By IANS,
Hyderabad : The Urdu media here has strongly condemned the terror attacks in Mumbai and called for bringing the culprits to book to prevent such attacks in future.
Five Urdu dailies published from Hyderabad were unequivocal in condemning the Nov 26 terror attacks and termed it as India’s 9/11, an attack on India’s sovereignty and a barbaric act against humanity.
The Urdu media opposed war against Pakistan as a solution to the problem of terrorism but felt that Islamabad was not doing enough to stop terror acts emanating from its soil.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the newspapers saw it as a conspiracy to divert attention from ‘saffron terror’ as the police officer leading the investigations into Malegaon blast was among the victims.
Some of them still see it as a larger international conspiracy involving the Sangh Parivar and even Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to shield the culprits of the Malegaon blasts and defame Muslims.
They also carried reports that the terrorist who shot dead Hemant Karkare was speaking Marathi and called for a thorough probe to expose the real motivation behind the attacks.
The newspapers called for restraint on behalf of both India and Pakistan and advised them not to fall into the trap of the US. They also asked New Delhi to accept a joint probe proposed by Pakistan.
“India’s refusal to join the joint probe will weaken its stand on terrorism in the international forums and will give credence to Pakistani propaganda that it has nothing to do with terror acts in India. This stand can help yield electoral gains in near future but will not prove effective in dealing with terrorism,” said an editorial in Urdu daily Etemaad.
“War is not a solution and in fact it will help the terrorists who want to see a confrontation between the two countries. Pakistan is also facing a problem of terrorism. There is a need to strengthen the hands of people like President Asif Ali Zardari to foil the designs of ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence),” eminent journalist Zafar Agha wrote in Siasat, a leading daily.
“It would be a tragedy if our rulers fall into the trap of Al Qaeda. Both the countries have to fight unitedly against the terror. But the leaders and authorities appear non-serious to deal with the threat,” wrote Hasan Kamal in another daily Rashtriya Sahara, while referring to the security lapses and lack of unity among political parties.
Etemaad in its Dec 2 editorial criticised Pakistani media for questioning India’s claim that the terrorists had come from Pakistan.
“The Pakistani media should also know what is happening in their own country. The lone terrorist captured alive is in India’s custody. He is from Faridkot of Punjab in Pakistan. The reports based on his statements before police can’t be dismissed as ‘India’s theory’. The media of both the countries should try to allay the apprehensions and misgivings between the two countries,” it said.
“India can’t be expected to hand over the only live evidence to Pakistan. It is for Pakistani leaders to prove that their hands are clean,” the editorial added.
Siasat, in its Dec 3 editorial, advised India not to look at the situation from the US angle.
“Tension increased in the region after Rice’s visit. Care should be taken to ensure that we don’t add to the bitterness in relations with neighbours. Both of us are victims of terror. We should be careful not to allow a third party to take advantage of the situation,” it said.
Munsif found fault with the move to include Israel into investigations of Mumbai attacks.
“This is dangerous, especially when a class of thought in India feels that the attacks are the handiwork of Mossad, which used Pakistanis to execute their plans. This move to make Israel part of investigations will not please our Arab friends,” it said.
Munsif also questioned the circumstances in which Karkare and two others senior police officers were killed.
“A day before the attacks, Karkare received a death threat over phone. The government has neither announced a probe into his killing nor has given an assurance that the work he was doing would continue. Sangh Parivar terrorism should not be sidetracked for the probe into Mumbai attacks,” it said.
“The probe into Malegaon blasts will now be put into the cold storage. The probe was restoring minorities’ faith into the system. The investigation into Mumbai attacks should not push the Malegaon probe to the backseat,” wrote Siasat.
“Unity is the key to giving fitting reply to the terrorists. No party should be allowed to exploit the issue to wedge a divide in the society. There should be no discrimination even among victims of terror. Two-year-old Moshe (whose parents were killed in Nariman House) and five-year-old Shanaz (whose parents were gunned down in CST) were both our children. There is no difference between them,” wrote Kamal.