In his book "The Betrayal of India: Revisiting the 26/11 Evidence," Elias Davidsson, a German author has made startling revelations and claimed that alongside India, the US and possibly Israel were also complicit in conceiving, planning, directing and executing the attacks.
Business Recorder approached Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal for his comments on the book, who stated: "I have read the book. The independent [German] author has highlighted astonishing facts which the international community and people in Pakistan need to know."
In the introduction of his book, Dividsson has mentioned that a cursory examination of the news reports regarding the Mumbai events reveals immediately four major reasons for subjecting the official account to an exacting scrutiny:
(i) It is puzzling that it took 1,000 police officers, security forces personnel and trained commandos more than 60 hours to subdue ten gunmen scattered over several locations.
(ii) The Indian authorities, including India's prime minister, immediately blamed Pakistani entities for the attacks, ie before any investigation had even started.
(iii) No organization is known to have claimed responsibility for the complex operation conducted in Mumbai.
(iv) The political class of the United States showed immediate and inordinate interest in the events, although they were occurring 8,000 miles away and were not directed at Americans or at an American target.
The book published by Pharos Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, is critical evaluation of the official narrative of 26/11, as reflected in court documents and news reports in India.
He also mentioned about "suppression" of truth by India's security/intelligence establishment regarding Mumbai terrorist attack as not merely incompetence but planned manipulation of facts.
The author pointed out that judicial proceedings in the case were not impartial and critical evidence and witnesses were ignored.
He maintained that the main beneficiaries of the attacks were Hindu radical/nationalist organizations, and the civilian/military security establishments.
He claimed that "false flag" attacks created an impression of a permanent threat to India helping her to align with the countries which are leading the global war on terror (GWOT).
He raised questions on the inquiry conducted by the Indian authorities into the events, saying that crucial information regarding the assassination of Hemant Karkare and other senior police officers is being concealed.
The author also mentioned that testimony of those eyewitnesses/victims was not taken into account which did not tow the official account of the incident e.g. spotting Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor attacker, and a few others emerging from Nariman House two days before the attack.
He also mentioned that some local shopkeepers/vendors also testified that militants had been living in Nariman House for at least 15 days, adding that key witnesses were not called to testify, who said they saw the terrorists commit violence, and were ignored by the court.
He further mentioned that by contrast, many witnesses were tutored/guided or their statements were modified to suit the official line such as Kasab had been coerced/threatened in order to make false statements.
Summarizing the part-1 - "Who and Why?; Unidentified Killers with no Clear Purpose" - he stated to determine the identities of the nine "terrorists" who allegedly died in the clashes of 26/11, the judicial authorities relied on the testimony of the "single surviving terrorist" (Kasab), who repeatedly contradicted himself, and on DNA evidence that could easily have been fabricated. Kasab was not an eyewitness to the deadly conduct attributed to the eight "terrorists" he named, he added.
He mentioned that the judicial authorities failed, without apparent justification, to report and take into account or challenge the assertion of pathologists that the bodies of the accused dead "were beyond recognition."
He maintained that investigators and judicial authorities failed, without apparent justification, to determine whether some of the alleged attackers had been British citizens or these reports were fabrications. He stated that the Indian authorities and the courts failed to establish the full names, dates of birth and family relations of the 10 alleged terrorists. The true identities of the persons whose bodies were presented to pathologists as those of 'the terrorists' remain unknown, he added.
"These failures by investigators and the courts are compounded by the failure of the media to report this dereliction. Together, these failures reek of a cover-up. But this is just the beginning of a long story," he added. Davidsson claimed that both Indian and Israeli governments condoned/fabricated the evidence and court testimonies regarding the incident at Nariman House.