Sunday, December 12, 2010
A PERSONAL NOTE
Am ill due to a food infection after having eaten in a New Delhi restaurant on December 10.My recovery has been somewhat slow.This could affect my output for a couple of days---B.Raman
BLASTS IN STOCKHOLM---NEED TO INVESTIGATE 313 BRIGADE
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO. 698
( To be read in continuation of my articles of April 3,2010, titled WAS JIHAD JANE A RECRUIT OF LASHKAR-E-TOIBA? International Terrorism Monitor- Paper N0. 638 at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers38%5Cpaper3745.html and of May 23,2010,titled “PAKISTAN: Stoking Jihadi Anger Against US, Sweden -- International Terrorism Monitor --- Paper No. 652” at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers39%5Cpaper3826.html )
According to media reports, one person was killed and two others were injured in two incidents in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, on December 11,2010.A car blew up near a crowded shopping street followed by another blast nearby about a few minutes later. The Swedish press attributed the second blast to a suicide bomber, but police said no cause had yet been determined. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, said a "terrorist attack" which could have been "truly catastrophic" had failed.
2.A local news agency, TT, said it had received a threatening e-mail in Swedish and Arabic languages shortly before the blasts, which called for "mujahideen", or Islamist fighters, to rise up in Sweden and Europe. The e-mail reportedly denounced the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed drawn by Swedish artist Lars Vilks and Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan. It warned: “"Our acts will speak for themselves. Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying." TT said a similar message had been sent to the Swedish Security Service SAPO.
3.Unconfirmed reports in Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper said the dead man in the second blast was carrying pipe bombs, as well as a backpack full of nails. According to a police spokesperson, the car involved in the first incident had contained gas canisters and had "exploded with a series of minor explosions".
4.On March 4,2010, the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had indicted Colleen La Rose also known as Jihad Jane and Fatima La Rose, on a charge of involvement in a conspiracy to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had drawn a cartoon of Prophet Mohammad in his paper. An FBI press release on the indictment said:
"The indictment charges that La Rose (an American citizen born in 1963 who resides in Montgomery County, Pa.) and five unindicted co-conspirators (located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States) recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
"The indictment further charges that La Rose and her unindicted co-conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. The indictment further charges that La Rose stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
"In addition, according to the indictment, La Rose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world." The indictment further charges that La Rose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and that she and her co-conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out her plans. According to the indictment, La Rose traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task."
5.In June 2008, Jihad Jane had posted a comment on YouTube saying she was “desperate to do something somehow to help” suffering Muslims. According to the FBI indictment, she appeared to have been contacted by the jihadis thereafter. The indictment charged that she received a direct order to kill a Swedish resident. She traveled to Sweden and tracked the target with the intent of carrying out the murder. The FBI identified the target as cartoonist Lars Vilks. In an e-mail message to a co-conspirator, she wrote that she would pursue her mission “till I achieve it or die trying,” according to the indictment. The indictment accused her of agreeing, in March 2009, to marry a co-conspirator from a South Asian country who was trying to obtain residency in Europe. He allegedly urged her to go to Sweden, find the Swedish man "and kill him". The indictment claimed she tried to raise money over the internet, lure others to her cause, and lied to FBI investigators.
6. According to US media reports, she was also linked to an online organization Revolutionmuslim.com -- where she was a subscriber, again using the name Jihad Jane. The site was run by an American Muslim, who had made the following posting after she was indicted: "Sisters -- please consider sending her [La Rose] a message of support and hope and let's remind her she isn't alone. It's likely she's the only Muslimah there. As always, use discretion when writing, don't ask pointed questions, and of course don't say anything that could create problems for her or yourselves."
7.The case of Jihad Jane bore a close resemblance to that of David Coleman Headley, of the Chicago cell of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) She was a volunteer for jihad who was recruited by an unidentified person in South Asia through the Internet and given the task of killing the Swedish cartoonist, just as Ilyas Kashmiri of the 313 Brigade of Pakistan, allied to Al Qaeda, had initially tasked Headley through the Internet to kill the Danish cartoonist, who had published cartoons of the Prophet in a Danish paper in 2005. Headley subsequently met Ilyas in North Waziristan. There was no indication that Jihad Jane had met her South Asian recruit to whom she got engaged without ever having met him.
8. Whoever initially recruited Headley and Jihad Jane seemed to have done so for two reasons. Firstly, both of them had typical physical features of a White American. They did not look like Muslims and could , therefore, easily evade profiling. Headley looked a typical White despite his mixed Pakistani-White origin. Jihad Jane is a typical White with no mixed blood. Secondly, both of them are US nationals with valid US passports with which they could travel easily without facing difficulties in obtaining visas and in going through immigration controls.
9. Both of them had been given double tasks. Headley was given the tasks of facilitating the operations of the LET in India and attacking the office of the Danish paper in Copenhagen with the help of sleeper cells in Europe to which Ilyas had given introduction. Headley had played an active role in helping the LET in carrying out the terrorist strikes in Mumbai between November 26 and 29,2008. Jihad Jane had the dual task of killing the Swedish cartoonist with the help of Ireland-based contacts in Europe and organising acts of terrorism in South Asia. In the evidence against her, the reference was to South Asia and not specifically to India.
10.The FBI revealed the nationalities of her seven accomplices who were picked up in Ireland, but not their identifying particulars. Of the seven arrested in Ireland two are Algerians, two Libyans, a Palestinian, a Croatian, and an American woman married to one of the two arrested Algerians. The FBI documents did not say anything about her South Asian fiancee. They were silent even about his nationality. He was described as a man who claimed that he knew how to work with bombs and explosives.
11. During four days of demonstrations in different cities of Pakistan in the third week of May last over what many Muslims regarded as a blasphemous contest on sketches of Prophet Mohammad sought to be organised by one of the users of Facebook----his controversial page which sparked the anger in Pakistan was later removed by Facebook---- religious parties and jihadi organisations associated with Al Qaeda and the Talibans directed the anger against the US and Sweden because of the alleged caricatures of the Holy Prophet, which they alleged, had inspired the person who called for the blasphemous contest on Facebook.
12.During the demonstrations, slogans were shouted against the US and Sweden, US and Swedish flags were burnt and calls were issued by religious clerics for the death of the Swedish cartoonist. A ruling by the Lahore High Court calling for blocking the site of Facebook also added to the anger of pro-Al Qaeda elements because it sought to project the US as partly responsible for the perceived insult to the Prophet. It claimed that Facebook operated from the US and was subject to US laws and regulations. The US had, therefore, a responsibility to act against it.
