Is India going too easy on Terrorists?

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syrene

@syrene

Voyager

Posted: 19 years ago

#101

Terror camps exist alongside Pak Army regiments: India

Terror training camps exist alongside the Pakistani Army regiments across the border and traces of Al-Qaeda's presence in Jammu and Kashmir have been found in communication intercepted over the last two months.

Infiltration in the valley has been on the rise and the militants have changed their terror tactics as well as the mode of supply of ammunition into the trouble-torn state, said a report in a leading english daily "Asian Age" published here today quoting a senior official of the Central Reserve Police Force said.

"The language and the codes of the communication intercepts suggest that the global terror outfit has been operating in the valley for last two months," the official said adding that two Afghans were gunned down in the valley last week during counter-insurgency operations.

The terror outfits have started recruitment of female cadres to avoid frisking and to make up for the loss of middle-level cadre lost during counter-insurgency operations in the state in the last few years, the official said.

"After the Mufti Mohhamad Sayeed government released about 20,000 militants when it came to power, the madrassas have started indoctrination programs and mass mobilization against the symbols of state, including the police, administration and the government are being undertaken," the official elaborated.

This, besides the four outfits active in the valley, including Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahidden and Al-Badr, have been networked and are sharing their tactics, technology and cadre for carrying out attacks in the state, the official said.

The outfits have changed their earlier tactics of use of car bombs and suicide squads on security forces to attacking soft targets as tourists.

People from rural areas are recruited by the outfits as they have not been direct beneficiaries of the surge in tourism in the state, he said, and added that "it is disturbing to note that no rights group has condemned over the recent killings in the valley." Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said: "We have reports that infiltration is on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir and peace talks with Pakistan cannot go hand in hand with terrorist activities. Terrorist training camps are being run in Pakistan and their cadres in valley are being indoctrinated in jihadi ideology in the valley."
Troop deployment in the valley will be enhanced in view of the escalation of violence and increase in infiltration, the minister said.

The internal security situation was also discussed at a high-level meeting of chief secretaries of the states with Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi, Union Home Secretary V K Duggal and chiefs of intelligence agencies.

Meanwhile, sources in the armed forces said that 59 terrorist training camps are active in Pakistan and the divisions' corps and commands have chalked out their own strategies and identified weapons to be used in case of an operation for "hot pursuit" against the training centers across the border.

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-239/0607203347144849.ht m

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syrene

@syrene

Voyager

Posted: 19 years ago

#102

1,300 ultras ready to infiltrate into Kashmir'

Jammu, July. 20 (PTI): More than 1,300 militants are currently in a chain of launching pads along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to step up militant activities in the state, top security sources said here today.

"Over 1,300 militants are stationed along the LoC, ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to keep the pot of militancy boiling here," a source told PTI.

Intelligence inputs and ground reports collected by various security agencies put the figure of militants at launch pads at 1,300, the sources said. These agencies have also detected increased infiltration along the LoC this year, particularly in the Rajouri-Poonch sector of Jammu region and Gurez sector of Kashmir.

The militants are stationed at some 18 launching pads, mostly in Goi, Kotli, Nikial, Bindi, Samani, Dhallupar, Hijira, Sensakudiala Bhimber and Mamana along the LoC, the sources said.

There are 26 militant training camps in PoK, including 21 along LoC and four along the international border, they said.

"There was no major loss to the terror infrastructure in PoK in the October 8 earthquake as most militants are in makeshift camps in PoK and Pakistan, mostly in forest areas," a source said.

Though the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba suffered some casualties due to the destruction of four camps in Muzaffarabad and Neelam Valley during the quake, they managed to rebuild their infrastructure, the sources said.

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syrene

@syrene

Voyager

Posted: 19 years ago

#103

'The masterminds are not in India'

British intelligence analyst Richard M Bennett says the serial attacks in Mumbai were masterminded by outfits from abroad.

According to him, "The level of sophistication and organisation needed to carry out such a widespread and tightly coordinated attack is beyond the known capabilities of any of the Islamic groups operating in either Kashmir or elsewhere in India."

In an e-mail to rediff.com immediately after the blasts, he said, "This has all the hallmarks of a Special Forces/Intelligence operation... it may have been carried out by expendable extremists, but those who were the promoters and brains have military training."

"The Mumbai blasts is an attack on India's soft underbelly," said Ajit Doval, former director, Intelligence Bureau.

Doval too agrees with the views of the British expert. "From my experience I think that the blasts are not an indigenous effort. It is the exported variety of terrorism. The blasts of Mumbai have a foreign origin and it is obvious that a lot of effort has gone behind its execution."

Doval, who extensively investigated fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's involvement in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, said, "The saboteurs are telling India that they are alive, kicking and have the capacity to strike at any place in India, at a time of their choosing."

"India must give a counter message," Doval said. "We must prove that we have the capacity to hound them wherever they are. Terrorists must get the message that the threshold level of patience of Indians is not infinite. If we don't do something now then the enemies of India will keep surprising us."

