B.RAMAN
Pakistani President Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf had held a party in his house on August 11,2008, to celebrate his 65th birthday. The party was attended by a small group of officers of the armed forces and civilian bureaucrats, who are his close personal friends, and some close relatives. He did not invite any of the civilian political leaders. Among those, who attended, were the chiefs of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Inter-Services Intelligence. Earlier in the day, they had officially called on him in his office to wish him a happy birthday.
2. The Mohajirs in Karachi held over 25 functions in different parts of the city to celebrate his birthday.
3. As a mark of defiance of the Taliban, which has been projecting music and dance as anti-Islam, Musharraf had invited some musicians to the party in his house to sing on the occasion of his birthday.
4. According to reliable Mohajir sources, the chiefs of the armed forces and the ISI have refrained from advising him as to what should be his course of action in the face of the campaign for his impeachment, removal from office and arrest mounted by Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister, who has reportedly been saying that he is determined to have Musharraf arrested and kept in the same jail in which Musharraf had kept him after he was overthrown in October,1999.
5. Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who was initially against any impeachment and humiliation of Musharraf, is now going along with Nawaz Sharif for his impeachment and removal, but he continues to be against his arrest and detention if the impeachment motion succeeds.
6. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a predominantly Mohajir organization headed by Altaf Hussain from his exile in the UK, is very unhappy with Zardari for his succumbing to the pressure from a vindictive Nawaz. Mohajir sources allege that before the MQM agreed to support the PPP in its Government formation in Sindh and participate in it, it had been assured by Zardari that there would not be any impeachment or humiliation of Musharraf. According to these sources, Altaf Hussain is unhappy that Zardari should have gone back on his word and succumbed to the pressure from Nawaz without consulting the MQM. These Mohajir sources say that if Musharraf is sought to be arrested and humiliated under pressure from Nawaz, Karachi will go up in flames and no Punjabi will be safe there.
7. According to the same sources, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), and Lt.Gen.Nadeem Taj, the Director-General of the ISI, who is a distant cousin of Musharraf, have told Musharraf that it is up to him to decide whether he will fight the Nawaz-instigated impeachment or quit. They have said that they would respect whatever decision he took.
8. Kayani and Nadeem Taj are worried that Al Qaeda, which has already unsuccessfully attempted thrice to kill Musharraf, might try to kill him if the Government, under pressure from Nawaz, removes his physical security. They are worried---so are the Americans--- that if it succeeds in killing him, it would be a big set-back to the war against Al Qaeda. They are determined to see that Musharraf’s life is not jeopardized because of the vengeful attitude of Nawaz.
9. It is learnt that Kayani and Nadeem Taj have assured Musharraf that he would continue to enjoy the physical security provided by the Army and the ISI even if he is removed from office.
10. The Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), from where the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al Qaeda are operating, come directly under the President. The instructions to the Armed Forces regarding military operations in the FATA go from the President and regarding operations in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) from Rehman Malik, the Internal Security Adviser, who is a close confidante of Zardari.
11. If Musharraf is replaced by a civilian President, jointly nominated by Zardari and Nawaz, the Army is likely to tell the Government that the internal security duties in the FATA and the NWFP should be performed by the police and para-military forces so that the army could focus on its core function of defending the border with India.
12. The Army is also likely to demand that the command and control of the nuclear arsenal should be with the COAS and that the new President should have no role in it. At present, Musharraf exercises the command and control.
13.Musharraf is expected to make the customary pre-Independence Day telecast to the Pakistani people on the night of August 13 unless he is prevented by the Government from doing so. If he telecasts his message, he may give an indication of his future plans. The “Daily Times” of Lahore has claimed that he may announce his resignation from the post of President. (13-8-08)
(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 )
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
GOVT. & BJP PLAY INTO THE HANDS OF JIHADI TERRORISTS
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.427
B.RAMAN
The nation is still reeling under the impact of three rounds of serial blasts in quick succession in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, in Bengaluru onJuly 25 and in Ahmedabad on July 26. The police have been unable to make much headway in the investigations into the Mumbai suburbantrain blasts of July ,2006, in which about 190 innocent civilians were killed and other terrorist strikes, which have followed one after theother in different parts of the country. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat have been as cluelessin the face of this terrorism as the non-BJP ruled States.
2.There is a huge jihadi iceberg, which has been moving from State to State spreading death and destruction. We have not been able tolocate this iceberg, trace its movement and destroy it. We don't even know who are behind the so-called Indian Mujahideen, which hasclaimed responsibility for many of these terrorist strikes.They have had many failures in the form of unexploded improvised explosivedevices (IEDs) --- over 30 of them. The conventional wisdom in investigation is that every failure by the terrorists takes the police one stepcloser to a successful identification of the terrorists responsible. Over 30 failures --- over 20 of them in Surat in Gujarat-- and yet we are asclueless as ever.Were these failed IEDs examined by a single team? What were their conclusions? No answer.
3. The so-called Indian Mujahideen had sent three E-mail messages claiming responsibility--- two before the explosions took place and oneafter the explosion. It has been reported by "The Hindu" that one more message purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen has beenreceived by a newspaper warning of terrorist strikes in Godhra in Gujarat where a group of Hindu pilgrims travelling in a railwaycompartment were burnt to death by a group of Muslim fanatics in February 2002, which provoked acts of retaliation by sections of theHindus all over the State. We take pride in the fact that we are a nation of high-class experts in information technology (IT). And yet, wehave not been able to make any break-through in our investigation through an examination of these messages.
4.It is ageed by all analysts that one of the objectives of the perpetrators of these blasts in different States of India outside Jammu &Kashmir was to create a divide between the Hindus and the Muslims. Fortunately--- thanks to the prompt action by the concerned Stateadministrations and to the good sense of the two communities--- the terrorists have not succeeded in this objective.
5.But what the terrorists have failed to achieve so far in other parts of India through their repeated acts of terrorism, the Government ofIndia and the BJP have achieved for them in Jammu & Kashmir---- the Government through its shockingly ham-handed handling of asensitive issue and the BJP by its cynical exploitation of the communal tensions arising from the Government's mishandling for partisan political purposes with an eye on Hindu votes in the next elections, which are expected before next May.
6. Ham-handed handling of vital national security issues has become the defininig characteristics of the Government of India. We have beenseeing it again and again since the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July 2006. Important decisions have been taken--- whether relating toPakistan or China or terrorism--- without examining their implications for national security. Many sensitive issues have been handled in ashockingly inept manner--- thereby giving the impression of its being a Government of novices with very little understanding of such issues.
7.Nothing illustrated its ineptitude more dramatically than the casual manner in which it watched without intervening when the decision totransfer a plot of land to the ownership of a board for the maintenance of a Hindu shrine (Amarnath) in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valleywas taken by the local administration headed by the Congress (I) without a proper examination of its likely impact on Muslim public opinionand its likely exploitation by the Muslim radicals and then when the leaders of the Muslim community protested against it,it was cancelledwithout examining its likely impact on Hindu public opinion in the Hindu majority Jammu Division of the State.
8. The agitation launched by the Hindus of the Jammu Division of the State against the cancellation could have been justified if they hadkept it confined to demonstrations and protests. Instead of doing so, they used the agitation for indulging in deplorable acts such as tryingto disrupt communications with the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and allegedly preventing the Muslim farmers of the Valley from sendingtheir produce of fruits to the rest of India for sale.
9. This was a dangerous turn in the agitation and was interpreted by many as an economic blocade of the Muslims in order to force them to concede the demands of the Hindus in relation to the transfer of the land. A similar situation was sought to be created in 1990 by the jihadisin the valley by preventing the fruit farmers and artisans from sending their produce to the rest of India for sale. The Government ofV.P.Singh, the then Prime Minister, immediately intervened and had their fruits etc flown from Srinagar to the rest of India at Government'sexpense in special planes of the Indian Airlines. It also organised Kashmir Trade Fairs in Delhi and other parts of India and helped theKashmiri farmers and artisans to bring their produce out for sale.
10. One would have expected the Government of India to have promptly acted in a similar manner to break the alleged blocade by theHindus of Jammu. It did nothing of the sort. It kept fiddling as the situation went from bad to worse. Angered by the inaction of theGovernment, the fruit farmers, instigated by the Muslim radicals and jihadi terrorists, decided to take their produce to Pakistan-OccupiedKashmir for sale. No Government could have allowed this. The Government's efforts to stop this have led to instances of firing by thesecurity forces on unruly mobs resulting in over 15 deaths.
11. One would have expected the BJP, which aspires to come to power in New Delhi after the next elections, to exercise self-restraint andresist the urge to exploit the situation for partisan political purposes. The expectations have been belied. Its crude attempts to exploit thesituation with an eye on the next elections have added oil to fire and are threatening to take J&K back to 1989, when the insurgencystarted. All the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism gains of recent years in the State face the danger of being wiped out by theGovernment's inept handling and the BJP's cynical exploitation of it.
12. In the situation as it is developing in J&K, nobody seems to be interested in national interests and in protecting the lives, property andeconomic interests of its citizens--- whatever be their religion. Partisan political interests have taken precedence over national interests.