13. The blasts in Stockholm coming in the wake of what has been stated above indicate a possible link to the so-called 313 Brigade of Ilyas Kashmiri. In his communications with Headley, Ilyas had claimed to know people in Europe who could assist Headley in attacking the office of the Danish newspaper in Copenhagen. Who are those people? Did they have any role in the Stockholm blasts? Those are among the questions to be investigated by the police. (13-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
( To be read in continuation of my articles of April 3,2010, titled WAS JIHAD JANE A RECRUIT OF LASHKAR-E-TOIBA? International Terrorism Monitor- Paper N0. 638 at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers38%5Cpaper3745.html and of May 23,2010,titled “PAKISTAN: Stoking Jihadi Anger Against US, Sweden -- International Terrorism Monitor --- Paper No. 652” at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers39%5Cpaper3826.html )
According to media reports, one person was killed and two others were injured in two incidents in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, on December 11,2010.A car blew up near a crowded shopping street followed by another blast nearby about a few minutes later. The Swedish press attributed the second blast to a suicide bomber, but police said no cause had yet been determined. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, said a "terrorist attack" which could have been "truly catastrophic" had failed.
2.A local news agency, TT, said it had received a threatening e-mail in Swedish and Arabic languages shortly before the blasts, which called for "mujahideen", or Islamist fighters, to rise up in Sweden and Europe. The e-mail reportedly denounced the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed drawn by Swedish artist Lars Vilks and Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan. It warned: “"Our acts will speak for themselves. Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying." TT said a similar message had been sent to the Swedish Security Service SAPO.
3.Unconfirmed reports in Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper said the dead man in the second blast was carrying pipe bombs, as well as a backpack full of nails. According to a police spokesperson, the car involved in the first incident had contained gas canisters and had "exploded with a series of minor explosions".
4.On March 4,2010, the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had indicted Colleen La Rose also known as Jihad Jane and Fatima La Rose, on a charge of involvement in a conspiracy to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had drawn a cartoon of Prophet Mohammad in his paper. An FBI press release on the indictment said:
"The indictment charges that La Rose (an American citizen born in 1963 who resides in Montgomery County, Pa.) and five unindicted co-conspirators (located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States) recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
"The indictment further charges that La Rose and her unindicted co-conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. The indictment further charges that La Rose stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
"In addition, according to the indictment, La Rose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world." The indictment further charges that La Rose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and that she and her co-conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out her plans. According to the indictment, La Rose traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task."
5.In June 2008, Jihad Jane had posted a comment on YouTube saying she was “desperate to do something somehow to help” suffering Muslims. According to the FBI indictment, she appeared to have been contacted by the jihadis thereafter. The indictment charged that she received a direct order to kill a Swedish resident. She traveled to Sweden and tracked the target with the intent of carrying out the murder. The FBI identified the target as cartoonist Lars Vilks. In an e-mail message to a co-conspirator, she wrote that she would pursue her mission “till I achieve it or die trying,” according to the indictment. The indictment accused her of agreeing, in March 2009, to marry a co-conspirator from a South Asian country who was trying to obtain residency in Europe. He allegedly urged her to go to Sweden, find the Swedish man "and kill him". The indictment claimed she tried to raise money over the internet, lure others to her cause, and lied to FBI investigators.
6. According to US media reports, she was also linked to an online organization Revolutionmuslim.com -- where she was a subscriber, again using the name Jihad Jane. The site was run by an American Muslim, who had made the following posting after she was indicted: "Sisters -- please consider sending her [La Rose] a message of support and hope and let's remind her she isn't alone. It's likely she's the only Muslimah there. As always, use discretion when writing, don't ask pointed questions, and of course don't say anything that could create problems for her or yourselves."
7.The case of Jihad Jane bore a close resemblance to that of David Coleman Headley, of the Chicago cell of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) She was a volunteer for jihad who was recruited by an unidentified person in South Asia through the Internet and given the task of killing the Swedish cartoonist, just as Ilyas Kashmiri of the 313 Brigade of Pakistan, allied to Al Qaeda, had initially tasked Headley through the Internet to kill the Danish cartoonist, who had published cartoons of the Prophet in a Danish paper in 2005. Headley subsequently met Ilyas in North Waziristan. There was no indication that Jihad Jane had met her South Asian recruit to whom she got engaged without ever having met him.
8. Whoever initially recruited Headley and Jihad Jane seemed to have done so for two reasons. Firstly, both of them had typical physical features of a White American. They did not look like Muslims and could , therefore, easily evade profiling. Headley looked a typical White despite his mixed Pakistani-White origin. Jihad Jane is a typical White with no mixed blood. Secondly, both of them are US nationals with valid US passports with which they could travel easily without facing difficulties in obtaining visas and in going through immigration controls.
9. Both of them had been given double tasks. Headley was given the tasks of facilitating the operations of the LET in India and attacking the office of the Danish paper in Copenhagen with the help of sleeper cells in Europe to which Ilyas had given introduction. Headley had played an active role in helping the LET in carrying out the terrorist strikes in Mumbai between November 26 and 29,2008. Jihad Jane had the dual task of killing the Swedish cartoonist with the help of Ireland-based contacts in Europe and organising acts of terrorism in South Asia. In the evidence against her, the reference was to South Asia and not specifically to India.
10.The FBI revealed the nationalities of her seven accomplices who were picked up in Ireland, but not their identifying particulars. Of the seven arrested in Ireland two are Algerians, two Libyans, a Palestinian, a Croatian, and an American woman married to one of the two arrested Algerians. The FBI documents did not say anything about her South Asian fiancee. They were silent even about his nationality. He was described as a man who claimed that he knew how to work with bombs and explosives.
11. During four days of demonstrations in different cities of Pakistan in the third week of May last over what many Muslims regarded as a blasphemous contest on sketches of Prophet Mohammad sought to be organised by one of the users of Facebook----his controversial page which sparked the anger in Pakistan was later removed by Facebook---- religious parties and jihadi organisations associated with Al Qaeda and the Talibans directed the anger against the US and Sweden because of the alleged caricatures of the Holy Prophet, which they alleged, had inspired the person who called for the blasphemous contest on Facebook.