"Today's blasts must have involved more than 25 people who might have knowingly and unknowingly participated. It is very likely that the masterminds are not in India. The actual perpetrators may not be more than four or five but these guys must have got help from many people. The infrastructure for these blasts must have been quite big. Motor vehicles, local agents, people who provided cover to terrorists and people who planted the devices must have been involved. They should be and will be found out."

http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/12sheela.htm?zcc=rl

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syrene

@syrene

Voyager

Posted: 19 years ago

#104

US lawmaker blasts Pakistan for India 'failure'
WASHINGTON, JULY 19: Coming down heavily on Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai serial blasts, a top US lawmaker has said Islamabad's failure to live up to its promise to reign in terror outfits is threatening the peace process with India.

Frank Pallone, a House of Representatives member and founder of caucus on India and Indian Americans, also said that Pakistan still lacked appropriate laws to deter terrorist cells from "looming and growing within their borders". "Pakistan's failure to rein in terrorist organizations operating within its borders is threatening the peace process. Despite having vowed in 2004 not to allow any part of the territory under its control be used by groups such as LeT, Pakistan has simply watched while terrorist attacks took place in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country," he said.

The Democrat lawmaker from New Jersey said all available leads were pointing towards the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the deadly blasts in Mumbai suburban trains, which killed over 200 people and injured over 700, on July 11.

"All leads are now pointing to the involvement of LeT, a terrorist organization that has received support from Pakistan's inter-services intelligence. LeT is a group active in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Although the group is outlawed in Pakistan, it continues to function under other guises.

In fact, their leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed enjoys freedom in Pakistan despite this official ban on his organizations," Pallone said in the House of Representatives.

Offering condolences to the families of the victims of the last week's terror attack, Pallone said that "although slow moving, the peace process between India and Pakistan was promising and I'm afraid that Pakistan now stands in the way of further progress".

Terming the attacks as "senseless acts of terrorism and violence", he said Islamabad has "unfortunately" not proven its commitment against terrorism as India and the United States did.

"India has made a strong commitment to fighting terrorism in all its forms. Like the US, nothing has deterred their firm policy to fight this regional and global menace. Unfortunately, Pakistan has not proven this same commitment.

"The government still lacks the appropriate law and order that is necessary to deter terrorist cells from looming and growing within their borders," he added. Arguing that Pakistan must demonstrate their commitment to the global war on terrorism, he said Islamabad should live up to its end of the bargain and control violence.

"Otherwise, it will become exceedingly difficult for India to sustain the peace initiative," the lawmaker argued. On the resilience displayed by the people of India, he said the people of Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir have demonstrated very strongly against terrorism.

"My only hope is that these attacks strengthen the resolve of the government of Pakistan in combating Islamic terrorism. Pakistan must not let Islamic extremism undermine the peace process," Pallone said.

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Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

#105

Old TIME article...

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2001/0205/kashmir_sb1 .html

FEBRUARY 5, 2001 VOL. 157 NO. 5

Inside Jihad
The militants fighting Pakistan's covert war with India train in spartan camps where they are schooled for battle and prepared for martyrdom
By GHULAM HASNAIN Islamabad and Muzaffarabad

ALSO
In the Line of Fire
After decades of conflict, thousands of sons murdered and a long-standing drought of hope in the disputed region, India and Pakistan are starting a hesitant peace process
Essay: Remembering one of the "disappeared"

Four bearded militants warm themselves at a gas heater in an Islamabad safe house. A wireless set suddenly crackles. "Our boys have entered Srinagar Airport," a grave, distant-sounding voice announces. "Pray for them. It has now been 15 minutes." The voice, speaking in Urdu and broadcasting from deep within India's part of Kashmir, is detailing the progress of a suicide mission by Lashkar-i-Taiba, a ruthless, Pakistan-based militant group waging war to wrest Kashmir from India. The four men in the safe house, also members of Lashkar-i-Taiba, immediately go into fervent prayer. They are not the only ones to receive the radio transmission. Other militant groups in Pakistan can tune into the same frequency. So can the Pakistani military. A phone in the house rings, and one of the militants answers. He is asked what's happening. His reply: "Why don't you find out from your side?" After hanging up, he explains the caller was a Pakistani army colonel.

That scene occurred in early January. Five Lashkar operatives disguised as police officers attempted to attack the Srinagar airport that day. But Indian army guards turned them away, and the operation was aborted. Two weeks ago, however, a second attempt succeeded. Six would-be martyrs, dressed in police uniforms and driving a stolen government jeep, reached the outer defense gate of the airport and indiscriminately tossed grenades and opened fire with rifles. Back in the Islamabad safe house, a coded message came through at 2:15 p.m. saying the men had reached their target. Abu Ammar, a 30-year-old Pakistani veteran of the Afghan war—his face is scarred from shrapnel and his right hand is mangled—knelt and touched his forehead to the floor in prayer. "I have learned that whenever you succeed in your mission, just bow down, thank God and hail his greatness," he said. After a three-hour gun battle at the airport's perimeter, all six of Abu Ammar's men were dead, along with four policemen. (Two civilians were killed and 12 injured.)