13. Public opinion should force the Government and the BJP to wake up and prevent a slide back to 1989. Otherwise, the IndianMujahideen, whoever is behind it, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence will be having the last laugh. (12-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For TopicalStudies, Chennai, E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
B.RAMAN
The nation is still reeling under the impact of three rounds of serial blasts in quick succession in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, in Bengaluru onJuly 25 and in Ahmedabad on July 26. The police have been unable to make much headway in the investigations into the Mumbai suburbantrain blasts of July ,2006, in which about 190 innocent civilians were killed and other terrorist strikes, which have followed one after theother in different parts of the country. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat have been as cluelessin the face of this terrorism as the non-BJP ruled States.
2.There is a huge jihadi iceberg, which has been moving from State to State spreading death and destruction. We have not been able tolocate this iceberg, trace its movement and destroy it. We don't even know who are behind the so-called Indian Mujahideen, which hasclaimed responsibility for many of these terrorist strikes.They have had many failures in the form of unexploded improvised explosivedevices (IEDs) --- over 30 of them. The conventional wisdom in investigation is that every failure by the terrorists takes the police one stepcloser to a successful identification of the terrorists responsible. Over 30 failures --- over 20 of them in Surat in Gujarat-- and yet we are asclueless as ever.Were these failed IEDs examined by a single team? What were their conclusions? No answer.
3. The so-called Indian Mujahideen had sent three E-mail messages claiming responsibility--- two before the explosions took place and oneafter the explosion. It has been reported by "The Hindu" that one more message purporting to be from the Indian Mujahideen has beenreceived by a newspaper warning of terrorist strikes in Godhra in Gujarat where a group of Hindu pilgrims travelling in a railwaycompartment were burnt to death by a group of Muslim fanatics in February 2002, which provoked acts of retaliation by sections of theHindus all over the State. We take pride in the fact that we are a nation of high-class experts in information technology (IT). And yet, wehave not been able to make any break-through in our investigation through an examination of these messages.
4.It is ageed by all analysts that one of the objectives of the perpetrators of these blasts in different States of India outside Jammu &Kashmir was to create a divide between the Hindus and the Muslims. Fortunately--- thanks to the prompt action by the concerned Stateadministrations and to the good sense of the two communities--- the terrorists have not succeeded in this objective.
5.But what the terrorists have failed to achieve so far in other parts of India through their repeated acts of terrorism, the Government ofIndia and the BJP have achieved for them in Jammu & Kashmir---- the Government through its shockingly ham-handed handling of asensitive issue and the BJP by its cynical exploitation of the communal tensions arising from the Government's mishandling for partisan political purposes with an eye on Hindu votes in the next elections, which are expected before next May.
6. Ham-handed handling of vital national security issues has become the defininig characteristics of the Government of India. We have beenseeing it again and again since the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July 2006. Important decisions have been taken--- whether relating toPakistan or China or terrorism--- without examining their implications for national security. Many sensitive issues have been handled in ashockingly inept manner--- thereby giving the impression of its being a Government of novices with very little understanding of such issues.
7.Nothing illustrated its ineptitude more dramatically than the casual manner in which it watched without intervening when the decision totransfer a plot of land to the ownership of a board for the maintenance of a Hindu shrine (Amarnath) in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valleywas taken by the local administration headed by the Congress (I) without a proper examination of its likely impact on Muslim public opinionand its likely exploitation by the Muslim radicals and then when the leaders of the Muslim community protested against it,it was cancelledwithout examining its likely impact on Hindu public opinion in the Hindu majority Jammu Division of the State.
8. The agitation launched by the Hindus of the Jammu Division of the State against the cancellation could have been justified if they hadkept it confined to demonstrations and protests. Instead of doing so, they used the agitation for indulging in deplorable acts such as tryingto disrupt communications with the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and allegedly preventing the Muslim farmers of the Valley from sendingtheir produce of fruits to the rest of India for sale.
9. This was a dangerous turn in the agitation and was interpreted by many as an economic blocade of the Muslims in order to force them to concede the demands of the Hindus in relation to the transfer of the land. A similar situation was sought to be created in 1990 by the jihadisin the valley by preventing the fruit farmers and artisans from sending their produce to the rest of India for sale. The Government ofV.P.Singh, the then Prime Minister, immediately intervened and had their fruits etc flown from Srinagar to the rest of India at Government'sexpense in special planes of the Indian Airlines. It also organised Kashmir Trade Fairs in Delhi and other parts of India and helped theKashmiri farmers and artisans to bring their produce out for sale.
10. One would have expected the Government of India to have promptly acted in a similar manner to break the alleged blocade by theHindus of Jammu. It did nothing of the sort. It kept fiddling as the situation went from bad to worse. Angered by the inaction of theGovernment, the fruit farmers, instigated by the Muslim radicals and jihadi terrorists, decided to take their produce to Pakistan-OccupiedKashmir for sale. No Government could have allowed this. The Government's efforts to stop this have led to instances of firing by thesecurity forces on unruly mobs resulting in over 15 deaths.
11. One would have expected the BJP, which aspires to come to power in New Delhi after the next elections, to exercise self-restraint andresist the urge to exploit the situation for partisan political purposes. The expectations have been belied. Its crude attempts to exploit thesituation with an eye on the next elections have added oil to fire and are threatening to take J&K back to 1989, when the insurgencystarted. All the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism gains of recent years in the State face the danger of being wiped out by theGovernment's inept handling and the BJP's cynical exploitation of it.
12. In the situation as it is developing in J&K, nobody seems to be interested in national interests and in protecting the lives, property andeconomic interests of its citizens--- whatever be their religion. Partisan political interests have taken precedence over national interests.
13. Public opinion should force the Government and the BJP to wake up and prevent a slide back to 1989. Otherwise, the IndianMujahideen, whoever is behind it, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence will be having the last laugh. (12-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For TopicalStudies, Chennai, E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Sunday, August 10, 2008
RISE OF MAOISTS IN NEPAL: IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA
B.RAMAN
( Paper presented at a seminar organised by the Asia Centre, Bangalore, on Auguast 9,2008)
The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, met Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on the margins of the summitconference of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) at Colombo on August 3,2008, and reportedly assured him ofIndia's continued support to Nepal's democratic transition. During the meeting, Manmohan Singh told Koirala that he was impressed by thesteps taken by Nepal to usher in democracy, including the conduct of the Constituent Assembly elections on April 10.
2. At the time Koirala went to Colombo to attend the summit, an agreement on the formation of a new Government continued to elude themajor political formations in the newly-elected Constituent Assembly. In fact, the decision taken by Koirala without allegedly consulting theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Communist party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) to represent Nepal at the summit hadbecome a matter of major controversy. The Maoists, who constitute the largest single grouping in the Constituent Assembly, and theCPN--UML felt that Nepal should have been represented by the newly-elected President Ram Baran Yadav and not by the caretaker PrimeMinister, whose days in office were numbered. Ultimately, the Maoists and the CPN-UML had agreed to Koirala attending the summit afterhe reportedly apologised for not consulting them in the matter in advance. This controversy brought into focus once again the suspicion anddistrust, which continued to mark the relations among the major political formations after the elections to the Constituent Assembly, withthe Maoists smelling an Indian-inspired conspiracy to deny them the fruits of office.
3. However, after the return of Koirala to Kathmandu from Colombo, the main political parties agreed on August 5,2008, to form a nationalunity Government led by the Maoists, who will be joined by the Nepali Congress, the CPN---UML and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF)that represents the people of the Terai region bordering India. The Maoists reached an agreement with the leaders of the other threeparties to head the coalition after what was described as ``breakthrough'' talks by Jhala Nath Khanal, the General Secretary of the CPN -UML. According to Khanal, the leaders of the four parties agreed that the coalition will remain in office at least until the Assembly approveda new constitution, a process that may take two years to complete.
4. The talks on Government formation had gone through so many ups and downs during the last four months that any optimistic conclusionthat the suspicions and distrust, which had dogged the talks till August 5, would now be a matter of the past could be misplaced. Before thecontroversy relating to Koirala's participation in the SAARC summit, there was another controversy caused by the election on July 24,2008,of Ram Baran Yadav, an ethnic Madhesi, as Nepal's first President defeating a Maoist candidate. Following this, the Maoists had withdrawnfrom the talks on Government formation in a huff. It took some time and efforts to cajole them back into the talks. The interim Government,which paved the way for the elections to the Constituent Assembly and the declaration of Nepal with a population of 26.4 million as aRepublic on May 28,2008, after ending 240 years of the monarchy, had earlier this year agreed to give the Madhesis greater representationin state and local administration in order to end 16 days of strikes and protests that paralyzed Terai and led to fuel and food shortages inKathmandu. The Terai region is Nepal's agricultural heartland and, according to the Madhesi leaders, it accounts for 48 per cent of thecountry's population and 80 per cent of its commercial and industrial activities. It is the main transport link to India, Nepal's biggest tradingpartner.