12.During the demonstrations, slogans were shouted against the US and Sweden, US and Swedish flags were burnt and calls were issued by religious clerics for the death of the Swedish cartoonist. A ruling by the Lahore High Court calling for blocking the site of Facebook also added to the anger of pro-Al Qaeda elements because it sought to project the US as partly responsible for the perceived insult to the Prophet. It claimed that Facebook operated from the US and was subject to US laws and regulations. The US had, therefore, a responsibility to act against it.
13. The blasts in Stockholm coming in the wake of what has been stated above indicate a possible link to the so-called 313 Brigade of Ilyas Kashmiri. In his communications with Headley, Ilyas had claimed to know people in Europe who could assist Headley in attacking the office of the Danish newspaper in Copenhagen. Who are those people? Did they have any role in the Stockholm blasts? Those are among the questions to be investigated by the police. (13-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Thursday, December 9, 2010
OSLO: CHINA COMING TO TERMS WITH REALITY
B.RAMAN
After having waged a high-pressure campaign to enforce a boycott of the Oslo function on December 10 to honour in absentia Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese human rights activist who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee this year, Beijing is coming to terms with the reality that its campaign has not had the expected success and that its bullying tactics to enforce a boycott has failed except in Asia. Of the 65 countries with a diplomatic presence in Oslo, only 19 have so far agreed to join the boycott. The remaining 46 have reportedly informed the Nobel Committee that they will be attending the function.
2. Embarrassed by this, Beijing has been projecting its campaign as a success. It has claimed that over 100 countries have agreed to boycott the function. In reaching this number, it has apparently included countries with no diplomatic presence in Oslo, who have not been invited and who would not have attended anyhow.
3. Having held out threats of retaliation against countries which attend the function, the Chinese are now showing signs of lowering the rhetoric. In an article carried on December 10, the party-controlled "Global Times" has said: "Shi Yinhong, a researcher at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, said, "The 19 countries are making independent decisions on their own. It has done harm to the bilateral relations between China and Norway. But China's expressing of discontent with Norway on this specific issue does not represent the long-term direction that China will adopt toward Norway," Shi said."
4 The Chinese were till now warning of an adverse impact on China's relations with countries which attend the function. They are now practically saying: "Not necessarily". Despite the high-profile US interest in the function, the Chinese are going ahead with their plans to receive Mr.Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, in Beijing next month, thus terminating their suspension of military-military relations with the US in protest against the intended US sale of another consignment of military equipment to Taiwan.( 10-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
After having waged a high-pressure campaign to enforce a boycott of the Oslo function on December 10 to honour in absentia Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese human rights activist who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee this year, Beijing is coming to terms with the reality that its campaign has not had the expected success and that its bullying tactics to enforce a boycott has failed except in Asia. Of the 65 countries with a diplomatic presence in Oslo, only 19 have so far agreed to join the boycott. The remaining 46 have reportedly informed the Nobel Committee that they will be attending the function.
2. Embarrassed by this, Beijing has been projecting its campaign as a success. It has claimed that over 100 countries have agreed to boycott the function. In reaching this number, it has apparently included countries with no diplomatic presence in Oslo, who have not been invited and who would not have attended anyhow.
3. Having held out threats of retaliation against countries which attend the function, the Chinese are now showing signs of lowering the rhetoric. In an article carried on December 10, the party-controlled "Global Times" has said: "Shi Yinhong, a researcher at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, said, "The 19 countries are making independent decisions on their own. It has done harm to the bilateral relations between China and Norway. But China's expressing of discontent with Norway on this specific issue does not represent the long-term direction that China will adopt toward Norway," Shi said."
4 The Chinese were till now warning of an adverse impact on China's relations with countries which attend the function. They are now practically saying: "Not necessarily". Despite the high-profile US interest in the function, the Chinese are going ahead with their plans to receive Mr.Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, in Beijing next month, thus terminating their suspension of military-military relations with the US in protest against the intended US sale of another consignment of military equipment to Taiwan.( 10-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
CHINA: WELCOME INDIAN ASSERTIVENESS
B.RAMAN
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, needs to be complimented for standing firm to China and refusing to be bullied by it into not attending the Oslo function on December 10,2010, in honour of Liu Xiaobao, a Chinese political dissident in jail in China, who has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize this year. Since the Chinese have successfully prevented anybody even remotely connected with him from going to Oslo to receive the prize on his behalf, the function is likely to be purely symbolic without the prize being handed over to anybody unless the Norwegian Nobel Committee decides to hand it over to a Chinese human rights activist living abroad.
2.The Chinese bullying campaign to intimidate other countries into boycotting the symbolic function at Oslo by using Beijing's economic clout has considerably succeeded at least in Asia as would be evident from the reports that only India, Japan, South Korea and Thailand have rejected the Chinese pressure not to attend the function One is surprised by Vietnam, which one would have expected to stand firm to China, succumbing to the Chinese pressure.
3. This is not the first time that our Prime Minister has stood firm to China. He had earlier ignored the Chinese unhappiness over the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. He has also allowed the Jamia Millia to award a doctorate to His Holiness though the approval was delayed till his recent meeting with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Hanoi was over.
4. It will be interesting to watch how Beijing reacts to the obvious and well-deserved snub from New Delhi on the issue of the Oslo function. At the worst, Prime Minister Wen might cancel his forthcoming visit to India for three days from December 15 before proceeding to Pakistan. It is hoped good sense will prevail and Beijing will not take this extreme step, but, if it does, so be it. We cannot go on pampering and appeasing China, particularly when it is so blatantly insensitive to India's major concerns relating to issues such as the Chinese refusal to issue normal visas to Indian citizens living in the Indian territory of Jammu & Kashmir and when it has been taking actions to undermine our claims of sovereignty over Gilgit-Baltistan and other areas of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
5. Strict reciprocity should be the rule in our relations with China. If it ignores our sensitivities in matters of vital interest to us, there is no reason why we should be unnecessarily responsive to its concerns in relation to Tibet. The time has come for us to reconsider the existing restrictions on political interactions with His Holiness. While our Foreign Secretaries have been periodically calling on the Dalai Lama, there are practically no interactions between him and our political leaders----from the Prime Minister downwards. The time has come to give up this policy and hold periodic interactions with His Holiness not only in his capacity as a religious leader on religious issues, but also in his capacity as a political leader on the political situation in Tibet.
