Back Sponsored terrorism — Time India took a tougher stance
G. Parthasarathy
| While a comprehensive action plan to deal with the domestic challenges posed by terrorist violence is essential, a clear signal needs to be sent to Pakistan that it cannot proceed along the present path of sponsoring terror activity in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India. New Delhi has, unfortunately, adopted a defensive approach to exposing Pakistan's transgressions on issues of terrorism, nuclear proliferation and human rights violations. One hopes realism will dawn and this approach will end, says G. Parthasarathy. |
Pakistan's Prime Minister, Mr Shaukat Aziz, rather facetiously suggested that India-Pakistan relations were not moving ahead because of a "trust deficit". The normally low-keyed and polite Dr Manmohan Singh retorted that what was causing problems was not a "trust deficit" but a "truth deficit".
Dr Manmohan Singh's sharp comments followed continuing denial by Pakistan of the role of ISI-supported groups in terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Delhi bomb blasts of October 29. When terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked Parliament House on December 13, 2001, Pakistan promptly denied any involvement and disingenuously suggested that it would help in the investigations.
It has taken an identical position after the October 29 Delhi bomb blasts. But, when the Jaish-e-Mohammed trained its guns on Gen Musharraf himself, Federal Minister and former ISI Chief, Lt Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi, told Pakistan's National Assembly on March 10, 2004: "We must not be afraid of admitting that the Jaish-e-Mohammed was involved in the deaths of thousands of Kashmiris, the bombing of the Indian Parliament, in Daniel Pearl's murder and in attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life".
Though some restrictions have been placed on sections of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, there is considerable evidence that the Pakistan military establishment has not yet given up its efforts to "weaken India from within", "bleed India with a thousand cuts" and to seek "strategic depth" by assisting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
On November 7, two former Taliban leaders, Mullah Abdul Manan Khawajazai and Mullah Mohammed Akbar were gunned down when driving from Peshawar to acquire weapons in a nearby arms bazaar. Khawajazai was a close aide of Taliban Supremo Mullah Omar — a former Provincial Governor and the military commander who destroyed the historic Buddha statues in Bamiyan.
There is conclusive evidence that while Gen Musharraf parades himself as a "key ally" of the US in the "war against terrorism" he continues to provide support to the Taliban on Pakistani soil. New Delhi has to take note of the implications of Washington's low-key response to, and tacit acquiescence in, this development.
Likewise, it is no secret that the Muzaffarabad-based, ISI-sponsored United Jihad Council (UJC), nominally headed by Syed Salahuddin, has served as the coordinating organisation for ISI-supported terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation that plays a pivotal role within the UJC and remains a hot favourite of Gen Musharraf is the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to a well-informed Karachi-based journalist, the Lashkar chief, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, visited Karachi on August 20 and held a series of closed-door meetings there. (The Binori Mosque in Karachi that has hosted Osama bin Laden is a nerve-centre of jihadi terrorism.)
Just before his Karachi visit, Saeed, along withZakiur Rehman, the head of the military wing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, are reported to have met Gen Musharraf and were instructed by him that the Lashkar could carry on its activities in J&K, but "at a low key". On October 8, the day the earthquake devastated Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Saeed warned India that it would be "destroyed" as a result of its "atrocities" in J&K. A similar warning was given to the US.
The United Jihad Council met on October 9 and stated that it would suspend military operations only in those areas of Jammu and Kashmir that were hit by the earthquake. The killing of Hindus and the assassination of a Kashmir Minister, Ghulam Nabi Lone, in Srinagar signalled a policy of continuing resort to terrorist violence.
Thus, when Gen Musharraf claims that there is no infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, it is not surprising that Dr Manmohan Singh points out the "truth deficit" in anything the glib General says.
Given his compulsions, like the deployment of over 85,000 troops to fight the Al Qaeda, (while assisting the Taliban) along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, it is not surprising that Gen Musharraf has instructed the Lashkar to carry on its jihad at "a low key".
But terrorist attacks like the Delhi bomb blasts show that, apart from assisting the Lashkar in its jihad in J&K, the ISI has also assisted it to establish "sleeper cells" and "nodules" in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and in smaller towns in Gujarat, UP and Bihar.
The attacks in cities are the work of this terrorist infrastructure that the ISI has created within India with some help from Khaleda Zia's Government in Dhaka and by infiltration across the India-Nepal border.
These "cells" and "nodules" made up of Lashkar operatives from Pakistan and local collaborators have been launching pads for terrorist attacks, like that on Parliament, and the recent Delhi blasts.
More ominously, predominantly Kashmiri jihadi groups in the United Jihad Council, like the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, are now working in close cooperation with predominantly Pakistani outfits such as the Lashkar. Saudi Arabia remains a centre for funding such activities by ISI-supported groups.
The challenge that this development poses to internal security has, unfortunately, not received proper attention. The aim of the ISI during the days of militancy in Punjab was to create a Hindu-Sikh divide and erode the secular and pluralistic basis of India's body politic.
The present aim of the ISI is to create a communal divide by getting Lashkar members to operate with a small number of misguided collaborators from Kashmir and other parts of India. Sadly, the political elite in India pretends that the problem does not exist.
The repeal of POTA at a time when democracies across the world are strengthening anti-terrorist laws has also sent the signal that the Government just does not understand the seriousness of the terrorist challenge India faces.
While a comprehensive action plan to deal with the domestic challenges posed by terrorist violence is essential, a clear signal needs to be sent to Pakistan and the international community that it cannot be business as usual if Gen Musharraf proceeds along his present path.
At the very least, New Delhi should demand that Pakistan should disband the "United Jihad Council" and shut down the infrastructure, including the headquarters, of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridhke.
Given the detection of Lashkar involvement in terrorist activities in the US, the UK, Russia and Australia, such a move can gather international support.
Following the October 8 earthquake, the Lashkar has developed a strong presence in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Thousands of its "volunteers" are engaged in relief activities and in indoctrinating people with hatred for India.
The terrorist challenge will become more acute when the snows melt and infiltration gathers steam in May 2006.
Sadly, New Delhi has adopted a defensive and, indeed, apologetic approach to exposing Pakistan's transgressions on issues of terrorism, nuclear proliferation and human rights violations in the Shia-dominated Northern Areas. One hopes that realism will dawn and that this approach will end.
(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)
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