Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, a Pakistani terrorist (the only one to be captured alive during the Mumbai’s deadly 26/11 siege last year) today pleaded guilty to 86 charges, including murder and waging war on India, in a Mumbai court.
Admitting his role in the carnage which left more than 160 people dead, Kasab said Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba had been involved in plotting the attacks, reports the CNN.
“Kasab is one of 10 Pakistani nationals who police say unleashed terror on India’s financial capital for four days and three nights in November. Other gunmen were killed during the attacks.
“The gunmen attacked prominent Mumbai buildings including the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower (where US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided to stay last week) and Oberoi-Trident hotels, Mumbai’s historic Victoria Terminus train station and a Jewish cultural center, Chabad House.
” The man authorities claim is Kasab was caught on surveillance camera holding a gun (see file photo above, courtesy AFP/GETTY IMAGES) as he stalked and killed people inside the train station, police said. He’s also accused of shooting people at the city’s Cama hospital.
“CNN’s Mallika Kapur said Kasab had stood up in court and told the judge: ‘Sir, I plead guilty to my crime.’ Asked to clarify his plea, Kasab said he pleaded guilty to all charges, Kapur said.”
Indian authorities have said that the Mumbai attacks were directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan. American intelligence agencies also agreed with this attribution. Pakistan initially contested this attribution, but agreed this was the case on 7 January 2009.
“The evidence, shown to friendly governments and media, provided a detailed sequence of training, supplying, and constant communications of attackers with handlers from Pakistan.
“In addition, Indian government officials said that the attacks were so sophisticated that they must have had official backing from Pakistani ‘agencies’, an accusation denied by Pakistan.” More here…)
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.