5. If the latest agreement does not break down, Puspa Kamal Dahal, the Maoist leader known as Prachanda, is expected to lead thenational unity government as Prime Minister for the next two years. The CPN (Maoist) holds 220 seats in the 601- member ConstituentAssembly, double the number of its nearest rival, the Nepali Congress. With less than forty per cent of the seats, its role inpolicy-making----whether in relation to the new Constitution or in relation to Nepal's domestic and external issues--- should normally belimited. But what it lacks in terms of seats in the Constituent Assembly will be sought to be made good by it through its well-motivated andwell-trained cadres, who would try to enable the party to have its way in matters relating to its agenda through muscle and street powerwhen the voting power is found inadequate.
6. In the list of the irreducible minimum of its agenda is the integration of suitable members of its trained army into the Nepal Army, therebygiving Nepal for the first time an ideologically indoctrinated army. A People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Nepal will be the dream of Prachanda.Will the other three political formations be able to resist the Maoists' plans to reorganise the Army and make it the tool of the ultimatecapture of total state power by the Maoists? That is the first question, which ought to be worrying Indian policy-makers.
7. In the new Government, which would guide the initial steps in Constitution and policy-making, the Maoists will be in the driving seat ofpower, but not yet in total control of it, but total control will be their ultimate aim. The Maoists have reached where they are now through amix of the Chinese and Soviet tactics.Through Chinese-style armed peasant power, they established control over large parts of the ruralareas, but when control of Kathmandu and the Indian-influenced Terai region eluded them, they joined the other political formations in ademocratic street agitation, which gave them their present share of power. In Russia, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin rode to power piggy-backon the Mensheviks. After having got a share of the power and the exit of the Tsar, they kicked the Mensheviks out and established adictatorship of the proletariat, which was to last for nearly 74 years. Is a similar scenario possible in Nepal? That is the second questionwhich should preoccupy our policy-makers. Would such a scenario be in India's interest? If not, should India actively, but discreetly work toprevent it? Who could be its objective allies if it decides or is forced to do so?
8. Prachanda has taken pains to reassure India that it will have nothing to worry about due to the rise of the Maoists to power. Politicalequidistance between India and China, but not economic equidependence has been the central theme of his pronouncements.Nepal'seconomic links with India are so strong that there would be no danger of their dilution as a result of Nepal's closer relations with China, hesays. He told Karan Thapar of the CNN-IBN in an interview on May 20,2008 when he was asked what sort of relations he would be looking atwith India: " A new relation on a new basis. The new base has been laid down with the understanding from Delhi. A new unity with Delhi isalready in process. A new relation means better relations, understanding and cooperation. We want to come closer to New Delhi on thebasis of new relations. I always said that there is a special relationship with India, geographical and cultural, and therefore we should havea special relationship with New Delhi. No one can ignore this historical, geographical and cultural fact. What I am saying is that we will notside up with one country against the other. We will maintain equidistance in political sense and not in terms of cooperation and otherthings. The culture, history and geographical relationship that Nepal has with India will remain intact. It is a historic fact and we will have tostrengthen this relationship."
9. However, there are two issues relating to India on which his heart and mind are set. The first relates to the re-negotiation of the 1950Indo-Nepal treaty and a general review of all other bilateral agreements with India. He told Karan Thapar: " Our people have put forward thisconcern that they feel that the treaty (of 1950) lacks in equality and that it is not beneficial for Nepal. We thus want to review all the pointsof the 1950 treaty. And we want to revise it according to new necessity." When asked whether he wanted to drop the provisions for openborder and the national citizenship status for the people of Nepal in India, he was evasive and said: " Not exactly right now. There are otherprovisions that we want to discuss in detail." He indicated that one of these provisions requiring re-negotiation would be the defencepurchase provision which requires Nepal to consult Delhi and only then acquire arms. He added: "That also should be reviewed and shouldbe made according to the necessity of the 21st century."
10. Karan Thapar then drew his attention to a statement made by Babu Ram Bhattarai, his party colleague, to the "Nepal Telegraph" on May10, 2008, that it was only because of the open border that Nepal could not achieve economic prosperity and asked him whether he agreedwith that. He was again evasive in his reply. He said: "In the transitional phase, right now with the processes going on, it (Bhattarai's view) isnot correct." Prachanda added: " I want to have a general review on all the treaties. But specifically I want to review the 1950 treaty. Wewant changes in the 1950 treaty, others may be okay, or may be revised, but we want to generally review them.We want to strengthenrelations by re-negotiating."
11. The other issue relating to India on which his heart and mind are set is the re-examination of the question of recruitment of Gurkhas tothe Indian and other foreign armies. He told Karan Thapar:" We want to discuss this issue. We don’t want to stop it right now. We want toreview the whole history of the development and the implication on both countries. What kind of relation is created through this institution iswhat we want to review. We want to review and discuss it. I think this will be debated in our Constituent Assembly. It is an important topic.Now we are about to draft a new constitution and that will guide us for Nepal’s vital interest. These are historical questions. We will have toreview it in that perspective. Here in Nepal there was feudal autocracy as a political system. Now we are changing that into a democraticsystem, and we are looking at rapid economic development so that our youth don’t have to look for employment in other countries. We wantto change the political and economic scenario."
12. What are the present ground realities regarding Nepal's relations with India and China? Nepal's exports to India constitute about 55 percent of its total exports and its imports from India about 44 per cent of its total imports.There are over 265 approved Indian joint ventures inNepal of which over 100 are operational, with a cumulative total Indian investment amounting to between 36-40 per cent of the totalForeign Direct Investment in Nepal. The total project cost of these 265 projects is around Rs.28.5 billion, with fixed investment amountingto Rs. 21.9 billion and the foreign investment component amounting to Rs. 7.427 billion. These joint ventures are in practically every sector,including tourism, infrastructure, consumer durables & non-durables and export oriented industries like garments and carpets. A number ofIndian companies, including Dabur, Hindustan Lever, Colgate, etc., have established their manufacturing base in Nepal with the objective toexport their finished products to India. It needs to be added that these statistics taken from the web site of the Indian Embassy inKathmandu relate to the period till 2002-03. The figures must have further gone up since then.
13.The initial focus of India's economic assistance was on infrastructural projects, involving the construction of roads, bridges, hospitalsand airports. While infrastructure continued to remain the priority focus, projects also began to include health, industrial estates and othersectors. About 80 per cent of the Mahendra Raj Marg, a highway that runs the entire length of Nepal (1024 kms.) from the east to the westalong the southern terai, has been constructed by India. In addition, roads from Kathmandu to Dakshinkali, Trishuli, Balaju, Godavari andRaxaul via Hetauda, Sunauli to Pokhara, Rajbiraj to Koshi Barrage and the Janakpur town road are contributions of Indian assistance. Indiahas also constructed a number of bridges on these roads and separately two bridges on the river Bagmati at Kathmandu and one on theriver Mohana. The bridge on the river Sirsiya between the towns of Raxaul on the Indian side and Birgunj on the Nepalese side has alsobeen completed and opened for traffic.Twenty-two other bridges were constructed with Indian assistance on the Kohalpur-Mahakali Sectorof East West Highway.
14. The total value of trade (exports plus imports) between India and Nepal is about 48 per cent of the total trade of Nepal with foreigncountries as against about 10 per cent only in the case of Nepal and China. The total number of Chinese investment projects in Nepal was44 only till 2003-04 for which statistics are available as against nearly 300 in the case of India.Of these, 25 were operational, six underconstruction and the remaining 13 licensed. Chinese investments have been mainly in hotels and restaurants, electronics, radio pagingservices, readymade garments , nursing homes, hydropower, civil construction, etc. China has helped Nepal in the construction of 11 roadswith a total length of about 600 Kms as against nearly 1500 kms in the case of India. China has also been helping Nepal in the constructionof one hydel project, one irrigation project and two electrical transmission projects.
15.In 2001, China and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation, including Nepal into the list of the tourismdestinations for outbound Chinese travelers. Subsequently, the two countries signed an "Air Service Agreement", according to which, AirChina opened a direct air link between China and Nepal in 2004, by the route of Chengdu-Lasha-Kathmandu. In addition, the China SouthernAirline has also started operating an air service between Guangzhou and Kathmandu since February, 2007. Likewise, the Nepal Airline isoperating air services between Kathmandu and Shanghai and Kathmandu and Hongkong.
16.Military-military relationship has been given increasing attention since 1998, when the the Nepal Army started sending officers andsoldiers to study in Chinese military universities. In the academic year 2006/2007 , 21 officers and soldiers of the Nepal Army went to Chinafor training. China has sent military officers to participate in the adventure trainings organized by the Nepal Army since 2002.
17. While China's relations with Nepal have been expanding over the years, they are nowhere near the multi-faceted relationship betweenNepal and India. In terms of value and usefulness, Nepal's relations with India have been more significant than its relations with China.Nepal has benefited far more from its privileged economic relations with India than vice versa. If a Maoist-dominated Nepal tries forequidependence in its economic relations with India and China, it will be lifting a huge boulder and throwing it on its own feet. Prachandagives the impression of realising this, but not many others in the CPN(Maoist). Bhattarai blames the open border with India for Nepal'sbackwardness. One does not know how sincere is Prachanda when he talks of the importance attached by him to Nepal's relations withIndia.
