INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR: PAPER NO. 750
B.RAMAN
( I have been in receipt of some questions from
foreign journalists on the likely impact of the arrest of Zabiuddin Ansari aka
Abu Jindal aka Abu Jundal aka Abu Hamza, a co-conspirator of the 26/11
terrorist strikes in Mumbai, on the Indo-Pakistan peace process. The questions
asked are if he makes any sensational disclosures regarding the involvement of
the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during his interrogation by the Indian authorities, what impact will
that have on the peace process and can it lead to fresh pressure on New Delhi
to retaliate against Pakistan as there was in 2008. I have tried to cover the
likely sequel to his arrest in this article)
Ansari is presently under interrogation by the
Indian authorities. It is likely that the interrogation is being carried out by
a joint team headed by the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) of the Intelligence Bureau
and consisting of officers of the Federal Investigation Agency, and the Mumbai
and Delhi Police.
2.The interrogation will focus on two dimensions.
The first and the most important dimension will be whether his going to Saudi
Arabia from Pakistan presaged any fresh plans of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) to
mount a new mass casualty terrorist attack in Indian territory. In this
connection, they will ask him questions such as: Was he really arrested by the
Pakistani authorities and put in jail to face prosecution as claimed by Senator
Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, on February 12,2009, or was it a
charade to hoodwink India? If he was arrested and jailed, how did he manage to
get out and go to Saudi Arabia? Did he manage to escape to Saudi Arabia with
the complicity of the Pakistani authorities and, if so, who were in the picture
regarding this complicity? What was the purpose? Was it to organise a fresh
terrorist strike in India ? If so, what were the instructions to him by the ISI
and the LET in this regard? When did he arrive in Saudi Arabia? How? Under what travel document? Issued before
26/11 or after? When was he arrested by the Saudi authorities? Under what
circumstances? What did he tell the Saudi authorities during the interrogation
by them? Was the Pakistani Embassy in Saudi Arabia aware of his arrest and of
the plans of the Saudi authorities to hand him over to India? If so, did the
Pakistani authorities try to stop it? What happened in the LET and ISI
headquarters after 26/11 to organise the cover-up? What are the details of the
cover-up plans? What are the present intentions and plans of the ISI and the
LET? Were they talking in terms of resuming terrorist strikes in India? If so,
what kind of infrastructure like sleeper cells they have in India? Who are the
members of these cells? What are likely to be their targets?
3.The second dimension will be to complete the gaps in the reconstruction of
the 26/11 terrorist strikes. The gaps are: Were there any more Indian Muslims
involved in assisting the LET and the ISI
in planning and carrying out the strikes? Who are the others? Where are
they? Why the targets attacked in Mumbai were chosen? Who did the target
selection? Why foreigners, particularly the Americans and other Westerners,
were attacked? Who took the decision to attack them? When was the decision to
mount the attack taken? By whom? Was it
an idea initially suggested by the LET and subsequently backed by the ISI or
was it an original idea of the ISI given to the LET for execution? What was the
role of Headley of the Chicago cell of the LET in the entire operation? Who
were his contacts and accomplices in India?
4. Ansari is a much more important catch than Ajmal
Kasab. Kasab was uneducated. Ansari is educated having reportedly studied in a
technology institute of Maharashtra. Kasab was a foot jihadi who carried out
orders. Ansari was part of the team of six main conspirators who helped Hafiz
Mohammad Sayeed, the head of the LET, in the planning and execution of the
attacks. Ansari was in Pakistan before, during and after the strikes liaising
with the LET leadership and was thus having knowledge of what happened during
that period. His evidence will, therefore, have greater credibility and
importance than that of Kasab in the eyes of the courts and the international community.
5.If his disclosures indicate that his escape to
Saudi Arabia was part of a diabolical plan of the ISI and the LET to organise a
fresh strike in India, it could have a negative impact on Indo-Pakistan
relations and affect the peace process. Otherwise, not. There is unlikely to be
any pressure on the Government of India for a retaliatory strike on Pakistan.
6. The US will be closely monitoring the
interrogation to find out what he says about the attack on US nationals. If he
says that the US nationals were attacked
and killed with the prior knowledge and on the instructions of the ISI it could
cause a further set-back to Pakistan’s relations with the US and make India
hesitate to go forward on the peace process. ( 26-6-12)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate, Chennai Centre For China
Studies. E-Mail: seventyone2@gmail.com . Twitter: @SORBONNE75 )
