Word: faridkot
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Banality of Terror It would be convenient to think of Qasab as a psychopath, exploited by cynical handlers who corrupt young men in the name of religion. In fact, his origins are ordinary. In his confession, Qasab, now 21, says he was born in the village of Faridkot, in Pakistan's Punjab province. He is said to have been a typical teenager, not especially religious, albeit with a reputation as a troublemaker. His family is poor - his father sells fried snacks at a bus station - but owns its own house. Qasab attended the local primary school; at 13, he left...
...Faridkot is not the hardscrabble village conjured up by common perceptions of extremist origins. It straddles a paved road about 2 1?2 hours' drive from Lahore, and two new gas stations mark the village boundaries. Beyond those are factories and fertile farmland. There is even BlackBerry service. But it is, undeniably, the sort of place that fosters frustration. Feudal landlords own the farmland, and villagers feel trapped by the status they are born into. The good life is tantalizingly close, yet for most residents still unattainable. For men like Qasab, one of the best ways out is jihad...
District governor Ghulam Mustafa (who denies that Qasab is from Faridkot) says the area has a long history of sending men to fight in Kashmir. Despite the risks, joining a militant network provides social mobility that is virtually unattainable in Pakistani society, giving the groups' members a sense of purpose and pride and elevating their status, says Muhammad Amir Rana, a Pakistani expert on extremist groups. And indeed, villagers have told journalists that when Qasab went home to see his family just before the Mumbai attacks, he was a changed man - calm, with a sense of purpose and able...
Killing the Commuters When Qasab landed, he found himself in a place not so very different from his home village of Faridkot. The jetty at Budhwar Park, where the dinghy pulled in, is the domain of fishermen who struggle to make a living. A few challenged Qasab and his partners when they landed, but the rest were busy watching a cricket match. The strangers strode past them to the main road, and Qasab and Khan hailed a taxi, reaching VT, Mumbai's main railway station, at about 9:20 p.m. (See more about terrorism...
...being kept in an unknown location in the state of Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai. He has not yet been granted access to a lawyer but will be charged in due course, say state-government sources. According to the police, Kasab left his impoverished parents in Faridkot, Pakistan, and joined the LeT. The group allegedly trained him in weapons and drafted him into its marine detachment, supposedly organized to infiltrate India by sea. According to the transcript of his statement, supplied by the police, Kasab said, "We were told that our big brother India is so rich...