18. Pro-China intellectuals in Nepal make no secret of their dislike for India.Chinese officials and diplomats keep emphasising that China'srelations with Nepal are based on the three principles of trust, equality and sincerity. They thereby hint that while China treats Nepal as anequal partner, India does not.
19.Addressing the Nepal Council of World Affairs at Kathmandu on August 5,2008, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Zheng Xianglin said:"Nepal is situated in a favorable geographical position in South Asia, and is a passage linking China and South Asia." That is the reason forthe Chinese interest in Nepal----as a passage to South Asia and as an instrument for strengthening the Chinese presence in South Asia.China has a Look South policy to counter our Look East policy.As we try to move Eastwards to cultivate the countries of South-East Asia, itis trying to move southwards to outflank us. China is not a South Asian power, but it already has a growing South Asian strategicpresence----- in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is hoping to acquire a similar presence in Nepal with the co-operation of aMaoist-dominated Government. It has already acquired the status of an observer in the SAARC. Some in the SAARC would ultimately like tomake it a SAARC member to counter the presence and influence of India. Nepal in the past refrained from joining those working for theinclusion of China in the SAARC. A Maoist-dominated Government may do so in future.
20. China has already given indications of its interest in strengthening the value of Nepal as a passage to South Asia by connecting the roadnetwork in Tibet with that in Nepal and by extending the railway line to Lhasa to Kathmandu. If China succeeds in concretising theseideas, the threats to our security will be enhanced. China has other reasons to welcome the rise of the Maoists to power in Nepal. It ishoping with reason that Nepal would stop the anti-China activities of the 1000-strong community of Tibetan refugees in Nepal. They havebeen in the forefront of the agitation against the Han colonisation of Tibet. Some of them are being used by the US Govt.funded Radio FreeAsia for producing programmes directed to the Tibetans. China apprehends that if there is unrest in Tibet after the death of the Dalai Lama,these refugees might be utilised by the US----with the complicity of India--- to destabilise the Chinese presence in Tibet. It is hoping topre-empt this with the co-operation of a Maoist-dominated Government in Kathmandu.
21. India will find itself in Nepal in a situation not dissimilar to the situation in Myanmar----all the time having to compete with China forpolitical influence and economic benefits. Till now, India almost monopolised the strategic playing field in Nepal. Now, there will be a secondplayer in China. In Myanmar, whenever the military Government had to choose between Indian and Chinese interests, it always chose theChinese interests because of its fear of China and its gratitude to China for the support extended by it to the military junta in internationalfora such as the UN Security Council. In Nepal whenever there is a conflict between Indian and Chinese interests, a Maoist-dominated Govt.will choose Chinese interests not out of fear or gratitude but out of considerations of ideological affinity.
22. The relations of the State of Nepal with the State of Pakistan are miniscule and hence of no major concern to India at present. What is ofconcern to India even now and may be of greater concern in future are the activities of the Pakistani and Pakistan-based non-State actorsagainst India from sanctuaries in Nepalese territory and the growing presence and activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)from Nepal. In the 1980s and the 1990s, the Khalistani organisations based in Pakistan used to operate through Nepal. So too the jihadiorganisations in the 1990s and thereafter. Pakistan-based mafia groups like the one of Dawood Ibrahim have active supporters in theMuslim community in the Terai region of Nepal. After the Mumbai blasts of March,1993, some of the perpetrators fled to Karachi viaKathmandu. Large amounts of black money from India are laundered in or through Kathmandu, which is also a nodal point for the pumping ofcounterfeit currency notes by the ISI into India. Some years ago, the Government of India reportedly came to know that a cable TV network,which was to come up in Nepal, was actually funded by Dawood Ibrahim. Timely intimation of the information to the Nepalese authoritiesresulted in the withdrawal of permission for the project. Nepalese co-operation in counter-terrorism, counter-money-laundering and mutuallegal assistance are important for our intelligence and investigation agencies.
23. This co-operation and assistance were facilitated in the past by good police-to-police relations. Many of the old generation Nepalesepolice officers were trained in Indian police institutions. They networked well with their counterparts in India --- informally as well asformally. Under a Maoist-led Government, this co-operation is likely to become more and more formal and less and less informal. Over-formalised co-operation is often not very effective in the absence of the informal component.
24. Prachanda and others are yet to come out with detailed formulations on what would be Nepal's relations with the US under a Maoist-ledGovernment. The US Embassy in Kathmandu is reported to have already established lines of communications with the Maoists. The firstpriority of the US would be to discourage the Maoists from moving too close to China. This would also be in India's interest. The first priorityof the Maoists will be to have the name of the CPN (Maoists) removed from the list of terrorist organisations maintained by the US. Thisshould not be difficult since the CPN (Maoists), unlike the LTTE of Sri Lanka, has not been formally designated as a Foreign TerroristOrganisation under a 1996 US law.
25. What impact will the decision of the CPN (Maoists) to give up its armed struggle half-way through and join the democratic mainstream have on the spread of Maoism across the tribal belt of Central India? Not much. The ideological and material dependence of the NepaleseMaoists on their Indian counterparts was more than the other way round. The Indian Maoists, while complimenting their Nepalesecounterparts for their good performance in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, have at the same time been expressing theirskepticism over the success of the experiment being attempted in Nepal. Indian Maoists seem to expect that the Nepalese experiment willnot work and will come unstuck.
26. The Maoists have done well in the elections, which were widely perceived across the world as free and fair. The voters of Nepal havepreferred them over other parties, which had failed to come up to their expectations in the past. A Maoist-led Government is thefreely-expressed choice of the voters. India has no other option but to work with it so long as its policies do not take a blatantly anti-Indiandimension, which would be unacceptable to India. However, if the policies of the new Government do acquire such a dimension, India shouldhave the courage and confidence to be able to have the situation rectified with the help of its well-wishers in Nepal. Despite all that hashappened, there is still a large reservoir of well-wishers of India in Nepal. They should be nurtured and encouraged to be active---not forundermining the Maoists, but for preventing anti-Indian distortions. (7-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For TopicalStudies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
( Paper presented at a seminar organised by the Asia Centre, Bangalore, on Auguast 9,2008)
The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, met Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on the margins of the summitconference of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) at Colombo on August 3,2008, and reportedly assured him ofIndia's continued support to Nepal's democratic transition. During the meeting, Manmohan Singh told Koirala that he was impressed by thesteps taken by Nepal to usher in democracy, including the conduct of the Constituent Assembly elections on April 10.
2. At the time Koirala went to Colombo to attend the summit, an agreement on the formation of a new Government continued to elude themajor political formations in the newly-elected Constituent Assembly. In fact, the decision taken by Koirala without allegedly consulting theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Communist party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) to represent Nepal at the summit hadbecome a matter of major controversy. The Maoists, who constitute the largest single grouping in the Constituent Assembly, and theCPN--UML felt that Nepal should have been represented by the newly-elected President Ram Baran Yadav and not by the caretaker PrimeMinister, whose days in office were numbered. Ultimately, the Maoists and the CPN-UML had agreed to Koirala attending the summit afterhe reportedly apologised for not consulting them in the matter in advance. This controversy brought into focus once again the suspicion anddistrust, which continued to mark the relations among the major political formations after the elections to the Constituent Assembly, withthe Maoists smelling an Indian-inspired conspiracy to deny them the fruits of office.
3. However, after the return of Koirala to Kathmandu from Colombo, the main political parties agreed on August 5,2008, to form a nationalunity Government led by the Maoists, who will be joined by the Nepali Congress, the CPN---UML and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF)that represents the people of the Terai region bordering India. The Maoists reached an agreement with the leaders of the other threeparties to head the coalition after what was described as ``breakthrough'' talks by Jhala Nath Khanal, the General Secretary of the CPN -UML. According to Khanal, the leaders of the four parties agreed that the coalition will remain in office at least until the Assembly approveda new constitution, a process that may take two years to complete.
4. The talks on Government formation had gone through so many ups and downs during the last four months that any optimistic conclusionthat the suspicions and distrust, which had dogged the talks till August 5, would now be a matter of the past could be misplaced. Before thecontroversy relating to Koirala's participation in the SAARC summit, there was another controversy caused by the election on July 24,2008,of Ram Baran Yadav, an ethnic Madhesi, as Nepal's first President defeating a Maoist candidate. Following this, the Maoists had withdrawnfrom the talks on Government formation in a huff. It took some time and efforts to cajole them back into the talks. The interim Government,which paved the way for the elections to the Constituent Assembly and the declaration of Nepal with a population of 26.4 million as aRepublic on May 28,2008, after ending 240 years of the monarchy, had earlier this year agreed to give the Madhesis greater representationin state and local administration in order to end 16 days of strikes and protests that paralyzed Terai and led to fuel and food shortages inKathmandu. The Terai region is Nepal's agricultural heartland and, according to the Madhesi leaders, it accounts for 48 per cent of thecountry's population and 80 per cent of its commercial and industrial activities. It is the main transport link to India, Nepal's biggest tradingpartner.