6. It is also time to associate him in some capacity with the project for the revival of the Nalanda Univerity. We need not be unduly worried about the sensitivities of Singapore and other countries helping in the project. If they withdraw, it does not matter. ( 9-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, needs to be complimented for standing firm to China and refusing to be bullied by it into not attending the Oslo function on December 10,2010, in honour of Liu Xiaobao, a Chinese political dissident in jail in China, who has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize this year. Since the Chinese have successfully prevented anybody even remotely connected with him from going to Oslo to receive the prize on his behalf, the function is likely to be purely symbolic without the prize being handed over to anybody unless the Norwegian Nobel Committee decides to hand it over to a Chinese human rights activist living abroad.
2.The Chinese bullying campaign to intimidate other countries into boycotting the symbolic function at Oslo by using Beijing's economic clout has considerably succeeded at least in Asia as would be evident from the reports that only India, Japan, South Korea and Thailand have rejected the Chinese pressure not to attend the function One is surprised by Vietnam, which one would have expected to stand firm to China, succumbing to the Chinese pressure.
3. This is not the first time that our Prime Minister has stood firm to China. He had earlier ignored the Chinese unhappiness over the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. He has also allowed the Jamia Millia to award a doctorate to His Holiness though the approval was delayed till his recent meeting with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Hanoi was over.
4. It will be interesting to watch how Beijing reacts to the obvious and well-deserved snub from New Delhi on the issue of the Oslo function. At the worst, Prime Minister Wen might cancel his forthcoming visit to India for three days from December 15 before proceeding to Pakistan. It is hoped good sense will prevail and Beijing will not take this extreme step, but, if it does, so be it. We cannot go on pampering and appeasing China, particularly when it is so blatantly insensitive to India's major concerns relating to issues such as the Chinese refusal to issue normal visas to Indian citizens living in the Indian territory of Jammu & Kashmir and when it has been taking actions to undermine our claims of sovereignty over Gilgit-Baltistan and other areas of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
5. Strict reciprocity should be the rule in our relations with China. If it ignores our sensitivities in matters of vital interest to us, there is no reason why we should be unnecessarily responsive to its concerns in relation to Tibet. The time has come for us to reconsider the existing restrictions on political interactions with His Holiness. While our Foreign Secretaries have been periodically calling on the Dalai Lama, there are practically no interactions between him and our political leaders----from the Prime Minister downwards. The time has come to give up this policy and hold periodic interactions with His Holiness not only in his capacity as a religious leader on religious issues, but also in his capacity as a political leader on the political situation in Tibet.
6. It is also time to associate him in some capacity with the project for the revival of the Nalanda Univerity. We need not be unduly worried about the sensitivities of Singapore and other countries helping in the project. If they withdraw, it does not matter. ( 9-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN WARNS OF MORE ATTACKS ON HINDU HOLY PLACES
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO. 697
( To be read in continuation of my earlier article of September 20, 2010, titled "I. M. Hints at Act of Suicide Terrorism" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers41%5Cpaper4051.html )
The message dated December 6,2010, purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen (IM) indirectly claiming responsibility for the explosion in Varanasi on December 7,2010, was received by the media outlets to which it was addressed after the explosion had taken place. It differs from the last message of the IM sent on September 19,2010, in one significant aspect. It avoids any allusions to the messages of Osama bin Laden and is free of bin Laden like language and rhetoric. It has not borrowed from the past messages of bin Laden. It seeks to project the IM as a purely indigenous movement, but needing the support of the Islamic world. It warns the Hindus of continued attacks on Hindu holy places till all Masjids (mosques) belonging to the Muslims are restored to them. It is critical of the Indian criminal justice system, which is projected as anti-Muslim. This has been a recurring theme of all IM messages disseminated since the explosions in Uttar Pradesh in November, 2007.It warns moderate Indian Muslim leaders not to barter away the rights of the Muslims on the Babri Masjid issue. The salient points in the latest IM message are given below:
CRITICISM OF THE JUDICIARY: "The Supreme Court, the high courts, the lower courts and all the Commissions have utterly failed to play an impartial role regarding Muslim issues. Narendra Modi who presided over the 2002 massacres of Muslims in Gujarat is given a clean chit whereas the victims still run from pillar to post for justice. Even the 92 Mumbai culprits roam freely and enjoy Government security. All the anti-Muslim pre-planned riots, arson, rapes, losses of lives and properties are still awaiting justice. The list is endless!"
CRITICISM OF THE CONGRESS (I): "It needs no mention that time and again the Congress party with its hidden agenda has shown its true colors. Be it the inaction over the planting of the idol in 1949 or the shilanyaas, the ground-breaking ceremony of 1989 and finally the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. For all practical reasons the Masjid site has since been transformed into a Mandir (temple), thanks to the Supreme Court order to maintain Status-quo."
WARNING OF MORE ATTACKS ON HINDU HOLY PLACES: "Our memories are still fresh and our hearts still bleeding over every Muslim brother and sister who was hacked to death after the demolition of Babri masjid. Indian history is decorated with countless state-sponsored terror and state-managed riots. Indeed every martyr enlivens the ummah. We will not budge until every inch of the Masjid is regained and lives of our martyrs avenged.We will strike terror in the hearts and minds of these idol worshippers until the mountain of injustice is undone.We will leave no stone unturned come what may till the anger of believer’s hearts is removed and a Magnificent Masjid is built at the same spot.We are fully aware of your preparations at the Babri Masjid site for the construction of a ‘grand temple’ over the corpses of our martyrs all over the country.The Indian Mujahideen warn these filthy Hindu zealots that even if a Grand Temple of Gold is built over the Babri Masjid we will destroy it at all costs. Remember! It was a Masjid, It is a Masjid and It will always remain a Masjid. At this juncture Muslims are silent due to their state of affairs. We hereby invite all our Muslim brethren to never be weak-hearted over the designs of these idolators and urge them to strengthen their faith in Allah and unite for the cause of Islam. Surely, victory is awaiting us.Be assured that Indian Mujahideen, the sons of Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Firuz Shah Tughlaq and Aurangzeb have resolved that none of your Mandirs will remain safe until and unless all our occupied Masjids throughout India are returned back to the Muslims with honour. "
CAUTION TO INDIAN MUSLIM LEADERS: "Neither the All India Muslim Personal Law Board nor the Babri Masjid Action Committee nor the Sunni Waqf Board nor any litigant has any right to alter or compromise on any of these aspects whatsoever regarding the Babri Masjid.All sorts of bartering and bargaining is totally unacceptable to Allah and thus to the Muslims.We urge those ulema to behave sensibly, change their attitude towards this Holy Cause, fear Allah alone, come forward, inspire and motivate the people and thus appease none but Allah alone. We hereby declare that even if all the ulema, scholars and Muslim leaders collectively deviate from or refuse Allah and Prophet’s Verdict, their decision will be right beneath our feet."
