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US Calcutta Center Attacked, Pakistan Denies Indian Charges
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| US Center in Calcutta AFTER THE ATTACK |
By IOL correspondents Zafarul-Islam Khan and Aamir Latif
NEW DELHI, Jan. 22 (IslamOnline) - The American Center in the eastern
Indian city of Calcutta was attacked at 6.30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Two armed men on a motorcycle reportedly drove up to the American Center, which is located on one of Calcutta's main thoroughfares, and started firing indiscriminately. Four police officers stationed outside the center were killed on the spot, and 18 people were injured, some of them seriously.
The injured include a private security guard and a pedestrian. All the victims are Indians. The assailants reportedly used AK-47.
The American Center building includes a library, information center and the commercial section of the Consulate. Security around American buildings all over India has been beefed up.
It is noteworthy that the attack took place while two top U.S. security officials, FBI chief, Robert Muller and Admiral Thomas Wilson, chief of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, are visiting India.
Indian sources have not yet speculated about the identity of the assailants but BBC’s online news service quoted 'local intelligence sources' as saying they suspected the involvement of an “Islamic radical group active in India.”
The information was posted on the BBC website at 02:43 GMT that is, around half past eight in the morning in Calcutta, and the information must have been obtained at least half an hour earlier.
Meanwhile, Pakistan categorically rejected Indian allegations that its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was involved in the attack.
"These are totally baseless charges. Pakistan has condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,'' Foreign Ministry representative, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told a news briefing in Islamabad.
Indian Interior Minister, Lal Krishan Advani, said a group which had been involved in kidnapping an Indian businessman had claimed responsibility for the attack, and the group had links with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence.
"Pakistan has nothing to do with such terrorist attack on the American Center in Calcutta. This is the same tactic India is using against Pakistan which it did in case of December 13 suicide attack on its parliament", Khan contended.
Meanwhile, he said that despite hectic efforts being made by the international community to defuse the tension in the region, Indian armed forces had not yet started pulling back its troops from the Line of Control and other border areas.
He said the situation remains tense on the border, as there had been no indication from the Indian side about pulling back its troops from the border areas.
Therefore, he stated that Pakistan armed forces would remain along the borders to meet any untoward situation from the Indian side.
The Director General Inter Services Public Relations, Major General Rashid Qureshi, said that defensive measures are being taken by Pakistan on the LoC and if the Indian government starts pulling back its force from the border, Pakistan would do the same.
Answering a question, he categorically rejected the reports that Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, was involved in the Calcutta incident.
He said that Pakistan was against terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and all such reports about Pakistan involvement in terrorist activities were baseless and wrong.
He informed the reporters that the Indian army was using highly sophisticated equipment on the border, which was posing serious threats to Pakistan security.
He added that although on the diplomatic front, tension between the two countries had reduced considerably after the visit of United States Foreign Secretary, Colin Powell, to the region; no significant change is taking place on the border front.
He also denied reports that Pakistan was going to lease out its land to the United States for airport purposes.
Aziz Ahmed Khan said that government had not yet finalized the list of wanted terrorist from India. He said, "We don't want to disclose such things on media. We want to pursue such matters through diplomatic channels."
He again reiterated Pakistan's commitment to have a meaningful dialogue with India on all issues including the issue of Kashmir.
About the visit of United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Anan, to Pakistan, he said that Pakistan would welcome Anan and hoped that this would help to reduce tension in the region.
He further said that Anan would hold meetings with Pakistani President, General Pervez Musharraf on the situation in Afghanistan and standoff between the two nuclear states.
In a reply to another question, Aziz maintained that the dates of the visit of Musharraf to the U.S. had not yet been finalized.
Meanwhile, the Hindustan Times, one of India's leading daily newspapers, disclosed today that a timely American intervention averted war between India and Pakistan.
The paper said that U.S. intervention was responsible for sending General Kapil Vij to forced leave two days ago. General Vij was the commander of 2 Corps, one of India's three elite strike divisions now deployed on the Indo-Pak borders in the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan.
The earlier explanation for the general's sudden leave was that he was being punished for mysterious explosions in one of his division's armament dumps.
The paper, however, disclosed that armor columns of 2 Corps came dangerously close to the Pakistani borders towards the end of last week.
American satellites relayed pictures of this development to the U.S. authorities who at once alerted Pakistan and asked India to explain the development. India denied that any such thing had taken place. This prompted the Americans to confront the Indians with satellite photographs of their troop positions.
A furious Indian Prime Minister ordered the Army Command to act against the erring general. Consequently, he was sent on forced leave forthwith.
'2 Corps' is one of three elite Indian divisions that are trained and equipped to strike and fight within enemy territory. The other two are '1 Corps' based in Mathura south of Delhi and the third is '21 Corps' based in the central town of Bhopal. All these divisions are currently deployed on the borders.
The Hindustan Times quoted Army sources as saying it is “improbable” for a strike commander to issue movement orders without the approval of his seniors.
In the current build-up, 2 Corps was to conduct an exercise to display India’s armored might. However, as a conciliatory measure, India decided not to hold the exercise.
Analysts feel that this incident shows that the U.S. is closely watching the Indo-Pak theater and that it is not in its current interests to allow a war to take place in South Asia. However, the current Indian build-up continues for local consumption.
It serves the interests of the ruling BJP which has adopted the slogan “war against terrorism” as its main plank in the elections to be held within a month in a number of Indian states. The party's immediate future hangs on the poll results especially in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
However, since the terrorism plank is not cutting much ice with the voters according to recent opinion polls the party has decided to fall back on the tried and trusted Ram Temple issue which is sought to be built on the site of the martyred Babri Mosque.
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