Since Kashmir erupted in 1989, India has pointed a blunt and unwavering finger at Pakistan, accusing its neighbor of fomenting the entire problem. It's a large and cynical exaggeration: anti-Indian sentiment runs high within Kashmir, and in the first half of the 1990s, Kashmiris themselves provided the steam in the anti-Indian militant movement. They were disorganized and willing to murder, but passionate and anxious to plead their nationalist cause with the outside world.

Today, however, India's charge rings a lot truer. Despite a decade of denials—Islamabad insists it provides only moral and political support, not training or tangible aid—Pakistan is fueling militant activity in Kashmir. Of the five main militant groups operating in Kashmir, four are based in Pakistan, where open recruiting and fundraising are commonplace. Training of militants is also done on Pakistani soil. The Pakistani military is deeply involved, especially in the smuggling of anti-Indian militants across the Line of Control.

Militant groups have roots all over Pakistan, from their well-equipped training centres in Muzaffarabad—the capital of Pakistan's slice of Kashmir—and the country's North-West Frontier province to the nice, middle-class houses in Lahore and Islamabad. Those houses may look no different from their neighbors at first glance, but what about the strange antennas on the roofs, the international phone lines and the transient occupants with unkempt hair, camouflage jackets and hiking boots? And what of those unmarked four-wheel-drive vehicles pulling up at dawn with clockwork precision? Here is an inside look at how Pakistan runs its covert war in Kashmir:

Recruiting and Training

There are thousands of young, motivated Pakistani men anxious to join the militancy in Kashmir, which they consider a holy war. They come from all walks of life: not merely from the religious schools known as madrassahs, or the far-flung, poverty-mired towns and villages, but also from Pakistan's educated and Westernized middle and upper classes. In the jihad they find brotherhood, a sense of mission and purpose. And for these highly religious volunteers, many of whom are still in their teens, there is nothing more sacred in life than achieving the status of a martyr. These are the grunts in the war. The leaders are Pakistani veterans of the Afghan war.

The largest training camp in Pakistan is run by Lashkar-i-Taiba, a wing of an Afghan mujahedin group known as Markaz Al Dawa Wal Irshad. It is set on a vast mountain clearing overlooking Muzaffarabad. (Training grounds for the other three militant groups are located in the North-West Frontier province.) Armed men guard the facility round-the-clock. There are only two structures, one an armory, the other a kitchen. Trainees live and sleep in the open, whether in the sweltering summer or the depth of winter. The field is dotted with installations used to teach the fervent young—some no older than 14—how to cross a river, climb a mountain or ambush a military convoy.

The day of a trainee begins at four in the morning. After offering prayers, the militants go for exercises. A breakfast of tea and bread is at eight, followed by a full day of rigorous drills, which are interrupted only for prayers and a simple lunch, usually rice and lentils. Coursework covers how to use sidearms, sniper rifles, grenades, rocket launchers and wireless radio sets, as well as the art of constructing bombs. The teachers are Lashkar veterans of action in Kashmir and Afghanistan. Sports, music and television are forbidden. Trainees are only allowed to read pre-screened newspaper articles.

Training is divided into two stages. The first three-week session gives religious education and basic knowledge of how to handle firearms. Once a volunteer has passed that course, which costs the organization about $330 per trainee, he is sent to a designated city or town, often near his birthplace, to work at the group's offices and become more involved with the organization.

When a volunteer proves himself capable, motivated and loyal, he is enrolled in a special three-month commando boot camp, which costs the group $1,700 per student. (The money is raised from overseas groups and the Pakistani public, often via open demonstrations in Pakistani cities of militants working out, scaling walls and showing other martial tricks. Generous donors are invited to visit the not-so-secret camps to see how their money is spent.) Phase two is designed to push each volunteer to his physical limit and cull the weak from the strong. In the final weeks, recruits use live ammunition, construct actual explosives and perfect ambush techniques. The final exam lasts three days. A group of trainees, sometimes as large as 100 individuals, hikes and climbs through high-altitude, wooded terrain for three days without food or sleep. They are not allowed to slow their pace except for a few naps. At the end the hungry and thirsty survivors are given a goat, a knife and a matchbox. That's their reward, and they have to cook and eat it in warlike conditions.

Going In

Only the fittest from each graduating group are given a chance at martyrdom across the border in Kashmir. The local commander makes his choice, and the fortunate few are dispatched to safe houses along the Line of Control known as "launching pads." (Parents' permission is technically required for anyone who opts for jihad. Many boys get it easily, but some who don't, fully submerged in the dream of martyrdom, pressure their parents into complying.) At the launching pad, while waiting for their marching orders, the boys write wills and what might be their last words to their families.

At this point, the Pakistani army plays a crucial role helping to arrange the infiltration of the militants across the Line of Control. Militants officially deny Pakistani army involvement, but those who fought in Kashmir tell Time that the wait at the launching pad is dictated by their leaders, who are in touch with the army. "Until an unmarked vehicle turns up at your safe house," says a veteran of Al-Badr, the first Pakistan-based militant organization to get members across the line, "you don't know when your number will come."

