1. Who gave Pakistan born US national Daood Gilani or David Coleman Headley multiple entry visa to India and exempt him from reporting to the police in India.
2. Why was Pakistan born Canadian national Tahawwur Hussein Rana too exempt from reporting to the police every week while in India ?
3. How could Rana and Headley set up an Immigration Service in India ? Who did a background check and give them clearance to do business in India ?
4. How could they place advertisements in newspapers to send Indian abroad. Did they seek and get clearance from Ministries of Labour and external affairs ?
5. How could Syed Amir Ali (allegedly a Pak national) get an Indian passport ?
6. How could Ali get a PAN Card and file returns for 4 years.
Shocked!
Security in India appears worse than even a banana republic. Anti-India elements in Pakistan's ISI and the army establishment must be laughing themselves silly over the ease with which they succeeded in penetrating India's so called strong defences even post 26/11.
India needs to expose the weak link. - the chinks in our armour. One weak link and the strongest fortress collapses like a pack of cards. The first weak link - India's consulate in Chicago. What is really shocking is the fact that this particular post belongs to the people who are tasked to protect the nation from external threat by gathering information and intelligence. How could they not see through Tahawuur Rana and Daood Gilani (David Coleman Headley).
How could the Indian authorities exempt people like Rana and Headley from reporting to the nearest police station every week.
Did the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) not know that they are both originally Pakistanis. Both studied at the Hasan Abdal Military College - had links with the ISI. they may be US and Canadian passport holders but were men with a past. Changing the colour of the passport does not change the mindset.
Was there no background check done - about the so called immigration company that the two claimed to run. What was its antecedents...its turnover..funding...clearances from other governments. Clearly someone was not doing his homework and risking the lives of hundreds and thousands of innocent Indians.
When Headley and Rana came to India - instead of welcoming them to Atulya Bharat - the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and the immigration authorities should have gone through the contents of the luggage. That is how alert immigration authorities in the US red flagged Headley. Denmark too was on Headley's terror radar. He visited Denmark regularly apparently on immigration business but immigration authorities in the US found he carried no paperwork.
Why were our immigration authorities not alert. The second weak link - FRRO and Immigration authorities.
Once in India Headley and Rana criss-crossed across the country - Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Munnar...more skeletons will tumble out of the closet in the days to come. But the million dollar question - Local Intelligence Units of the state police. LIU. what were they doing ? they are paid to keep an eye on suspicious activities. If suspected Indian Mujahideen activists, their overground supporters and sympathisers were coming and meeting Headley and Rana...in a post 26/11 scenario why were the police unaware of it.
Why would a particular foreigner (of Pakistani origin) keep returning to Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Delhi, Agra....This means that the effort to strengthen the beat policing system and the local intelligence unit has not succeeded even one year after 26/11. The third weak link - local police intelligence units.
Let's shift focus now to Syed Amir Ali - an alleged Pakistani national - living in Delhi and Lucknow for more than four years. He allegedly spied on military cantonments - at Delhi, Meerut and the Hindon air base. How could Syed Amir Ali get an Indian driving licence, an Indian passport, an Indian PAN card and file returns for four years.
The Uttar Pradesh police and the regional passport officer need to explain this. The fourth and fifth weak link - UP police and RPO Lucknow. The passport is the most authentic document in the country. It is the last word in proving an individual's nationality. It is a sad state of affairs that we have come to accept that a driving licence can be faked, pan cards can be faked but a PASSPORT!
There are multiple checks - local police, administration, verifying agencies, witnesses, references.....The police need to now investigate this in the right earnest. The country has a history of losing battles because of the Jaichands and Ambhis....We as a nation cannot afford to lose this war.
We are at war - with terror. This is not corruption - this is treason!
The punishment is not suspending some police constable or lower division clerk. Strict action needs to be taken against the top brass. Let this mistake never be repeated....we are still not out of the woods. Headley and Rana may have been arrested by the FBI but the Indian police have failed to nab a single person they were in touch with during their stay in India.
There is clear and present danger!