5. If the latest agreement does not break down, Puspa Kamal Dahal, the Maoist leader known as Prachanda, is expected to lead thenational unity government as Prime Minister for the next two years. The CPN (Maoist) holds 220 seats in the 601- member ConstituentAssembly, double the number of its nearest rival, the Nepali Congress. With less than forty per cent of the seats, its role inpolicy-making----whether in relation to the new Constitution or in relation to Nepal's domestic and external issues--- should normally belimited. But what it lacks in terms of seats in the Constituent Assembly will be sought to be made good by it through its well-motivated andwell-trained cadres, who would try to enable the party to have its way in matters relating to its agenda through muscle and street powerwhen the voting power is found inadequate.
6. In the list of the irreducible minimum of its agenda is the integration of suitable members of its trained army into the Nepal Army, therebygiving Nepal for the first time an ideologically indoctrinated army. A People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Nepal will be the dream of Prachanda.Will the other three political formations be able to resist the Maoists' plans to reorganise the Army and make it the tool of the ultimatecapture of total state power by the Maoists? That is the first question, which ought to be worrying Indian policy-makers.
7. In the new Government, which would guide the initial steps in Constitution and policy-making, the Maoists will be in the driving seat ofpower, but not yet in total control of it, but total control will be their ultimate aim. The Maoists have reached where they are now through amix of the Chinese and Soviet tactics.Through Chinese-style armed peasant power, they established control over large parts of the ruralareas, but when control of Kathmandu and the Indian-influenced Terai region eluded them, they joined the other political formations in ademocratic street agitation, which gave them their present share of power. In Russia, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin rode to power piggy-backon the Mensheviks. After having got a share of the power and the exit of the Tsar, they kicked the Mensheviks out and established adictatorship of the proletariat, which was to last for nearly 74 years. Is a similar scenario possible in Nepal? That is the second questionwhich should preoccupy our policy-makers. Would such a scenario be in India's interest? If not, should India actively, but discreetly work toprevent it? Who could be its objective allies if it decides or is forced to do so?
8. Prachanda has taken pains to reassure India that it will have nothing to worry about due to the rise of the Maoists to power. Politicalequidistance between India and China, but not economic equidependence has been the central theme of his pronouncements.Nepal'seconomic links with India are so strong that there would be no danger of their dilution as a result of Nepal's closer relations with China, hesays. He told Karan Thapar of the CNN-IBN in an interview on May 20,2008 when he was asked what sort of relations he would be looking atwith India: " A new relation on a new basis. The new base has been laid down with the understanding from Delhi. A new unity with Delhi isalready in process. A new relation means better relations, understanding and cooperation. We want to come closer to New Delhi on thebasis of new relations. I always said that there is a special relationship with India, geographical and cultural, and therefore we should havea special relationship with New Delhi. No one can ignore this historical, geographical and cultural fact. What I am saying is that we will notside up with one country against the other. We will maintain equidistance in political sense and not in terms of cooperation and otherthings. The culture, history and geographical relationship that Nepal has with India will remain intact. It is a historic fact and we will have tostrengthen this relationship."
9. However, there are two issues relating to India on which his heart and mind are set. The first relates to the re-negotiation of the 1950Indo-Nepal treaty and a general review of all other bilateral agreements with India. He told Karan Thapar: " Our people have put forward thisconcern that they feel that the treaty (of 1950) lacks in equality and that it is not beneficial for Nepal. We thus want to review all the pointsof the 1950 treaty. And we want to revise it according to new necessity." When asked whether he wanted to drop the provisions for openborder and the national citizenship status for the people of Nepal in India, he was evasive and said: " Not exactly right now. There are otherprovisions that we want to discuss in detail." He indicated that one of these provisions requiring re-negotiation would be the defencepurchase provision which requires Nepal to consult Delhi and only then acquire arms. He added: "That also should be reviewed and shouldbe made according to the necessity of the 21st century."
10. Karan Thapar then drew his attention to a statement made by Babu Ram Bhattarai, his party colleague, to the "Nepal Telegraph" on May10, 2008, that it was only because of the open border that Nepal could not achieve economic prosperity and asked him whether he agreedwith that. He was again evasive in his reply. He said: "In the transitional phase, right now with the processes going on, it (Bhattarai's view) isnot correct." Prachanda added: " I want to have a general review on all the treaties. But specifically I want to review the 1950 treaty. Wewant changes in the 1950 treaty, others may be okay, or may be revised, but we want to generally review them.We want to strengthenrelations by re-negotiating."
11. The other issue relating to India on which his heart and mind are set is the re-examination of the question of recruitment of Gurkhas tothe Indian and other foreign armies. He told Karan Thapar:" We want to discuss this issue. We don’t want to stop it right now. We want toreview the whole history of the development and the implication on both countries. What kind of relation is created through this institution iswhat we want to review. We want to review and discuss it. I think this will be debated in our Constituent Assembly. It is an important topic.Now we are about to draft a new constitution and that will guide us for Nepal’s vital interest. These are historical questions. We will have toreview it in that perspective. Here in Nepal there was feudal autocracy as a political system. Now we are changing that into a democraticsystem, and we are looking at rapid economic development so that our youth don’t have to look for employment in other countries. We wantto change the political and economic scenario."
12. What are the present ground realities regarding Nepal's relations with India and China? Nepal's exports to India constitute about 55 percent of its total exports and its imports from India about 44 per cent of its total imports.There are over 265 approved Indian joint ventures inNepal of which over 100 are operational, with a cumulative total Indian investment amounting to between 36-40 per cent of the totalForeign Direct Investment in Nepal. The total project cost of these 265 projects is around Rs.28.5 billion, with fixed investment amountingto Rs. 21.9 billion and the foreign investment component amounting to Rs. 7.427 billion. These joint ventures are in practically every sector,including tourism, infrastructure, consumer durables & non-durables and export oriented industries like garments and carpets. A number ofIndian companies, including Dabur, Hindustan Lever, Colgate, etc., have established their manufacturing base in Nepal with the objective toexport their finished products to India. It needs to be added that these statistics taken from the web site of the Indian Embassy inKathmandu relate to the period till 2002-03. The figures must have further gone up since then.
13.The initial focus of India's economic assistance was on infrastructural projects, involving the construction of roads, bridges, hospitalsand airports. While infrastructure continued to remain the priority focus, projects also began to include health, industrial estates and othersectors. About 80 per cent of the Mahendra Raj Marg, a highway that runs the entire length of Nepal (1024 kms.) from the east to the westalong the southern terai, has been constructed by India. In addition, roads from Kathmandu to Dakshinkali, Trishuli, Balaju, Godavari andRaxaul via Hetauda, Sunauli to Pokhara, Rajbiraj to Koshi Barrage and the Janakpur town road are contributions of Indian assistance. Indiahas also constructed a number of bridges on these roads and separately two bridges on the river Bagmati at Kathmandu and one on theriver Mohana. The bridge on the river Sirsiya between the towns of Raxaul on the Indian side and Birgunj on the Nepalese side has alsobeen completed and opened for traffic.Twenty-two other bridges were constructed with Indian assistance on the Kohalpur-Mahakali Sectorof East West Highway.
14. The total value of trade (exports plus imports) between India and Nepal is about 48 per cent of the total trade of Nepal with foreigncountries as against about 10 per cent only in the case of Nepal and China. The total number of Chinese investment projects in Nepal was44 only till 2003-04 for which statistics are available as against nearly 300 in the case of India.Of these, 25 were operational, six underconstruction and the remaining 13 licensed. Chinese investments have been mainly in hotels and restaurants, electronics, radio pagingservices, readymade garments , nursing homes, hydropower, civil construction, etc. China has helped Nepal in the construction of 11 roadswith a total length of about 600 Kms as against nearly 1500 kms in the case of India. China has also been helping Nepal in the constructionof one hydel project, one irrigation project and two electrical transmission projects.
15.In 2001, China and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation, including Nepal into the list of the tourismdestinations for outbound Chinese travelers. Subsequently, the two countries signed an "Air Service Agreement", according to which, AirChina opened a direct air link between China and Nepal in 2004, by the route of Chengdu-Lasha-Kathmandu. In addition, the China SouthernAirline has also started operating an air service between Guangzhou and Kathmandu since February, 2007. Likewise, the Nepal Airline isoperating air services between Kathmandu and Shanghai and Kathmandu and Hongkong.
16.Military-military relationship has been given increasing attention since 1998, when the the Nepal Army started sending officers andsoldiers to study in Chinese military universities. In the academic year 2006/2007 , 21 officers and soldiers of the Nepal Army went to Chinafor training. China has sent military officers to participate in the adventure trainings organized by the Nepal Army since 2002.
17. While China's relations with Nepal have been expanding over the years, they are nowhere near the multi-faceted relationship betweenNepal and India. In terms of value and usefulness, Nepal's relations with India have been more significant than its relations with China.Nepal has benefited far more from its privileged economic relations with India than vice versa. If a Maoist-dominated Nepal tries forequidependence in its economic relations with India and China, it will be lifting a huge boulder and throwing it on its own feet. Prachandagives the impression of realising this, but not many others in the CPN(Maoist). Bhattarai blames the open border with India for Nepal'sbackwardness. One does not know how sincere is Prachanda when he talks of the importance attached by him to Nepal's relations withIndia.