When it does, this is what happens: "The vehicle, covered from all sides, will pick up two, three or four militants according to the plan and dump them at one of the forward posts of the Pakistani army," the Al-Badr veteran says. "People in civvies give us arms, ammunition, food and money [Indian currency]. We are asked to check our weapons. After a day or two they give us the signal to go ahead." None of the boys is allowed to carry his own arms to the Line of Control, although sometimes an individual can choose a favorite AK-47 and find it waiting for him at the army camp along the line.

The next step is the most hazardous: from the Pakistani army post, the group embarks on a three-to-seven night journey into Indian-controlled Kashmir, traveling by night, hiding during the day. The group leader wears night-vision goggles. The rest follow blindly across the mountains. There are numerous obstacles: Indian mines, tracer flares, Indian border patrols anxious to shoot at them. "But whenever such a situation arises," says a Lashkar militant, "the Pakistani guns come to our rescue to provide cover."

Militants making the return trip go through a reverse route, ending up at a Pakistani army base—sometimes with souvenirs. Abu Haibatullah, 32, was sent across the Line of Control in the mid '90s with a particular mission: to bring back an Indian soldier for interrogation. He managed to ambush and disarm a soldier, but when the Indian tried to snatch Haibatullah's gun, he killed him. He then decided to return home with the soldier's head. "Lots of people came to see the head," he recalls proudly. "Some were from the Pakistani army and they praised me for my gallantry." 😡 (SoB****$%#$#😡)

In the 1990s, the Pakistani militants hired local guides—ethnic Kashmiris—to help them get across the mountains and into India. "On a number of occasions," says Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, 42, the supreme commander of the Lashkar-i-Taiba militants, "they took the money and tipped off the Indians. So we trained our own manpower." In other words, the Pakistani militants don't always trust the Kashmiris on whose behalf they are waging this war. The Pakistani militancy, which had its roots in the Afghan war, is now an institution unto itself.

************************************************************ ***************************

Does anyone still doubt Pakistan's complicity in exporting terror to India. We must never make peace with such a country and instead make them pay heavily.

Edited by SolidSnake - 19 years ago

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Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

#106

http://www.saag.org/papers19/paper1886.html

no. 1886

19. 07. 2006

MUMBAI 7/11 TERRORIST BOMBINGS: INDIA INCREDIBLY ENRAGED

by Dr. Subhash Kapila

Introductory Observations

India at large, as opposed to the present Government in New Delhi, stands incredibly enraged at the senseless and wanton destruction of 200 lives killed and over 700 wounded in the July 11, 2006, Mumbai terrorist bombings. On this tragic day Pakistan once again manifested that it had not given up Islamic Jihadi terror as an asymmetric warfare weapon against India. Mumbai's 7/11 bombings on seven different trains stands now confirmed by official Indian circles as the combined handiwork of Pakistan's ISI (intelligence agency), Islamic Jihadi terrorist organisations based in Pakistan and indigenous Indian Muslim banned organisations like SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India).

India at large stood enraged, as the Indian Government dithered in the first twenty four hours in naming Pakistan and hesitating in strong responses. The initial responses of the Indian Government were predictable standard format responses to Pakistani terrorism attacks in India: (1) routine condemnation (2) it was aimed at creating communal disturbances and (3) the peace dialogue with Pakistan will not be allowed to be affected.

For the first time (as this author stated in a live TV interview to Pakistan's GEO-TV Network) India at large, that is, India's wide-spread public opinion, outpaced Indian Government's dithering responses. Despite Indian Cabinet Ministers backroom telephonic messages to TV Channels, not to show the horrific battlefield killings in the bombings, India's citizen journalists had captured it all on their cell-phones. Thereafter, started a surge of angry public responses mailed to both domestic and foreign TV networks by e-mails and SMS messages expressing their rage on this terrorist bombings and India's weak responses.

India at large stood enraged and the Indian Prime Minister could no longer dither. The next evening in a national televised address while advising calm he again did not name Pakistan nor called off the peace process, as public opinion demanded. He only described that this ghastly incident was the handwork from "across the borders". India at large wanted to know from him,which borders?

India at large is enraged because unlike the United States strong responses against terrorism following 9/11, Indian Government responses after 7/11 have been dithering, confused and refusing to face the strategic reality that all major terrorist bombings against India bear the signature of Pakistan and yet India's present Government wishes to salvage the peace dialogue.

India stands enraged also that the present government in New Delhi and its coalition allies' weak responses against terrorism are conditioned by their being captives of Indian Muslim vote banks. India's national security interests do not seem to be figuring in their political calculus.

India at large is enraged witnessing that the Government of the day, instead of exploiting 7/11 as a defining moment to re-fashion its counter-terrorism responses by a radical transformation towards strong responses, seems to be buckling down under the inherent political contradictions imposed by its Indian Muslim vote-bank considerations.

In such a scenario, this paper shall attempt to focus attention on some pertinent aspects which have an important bearing on this crucial challenge which India faces:

Mumbai 7/11 Terrorist Bombings: The Enraging Effect on the Indian Psyche. Indian Enraged: The Manifestations of the Rage. India At Large: The Emerging Attitudes towards Pakistan. The Impact on Risk-Analysis Forecasts on India India At Large Resents United States Ambivalence on Terrorism Originating from Pakistan Against India.
India At Large calls for Revival of Punitive Anti-Terrorism Laws: Even Chief Justices of India Support it.

