In this file photo, then cabinet ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Arjun Singh coming out from PMO after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi. Ra...
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former president late Pranab Mukherjee, immerses the of ashes of his father at Har Ki Pauri Ghat, in Haridwar.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh pays his last respects to former President Pranab Mukherjee at his residence, 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away Mo...
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat pays his last respects to former President Pranab Mukherjee at his residence, 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away Mon...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays his last respects to former President Pranab Mukherjee at his residence, 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away Monday at Army's ...
Army jawans carry the mortal remains of former president Pranab Mukherjee during his funeral ceremony, at Lodhi Road cremation ground in New Delhi.
Army jawans pay respects to the mortal remains of former president Pranab Mukherjee during his funeral ceremony, at Lodhi Road cremation ground in New Delhi.
Abhijit Mukherjee and Sharmistha Mukherjee, son and daughter respectively of late Pranab Mukherjee, hold the tricolour presented to them during the funeral of the former president,...
Army jawans carry the mortal remains of former president Pranab Mukherjee during his funeral ceremony, at Lodhi Road cremation ground in New Delhi.
Family members of late Pranab Mukherjee perform rituals during the funeral of the former president, at Lodhi Road cremation ground in New Delhi.
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of late Pranab Mukherjee, pays respects during the funeral of the former president, at Lodhi Road cremation ground in New Delhi.
The mortal remains of former President Pranab Mukherjee being taken to the Lodhi Road crematorium for his last rites, in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away at Army's RR Hospital...
The mortal remains of former president Pranab Mukherjee being taken to Lodhi Road crematorium from his residence for the final rites, in New Delhi.
A student pays tribute to former president Pranab Mukherjee on his demise as she arrives to appear in JEE entrance examination at Tata Consultancy Service Limited (TCS), amid the o...
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu pays his last respects to former President Pranab Mukherjee at his residence 10, Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away Monday at Arm...
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal pays tributes to former president Pranab Mukherjee, at State Assembly in Guwahati. Mukherjee, 84, passed away on Monday at Army's RR Hospital in New Del...
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pays her last respects to former president Pranab Mukherjee at his residence 10, Rajaji Marg, in New Delhi. Mukherjee, 84, passed away Mon...
Indian national flag flies at half-mast at Supreme Court during the seven-day state mourning on demise of former President Pranab Mukherjee, in New Delhi.
Hearse van to be used to transport the mortal remains of former president Pranab Mukherjee arrives at his residence ahead of his cremation, in New Delhi.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pays his last respects to former President Pranab Mukherjee at his residence 10, Rajaji Marg in New Delhi.
"Jordari, Jordari," the voice is reported to have said in perfect Benglish, "I weel shee you."
Words to this effect is what, we all laughed last year, must have made a rattled Asif Zardari rush to the Americans, complaining Pranab Mukherjee had threatened him at the height of the Mumbai siege.
Except the Benglish-spouting gent wasn't Pranab.
It now appears that the hoax calls that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war post 26/11 were -- yes, it seems incredulous -- made by none other than Omar Saeed Sheikh, one of the dreaded terrorists freed by India during the Kandahar hijack crisis.
Surely the Pakistanis cannot be that easily fooled? Particularly, because anybody who has heard or met Pranab-da -- as Zardari indeed has -- would always remember his distinctively endearing accent.
That someone could have put on a heavy Bengali accent and mimicked Pranabda, we thought, was a possibility. But Omar Sheikh?
He apparently tried calling Condi Rice and Pranab Mukherjee himself and was not allowed access, which is how it should be when it comes to call filteration for such high-profile personages.
It does beggar belief that not only were the calls actually put through to Kiyani and Zardari or, as the Dawn report puts it, that Gen Kayani was bewildered by the caller’s threatening tone.
He is confined in a high security cell of Karachi Jail, has a long record of militancy, from kidnapping foreigners in Mumbai in 1994 to possible involvement in 9/11, Parliament attack case and kidnapping Daniel Pearl in Jan 2002. But still has -- or, at least, had -- access to a mobile phone that he seems to be putting to good use. I am amazed that the Americans aren't even ensuring that he was being monitored properly. Another common thread of course is that Omar Sheikh's Pak handler Ilyas Kashmiri also handled Headley, also under investigation for 26/11
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