18. Pro-China intellectuals in Nepal make no secret of their dislike for India.Chinese officials and diplomats keep emphasising that China'srelations with Nepal are based on the three principles of trust, equality and sincerity. They thereby hint that while China treats Nepal as anequal partner, India does not.
19.Addressing the Nepal Council of World Affairs at Kathmandu on August 5,2008, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Zheng Xianglin said:"Nepal is situated in a favorable geographical position in South Asia, and is a passage linking China and South Asia." That is the reason forthe Chinese interest in Nepal----as a passage to South Asia and as an instrument for strengthening the Chinese presence in South Asia.China has a Look South policy to counter our Look East policy.As we try to move Eastwards to cultivate the countries of South-East Asia, itis trying to move southwards to outflank us. China is not a South Asian power, but it already has a growing South Asian strategicpresence----- in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is hoping to acquire a similar presence in Nepal with the co-operation of aMaoist-dominated Government. It has already acquired the status of an observer in the SAARC. Some in the SAARC would ultimately like tomake it a SAARC member to counter the presence and influence of India. Nepal in the past refrained from joining those working for theinclusion of China in the SAARC. A Maoist-dominated Government may do so in future.
20. China has already given indications of its interest in strengthening the value of Nepal as a passage to South Asia by connecting the roadnetwork in Tibet with that in Nepal and by extending the railway line to Lhasa to Kathmandu. If China succeeds in concretising theseideas, the threats to our security will be enhanced. China has other reasons to welcome the rise of the Maoists to power in Nepal. It ishoping with reason that Nepal would stop the anti-China activities of the 1000-strong community of Tibetan refugees in Nepal. They havebeen in the forefront of the agitation against the Han colonisation of Tibet. Some of them are being used by the US Govt.funded Radio FreeAsia for producing programmes directed to the Tibetans. China apprehends that if there is unrest in Tibet after the death of the Dalai Lama,these refugees might be utilised by the US----with the complicity of India--- to destabilise the Chinese presence in Tibet. It is hoping topre-empt this with the co-operation of a Maoist-dominated Government in Kathmandu.
21. India will find itself in Nepal in a situation not dissimilar to the situation in Myanmar----all the time having to compete with China forpolitical influence and economic benefits. Till now, India almost monopolised the strategic playing field in Nepal. Now, there will be a secondplayer in China. In Myanmar, whenever the military Government had to choose between Indian and Chinese interests, it always chose theChinese interests because of its fear of China and its gratitude to China for the support extended by it to the military junta in internationalfora such as the UN Security Council. In Nepal whenever there is a conflict between Indian and Chinese interests, a Maoist-dominated Govt.will choose Chinese interests not out of fear or gratitude but out of considerations of ideological affinity.
22. The relations of the State of Nepal with the State of Pakistan are miniscule and hence of no major concern to India at present. What is ofconcern to India even now and may be of greater concern in future are the activities of the Pakistani and Pakistan-based non-State actorsagainst India from sanctuaries in Nepalese territory and the growing presence and activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)from Nepal. In the 1980s and the 1990s, the Khalistani organisations based in Pakistan used to operate through Nepal. So too the jihadiorganisations in the 1990s and thereafter. Pakistan-based mafia groups like the one of Dawood Ibrahim have active supporters in theMuslim community in the Terai region of Nepal. After the Mumbai blasts of March,1993, some of the perpetrators fled to Karachi viaKathmandu. Large amounts of black money from India are laundered in or through Kathmandu, which is also a nodal point for the pumping ofcounterfeit currency notes by the ISI into India. Some years ago, the Government of India reportedly came to know that a cable TV network,which was to come up in Nepal, was actually funded by Dawood Ibrahim. Timely intimation of the information to the Nepalese authoritiesresulted in the withdrawal of permission for the project. Nepalese co-operation in counter-terrorism, counter-money-laundering and mutuallegal assistance are important for our intelligence and investigation agencies.
23. This co-operation and assistance were facilitated in the past by good police-to-police relations. Many of the old generation Nepalesepolice officers were trained in Indian police institutions. They networked well with their counterparts in India --- informally as well asformally. Under a Maoist-led Government, this co-operation is likely to become more and more formal and less and less informal. Over-formalised co-operation is often not very effective in the absence of the informal component.
24. Prachanda and others are yet to come out with detailed formulations on what would be Nepal's relations with the US under a Maoist-ledGovernment. The US Embassy in Kathmandu is reported to have already established lines of communications with the Maoists. The firstpriority of the US would be to discourage the Maoists from moving too close to China. This would also be in India's interest. The first priorityof the Maoists will be to have the name of the CPN (Maoists) removed from the list of terrorist organisations maintained by the US. Thisshould not be difficult since the CPN (Maoists), unlike the LTTE of Sri Lanka, has not been formally designated as a Foreign TerroristOrganisation under a 1996 US law.
25. What impact will the decision of the CPN (Maoists) to give up its armed struggle half-way through and join the democratic mainstream have on the spread of Maoism across the tribal belt of Central India? Not much. The ideological and material dependence of the NepaleseMaoists on their Indian counterparts was more than the other way round. The Indian Maoists, while complimenting their Nepalesecounterparts for their good performance in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, have at the same time been expressing theirskepticism over the success of the experiment being attempted in Nepal. Indian Maoists seem to expect that the Nepalese experiment willnot work and will come unstuck.
26. The Maoists have done well in the elections, which were widely perceived across the world as free and fair. The voters of Nepal havepreferred them over other parties, which had failed to come up to their expectations in the past. A Maoist-led Government is thefreely-expressed choice of the voters. India has no other option but to work with it so long as its policies do not take a blatantly anti-Indiandimension, which would be unacceptable to India. However, if the policies of the new Government do acquire such a dimension, India shouldhave the courage and confidence to be able to have the situation rectified with the help of its well-wishers in Nepal. Despite all that hashappened, there is still a large reservoir of well-wishers of India in Nepal. They should be nurtured and encouraged to be active---not forundermining the Maoists, but for preventing anti-Indian distortions. (7-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For TopicalStudies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Friday, August 8, 2008
WHO HAS THE FINGER ON THE BOLT OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL?
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE MESSY & DANGEROUS SITUATION IN PAKISTAN
B.RAMAN
This is not a structured article. Am travelling. Hence, only some quick thoughts.
Faced with the threat of impeachment proceedings by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif), the following options are available for President Pervez Musharraf:
(a). Pre-empt the impeachment proceedings through a petition before the Supreme Court. The present bench in the Supreme Court is sympathetic to him. It could oblige him, but if the Army does not want to get involved in a controversy between the popularly elected Executive and the judiciary, he may have difficulty in getting the order of the judiciary enforced.
(b). Dismiss the Government and suspend the National Assembly on the ground that the Government failed to protect the honour of the Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence and joined in a conspiracy to weaken the ISI at a time when the people in the Kashmir Valley were facing a threat to their existence due to the agitation in the Jammu area. Under the amendment to the constitution introduced by him, such a step can be taken by him only on the recommendation of the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by him. If the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of provinces refuse to attend the NSC meeting called for this purpose, it will lack the quorum. He can still go ahead if the chiefs of the Armed Forces and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are NSC members, attend. Gen.Pervez Ashfaq Kiyani, the Chief of the Army Staff, and the Chairman, Joints Chiefs of Staff, might attend. If the Air Force and Navy chiefs refuse, Musharraf will make himself liable for impeachment on grounds of creating disunityin the Armed Forces at a time when terrorism is on the increase and Kashmir is on the boil.
(c). Quit gracefully. This is not in his blood.
2. The political opposition will have the following options:
(a).Start impeachment proceedings. It does not have the required two-thirds majority in the two Houses of the Parliament. The judiciary may not support it.
(b).Create a street agitation on the ground that Musharraf's conspiracies against the elected Government are weakening national security at a time when terrorism is on the increase and Kashmir is on the boil
(c).Come to terms with the reality that it does not have the required two-thirds majority and make a lot of threatening noises in the parliament without going ahead with the impeachment.
Whichever scenario materialises, both the partices might exploit the situation in Kashmir as a stick against their opponents. It is necessary for the Indian Army to redouble its preparedness for any eventuality.
In the meanwhile, who is in charge of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal? Who has the finger on the bolt of the arsenal? A chilling question.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For topical Studies, Chennai.
B.RAMAN
This is not a structured article. Am travelling. Hence, only some quick thoughts.
Faced with the threat of impeachment proceedings by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif), the following options are available for President Pervez Musharraf:
(a). Pre-empt the impeachment proceedings through a petition before the Supreme Court. The present bench in the Supreme Court is sympathetic to him. It could oblige him, but if the Army does not want to get involved in a controversy between the popularly elected Executive and the judiciary, he may have difficulty in getting the order of the judiciary enforced.
