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| OLD WAR: Previous covers on terrorism |
It is
five months since the day the twin towers fell in New York and two months
since Parliament was attacked. Yet, terrorism continues to influence the
national agenda-competing for mindspace with the state elections and the
forthcoming Union budget. Last week, Indian diplomacy notched up a significant
victory by persuading the United Arab Emirates to deport Aftab Ansari-also
known here as Farhan Malik-to India. Ansari is said to have been the mastermind
behind the attack on the USIS in Kolkata and apparently organised the kidnappings
of some prominent businessmen. Almost simultaneously, the authorities in
Pakistan arrested Saeed Omar Sheikh-the British national India was forced
to release in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked IC 814 in December
1999-for kidnapping Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
In the January 14 issue, India Today had broken the story of the involvement
of Ansari and Sheikh in the kidnapping of a prominent Kolkata businessman.
Part of the ransom money is believed to have been transferred to the WTC
attackers. In this issue, we take a more detailed look at the jehadi-underworld
network that this duo established in India, via Pakistan and the Gulf
countries.
Special Correspondents Sayantan Chakravarty in Delhi, Sheela Raval in
Mumbai and Uday Mahurkar in Ahmedabad have been on the terror trail since
September 11-in some cases, well before that-and Assistant Editor Shishir
Gupta has been closely following the diplomatic offensive mounted by India
after December 13. This story is the outcome of their sustained, collective
investigations-a process not made easy by the difficulties of accessing
and reporting from Pakistan.
India Today has a long record of looking behind and beyond the daily
headlines. This story is a good example of the thoroughness that gives
us a cutting edge in journalism. It is a tradition we hope to persist
with.
(Aroon
Purie)
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CURRENT
ISSUE FEB 25, 2002
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