Mumbai 7/11 Terrorist Bombings: The Enraging Effect on the Indian Psyche

Mumbai 7/11 terrorist bombings have to be viewed in the context of the following framework:

Mumbai 7/11 has been the sixth major terrorism incident perpetrated on this city. Mumbai 7/11 killings in terms of triple figure number of those killed replicate the 1993 bombings in Mumbai. Mumbai follows a repetitive sequence of major Pakistani initiated terrorist attacks against major centres in India - Ayodhya (July 5, 2005); New Delhi (October 29, 2005); Bangalore (December 28, 2005); Varanasi (March 7, 2006) and now Mumbai (July 11, 2006).
The targeting pattern indicates terrorist attacks against India's financial capital, India's IT capital, India's political capital and the holy places of the Hindus.

In light of the recurring Pakistan initiated terrorist bombings/ attacks the following impressions/ perceptions have started getting embedded in the psyche of India at large:

Pakistan initiated terrorist bombings/ attacks continue in a recurrent pattern. From being confined to Jammu and Kashmir, they now encompass the entire heartland of India. The Government of the day has not come out with any swift and sharp measures to deter these attacks, especially those from July 2005 onwards. It follows a policy of appeasement towards Pakistan under external pressure. While the Government talks of nuclear deterrence, it is totally oblivious to "terrorism deterrence". On the contrary, the present Government in New Delhi had neutralized whatever little "terrorism deterrence" that existed, by repeal of POTA (anti-terrorist laws) and not extending the ban on Islamic Fundamentalist organisations like SIMI.
The weakening of India's "terrorism deterrence" by the present Government, supported by its coalition allies, has been necessitated by their being captives of Indian Muslim vote-banks.

In the psyche of India at large, 7/11 has because synonymous with America's 9/11. The 9/11 bombings by Islamic Jihadis was against the citadels of American's power – Pentagon (military power) and New York (America's global financial power centre). In India, the Pakistan Islamic Jihadis attacked India's Parliament House in 2001, with a sharp response by the then Government. Now on 7/11, Mumbai the financial capital of India stood re-targeted with horrific destruction. And what has been the response of the Government in New Delhi?

Analysts and political leaders dismiss public memory as short, but 7/11 has seared the psyche of India at large, recalling that the political, financial and religious citadels of the Indian nation-state have been repeatedly attacked by Islamic Fundamentalist terrorist organisations without any reciprocal punitive damage on them.

India Enraged: The Manifestations of the Rage

India at large manifested its rage both in the external media and the domestic media. Even after a week, it continues to do so; in terms of numbers, they can be counted in hundreds.

However, to give an idea as to why India is enraged over 7/11 and what it desires, some representative excerpts are reproduced verbatim:

"I have to come to believe more and more that Jihadi terrorism and other problems in India won't get better until law abiding citizens turn their rage on the stupid third rate gutter politicians and arm-chair secularists." "The mass media and their allies have sold their silence to Jihadi terrorists and corrupt politicians." "When somebody directs terror at you, nation states are expected to hit back with maximum force. Carry the fight into the enemy camp." "All your nuclear weapons, your missiles, your tanks come to naught, when you don't have the steel in your soul to defend yourself and your subjects – at any cost." "Yet India has been engaged in a peace process with the very neighbour it knows is out to dismantle it." "The time may have come to let the terrorists – and their backers know, that India is a country with millennial patience, but angered and aroused, can play hardball. Will, or can the Prime Minister oblige?
"Such was the indifference of our leaders that there was no need felt to declare national mourning."

The outpourings are unending, but the message that is being sent out by India at large is:

Time has come for decisive counter-terrorism offensive, even if it means carrying it "across borders". The Prime Minister will know which borders. Weak counter-terrorism policies are being blamed on a weak political leadership.
India at large wants action, but it feels that the political leadership lacks courage.

These messages are not from any political party activists but India's educated and professional classes and cuts across a wide spectrum of India's composition. Their messages, therefore, are not politically motivated but arise as anguished responses of India's citizens, pained as they are by lack of strong Indian official counter-terrorism responses.

India At Large: The Emerging Attitudes Towards Pakistan

In a nation wide TV poll in tandem with a discussion on the future of the India-Pakistan Peace Dialogue, 87% of Indians voted for the peace-dialogue to be called off and only 13% voted for its continuance. Now, that is an overwhelming majority.

In fact, much before 7/11 this author had written on this site a paper; "Should India Freeze Peace Dialogue with Pakistan?" (SAAG Paper No. 1810 dated 25.05.2006). The major points that were made in this paper, weeks before 7/11, after examining General Musharraf's continued use of proxy war against India were:

"India today presents a dichotomy where Indians at large feel that in view of Pakistan's proxy war against India it should adopt strong positions against Pakistan and freeze Indo-Pak peace dialogue." "In contrast the Indian Government is trying to placate the military dictator." "Peace with Pakistan as a strategic imperative for India is only a strategic pressure point imposition of the United States and the West to suit their own strategic needs."
"Every right thinking Indian has a right to ask as to how Pakistan is emboldened to continue in an unrestrained and undeclared war against India, and the present Indian Government rather than defending "India's National Honour" chooses to continue the chimera of an Indo-Pak peace dialogue?"

