2 / 6

Firstly, the speed at which fresh revelations are being disseminated by the ATS, is in complete disregard to professional propriety.
Secondly, the unprecedented number of narco tests the accused are being subjected to.
Thirdly, there is a total blankout with regard to the version of the accused.
Fourthly, with every passing day, the network is being enlarged; as if to suggest that the entire country is being consumed by ‘Hindu terrorism’, and has pan-Indian dimension.
Fifthly, if intercepts of some of the accused were available prior to the blasts, why were no pre-emptive measures taken?
Sixthly, no army representative has been included in the interrogation team.
Seventhly, the most intriguing aspect is the timing of the investigations — on the eve of elections.
The ATS revelations are extremely complex in nature due to the alleged involvement of an army officer belonging to military intelligence. The media, therefore, needs to be cautious about the manner in which it reports the briefs by the ATS.
The Colonel is a legitimate intelligence operative. Interaction with the police authorities, other intelligence agencies, desirable and undesirable elements, was very much a part of his duty. No intelligence agency issues written orders in pursuance of intelligence operations.
The entire system is based on trust and faith. It is yet to be established how much disconnect there is between the legitimate and illegitimate activities of the officer during the course of his duty. The level and extent of interaction and cooperation that the officer had with other Intelligence agencies is not known.
There can be no greater travesty than the suggestion by certain quarters that the involvement of Lt Col Purohit is symptomatic of a deeper malaise in the Indian army.
An officer of military intelligence is not in direct command of troops. He has only a small complement of personnel working under him. A military intelligence officer is hardly competent in providing training on Improvised Explosive Devices.
Importantly, the nation must trust in the legal procedures of the army which is far more stringent. The army will brook no ideology which impacts on its established secular character and credentials. As and when Lt Col Purohit is handed back to army custody, it is inevitable that he will be meted out the appropriate punishment, if found guilty.
The media must be patient, and, spare the army.”
In flagrant violation of all imperatives, norms and practice Col Purohit was not handed back to the Army nor the Indian Army was meaningfully incorporated in the interrogation and investigation.

The country could trust the Indian Army with 92000 Pak prisoners in the wake of 71 War, but could not be depended for fairness and justice with one of its own Intelligence officer.

It is now beyond doubt that the decision of his civil custody was deliberate and conspiratorial. It nails the persisting doubts regarding involvement of facilitators within the Indian dispensation in staging 26/11.

Anticipating that Col Purohit will eventually be handed over to the Army I wrote in the Indian Defence Review in 2008:

‘The level and extent of intelligence interaction and cooperation with other intelligence agencies that this officer had, is also not known. That is why, it was very important to have a representative of the Military Intelligence, when the interrogation of the officer began. To that extent, a state police organization is not only under-equipped but also out of sync with central intelligence agencies in dealing with an official of Military Intelligence.”

The stories being fed to the media by the government was not only incredulous but outrageous to any professional Intelligence personnel.

Those feeding the information particularly to a particular newspaper were police discards who had gravitated to this altered ATS, solely for the purpose of politicizing terror at the behest of their political masters.

Subsequently, post 26/11 another investigative organization was created to perpetuate politicization of terror at national scale. The low intensity blasts in Malegaon in September2008 was the trigger for creation of the desperate theme of Hindu Terror, following which the respective ATSs of states ruled by one particular party went on an overdrive.

The newspaper as mentioned, in its blind fidelity ,reproduced stories of Hindu Terror dished out by the govt, having hilarious contradictions in frequency of two consecutive days.

The plot was slowly unraveling and so was the desperation of the spin-doctors. I therefore expressed my suspicion thus in Indian Defence Review in 2008:

“The investigation following the ‘Malegaon blasts’, is extremely complex in nature due to the alleged involvement of an Army officer belonging to the Military Intelligence. The media therefore needs to be extremely cautious and circumspect about the manner in which it reports the briefs by the ATS.

I have deep apprehension that the complete truth, as and when it unfolds in the future, could have several unsavoury and damaging twist.”

Unsavoury and Damaging Deductions

It has indeed proven to be unsavoury and damaging. Now, with the benefit of hindsight analysis and driven by growing crops of facts and evidence, some of the ineluctable deductions are:

26/11 was orchestrated by Pakistan and other external powers in concert with vested interests in India. The objectives of external interests was geopolitical and of internal players – the need to balance the spate of jihadi terror by fabricating so-called ‘Hindu Terror’.

Towards this, there were plans in place in all three phases of 26/11, i.e. preparatory phase, conduct phase, and post-conduct phase.

In the Preparatory Phase, the jihadis were taught about Hindu ways and were also taught Hindi language. Their instructor was none other than Abu Jundal, who has confessed as much to the Indian authorities.

The jihadis were made to wear sacred threads on their wrists to establish their identities as ‘Hindus’ after their ‘shahadat’ (martyrdom).

In the Conduct Phase, it appears that the Chief of the ATS Mr Hemant Karkare was eliminated as he knew ‘too much’ and in the Post Conduct Phase or Consolidation Phase, the plans to publish books labeling 26/11 as an act of ‘Hindu Terror’ was pursued, despite the unexpected apprehension of Ajmal  Kasab, which had put paid the conspiracy.

The low intensity blast in Malegaon were probably orchestrated in September 2008 (Malegaon-II), just two months before 26/11 to create the bogey of ‘Hindu terror’ so that the attack could be sold as an act of ‘Hindu terror’ with some degree of credulity.

Later, Malegaon-II was used as the trigger and kernel to weave the story of so-called ‘Hindu terror’. High publicity suspects were carefully chosen, created and implicated. It included an Army Officer (Col Purohit) and a saffron clad woman Hindu activist (Sadhvi Pragya). Great combination for publicity and to neutralize Pak sponsored jihadi terror!

Once Malegaon-II to facilitate 26/11 was effected, to dispel obvious doubts the spin-doctors began to work backwards in order to prove that all terrorist attacks in which Muslims were victims, were the handiwork of the so-called Hindu terror groups.