NEW DELHI: Indian authorities said on Sunday that a deadly car blast in New Delhi earlier this week was an attack carried out by a “suicide bomber,” announcing the arrest of an accomplice.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country’s counter-terrorism law enforcement body, said the alleged attacker and the second suspect were both from Indian-administered Kashmir, where police have carried out sweeping raids in recent days.
Announcing “a breakthrough” in the investigation, the NIA said in a statement it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, “in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered.”
He had “conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to unleash the terror attack,” it added, without specifying any possible motive.
Nabi, a resident of Kashmir, was an assistant professor in general medicine at a university in the northern state of Haryana, according to the counter-terrorism agency, which said it had seized a vehicle belonging to him.
Ali had come to Delhi to “facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to trigger the blast,” the NIA said.
The explosion on Monday took place near a busy metro station close to the landmark Red Fort in the capital’s Old Delhi quarter, where the prime minister delivers the annual Independence Day address.
A hospital official has said the blast killed 12 people. It was unclear whether the toll included Nabi.
The NIA’s statement said the attack “claimed 10 innocent lives and left 32 others injured.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the attack a “conspiracy,” and his government vowed to bring the “perpetrators, their collaborators and their sponsors” to justice.
It was the most significant security incident since April 22, when 26 mainly Hindu civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, triggering clashes with Pakistan.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory in full. Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.
On Friday, nine people were killed when confiscated explosives blew up at a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, in what authorities said was an accident.
Local media reported that a militant organization had claimed responsibility for it, which police dismissed.
The explosives had been recovered from Haryana state just before the powerful car blast in Delhi, according to the police.
Indian media have widely connected the Delhi blast with a string of arrests just hours prior.
Police said those arrested were linked with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based and Al-Qaeda-linked group, as well as a Kashmiri offshoot linked to it.
The group that claimed the police station blast is considered close to JeM.
India says accomplice of Delhi car blast ‘suicide bomber’ arrested
https://arab.news/46c7x
India says accomplice of Delhi car blast ‘suicide bomber’ arrested
- NIA said it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, “in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered”
Old Delhi iftars revive Mughal heritage, one course at a time
- Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma iftars have been held in Old Delhi since 2017
- Muslim and non-Muslim participants arrive from across India and abroad
NEW DELHI: On a rooftop in Delhi’s historic walled city, guests from across India sit on cushions around a low table overlooking Jama Masjid, waiting for its sunset call to prayer — the signal to start a special iftar that will take them back four centuries, to the Mughal era, if only for a while.
Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent between the 16th and 19th centuries. Originally from Central Asia, they carried traditions borrowed from Arabs, Persians and Ottomans, which they merged with the various local Indian styles — a fusion that marked the global revival of Islamic architecture and culture.
Jama Masjid is one of the most iconic examples of the Mughal style — a scenic background to the curated iftars that bring 40 to 50 people from across India to share a meal, knowledge and experience.
“People getting together from different walks of life, different parts of the country, different religions, different cultures coming together — it was absolutely and completely amazing,” said Arvind Sirohi, who took part in the event with his wife.
“Lovely storytelling, amazing food, and end of the day, right next to Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. The ambience, the environment, the atmosphere came together so beautifully.”
The community-led iftar experience is called Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma — from Urdu words meaning a “spread of food” and “showing the world.”
For Veena Sirohi, it did exactly what the name promised by bringing together people from different communities, different parts of India, and abroad.
“I think that’s a great way of synthesizing different cultures, bringing people together, bringing the human aspect of what we all are ... we are actually all one,” she told Arab News.
“And we had some wonderful comperes who told us about … the history of Ramadan, what goes behind it, how the food is curated, and how each and every item has a specific place in the menu.”
Served in gilded bowls and plates from traditional Indian crockery, with rose petals dotting the dastarkhwan cloth, the dishes were some of the festive Ramadan delicacies, offering a taste of Mughal culinary heritage.
Among them was mutanjan, or fragrant rice cooked with ghee, sugar, saffron, cardamom, and studded with nuts, which for many Indian Muslims is traditionally the first dish to break the fast.
It was followed by shabde, a rich, slow-cooked aromatic meat stew or the Delhi biryani — a fragrant, mildly spiced saffron rice and meat dish, where marinated chicken or mutton is layered with basmati rice and cooked slowly.
The hearty feast closed with nihari, a hearty stew simmered overnight with spices and bone marrow, which emerged in the 18th century and was originally eaten by Mughal royals for breakfast.
“These are the traditional dishes which are not usually available in the market, but are specially prepared by the bawarchees (cooks) of Old Delhi. Some of the dishes are occasional dishes,” said Abu Sufiyan Khan, the founder of Tales of City, the cultural experience company that has been curating Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma since 2017.
The special iftars are hosted once a week throughout the fasting month, usually on weekends. There are variations in dishes served as they come from different kitchens, as Tales of City collaborates with various local artisans and cooks.
“We are curating this with different experts and every time the menu changes,” Khan said.
“We bring all these dishes onto a single dastarkhwan, and we share this meal with the people coming from all over India to break bread together in the holy month of Ramadan, know each other, learn about each other’s culture, and create a dialogue space where we can have more meaningful conversations and an opportunity to get to know each other.”
Those who take part, like Ayandrali Dutta, a food critic, appreciate everything about the experience, especially as it takes place in Old Delhi, where the vibe is always “jovial, lively, in all positive ways” during Ramadan.
“You get to meet interesting people, you get to hear interesting stories ... It’s a great initiative to show what Ramadan is, what kind of food is eaten, talk about the cultures between Lucknow and Delhi and other parts of the country. And it just brings a lot of happiness,” she said.
“I loved it. My heart is happy, my belly is full. Nothing else I can ask for.”