Mumbai 7/11 terrorist bombings whose Pakistani connections are irrefutable tragically brings the above issues in more bolder relief.

The Impact on Risk- Analysis Forecasts on India

Risk-analysis forecasts on India on which depends foreign direct investments and foreign institutional investments to power India's economic growth have become disturbing as a result of Mumbai 7/11; and this too could have been one of the aims of Pakistan's proxy war.

Jephraim P Gundzik, President of Condor Advisers has written (Asia Times, July 13, 2000) the following after 7/11:

"Rapidly deteriorating governance has created a political and social crisis in India. The growing power of India's Leftist parties has hamstrung the centrist Manmohan Singh government resulting in policy vacuum that has in turn produced an upsurge in domestic extremism and international terrorism."
"Over the next six to 12 months, the policy vacuum of the Government will heighten extremism and terrorism."

Surely, Pakistan and its Islamic Jihadi terrorist organisations would be coming to the same conclusions as evidenced by the rash of terrorism bombings/ attacks from July 2005 – July 2006 (six in all).

India At Large Resents United States Ambivalence on Terrorism Originating from Pakistan Against India

India at large, deeply resents United States ambivalence on terrorism originating from Pakistan against India. The roots of this resentment lie in the following:

Indians are aware that Pakistan's unremitting intransigence towards India arises from the confidence that it has the United States to fall back on support, in case of sharp ripostes from India.

Pakistan's confidence arises from the belief that the United States is permissive on Pakistan's Islamic Jihadi terrorism directed against India, as long as Pakistan at calibrated intervals keeps on handing Al Qaeda operatives to United States.
India at large believes that it is within the power of the United States to close Pakistan's terror tap against India, should it choose to decide so, but it doesn't.

For over five years now, United States has adopted an ambivalent posture on terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The United States screws Pakistan to deliver on Al Qaeda terrorists wanted by it, but blinks and is permissive on General Musharraf's calculated reluctance to deliver on his pledges made both to USA and India that Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India.

On the other hand, the United States tries to convince India by excuses that General Musharraf is under threat himself and that India should be patient with him. More blasphemy occurs when the US President and other US officials describe General Musharraf as a staunch fighter against terrorism.

That United States ambivalence is becoming noticeable in India can be evidenced from the writings of Prof. Sumit Ganguly who is a Professor in USA and closely allied with the US Administration. In an article in a Mumbai newspaper (DNA, July 16, 2006) entitled "Rogue Neighbour" he makes the following cogent points:

Pakistan is the source of dispensing terror all across India. Even the US State Dept. under the "ever gullible" Colin Powell was forced to place both the Lashkar-e-Toyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Foreign Terrorism Organisations List in Dec. 2001 following the attack on India's Parliament. "India should be willing to bluntly press the US, the UK and the members of the European Community to exert tangible pressure on the Musharraf regime."
More important, he added: "If necessary, India should be willing to place on-going cooperative ventures with these states at some risk unless they prove willing to listen and act on India's vital concerns as regards Pakistan's feckless promotion of terror. Delhi cannot remain satisfied with pious and anodyne expressions of concern and sympathy from the West."

In yet another perceptive piece entitled "America's Ambivalence on Terrorism (Rediff, July 14, 2000) an intelligence analyst, Richard M Bennet highlights the following:

"Washington's War on Terrorism appears increasingly to be falling short of a coherent and reasoned campaign, with its ambivalent attitudes to states like Pakistan which at best provide sanctuary for Islamic extremists and at worst, actually support organize and control major terrorist groups."
"That India should be the target of a prolonged and vicious Islamic terrorist campaign in all probability covertly supported by one of Washington's closest allies in the War on Terrorism – is perhaps not quite so surprising when seen in the light of the large number of determined espionage operations run by the CIA to steal India's most important secrets."

The United States cannot continue to be oblivious to Pakistan's terrorism war against India. Any such obliviousness could endanger Indo-US cooperation as a result of public opinion pressure.

United States unsolicited advice post-7/11 that Indo-Pak Peace Dialogue should not be called off without solid proof of Pakistan's complicity is not expected to go down well with India at large. The Indian Government itself has referred to Pakistan's complicity as a result of emerging investigations. India at large would like to question the United States as to why it bombarded the Taliban out of Afghanistan yet it spared their mentor? Their was solid proof available against the mentor too.

India At Large Calls For Revival of Punitive Anti-Terrorism Laws: Even Chief Justices of India Support It

The Congress Party, the Leftists and the other regional members of the ruling coalition, on coming into power in 2004 repealed the "Prevention of Terrorist Activities" (POTA) Law. This was an election plank to win Indian Muslim minority votes. The case being made was that POTA was directed against the Indian Muslims.