THE KASHMIR ISSUE: "The manhandling and heckling of Kashmiri leadership in Indian cities is not at all a minor issue. These insane and cowardly Saffron Hindus on the behest of the IB (Intelligence Bureau) ) and the administration pounce upon weak people.As usual we are going through minute details of the matter and have obtained vital clues of the mischief which we presume to be inappropriate to be divulged at this point of time. Meanwhile we request the respected Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb and the Mirwaiz to maintain their self-respect and dignity. These sons of monkeys and snakes will never heed to sensible arguments and historical facts . Please don’t waste your time with these lowly creatures as they will never understand!"
APPEAL TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD TO SUPPORT INDIAN MUSLIMS:"We appeal to all the Muslim countries to voice their concerns regarding oppression and injustice done by India upon their fellow brethren.It is their duty to pressurize this ‘Empire of Falsehood and Tyranny’ regarding the longstanding Kashmir issue where world’s largest concentration of armed forces in an occupied territory stands. This ‘Hollow superpower’ , needs to be told loudly and clearly that it should get over its obsession with Muslims in India and that the Global Muslim Ummah is seriously concerned about the issues like Babri Masjid and Kashmir." (9-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
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( To be read in continuation of my earlier article of September 20, 2010, titled "I. M. Hints at Act of Suicide Terrorism" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers41%5Cpaper4051.html )
The message dated December 6,2010, purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen (IM) indirectly claiming responsibility for the explosion in Varanasi on December 7,2010, was received by the media outlets to which it was addressed after the explosion had taken place. It differs from the last message of the IM sent on September 19,2010, in one significant aspect. It avoids any allusions to the messages of Osama bin Laden and is free of bin Laden like language and rhetoric. It has not borrowed from the past messages of bin Laden. It seeks to project the IM as a purely indigenous movement, but needing the support of the Islamic world. It warns the Hindus of continued attacks on Hindu holy places till all Masjids (mosques) belonging to the Muslims are restored to them. It is critical of the Indian criminal justice system, which is projected as anti-Muslim. This has been a recurring theme of all IM messages disseminated since the explosions in Uttar Pradesh in November, 2007.It warns moderate Indian Muslim leaders not to barter away the rights of the Muslims on the Babri Masjid issue. The salient points in the latest IM message are given below:
CRITICISM OF THE JUDICIARY: "The Supreme Court, the high courts, the lower courts and all the Commissions have utterly failed to play an impartial role regarding Muslim issues. Narendra Modi who presided over the 2002 massacres of Muslims in Gujarat is given a clean chit whereas the victims still run from pillar to post for justice. Even the 92 Mumbai culprits roam freely and enjoy Government security. All the anti-Muslim pre-planned riots, arson, rapes, losses of lives and properties are still awaiting justice. The list is endless!"
CRITICISM OF THE CONGRESS (I): "It needs no mention that time and again the Congress party with its hidden agenda has shown its true colors. Be it the inaction over the planting of the idol in 1949 or the shilanyaas, the ground-breaking ceremony of 1989 and finally the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. For all practical reasons the Masjid site has since been transformed into a Mandir (temple), thanks to the Supreme Court order to maintain Status-quo."
WARNING OF MORE ATTACKS ON HINDU HOLY PLACES: "Our memories are still fresh and our hearts still bleeding over every Muslim brother and sister who was hacked to death after the demolition of Babri masjid. Indian history is decorated with countless state-sponsored terror and state-managed riots. Indeed every martyr enlivens the ummah. We will not budge until every inch of the Masjid is regained and lives of our martyrs avenged.We will strike terror in the hearts and minds of these idol worshippers until the mountain of injustice is undone.We will leave no stone unturned come what may till the anger of believer’s hearts is removed and a Magnificent Masjid is built at the same spot.We are fully aware of your preparations at the Babri Masjid site for the construction of a ‘grand temple’ over the corpses of our martyrs all over the country.The Indian Mujahideen warn these filthy Hindu zealots that even if a Grand Temple of Gold is built over the Babri Masjid we will destroy it at all costs. Remember! It was a Masjid, It is a Masjid and It will always remain a Masjid. At this juncture Muslims are silent due to their state of affairs. We hereby invite all our Muslim brethren to never be weak-hearted over the designs of these idolators and urge them to strengthen their faith in Allah and unite for the cause of Islam. Surely, victory is awaiting us.Be assured that Indian Mujahideen, the sons of Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Firuz Shah Tughlaq and Aurangzeb have resolved that none of your Mandirs will remain safe until and unless all our occupied Masjids throughout India are returned back to the Muslims with honour. "
CAUTION TO INDIAN MUSLIM LEADERS: "Neither the All India Muslim Personal Law Board nor the Babri Masjid Action Committee nor the Sunni Waqf Board nor any litigant has any right to alter or compromise on any of these aspects whatsoever regarding the Babri Masjid.All sorts of bartering and bargaining is totally unacceptable to Allah and thus to the Muslims.We urge those ulema to behave sensibly, change their attitude towards this Holy Cause, fear Allah alone, come forward, inspire and motivate the people and thus appease none but Allah alone. We hereby declare that even if all the ulema, scholars and Muslim leaders collectively deviate from or refuse Allah and Prophet’s Verdict, their decision will be right beneath our feet."
THE KASHMIR ISSUE: "The manhandling and heckling of Kashmiri leadership in Indian cities is not at all a minor issue. These insane and cowardly Saffron Hindus on the behest of the IB (Intelligence Bureau) ) and the administration pounce upon weak people.As usual we are going through minute details of the matter and have obtained vital clues of the mischief which we presume to be inappropriate to be divulged at this point of time. Meanwhile we request the respected Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb and the Mirwaiz to maintain their self-respect and dignity. These sons of monkeys and snakes will never heed to sensible arguments and historical facts . Please don’t waste your time with these lowly creatures as they will never understand!"
