Mumbai Gunman Azam Amir Kasab's Father says "Those who took away my son are my enemies"

The Lashkar-e-Taiyba and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa might have disowned him, but the father of the lone Pakistani gunman arrested for the Mumbai terror attacks has admitted that the young man whose photograph was beamed by media across the world, is his son.

Amir Kasab, the father of Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab, broke down as he made the admission to the influential Dawn newspaper in the courtyard of his house in Faridkot, a village of about 2,500 people in Okara district of Punjab province.

"I was in denial for the first couple of days, saying to myself it could not have been my son... Now I have accepted it. This is the truth. I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son," Amir said in his first interview to the media since his son's arrest.

Britain's Observer newspaper and the BBC had earlier reported that Kasab belonged to Faridkot and had joined the Lashker-e-Tayiba some time ago.

The Observer's correspondent had located Kasab's home and gotten hold of the voters' roll which had the names of his parents Amir Kasab and Noor as well as the numbers on their national identity cards.

Reports had said that Kasab left home as a frustrated teenager about four years ago and went to Lahore in search of a job. After a brush with crime in that city, he reportedly joined the LeT.

Amir Kasab, a father of three sons and two daughters, said his son disappeared from home four years ago. "He had asked me for new clothes on Eid that I couldn't provide him. He got angry and left," he said.

As Amir talked to the Dawn's correspondents, Kasab's two sisters and a younger brother stood nearby. Their mother, wrapped in achador, lay on a nearby charpoy.

"Her trance was broken as the small picture of Kasab lying in a Mumbai hospital was shown around. They appeared to have identified their son. The mother shrunk back in her chador but the father said he had no problem in talking about the subject," the newspaper reported.

Amir said he had settled in Faridkot after arriving from the nearby Haveli Lakha many years ago. He owned the house the family lived in and made a living by selling pakoras in the streets of the village.

He pointed to a hand-cart in one corner of the courtyard and said, "This is all I have. I shifted back to the village after doing the same job in Lahore. My eldest son, Afzal, is also back after a stint in Lahore. He is out working in the fields."

Faridkot is located off a busy road and bears all the characteristics of a lower-middle class locality in a big city, the newspaper reported.

Amir said he has had little say in Kasab's life since the day his son walked out on him. He calls the people who snatched his son from him his enemies, but has no clue who these enemies are, the paper reported.

Asked why he did not look for his son all this while, he said, "What could I do with the few resources that I had?"

Media reports had said that Kasab's handlers had promised him that his family would be compensated with Rs 1,50,000 after the completion of the Mumbai mission.

Though mild-mannered, Amir became agitated at the mention of the link between his son's actions and money.  "I don't sell my sons," Amir said.

Source:Rediff News

"I slept with a loaded revolver under my pillow"-Big B Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan has pulled out his revolver many a times on screen. This time he has pulled out the revolver again, but not to shoot anyone on screen but to defend himself and have a safe sleep. He says, ‘Last night, as the events of the terror attack unfolded in front of me I did something for the first time and one that I had hoped never ever to be in a situation to do. Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow. For a very disturbed sleep,’ the megastar wrote on his blog.

‘My pain has been the sight and plight of my innocent and vulnerable and completely insecure countrymen, facing the wrath of this terror attack. And my anger has been at the ineptitude of the authorities that have been ordained to look after us,’ Big B expressed in his blog.

He further says, He salutes people who have laid down their lives for us. ‘I can only but salute them and respect their sincerity in the call of duty.’

Bachchan was disgruntled over the cliche ’spirit of Mumbai’ which he said people were using to cover the traumatic experiences that the merry city underwent in recent years. Bachchan says he bows over this and wishes the spirit never ends. We too agree with you Mr. Bachchan.

Sleeping with a loaded gun under the pillow is a very dangerous thing to do. Even with utmost precaution accidents do happen. I pray to God that the gun does not go off accidentally. Otherwise a national embarrassment will turn into a national martyr. Years ago one accidental hit in the stomach (and Indira Gandhi) erased his poor track record and turned him into a star, and now it seems Big B is trying is erase his shoddy legacy and flop status, and turn into a national martyr. Poor Big B is always looking for short cuts, genuine hard work is an alien concept to him.