The ruling coalition completely forgets that if large number of Indian Muslims came into the dragnet of POTA, it was because they were so involved in anti-Indian activities whether it was Dawood Ibrahim, the Mumbai mafia gangs, or the LeT and JeM terrorists from Pakistan or their SIMI accomplices in India. Why do they not advise responsible sections of the vast silent majority of Indian Muslims to raise their voices against those of their kin who by their actions seek to discredit their community?

Surely, this political segment of India is not making out a case that in POTA detentions there should have been a proportional representation of India's majority population?

The Prime Minister of India, even after a week of 7/11 is publicly asserting that POTA type anti-terrorism laws are not required. Once again the reasons are politically connected to the Indian Muslim vote banks and not to India's national security imperatives. It is also at marked variance with the feelings of India at large and even the Chief Justices of India. In reactions across the media, ordinary people called for strong anti-terrorist laws citing examples of USA, UK, France and Japan.

The former Chief Justice of India RC Lakhoti, made the following observations on the eve of his retirement:

Recommend a new law on tackling terrorism and regretted that India's political leadership lacked the will to frame such a law to wipe out the terrorism menace.
Strongly recommended that Special Law should be made to deter terrorism and such law should include the death penalty.

The present Chief Justice of India, Mr. Y. K. Sabharwal recently made the following observations (Times of India Report, July 2006):

Noted with grave concern the spiraling terrorist strikes against India and said the international community would not fault India if it chooses to enact tough measures to deal with the menace
"Since the terrorist acts tend to create a state of emergency threatening the defence of India, no one would be able to fault India if it were to invoke the discretion for derogation from international treaty obligations to take tough measures."

The Indian Government therefore has the discretion to introduce "terrorism deterrence" laws, but is shackled by the chains of Indian Muslim vote banks.

Concluding Observations

India at large is seriously enraged with:

Pakistan: Its continued campaign of terrorist bombings in tandem with professions of peace. Also, General Musharraf's reluctance to honour his pledges to USA and India not to permit terror campaigns from Pakistani territory against India. USA: Its ambivalence on terrorism emanating from Pakistan against India and its inability to restrain Pakistan which it can do so. Further the constant pressure for the Indo-Pak Peace Dialogue to continue knowing fully well that Indian public opinion is strongly against it.
India's Congress Coalition Government

(a) Feeble will and soft approaches of the Government to Islamic Jihad emanating from Pakistan.

(b) Weakening India's "terrorist deterrence" by repealing POTA on grounds of appeasement of Indian Muslim vote banks.

(c) Ignoring the reality that "Peace Dialogue" with Pakistan and "Terror Attacks" originating from Pakistan cannot go on concurrently.

(d) Succumbing to US pressures to sustain peace dialogue with Pakistan, regardless of cost.

There comes a time in the history of nations, when hard choices have to be made by its political leadership. The Indian Government today has the challenge that:

Fighting Islamic Jihadi terrorism, both from within and without, is no longer a war of choice, but a war of necessity. India's "National Honour" is not open to violation like the present destruction of 200 lives on 7/11 and the dozen more incidents preceding it.
No political consideration/ postures of any political party can be allowed to subvert India's "National Honour" by those who masquerade as modern day "Ghoris" and "Ghaznavis" and commit crimes against India at large.

Edited by SolidSnake - 19 years ago

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Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

#107

Was National Mourning declared for Mumbai Victims? 😕

Iron Bhai, did you see Musharraf's speech?

Quote

Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

#108

Ooops! By mistake I posted it in India-Israel thread....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1784050.cms

ISLAMABAD: Asking India to provide evidence of those it suspects to be behind Mumbai serial blasts, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday said that his government was prepared to extend "full cooperation" in apprehending the perpetrators.

In a televised address to the nation, the Pakistan President described India's decision to postpone the Foreign Secretary level talks as "unfortunate".

Deferring the peace process and dialogue is clearly "playing into the hands of terrorists. This is exactly what they want -- that peace and normalisation process should be stopped," Musharraf said. (Sorry General, you can't play both games at the same time. Stop terror and then talks follow otherwise get ready to pay the price)

He said Indian government's stand in the wake of the blasts appeared to be a "unfortunate" and "I'm sure Indian government does not want" the peace process to halt.

Hoping that India will see through such designs, Musharraf said that "to blame each other or indulge in blame game is the first sign defeat (in our fight against terror)."

The Pakistan President said that there was need to reflect before making any statements and "unsubstantiated comments should not be made."

Assuring India that Pakistan will fully cooperate in targeting terror infrastructure on its soil. "If you give us proof, evidence on who are behind the blasts, we will fully cooperate," he said. (Pak is yet to act on our request to deport Dawood, and about the list of 20 most wanted criminals we had given to you Mr.General?😕)

Quote

Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

#109

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1789068.cms

Lashkar cadre in Indian Air Force?
[ 21 Jul, 2006 1550hrs ISTINDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: Celluloid nightmares may be becoming reality. A letter written by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan to all state chief ministers has hinted at the possible infiltration of the Indian Air Force by Lashkar-e-Toiba cadre.