APPEAL TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD TO SUPPORT INDIAN MUSLIMS:"We appeal to all the Muslim countries to voice their concerns regarding oppression and injustice done by India upon their fellow brethren.It is their duty to pressurize this ‘Empire of Falsehood and Tyranny’ regarding the longstanding Kashmir issue where world’s largest concentration of armed forces in an occupied territory stands. This ‘Hollow superpower’ , needs to be told loudly and clearly that it should get over its obsession with Muslims in India and that the Global Muslim Ummah is seriously concerned about the issues like Babri Masjid and Kashmir." (9-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A FORMER LEADING CHINA EXPERT OF R&AW PASSES AWAY
B.RAMAN
Shri R.Swaminathan, a former leading China expert of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), passed away in a New Delhi hospital in the early hours of the morning of December 8,2010, after suffering a heart attack. He was 78. He was the President and Director-General of the New Delhi based International Institute of Security & Safety Management and Vice-President of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. He had gone to Delhi from Chennai where he was living to attend a meeting of the Institute.
2. Shri Swaminathan joined the Indian Police Service ( IPS) in 1954. After his training in the Central Police Training College (CPTC), Mount Abu, he was allotted to the cadre of the then undivided Madras State. He was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh cadre when Madras was divided and Andhra Pradesh was formed.
3. After spending a few years in the State, he joined the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India under the IB's earmarking scheme. Under this scheme, officers who had done exceptionally well during the training at the CPTC were taken permanently into the IB after they had done their district training in their State of allotment. He joined the R&AW after its formation in September,1968.
4. In the IB, he belonged to a small hard core of officers under the leadership of the late R.N.Kao set up by B.N.Mallick, the then Director of the IB (DIB), after the Sino-Indian war of 1962 to revamp the capability of the IB for the collection and analysis of China-related intelligence. He continued to specialise on China after joining the R&AW. Even though he was a generalist officer from the IPS, he acquired a remarkable capability for the collection and analysis of human and technical intelligence relating to China. Technical intelligence was his forte. Kao used him for setting up and supervising the China-related monitoring set-up of the R&AW.
5. There is hardly any specialsed set-up of the R&AW and the Directorate-General of Security (DGS) in which he had not served. He was a highly-regarded expert in the collection of technical intelligence from ground stations as well as aerial platforms. He did the spade work for the visit of Kao to China in October,1984 and subsequently served as the Principal Staff Officer to Shri G.C.Saxena when he headed the R&AW. In 1985-1986, he played a very active and highly-commended role in the negotiations of the Government of India with the Mizo National Front, which ultimately brought peace to Mizoram.
6.He retired in December,1990, as Special Secretary, DG (Security), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. After his retirement, he settled down in Bangalore for some years and then shifted to Chennai. He was living alone in Chennai after the death of his wife four years ago.
7. He played an active role in organising the activities of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. The Centre greatly profited from his knowledge of China. He was also associated with other non-governmental organisations based in Chennai such as the Catalyst, focusing on improving governance, the Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation in which he was a frequent speaker on national security related issues and the Centre For Asian Studies. (8-12-10)
Shri R.Swaminathan, a former leading China expert of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), passed away in a New Delhi hospital in the early hours of the morning of December 8,2010, after suffering a heart attack. He was 78. He was the President and Director-General of the New Delhi based International Institute of Security & Safety Management and Vice-President of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. He had gone to Delhi from Chennai where he was living to attend a meeting of the Institute.
2. Shri Swaminathan joined the Indian Police Service ( IPS) in 1954. After his training in the Central Police Training College (CPTC), Mount Abu, he was allotted to the cadre of the then undivided Madras State. He was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh cadre when Madras was divided and Andhra Pradesh was formed.
3. After spending a few years in the State, he joined the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India under the IB's earmarking scheme. Under this scheme, officers who had done exceptionally well during the training at the CPTC were taken permanently into the IB after they had done their district training in their State of allotment. He joined the R&AW after its formation in September,1968.
4. In the IB, he belonged to a small hard core of officers under the leadership of the late R.N.Kao set up by B.N.Mallick, the then Director of the IB (DIB), after the Sino-Indian war of 1962 to revamp the capability of the IB for the collection and analysis of China-related intelligence. He continued to specialise on China after joining the R&AW. Even though he was a generalist officer from the IPS, he acquired a remarkable capability for the collection and analysis of human and technical intelligence relating to China. Technical intelligence was his forte. Kao used him for setting up and supervising the China-related monitoring set-up of the R&AW.
5. There is hardly any specialsed set-up of the R&AW and the Directorate-General of Security (DGS) in which he had not served. He was a highly-regarded expert in the collection of technical intelligence from ground stations as well as aerial platforms. He did the spade work for the visit of Kao to China in October,1984 and subsequently served as the Principal Staff Officer to Shri G.C.Saxena when he headed the R&AW. In 1985-1986, he played a very active and highly-commended role in the negotiations of the Government of India with the Mizo National Front, which ultimately brought peace to Mizoram.
6.He retired in December,1990, as Special Secretary, DG (Security), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. After his retirement, he settled down in Bangalore for some years and then shifted to Chennai. He was living alone in Chennai after the death of his wife four years ago.
7. He played an active role in organising the activities of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. The Centre greatly profited from his knowledge of China. He was also associated with other non-governmental organisations based in Chennai such as the Catalyst, focusing on improving governance, the Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation in which he was a frequent speaker on national security related issues and the Centre For Asian Studies. (8-12-10)
INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN: ACTIVE, BUT WEAKER
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR: PAPER NO. 696
B.RAMAN
The Indian Mujahideen is active, but weaker and its remnants, which have so far escaped detection and arrest by the police, have probably a reduced capability. That is the conclusion possible on the basis of the details available so far regarding the explosion in Varanasi, the Hindu holy city, on the evening ( shortly after 6 PM) of December 7,2010. The explosion itself caused the death of one child and injured five adults. About 20 others were injured in a stampede that followed. At least one foreign tourist was among the injured.
2. It has been reported that the improvised explosive device (IED) used in the incident was kept inside a container used for carrying milk. The terrorists wanted to register their presence and continued determination to keep launching terrorist attacks, but did not aim at large or mass casualties. If they had intended to organize a large or mass casualty attack they would have mixed the explosive material with projectiles such as nails, ball bearings etc and used a smaller container in which they would have tightly packed the explosive material and the projectiles. They had apparently not done so. Another improvised explosive device of low intensity was reportedly found in a nearby dustbin.
