Washington: LeT used videos of the 2002
Gujarat riots to motivate David Headley, a co-accused in the 26/11 attacks, to carry out "jihad" against India, indicating how the incident is being used as a major
recruiting tool by the banned Pakistani militant group.
Headley, who was trained by LeT in terror operations,
besides those from the ISI, had told the Chicago court last
month that the Gujarat riots was very often the topic of
discussion among them.
"Yes", Headley said when the government prosecutor
asked him if the Gujarat riot was motivating to him to carry
"jihad" against India.
"It was a massacre that had happened, and they
showed people running, houses being burnt. And also since that
time from 2002 till 2007, the Lashkar office itself had
received hundreds of letters from Muslims in Gujarat asking
for help," Headley told the court in response to a question
from the attorney.
Headley told the court of having shown by the LeT
leaders the hidden-camera interview of one Baba Bajrangi, said
to be a VHP leader, who relocated himself from Mumbai to
Gujarat during the riots.
In the video Baba Bajrangi claimed that he had killed
a lot of women and burnt houses and stuff.
"That's available on YouTube and he showed it to me
on disk," Headley said referring to his conversation with LeT
leaders in Pakistan.
"They're videos of the massacres that had taken
place in Gujarat a few years earlier and the breaking of the
Babri Mosque, other things like that," Headley said when asked
about the videos being shown to him by the Lashkar leaders
ahead of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
These videos were shown to Headley, when he visited
the Muzzaffarabad headquarters if LeT and after the screening
of each of these videos they used to discuss hatred against
India.
"All of us spent a few weeks there watching videos of
different actions that had taken place in India against
Muslims," Headley told the court in response to a question.
"We saw a lot of videos of India," Headley said
adding that these videos were seen in the company of top LeT
leaders and his Pak handlers including Zaki ur- Rehman, Sajid
Mir and Muzammill.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 16:37