16-29 February 2012/ 23 Rabiul Awwal-7 Rabiul Akhar 1433 Hijri

Note: Using editorials as an indicator, this series presents views, understanding and attitude of the Urdu periodicals in India towards various developments concerning the Middle East. The selection of an item does not mean the endorsement or concurrence with their accuracy or views. Editor, MEI@ND
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The Etemaad Urdu Daily (The Confidence Urdu Daily), Hyderabad
Editorial, 17 February 2012, Friday
1. Is it a conspiracy to defame Iran?
The incident of targeting an Israeli embassy vehicle near the official residence of Prime Minister is not just a security threat but also a political challenge for India. The source of this act is yet to be established. However, Israel has already announced that Iran is involved in the bombings in New Delhi and Bangkok. The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu gave a statement in Knesset accusing Iran of involved in terror acts against Israel. This seems to be an effort to influence Indian security agencies but is to no avail. India has refused to accuse Iran before conducting investigations and the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs has said that no proof of any external elements has yet been found.

It seems Israel has unleashed its propaganda machinery against Iran. It has not just accused Iran and Hezbollah for the attack but has termed Iran as the largest source of terror in the world. As far as Israeli accusations are concerned, these are not just baseless but are an effort to hide its own involvement in terror. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and its conduct of terrorist acts upon the people of Palestine are well known. Palestinians have been snapped of their legal rights.

Iran has not yet reacted to Israeli accusations. The Iranian ambassador in India has said that Iran would react only after completion of investigations by India. The Hindu terror cells have been active in India for a long time but it became known very recently; they are harboured by the RSS. There are Pakistani terrorist groups working inside India. In such a scenario, pointing fingers towards Iran looks too early, particularly in the absence of any concrete proof.

It is in India's national interest to investigate the matter and try to catch the real perpetrators of the crime, else it will provide Israel with an opportunity to defame Iran. Tel Aviv has said that the attacks in Delhi and Bangkok are interlinked and that the terrorists have fled to Malaysia. They have said that the bombers in Bangkok were not trained and so they could not attack the Israeli mission in Thailand as the bombs exploded before they could be attached to vehicles. Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks in New Delhi, Bangkok or Tbilisi.

Iran has always been open about its activities. It did not try to hide its nuclear advancements. Nevertheless, Israel has always been involved in manipulations, it has hidden policies, which can be harmful for all the countries. These attacks look very suspicious and it seems that it is another Israeli action to defame and isolate Iran.
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Roznama Hamara Samaj (Daily Our Society), Delhi
Editorial, 17 February 2011, Friday
2. The Plight of First Qiblah
The first Qiblah of Muslims is under attack by the Jews. Tunnels have been dug on all its sides weakening its bases. It has also come to light that biological and chemical elements are being used to weaken the structures and bases of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel wants to demolish the mosque and replace it with the Temple Mount (Haikal-e-Suleimani). Several Islamic groups have expressed their concern regarding Israeli activities around the Islamic structure.

Israel has always been an enemy of Islam. There was no trace of Jews in the Arab world till 1948. They were expelled from Palestine in 70 A.D. by Romans who had massacred hundreds of thousands of Jews. The advent of Islam came upon a later period. The Jews had no place to take refuge and they lived a nomadic life of misery for 1900 years but they always thought of returning to the lands of their forefathers. In 1897, they managed to receive an order from British government to come to Palestine.

Since then, they have been building illegal colonies in Palestine and oppressing the Muslims of Palestine. Israel wants to capture the entire territory of Palestine and kill or expel its Muslim population. In fact, it wants to kill all the Muslims in the world. The Jews established Israel in 1948 and since then the world has been witness to the killings of the Palestinians. The US, which claims to be fighting a war on terror, is an Israeli ally. It pays no heed to the plight of Palestinians and has always backed Israel at all international forums.