3. The IED, which exploded, had been planted at a place where about 5,000 Hindu devotees and tourists---Indian and foreign--- gather every evening to watch a well-choreographed religious function called “aarti” on the banks of the Ganges near the famous Kasi Vishwanath temple. The explosion took place on a Tuesday, which is an important day for the devotees of the Hindu God Hanuman. The two explosions of March 7,2006---one in a Hanuman temple and the other in the waiting room of a local railway station---also took place on a Tuesday. Those two of 2006 were intended to be large casualty attacks and resulted in the deaths of 28 persons. No foreign tourists were affected.
4.The investigation into the March 7,2006, explosions established the involvement of three Bangladeshi Muslims belonging to the Bangladesh branch of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI-B) and six Indian Muslims. The Indian Muslims were arrested and prosecuted, but the Bangladeshi Muslims, who had assembled the IEDs, managed to flee to Bangladesh. All the Indian Muslims involved had been trained by the Pakistan branch of the HUJI in its training camps in Pakistan. Salient points of the investigation into the March 7,2006, incidents are given in the Annexure.
5. Those involved in the March 7,2006, explosions had projected them as acts of reprisal against the demolition of the Babri Masjid in the Hindu holy city of Ayodhya on December 6,1992, and the anti-Muslim incidents in Gujarat in February,2002, following the cold-blooded massacre of a group of Hindu pilgrims traveling by train at the Godhra railway station in Gujarat. Since March,2006, Varanasi had been free of lethal terrorist attacks despite its high vulnerability.
6. The explosion of December 7,2010, has taken place a day after the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. An e-mailed message purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen (IM)--- carrying the December 6 dateline, but sent on December 7--- has claimed responsibility for the attack. It has projected the attack as in reprisal against a recent court judgement relating to the ownership of the land on which the Babri Masjid stood. The Muslims felt aggrieved by the judgement which they see as based on Hindu religious beliefs and not on provable evidence. They have expressed their determination to have it set aside by a higher court. Incidents of violence were feared by the police on the day the judgement was delivered by the court, but nothing untoward happened. A delayed violent act of reprisal has now come on December 7,2010, from unidentified elements claiming to be from the IM. The message purporting to be from the IM expresses the determination of the IM to keep up its fight on the Babri Masjid issue.
7. The years 2007-2008 saw a series of high lethality explosions carried out by the IM in two cities of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. A number of suspects from the IM were arrested by the police and are being prosecuted. Some members---including some leading brains--- of the IM have escaped arrest. They are believed to be either absconding somewhere in India or in Pakistan or the Gulf.
8. These arrests considerably weakened the terrorist infrastructure of the IM in Indian territory and there were no incidents involving the IM between September 2008, when the Delhi explosions took place, and February 2010. The IM was apparently regrouping and reorganizing itself during this period. There has been a revival of its activities since February,2010, as indicated by three attacks. In the first attack inside the so-called German bakery in Pune in February 2010, there were 17 deaths caused by an IED. In the second attack on September 19,2010, in which two Taiwanese tourists were injured, a hand-held gun was used by two terrorists on a motor-bike--- a new modus operandi (MO) not used by the IM before. An E-mailed message purporting to be from the IM had indirectly claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of more attacks during the Commonwealth Games in October. They were not able to carry out the warning due to tight security by the police and other security agencies.
9. In the third incident on December 7, the terrorists have reverted back to their old and preferred MO of using IEDs. The low casualties can be attributed to either the present low IED capability of the IM terrorists still at large or a desire to avoid large or mass casualties while remaining active. Preliminary details do not indicate the involvement of outside elements---either from Pakistan or from Bangladesh or both. (8-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
A RECALL OF THE 2006 BLASTS IN VARANASI ON MARCH7, A TUESDAY
* The first blast took place around 6:20 p.m. (IST) at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple.
* Minutes after the first blast, another blast took place at a waiting room at the Varanasi cantonment railway station.
* Three live bombs were recovered from the temple complex and one was recovered from a nearby restaurant.
* Live bombs were also recovered from Godolia and Dashaswamedh ghat. The Dashaswamedh Ghat is the place where the IED had been planted on December 7,2010.
The Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police, which investigated the two explosions, announced on April 5,2006, that its investigation had established that the two explosions were carried out by three terrorists of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami of Bangladesh, known as HUJI (B), with local help provided by one Walilullah, the Imam of a mosque at Phulpur in Allahabad, and five other Indian Muslims.
While Walilullah and the five other Indian Muslims, who had helped the three terrorists from Bangladesh, were arrested, the three terrorists, who actually carried out the explosions, managed to go back to Bangladesh after carrying out the terrorist strikes. The UP Police described Walilullah as the Eastern UP Area Commander of HUJI (B). In a confessional statement, Walilullah reportedly cited the demolition of the Babri Masjid in UP in December 1992 by a Hindu mob and the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in February,2002, as the reasons for the terrorist strikes against the temple and at the railway station. He projected the twin blasts as acts of reprisal terrorism. He gave the names of the three persons, who came from Bangladesh to carry out the explosions, as Bashiruddin alias Bashir,Mustafiz and Zakaria, all Bangladeshi nationals. According to his version, they had studied along with him at the Deoband seminary in UP some years ago and he had been in touch with them since then.
Walilullah had once been arrested by the Allahabad Police in 2001 on suspicion of his links with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) of Pakistan. He was released after eight months without being prosecuted. Bashiruddin took him to Bangladesh in June 2004 and introduced him to one Maulana Asadullah of HUJI (B), who enrolled him into the organisation and appointed him as its Area Commander for Eastern UP.
The other five Indian Muslims arrested were Syed Shuib and Farhaan (Lucknow), Mohammad Rizwan Siddiqui and Mohammad Saad Ali (Amroha) and Shahid (Allahabad). They were working in a power loom in Bhiwandi near Mumbai. All the arrested Indian Muslims were reported to have confessed that they had visited Pakistan via Bangladesh for training in jihadi terrorism, organised by Maulana Asadullah.
B.RAMAN
The Indian Mujahideen is active, but weaker and its remnants, which have so far escaped detection and arrest by the police, have probably a reduced capability. That is the conclusion possible on the basis of the details available so far regarding the explosion in Varanasi, the Hindu holy city, on the evening ( shortly after 6 PM) of December 7,2010. The explosion itself caused the death of one child and injured five adults. About 20 others were injured in a stampede that followed. At least one foreign tourist was among the injured.