(b). Dismiss the Government and suspend the National Assembly on the ground that the Government failed to protect the honour of the Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence and joined in a conspiracy to weaken the ISI at a time when the people in the Kashmir Valley were facing a threat to their existence due to the agitation in the Jammu area. Under the amendment to the constitution introduced by him, such a step can be taken by him only on the recommendation of the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by him. If the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of provinces refuse to attend the NSC meeting called for this purpose, it will lack the quorum. He can still go ahead if the chiefs of the Armed Forces and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are NSC members, attend. Gen.Pervez Ashfaq Kiyani, the Chief of the Army Staff, and the Chairman, Joints Chiefs of Staff, might attend. If the Air Force and Navy chiefs refuse, Musharraf will make himself liable for impeachment on grounds of creating disunityin the Armed Forces at a time when terrorism is on the increase and Kashmir is on the boil.
(c). Quit gracefully. This is not in his blood.
2. The political opposition will have the following options:
(a).Start impeachment proceedings. It does not have the required two-thirds majority in the two Houses of the Parliament. The judiciary may not support it.
(b).Create a street agitation on the ground that Musharraf's conspiracies against the elected Government are weakening national security at a time when terrorism is on the increase and Kashmir is on the boil
(c).Come to terms with the reality that it does not have the required two-thirds majority and make a lot of threatening noises in the parliament without going ahead with the impeachment.
Whichever scenario materialises, both the partices might exploit the situation in Kashmir as a stick against their opponents. It is necessary for the Indian Army to redouble its preparedness for any eventuality.
In the meanwhile, who is in charge of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal? Who has the finger on the bolt of the arsenal? A chilling question.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For topical Studies, Chennai.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
CHINESE WORRIED BY NEW JIHADI MODUS OPERANDI
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--PAPER NO.426
B.RAMAN
On July 2,2008, two Israelis were killed and 30 others injured when a tractor driven by an Arab resident of east Jerusalem trampled over pedestrians and vehicles and flipped over two buses in central Jerusalem.A state of emergency was declared in the city following the attack. Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco told the media that a tractor driven by a terrorist began hitting vehicles and flipped over two buses." There was a similar attack a week later.
2. On August 4,2008, 16 police border guards of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security were killed at Kashgar in the Xinjiang province, when they were allegedly attacked by two Uighurs belonging to the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan (IMET). According to the initial version of the local authorities, the Uighurs came to a border post in a stolen heavy truck, jumped out and threw hand-grenades at a party of police guards doing their morning exercise. Subsequently, they said they actually threw home-made explosives at the policemen who were jogging.
3. According to a foreign blogger based in Xinjiang, there were unconfirmed reports that the police guards actually died when the two Uighurs drove their heavy truck into them. They had no explosives or weapons. If true, this seems to have been a copy-cat emulation of the modus operandi (MO) adopted by Palestinian terrorists against the Isrealis in East Jerusalem.
4. The Chinese have not admitted that the police guards were killed when the truck drove into them. They continue to maintain that the police guards were killed by explosives. They seem to be worried that this MO might be copied by other terrorist groups in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong during the Olympics.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
B.RAMAN
On July 2,2008, two Israelis were killed and 30 others injured when a tractor driven by an Arab resident of east Jerusalem trampled over pedestrians and vehicles and flipped over two buses in central Jerusalem.A state of emergency was declared in the city following the attack. Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco told the media that a tractor driven by a terrorist began hitting vehicles and flipped over two buses." There was a similar attack a week later.
2. On August 4,2008, 16 police border guards of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security were killed at Kashgar in the Xinjiang province, when they were allegedly attacked by two Uighurs belonging to the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan (IMET). According to the initial version of the local authorities, the Uighurs came to a border post in a stolen heavy truck, jumped out and threw hand-grenades at a party of police guards doing their morning exercise. Subsequently, they said they actually threw home-made explosives at the policemen who were jogging.
3. According to a foreign blogger based in Xinjiang, there were unconfirmed reports that the police guards actually died when the two Uighurs drove their heavy truck into them. They had no explosives or weapons. If true, this seems to have been a copy-cat emulation of the modus operandi (MO) adopted by Palestinian terrorists against the Isrealis in East Jerusalem.
4. The Chinese have not admitted that the police guards were killed when the truck drove into them. They continue to maintain that the police guards were killed by explosives. They seem to be worried that this MO might be copied by other terrorist groups in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong during the Olympics.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
CHINESE DELINK XINJIANG INCIDENT FROM OLYMPICS
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.425
B.RAMAN
In an attempt to reassure the participating countries and foreign visitors that the terrorist strike by two persons, since identified as Uighurs belonging to the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan (IMET), on a group of border police guards of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security at Kashgar in the Xinjiang Province on August 4,2008, would have no impact on the security of the Beijing Olympics being inaugurated on August 8,2008, the authorities of the Public Security Department of Xinjiang have been projecting the attack as an act of reprisal for the action taken by them against the IMET. According to them, the attack, in which 16 police guards died, had nothing to do with the Olympics.
2. According to them, the two attackers were natives of Kashgar aged 28 and 33. One is a taxi driver and the other a vegetable vendor. According to the official account, they had stolen the truck in which they travelled to the police post. Initially, the local authorities had stated that the attackers jumped out of the truck and threw hand-grenades at the police guards, who were jogging and then attacked them with knives. They subsequently stated that the attackers threw country-made explosives at the police guards. They also claimed to have recovered nine home-made explosive items, one home-made gun and two knives from the attackers. They claimed that these were similar to the items recovered by the police from a training camp of the IMET in January,2007.
3. However, according to a foreign blogger living in Xinjiang, there were unconfirmed reports circulating that the police guards actually died when the two attackers drove the heavy truck into them. If true, for some reason, the local authorities do not want to admit this. However, a despatch dated August 5 of the Government-owned Xinhua news agency said as follows:"One of the attackers drove a truck to ram into a team of more than 70 policemen who were jogging during a regular exercise at about 8:00 AM. The driver and the other attacker also threw explosives at the team and the gate of the station. Road checks have been strengthened across Xinjiang and the local authorities in Kashi (Kashgar) have ordered a full security alert in public places including government office buildings, schools and hospitals." (5-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
B.RAMAN
In an attempt to reassure the participating countries and foreign visitors that the terrorist strike by two persons, since identified as Uighurs belonging to the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan (IMET), on a group of border police guards of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security at Kashgar in the Xinjiang Province on August 4,2008, would have no impact on the security of the Beijing Olympics being inaugurated on August 8,2008, the authorities of the Public Security Department of Xinjiang have been projecting the attack as an act of reprisal for the action taken by them against the IMET. According to them, the attack, in which 16 police guards died, had nothing to do with the Olympics.
2. According to them, the two attackers were natives of Kashgar aged 28 and 33. One is a taxi driver and the other a vegetable vendor. According to the official account, they had stolen the truck in which they travelled to the police post. Initially, the local authorities had stated that the attackers jumped out of the truck and threw hand-grenades at the police guards, who were jogging and then attacked them with knives. They subsequently stated that the attackers threw country-made explosives at the police guards. They also claimed to have recovered nine home-made explosive items, one home-made gun and two knives from the attackers. They claimed that these were similar to the items recovered by the police from a training camp of the IMET in January,2007.
3. However, according to a foreign blogger living in Xinjiang, there were unconfirmed reports circulating that the police guards actually died when the two attackers drove the heavy truck into them. If true, for some reason, the local authorities do not want to admit this. However, a despatch dated August 5 of the Government-owned Xinhua news agency said as follows:"One of the attackers drove a truck to ram into a team of more than 70 policemen who were jogging during a regular exercise at about 8:00 AM. The driver and the other attacker also threw explosives at the team and the gate of the station. Road checks have been strengthened across Xinjiang and the local authorities in Kashi (Kashgar) have ordered a full security alert in public places including government office buildings, schools and hospitals." (5-8-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Monday, August 4, 2008
PRE-OLYMPICS JIHADI TERRORIST STRIKE IN XINJIANG
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.424
B.RAMAN
Sixteen border police guards of China's Ministry of Public Security were killed and 16 others injured when two unidentified terrorists, whocame in a truck, jumped out of it outside their barracks compound near Kashgar(Chinese name Kashi) in the Xinjiang province at 8 AM onAugust 4,2008, and threw hand-grenades at a group of police guards doing their morning physical exercise. After throwing thehand-grenades, they took out two knives and attacked some of the injured policemen before they could be over-powered and captured.Fourteen police guards died on the spot and two others succumbed to their injuries subsequently. According to one report, the terroriststried to slit the throats of the injured police guards before they were overpowered. It was not an attack of suicide terrorism. The terroristsdid not try to kill themselves before they were overpowered and arrested.
2. The Kashgar area has been in a state of ferment since July 9, 2008, when the Chinese authorities announced the public execution oftwo Uighurs whose names (Chinese version, not their original ethnic names) were given out by them as Muheteer Setiwalidi and AbdulwailiYiming after they had been convicted by a Kashgar court on November 9, 2007, on charges of separatist activities, attending a terroristtraining camp and manufacturing explosives. According to the announcement, the court had awarded three other Uighurs suspended deathsentences and sentenced 12 other Uighurs to various terms of imprisonment. All of them were accused of being members of the IslamicMovement of East Turkestan (IMET). They were reported to have joined the IMET in August 2005 and were arrested by the Police in January,2007. The public announcement of the sentences awarded to the 17 Uighurs came a day after the police of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang,forcibly entered a flat to arrest 15 Uighurs, who were also projected as members of the IMET. Five of them were killed by the police whenthey allegedly resisted arrest. The Chinese also ordered the closure of 40 mosques in Xinjiang on the ground that they had been startedillegally.
