Mohammed Naved and Ajmal Kasab: Two Sides of the Same Coin

7 yrs apart Naved & Kasab not only look similar, both were LeT trained, and targeted India only to be captured alive.

As soon as the Udhampur terrorist was caught on Wednesday, a few in the Indian media felt sure that Mohammad Naved looked like Ajmal Kasab’s brother from another mother.

While “Who wore the Kalashnikov better?” would be very subjective, the few details we know about Naved suggest an almost identical timeline in terror for the two Lashkar trained men.

1. Training Ground

Both Naved and Kasab were pushed into India before their 21st birthdays. Both went through Daura Aam and Daura Khas, that is, basic and advanced military training courses at the same camp - LeT’s parent group Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s military camp at Manshera, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

2. First Timers

Like Kasab, Naved too appears to have been captured during his first terror-op. But unlike Kasab, Naved is unreserved. Even cocky. He’s been described as “psychologically strong and thoroughly brainwashed”. Based on his answers, investigators concluded that Naved is no rookie, but a hardened terrorist.

3. Amnesia

Both seem unclear about their age. Naved has reportedly tried to mislead his interrogators by claiming he’s 16 to some and 21 years to others. Kasab claimed to have been 17 when he was captured. While Naved’s age is yet to be confirmed, the Court rejected Kasab’s plea to be tried as a minor.

4. School Drop-Outs

A report by Arun Sharma and Praveen Swami on Naved’s Pakistani links states that Naved dropped out of school after failing his Class 5 exam. He then went on to do odd jobs, but could not get a regular job.

Kasab was 11 when he was taken out of school to help his father push his cart selling pakoras in Faridkot, Pakistan.

5. Daddy Issues

The Indian Express says Naved’s father Mohammad Yakub is a landless laborer who works on farms and construction sites. He used to regularly beat Naved for failing to get work, which provoked Naved to run away from home in Faislabad’s Ghulam Mohamadabad area.

Kasab too was a runaway. His father Amir Kasab told The Dawn newspaper – “He asked me to buy Eid clothes for him. When I refused he got angry and left”. Kasab is believed to reached Lahore where he took to petty crime after failing to find regular work.

6. Black Sheep of the Family

Naved is the youngest of four children. His eldest brother reportedly works at the Government College University in Faisalabad. His other siblings also gainfully employed. Naved clearly was the black sheep of the family.

Like a lot of Lashkar rank and file that we’ve questioned in the past, Naved was the family failure. Perhaps the gun gave him a sense of dignity and power that he lacked in life.
— Senior Intelligence Officer to The Indian Express.

Kasab too, is believed to have been drawn to the LeT because they would “show us how to use guns”. In 2013, Barney Henderson wrote on “The Making of a Monster” and said Kasab did not want to end up like his father hawking fried food on the streets. 

7. Deja Vu Over Pak Identity

In Kasab’s case, it was a month before Mahmood Durrani, adviser to the Prime Minister revealed that the 26/11 gunman was a Pakistani citizen – an admission that cost him his job in December 2008.

In Naved’s case, the Pakistan government and even its media has remained largely silent. But evidence has spilt out, rather uncomfortably on this side of the LoC.

In a 20-second conversation with Harinder Baweja of Hindustan Times, Naved’s father confirmed that the man whose face was all over Indian media was, in fact, his son.

I’ll be killed. The Lashkar is after us and the fauj is after us. You are calling from India. We’ll be killed. I am the unfortunate father. They probably wanted him dead and not caught alive. Please spare him.
— Mohammad Yakub to Hindustan Times.