2. It has been reported that the improvised explosive device (IED) used in the incident was kept inside a container used for carrying milk. The terrorists wanted to register their presence and continued determination to keep launching terrorist attacks, but did not aim at large or mass casualties. If they had intended to organize a large or mass casualty attack they would have mixed the explosive material with projectiles such as nails, ball bearings etc and used a smaller container in which they would have tightly packed the explosive material and the projectiles. They had apparently not done so. Another improvised explosive device of low intensity was reportedly found in a nearby dustbin.
3. The IED, which exploded, had been planted at a place where about 5,000 Hindu devotees and tourists---Indian and foreign--- gather every evening to watch a well-choreographed religious function called “aarti” on the banks of the Ganges near the famous Kasi Vishwanath temple. The explosion took place on a Tuesday, which is an important day for the devotees of the Hindu God Hanuman. The two explosions of March 7,2006---one in a Hanuman temple and the other in the waiting room of a local railway station---also took place on a Tuesday. Those two of 2006 were intended to be large casualty attacks and resulted in the deaths of 28 persons. No foreign tourists were affected.
4.The investigation into the March 7,2006, explosions established the involvement of three Bangladeshi Muslims belonging to the Bangladesh branch of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI-B) and six Indian Muslims. The Indian Muslims were arrested and prosecuted, but the Bangladeshi Muslims, who had assembled the IEDs, managed to flee to Bangladesh. All the Indian Muslims involved had been trained by the Pakistan branch of the HUJI in its training camps in Pakistan. Salient points of the investigation into the March 7,2006, incidents are given in the Annexure.
5. Those involved in the March 7,2006, explosions had projected them as acts of reprisal against the demolition of the Babri Masjid in the Hindu holy city of Ayodhya on December 6,1992, and the anti-Muslim incidents in Gujarat in February,2002, following the cold-blooded massacre of a group of Hindu pilgrims traveling by train at the Godhra railway station in Gujarat. Since March,2006, Varanasi had been free of lethal terrorist attacks despite its high vulnerability.
6. The explosion of December 7,2010, has taken place a day after the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. An e-mailed message purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen (IM)--- carrying the December 6 dateline, but sent on December 7--- has claimed responsibility for the attack. It has projected the attack as in reprisal against a recent court judgement relating to the ownership of the land on which the Babri Masjid stood. The Muslims felt aggrieved by the judgement which they see as based on Hindu religious beliefs and not on provable evidence. They have expressed their determination to have it set aside by a higher court. Incidents of violence were feared by the police on the day the judgement was delivered by the court, but nothing untoward happened. A delayed violent act of reprisal has now come on December 7,2010, from unidentified elements claiming to be from the IM. The message purporting to be from the IM expresses the determination of the IM to keep up its fight on the Babri Masjid issue.
7. The years 2007-2008 saw a series of high lethality explosions carried out by the IM in two cities of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. A number of suspects from the IM were arrested by the police and are being prosecuted. Some members---including some leading brains--- of the IM have escaped arrest. They are believed to be either absconding somewhere in India or in Pakistan or the Gulf.
8. These arrests considerably weakened the terrorist infrastructure of the IM in Indian territory and there were no incidents involving the IM between September 2008, when the Delhi explosions took place, and February 2010. The IM was apparently regrouping and reorganizing itself during this period. There has been a revival of its activities since February,2010, as indicated by three attacks. In the first attack inside the so-called German bakery in Pune in February 2010, there were 17 deaths caused by an IED. In the second attack on September 19,2010, in which two Taiwanese tourists were injured, a hand-held gun was used by two terrorists on a motor-bike--- a new modus operandi (MO) not used by the IM before. An E-mailed message purporting to be from the IM had indirectly claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of more attacks during the Commonwealth Games in October. They were not able to carry out the warning due to tight security by the police and other security agencies.
9. In the third incident on December 7, the terrorists have reverted back to their old and preferred MO of using IEDs. The low casualties can be attributed to either the present low IED capability of the IM terrorists still at large or a desire to avoid large or mass casualties while remaining active. Preliminary details do not indicate the involvement of outside elements---either from Pakistan or from Bangladesh or both. (8-12-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
A RECALL OF THE 2006 BLASTS IN VARANASI ON MARCH7, A TUESDAY
* The first blast took place around 6:20 p.m. (IST) at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple.
* Minutes after the first blast, another blast took place at a waiting room at the Varanasi cantonment railway station.
* Three live bombs were recovered from the temple complex and one was recovered from a nearby restaurant.
* Live bombs were also recovered from Godolia and Dashaswamedh ghat. The Dashaswamedh Ghat is the place where the IED had been planted on December 7,2010.
The Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police, which investigated the two explosions, announced on April 5,2006, that its investigation had established that the two explosions were carried out by three terrorists of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami of Bangladesh, known as HUJI (B), with local help provided by one Walilullah, the Imam of a mosque at Phulpur in Allahabad, and five other Indian Muslims.
While Walilullah and the five other Indian Muslims, who had helped the three terrorists from Bangladesh, were arrested, the three terrorists, who actually carried out the explosions, managed to go back to Bangladesh after carrying out the terrorist strikes. The UP Police described Walilullah as the Eastern UP Area Commander of HUJI (B). In a confessional statement, Walilullah reportedly cited the demolition of the Babri Masjid in UP in December 1992 by a Hindu mob and the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in February,2002, as the reasons for the terrorist strikes against the temple and at the railway station. He projected the twin blasts as acts of reprisal terrorism. He gave the names of the three persons, who came from Bangladesh to carry out the explosions, as Bashiruddin alias Bashir,Mustafiz and Zakaria, all Bangladeshi nationals. According to his version, they had studied along with him at the Deoband seminary in UP some years ago and he had been in touch with them since then.
Walilullah had once been arrested by the Allahabad Police in 2001 on suspicion of his links with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) of Pakistan. He was released after eight months without being prosecuted. Bashiruddin took him to Bangladesh in June 2004 and introduced him to one Maulana Asadullah of HUJI (B), who enrolled him into the organisation and appointed him as its Area Commander for Eastern UP.
The other five Indian Muslims arrested were Syed Shuib and Farhaan (Lucknow), Mohammad Rizwan Siddiqui and Mohammad Saad Ali (Amroha) and Shahid (Allahabad). They were working in a power loom in Bhiwandi near Mumbai. All the arrested Indian Muslims were reported to have confessed that they had visited Pakistan via Bangladesh for training in jihadi terrorism, organised by Maulana Asadullah.
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