3.The Chinese authorities have not yet revealed the identities of the two terrorists who carried out the attack of August 4. They arepresumed to be Uighurs, but normally the Uighurs do not follow the modus operandi of slitting the throats of their victims. This is the typicalMO of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU),the Islamic Jihad Union (IMU), another Uzbeck organisation, and the Pakistani terroristorganisations as well as of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
4. The attacked border post was near the border with Tajikistan. The two terrorists are suspected to have infiltrated into the area fromTajikistan. The IMET, which is the main organisation of the anti-Beijing Uighurs, the IMU, the IJU and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) ofPakistan had operated in the bordering areas of Tajikistan in the past. Before 9/11, the HUJI used to have a training camp in Tajikistan fortraining recruits from Xinjiang and the Central Asian Republics.
5. In January,2008, the Ministry of Public Security had claimed to have neutralised an Uighur sleeper cell in Urumqi. This was followed onMarch 7, 2008, by an aborted attempt by three Uighurs---one of them a woman--- to blow up a civil aviation plane going from Urumqi to Beijingwith the help of gasoline concealed inside a soft drink can, which had been smuggled into the plane. The attempt was thwarted by alertsecurity guards on board the plane. The fact that the airport security at Urumchi allowed the can to be carried---- when all over the worldthere is a ban on such cans and bottles being carried--- spoke poorly of the physical security at some Chinese airports,
6. The 'News" of Pakistan reported online on March 21, 2008, that two of the suspects arrested---- a woman and a man--- travelled withPakistani passports. The woman was described as an Uighur living in Pakistan and trained in a Pakistani jihadi camp and the man as a Central Asian (Uzbeck?). The third person, who escaped, but was subsequently arrested, was described as a Pakistani, who hadmasterminded the plot. The meagre facts given out by the Chinese authorities about the thwarted plot indicated deficiencies in thephysical security set-up in China. It is such deficiencies, which the jihadi terrorists wanting to disrupt the Olympics will exploit.
7. There was a demonstration against the Chinese authorities at Khotan in the Xinjiang province on March 23, 2008. About 1,000 Uighurs,including many women, participated in the demonstration. The protest was triggered off by two events. Firstly, the alleged death in thecustody of the Ministry of Public Security of Mutallip Hajim, a wealthy jade trader and popular philanthropist, who had been arrested on acharge of belonging to the sleeper cell discovered in January, 2008. Secondly, the anger of the local women over a long-standing orderbanning women from wearing scarves over their heads. Many of the Uighur women, who participated in the demonstration, defiantlycovered their heads with scarves. According to a statement from the Khotan government in the Xinjiang region, "extremist forces" tried toincite an uprising in a local market place on March 23. "A small number of elements... tried to incite splittism, create disturbances in themarket place and even trick the masses into an uprising," an official statement issued by the authorities said. It added: "Our policeimmediately intervened to prevent this and are dealing with it in accordance with the law." The local authorities undertook house-to-housesearches in the area looking for extremist suspects. Over 100 Uighur Muslims were detained for interrogation.
8.The fact that the two terrorists could mount the attack on August 4 despite the round-up of over a hundred suspected Uighur militants bythe Chinese Police since the beginning of this year underlines the continuing weaknesses of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, whichis responsible for internal intelligence, The Ministry was taken by surprise in Tibet in March when there was a revolt by Tibetan monks andyouth. Now, it has been taken by surprise by the Uighur terrorist strike. Its continuing weaknesses should be a matter of concern to the organisers of the Olympics.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies,Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)
B.RAMAN
Sixteen border police guards of China's Ministry of Public Security were killed and 16 others injured when two unidentified terrorists, whocame in a truck, jumped out of it outside their barracks compound near Kashgar(Chinese name Kashi) in the Xinjiang province at 8 AM onAugust 4,2008, and threw hand-grenades at a group of police guards doing their morning physical exercise. After throwing thehand-grenades, they took out two knives and attacked some of the injured policemen before they could be over-powered and captured.Fourteen police guards died on the spot and two others succumbed to their injuries subsequently. According to one report, the terroriststried to slit the throats of the injured police guards before they were overpowered. It was not an attack of suicide terrorism. The terroristsdid not try to kill themselves before they were overpowered and arrested.
2. The Kashgar area has been in a state of ferment since July 9, 2008, when the Chinese authorities announced the public execution oftwo Uighurs whose names (Chinese version, not their original ethnic names) were given out by them as Muheteer Setiwalidi and AbdulwailiYiming after they had been convicted by a Kashgar court on November 9, 2007, on charges of separatist activities, attending a terroristtraining camp and manufacturing explosives. According to the announcement, the court had awarded three other Uighurs suspended deathsentences and sentenced 12 other Uighurs to various terms of imprisonment. All of them were accused of being members of the IslamicMovement of East Turkestan (IMET). They were reported to have joined the IMET in August 2005 and were arrested by the Police in January,2007. The public announcement of the sentences awarded to the 17 Uighurs came a day after the police of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang,forcibly entered a flat to arrest 15 Uighurs, who were also projected as members of the IMET. Five of them were killed by the police whenthey allegedly resisted arrest. The Chinese also ordered the closure of 40 mosques in Xinjiang on the ground that they had been startedillegally.
3.The Chinese authorities have not yet revealed the identities of the two terrorists who carried out the attack of August 4. They arepresumed to be Uighurs, but normally the Uighurs do not follow the modus operandi of slitting the throats of their victims. This is the typicalMO of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU),the Islamic Jihad Union (IMU), another Uzbeck organisation, and the Pakistani terroristorganisations as well as of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
4. The attacked border post was near the border with Tajikistan. The two terrorists are suspected to have infiltrated into the area fromTajikistan. The IMET, which is the main organisation of the anti-Beijing Uighurs, the IMU, the IJU and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) ofPakistan had operated in the bordering areas of Tajikistan in the past. Before 9/11, the HUJI used to have a training camp in Tajikistan fortraining recruits from Xinjiang and the Central Asian Republics.
5. In January,2008, the Ministry of Public Security had claimed to have neutralised an Uighur sleeper cell in Urumqi. This was followed onMarch 7, 2008, by an aborted attempt by three Uighurs---one of them a woman--- to blow up a civil aviation plane going from Urumqi to Beijingwith the help of gasoline concealed inside a soft drink can, which had been smuggled into the plane. The attempt was thwarted by alertsecurity guards on board the plane. The fact that the airport security at Urumchi allowed the can to be carried---- when all over the worldthere is a ban on such cans and bottles being carried--- spoke poorly of the physical security at some Chinese airports,
6. The 'News" of Pakistan reported online on March 21, 2008, that two of the suspects arrested---- a woman and a man--- travelled withPakistani passports. The woman was described as an Uighur living in Pakistan and trained in a Pakistani jihadi camp and the man as a Central Asian (Uzbeck?). The third person, who escaped, but was subsequently arrested, was described as a Pakistani, who hadmasterminded the plot. The meagre facts given out by the Chinese authorities about the thwarted plot indicated deficiencies in thephysical security set-up in China. It is such deficiencies, which the jihadi terrorists wanting to disrupt the Olympics will exploit.
7. There was a demonstration against the Chinese authorities at Khotan in the Xinjiang province on March 23, 2008. About 1,000 Uighurs,including many women, participated in the demonstration. The protest was triggered off by two events. Firstly, the alleged death in thecustody of the Ministry of Public Security of Mutallip Hajim, a wealthy jade trader and popular philanthropist, who had been arrested on acharge of belonging to the sleeper cell discovered in January, 2008. Secondly, the anger of the local women over a long-standing orderbanning women from wearing scarves over their heads. Many of the Uighur women, who participated in the demonstration, defiantlycovered their heads with scarves. According to a statement from the Khotan government in the Xinjiang region, "extremist forces" tried toincite an uprising in a local market place on March 23. "A small number of elements... tried to incite splittism, create disturbances in themarket place and even trick the masses into an uprising," an official statement issued by the authorities said. It added: "Our policeimmediately intervened to prevent this and are dealing with it in accordance with the law." The local authorities undertook house-to-housesearches in the area looking for extremist suspects. Over 100 Uighur Muslims were detained for interrogation.
8.The fact that the two terrorists could mount the attack on August 4 despite the round-up of over a hundred suspected Uighur militants bythe Chinese Police since the beginning of this year underlines the continuing weaknesses of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, whichis responsible for internal intelligence, The Ministry was taken by surprise in Tibet in March when there was a revolt by Tibetan monks andyouth. Now, it has been taken by surprise by the Uighur terrorist strike. Its continuing weaknesses should be a matter of concern to the organisers of the Olympics.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies,Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)
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