The US has destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of terror but has not uttered a single word against the real terrorist state. It is an irony that the Arab and Muslim leaders do not dare to defy American orders and act against Israel. The war on terror is a crusade against Islam. Muslims all over the world should know that it is their responsibility to protect Jerusalem like Mecca and Medina. Muslims all over the world have the responsibility to work towards the protection of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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Roznama Munsif (The Judge Daily), Hyderabad
Editorial, 17 February 2012, Friday
3. Is it a Conspiracy to derail India-Iran Relations?
The bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi has come at a time when India has made it clear that it will not snap its ties with Iran, neither will it stop its oil imports from Iran. The US with other Western countries have accused Iran of making an atomic bomb in the name of developing its nuclear energy capabilities which poses a threat to Israel and the Gulf countries. Iran has continuously denied these accusations and has refused to be bogged down by Western pressure tactics. It has continued to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

It cannot be incidental that the attacks came within a week of the announcement by India’s Minister of Commerce that a business delegate will soon visit Iran. The Indo-Iranian ties are so strong that despite India’s vote against Iran in the IAEA in 2005, it has not created any bitterness between the two.

The investigating agencies have yet to establish the source behind the attack on the Israeli embassy official in New Delhi but the modus operandi seems to indicate the involvement of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in similar attacks and Iran has blamed Israel for these killings.

It is important to mention that an intelligence official associated with the investigation of the Israeli embassy attack have said that the investigations have led to Dhramkot, which is also known as mini-Israel. A large number of Israeli tourists come and stay in this small town known for narcotics trade. They largely violate immigration laws and continue to stay in India despite the expiry of their visas. The SP of Kangra has also confirmed that they have been asked to screen all the Israeli citizens living in the area. Another important lead has come from Kochi where two Mossad agents have been detained for violation of visa norms. They were trying to create a network for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in India. These leads indicate that the attacks on the Israeli diplomat could be a handy-work of Mossad. The Indian refusal to deter its ties with Iran has angered the US and Israel. It could indeed be a conspiracy to worsen Indo-Iranian ties. India has done well in refraining from taking a reactionary step. The MEA has emphasized that it would be wrong to point fingers towards any country at this stage. Israel and Iran have accused each other of involvement in the attacks. India needs to investigate the matter properly and reach a conclusion only on the basis of concrete proof.
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Dawat Online (Invitation), New Delhi
Editorial, 19 February 2012, Sunday
4. An Effort to Corner Iran
Israel has decided to raise the issue of attack on its interests in Georgia, India and Thailand in the UN and has lodged an official complaint with the Security Council. Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post has reported quoting the Israeli foreign ministry officials that this step is aimed at isolating Iran in international forums. It also said that Israel would lodge a complaint like the one Saudi Arabia has done. It has to be noted that a similar attack was carried out on a Saudi ambassador in Washington and the US and its allies had accused Iran of involvement in the attack. The matter was taken seriously by Saudi Arabia only when it was said that the Iranian government was involved in the attack. The matter was brought before the UN and the General Assembly also passed a resolution in November with 106 votes in favour and nine against. The resolution assumed that Iran was involved in the attack and it was asked to co-operate in investigations. The aim of this attack was to create a rift in the Muslim world, thus, dividing it into two camps.

