be planning to pitch for continuation of travel ban and its next version may be even tougher, free of the concerns of being politically correct.  

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!

4:24 PM - 15 Sep 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908645126146265090

After the London Bridge terror attack on June 3 that had left seven dead and dozens injured, Trump, while slamming, the re-drafted version of his administration’s travel ban order as an attempt to be “politically correct”, had commented that “the US Justice Department should have stayed with the original travel ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to the US Supreme Court and the Justice Department should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down travel ban before the Supreme Court – and seek much tougher version.”

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court - & seek much tougher version!

4:07 PM - 5 Jun 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/871677472202477568

Comparing his government's track record against the ISIS with his predecessor Barack Obama's government, Trump says that "they have made more progress in the last nine months against the ISIS than the Obama Administration had made in eight years" and goes on to add that "the US must be proactive and nasty" in dealing with terrorists.

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years.Must be proactive & nasty!

4:30 PM - 15 Sep 2017

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908646582807089152

Trump would certainly by buoyed by the September 12 decision of the US Supreme Court in favour of his government's travel ban plan where the apex court blocked a federal court's decision to allow some 24,000 refugees with a resettlement agency contract who, otherwise, would have been allowed into the United States in October.

©SantoshChaubey

US SLAMS PAKISTAN FOR FISCAL TRANSPARENCY TO ITS INTEL AGENCIES INFAMOUS FOR HARBOURING TERRORISTS

The article originally appeared on India Today.

After slamming Pakistan repeatedly for being a haven for terrorists, the United States now has criticised Islamabad for its fiscal transparency, especially with regard to its intelligence agencies that are notorious for harbouring terrorists.

The US Department of State has released its fiscal transparency report for 2017. The report, which is an annual feature, reviews those countries that receive financial assistance from the US in order to see that the US taxpayers' money is being utilised properly.

The report, this year as well, placed Pakistan in the category of countries that did not meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency. And as has been the case in the past, this year too, the report found that Pakistan did not make any significant progress in this direction.

The report said though the documents on financial activities were widely available in public domain, the Pakistani government did not make audit reports available publicly within a reasonable period of time. The report said that Pakistan needed to correct this.

Moreover, the report found that "the budget of the intelligence agencies was not publicly available. The report also found that "this budget was not subject to adequate parliamentary or other civilian oversight" and recommended that it be.

WHAT PREVIOUS FISCAL TRANSPARENCY REPORTS SAID

The 2016 and 2015 fiscal transparency reports make similar observations about Pakistan, unlike 2014 when the United States had found Pakistan fulfilling the fiscal transparency requirements.

The US State Department has been publishing annual fiscal transparency reports since 2012. The 2014 report identified "minimum requirements of fiscal transparency for each government receiving assistance" in accordance with the US laws which require the US Secretary of State and his office to "update and strengthen" them regularly.

And Pakistan, a terror sponsor state, found itself in the negative list from next year onwards, i.e., 2015 onwards. The US, which has been a major aid provider to Pakistan, and in fact has given aid over $15 billion, including military assistance to the country since 2011, has started toughening its stand after realising Pakistan's double standards in its approach towards terrorism.

Pakistan claims to be a US ally in the war against terror and shamelessly takes US grants in that name. Yet it shelters anti-US terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban that routinely attack Washington's interests in Afghanistan. The US has been blocking since last year a part of the military assistance to Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani Network after it found that Pakistan failed to keep its part of the bargain.

PAKISTAN's DOUBLESPEAK ON TERROR EXPOSED

Pakistan's double-dealings, in fact, have left the US and its President Donald Trump miffed. While unveiling his South Asia Policy Review in July, Trump had warned Pakistan that "the US would no longer be silent about Pakistan's double-dealings and demanded that Pakistan's attitude of doublespeak had to change immediately."

Things for Pakistan started taking a bad turn after Donald Trump was elected the United States President, who it seems, now firmly believes that Pakistan is not using the US taxpayers' money appropriately, in accordance with the US laws.

It only added to Pakistan's troubles that Trump had been a vocal critic of Pakistan since his campaign days who used to describe Pakistan with terms like 'Pakistan is not our friend' and "when it will apologise for providing a safe sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden."

As the US was preparing to transition to Trump's Presidency, it clearly told Pakistan to act against Hafiz Saeed and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) after the outfit's name prominently figured in the report of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering.

The US warned that if Pakistan failed to comply to this, it would be put on the list of blacklisted countries in the International Cooperative Review Group (ICRG). That would have made it necessary for Pakistan to put a formal request each time it went about transacting any business through any of the international financial institutions. Left with no other option, Pakistan had to place Saeed, a designated terrorist with a US bounty of $10 million over his head since 2012, under house arrest.

©SantoshChaubey