An expose by the Times Group television channel Times Now revealed on Friday that the NSA's letter dated November 30 last year had drawn the CMs' attention to the possibility that two Lashkar-e-Toiba cadre had infiltrated the IAF.

The letter is based on a 40-page national security report from the National Security Council Secretariat. Times Now has a copy of Narayanan's letter and has been repeatedly showing it on television since noon on Friday.

Times Now quoted an IAF spokesman as saying that the force conducted minute verifications to ensure there were no infiltrations.

The country is still shaken at the audacity and meticulous planning of the Mumbai blasts last week and the possibility of the armed forces being infiltrated will only add to the fear that terrorist groups are successfully spreading their tentacles through the nation's core.

Reacting swiftly, former Defence Minister George Fernandes has already demanded the resignation of Narayanan. The BJP, meanwhile, has asked the UPA government to change its mindset on terror given the aggressiveness of the terrorist groups and to reassure the nation through a detailed statement on the issue.

Senior party leader Arun Jaitley pointed out that "the armed forces is the last bastion of Indian security" and the revelation should not just "wake up, but shake up this government".

The main Opposition party has repeatedly attacked the Manmohan Singh government for being "soft on terror". The bone of contention is the Prevention of Terrorism Act that the BJP-led NDA had pushed through in its reign, but which the Congress and its allies are completely opposed to as a "draconian law."

*********************************************************

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1789482.cms

Hand over Dawood Ibrahim, says India
[ 21 Jul, 2006 1910hrs ISTPTI ]

NEW DELHI: Not satisfied by Pakistan's offer of cooperation in probe into Mumbai blasts, India on Friday asked Islamabad to hand over Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Emphasising that Pakistan must act on the promises made earlier not to allow the territory under its control for any terrorist activities against India, New Delhi also asked Islamabad to ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa, political outfit of Lashkar-e-Toiba, and arrest its leaders.

Affirming India's commitment to the dialogue process with Islamabad, External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Navtej Sarna, however, said this can "be sustained and yield results only if Pakistan acts against terrorist groups operating from its territory and PoK in accordance with its solemn commitment of January 6,2004."

Quote

syrene

@syrene

Voyager

Posted: 19 years ago

#110

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/8945.html

With 'give us proof', General disappoints

C Raja Mohan
Posted online: Friday, July 21, 2006 at 0000 hrs

NEW DELHI, JULY 20:If the UPA government was looking for any signals tonight from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that might have allowed a revival of the stalled peace process, India could only have been disappointed.

Musharraf's promise, in his address to Pakistan which he knew was going to be heard by India and the international community, to "cooperate fully" with New Delhi and to "help fight those responsible for such a big terrorist act", in Mumbai is unlikely to meet Indian concerns about Pakistan's continued support to cross-border terrorism.

That this promise was conditioned on India providing evidence on the involvement of elements from across the border in the Mumbai massacre would only add to New Delhi's political irritation.

"If you give us proof, evidence on who are behind the blasts, we will fully cooperate," Musharraf said in a televised speech.

In his address to the nation last week after he visited Mumbai, and since, Singh has been reminding Pakistan of its commitment under the January 6, 2004 statement not to let terrorists use its territory for attacks against India.

A reaffirmation of that commitment by Musharraf tonight could have gone some distance towards assuaging India's concerns.

Beyond a verbal reaffirmation, India was also looking for some actions on the ground by Musharraf against the Lashkar-e-Toiba. There was no hint of it either from Musharraf's speech.

Senior Indian officials say the LeT is responsible for nearly 80 per cent of terrorist acts in India. Given the reality that the LeT is a creature of the Inter Services Intelligence in Pakistan, India finds incredible the assertions of the Pak Army that it has no control over the group.

Although the LeT has been banned as a terrorist organisation by the US, UK, and even Pakistan, it has been brazen in its activity since the Kashmir earthquake last year.

Musharraf regretted that India's decision to defer the Foreign Secretaries' talks is "playing into the hands of terrorists. This is exactly what they want—that peace and normalisation process be stopped." He added that "I'm sure Indian government does not want the peace process to halt."

Musharraf's homily that "to indulge in blame game is the first sign defeat" could make it even more difficult for the UPA government to argue that the series of spectacular terrorist acts in India since last October should not be allowed to come in the way of the peace process.

In the last few days, Singh had sought to balance the anger in the nation following the Mumbai massacre with a call for a deeper reflection on the difficult relationship with Pakistan. He also underlined the prolonged nature of the war on terror.

If Singh's comments on his way back from the G-8 Summit were about suggesting flexibility towards Pakistan, Musharraf's posture tonight indicated no credible gesture on his part.

India will also note that Musharraf has been a little more forthcoming towards the US which had been mounting relentless pressure on him to crack down on the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban operating from the Pakistani soil.

Reports from Pakistan in the last few days said the Army was rounding up a number of alleged Taliban supporters in Afghans from Balochistan. It is not entirely clear if the US, the UN, and the NATO, whose troops are present in southern Afghanistan and on the Pak-Afghan border would be satisfied with Musharraf's assertions that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda activity has now shifted to Afghanistan.

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Is India going too easy on Terrorists? - Page 11

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