In the opinion of the said newspaper, this step of Israel will help raise the issue of Iranian involvement in terror at an international level, which will in turn make the world realize the Iranian threat to Israel. This is a policy, which Israel thinks will isolate Iran at the international level. Iran is already dealing with American and European pressure. Several sanctions have been imposed on Iran but Iran has also been working to minimize the impact of these sanctions. The recent visit of Iranian President to Latin American countries is an effort in that direction. The US and Israel have been putting pressure on different countries including India to snap their ties with Iran. India’s relations with Iran are based on mutual give and take. India imports petroleum from Iran and supplies technological support to Iran. Other countries are also under pressure to stop trade links with Iran but this has not yielded any result till now. India has recently announced that it will continue to import Iranian oil. It seems that this attack has been carried out to increase pressure on India. It could be because of this that immediately after the attack it was announced that Iran was involved in the attack. The initial Indian reaction gives an impression that it has not completely budged under pressure.
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Roznama Rashtriya Sahara (National Sahara Daily), Delhi
Editorial, 19 February 2012, Sunday
5. Mossad’s footsteps on Indian Soil
Israeli intelligence officials have arrived in the capital immediately after the attack on the Israeli diplomat. They were here to co-operate with the investigating agencies, which the MEA politely refused. It is a general perception that Israeli agents are present in India but the formal acceptance of their co-operation would not have been in Indian interest. During the NDA government, the Indian intelligence agencies had good relations with Mossad. Several BJP leaders were of the opinion that Indian intelligence agencies would benefit from Mossad’s experience in dealing with terrorism. There was a time when Indian intelligence hawks were ready to sit in the laps of Mossad. Things have changed now and the ‘abilities’ of Mossad are also under cloud. It is said that Israeli intelligence agencies had visited Indian just a week before the attacks but they failed to smell any conspiracy. In fact, there are fears that perhaps their visit was linked to the attacks. Mossad could not see the coming fall of Mubarak despite the fact that Israel had formal diplomatic relations with Egypt. The recent attacks make it clear that Israel wants to open a front against Iran and Hezbollah and want to distract public attention from some incidents. The news that two Israelis were arrested in southern India was completely put aside. They are suspected to have been involved in terrorist activities in India. Another motive could be to hamper India’s relations with Iran. India had voted against Iran in the IAEA in 2005 under American pressure. Iran was not happy with India due to this vote. The relations came under pressure again on the issue of payments for oil imports. The payment issue was solved just few days before the attack in New Delhi after much deliberation. India has refused to put blame on any country or agency before conducting its investigations. In fact, Israel could not even influence the US. A recent report in a Hindi news channel has indicated that the conspiracy for the attack on Israeli diplomat in New Delhi was hatched in Israel or the US. India has done well to decline the offer for co-operation by the Israeli intelligence agencies, even though there are elements in the security establishment that looked eager to accept the Israeli offer.
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The Siasat Daily (The Politics Daily), Hyderabad
Editorial, 21 February 2012, Tuesday
6. Accusations on Iran
The Western opinion on Iran indicates their bias towards the Muslim world. Britain has accused Iran of harbouring terrorists and has suggested that Israel should not attack Iran without thinking about its consequences. The UN has always been used to extend Western interest in the Arab world. The UN, which is never tired of talking about human rights, fails to see the violation of human rights due to its sanctions imposed on Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. A large population around the world lives in poverty and hunger. But the UN and Western powers are thinking about how to control Iran and Syria. They are worried about the Iranian nuclear programme. The British foreign Minister has issued statements accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons. The Western powers under pressure from Israel are putting pressure on other world powers Russia, China and India to isolate Iran. Israel is desperate to attack Iran. The Israeli Defence Minister has termed Iran as a threat for the entire world. It has accused Iran of involvement in the attacks on Israeli diplomats in India, Thailand and Georgia without any basis or proof. It is wrong to accuse Iran of involvement in these attacks without any investigations. Those who are accusing Iran of involvement in terror are not ready to see the Israeli involvement in terror activities. It would be better to establish negotiations with Iran rather than accusing it. Any Israeli attack on Iran can lead to dangerous consequences. The European countries want to bring Iran to the negotiations table by putting it under pressure through economic sanctions. Peace will never have a chance if Iran is accused continuously on baseless grounds. The world economic crisis can further deteriorate with spiralling fuel prices and should there be any attack on Iran. The UN has a responsibility to establish and maintain peace in the world and it should stop playing second fiddle to Western powers and work for establishment of a just world order.
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Compiled and Translated by Md. Muddassir Quamar

Md. Muddassir Quamar is a Doctoral Candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy