B.RAMAN
On August 12,2010, the Federal Flood Commission of Pakistan gave the following figures of the damage and destruction caused by the floods in Pakistan:
At least 1,294 persons confirmed dead and 1,366 injured.
A total of 415,862 houses destroyed or partially damaged ----- 172,110 houses in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (KP), 122,798 in Sindh, 90,618 in Punjab, 19,619 in Balochistan, 6,357 in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), 2,336 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and 1,432 in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). ( My comment: There is a slight discrepancy in the figures. The total of these break-up figures comes to only 415,270)
Total area of land affected 2,698,041 acres of which 2,250,409 had standing crops
Total number of villages affected 4,885-----2,584 in Balochistan, 1,527 in Punjab, 581 in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa and 193 in Gilgit-Baltistan. He did not give the figures for Sindh, the POK and the FATA.
2. From the point of view of fatalities, the worst affected were as follows:
Khyber Pakhtoonkwa About 1000
FATA 64
Balochistan 60
Punjab 51
POK & Gilgit Baltistan 15
Sindh 11
My comment: According to the federal figures, the fatalities were 1294 and according to the provincial figures 1241
PROVINCIAL FIGURES---KHYBER-PAKHTUNKWA
3.Mr.Shakil Qadir, Director-General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, gave on August 11 the following figures of damages suffered by the province:
Total damage: Rs. 185 billion (US $2.2 billion).
Damage to houses : Rs. 78 billion (US $922m). About 200,000 houses were destroyed
Total fatalities: About 1,000.Ten districts – Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Nowshera, Peshawar, Shangla, Swat, Tank and Kohistan have been declared “severely affected”; Bannu, Battagram, Chital, Karak, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Malakand, Mansehra and Swabi have been declared “medium affected”; Buner, Hangu, Mardan and Abbottabad “least affected.”
Civil unrest is a concern if the flood victims do not receive immediate financial assistance to repair their houses,Mr. Qadir said. He added: “These people may come onto the streets and start agitation … that is why we have recommended to the government to inject Rs. 6 billion (US $69.6m) to rebuild damaged homes to help these people restart life. We need to immediately pay each affected person Rs. 25,000 (US $290) so he can rebuild his life.”
Khyber Pakhtunkwa usually gets 962mm of rain annually, but from July 28 to August 3 it received 3,462mm of rain. The average annual rainfall in Peshawar is 400mm, but in the six same days 333mm of rain lashed the city.
He estimated other damages as follows:
• the livelihood sector Rs. 35.8 billion (US $420m)
• agriculture, livestock and irrigation Rs. 23 billion (US $270m)
• education and health sectors Rs. 3.25 billion (US 38.2m)
He added that the Government expected to pay Rs. 373m (US$4.388m) to compensate heirs of those killed by the floods.
PROVINCIAL FIGURES---FATA
4.Torrential rains and resulting floods have caused damage worth over Rs2.656 billion.
As many as 64 persons were killed and 59 others injured in the floods. The floods washed away 11 bridges, 12 high tension electricity poles, and damaged about 320km of roads.
Out of the total 64 dead, 23 belonged to North Waziristan, 10 were from Khyber and Bajaur each, five from Mohmand and South Waziristan each, eight from D.I.Khan, two from Orakzai and one from Lakki Marwat.
In all, 1,432 houses were damaged. As many as 376 houses were damaged in Bajaur, 368 in Mohmand and 122 in Lakki Marwat.
The floods also washed away standing crops on 6,500 acres of land and 900 feet of agricultural protection bunds/walls in different parts of the FATA.
In terms of monetary losses to government departments, communication toped the list to the tune of Rs2.539 billion, Public Health Rs79.74 million, education Rs26.35 million, agriculture/livestock Rs7.3 million, housing Rs2.1 million and health Rs1.32 million.
PROVINCIAL FIGURES---BALOCHISTAN
5.Fatalities---60
Thousands of people were rendered homeless in Barkhan, Kohlu and Sibi and aid and rescue work was affected because of long distances and damaged roads.
Train services from Balochistan to other parts of the country remained suspended as the flood damaged the railway track at five points in Sibi district’s Bakhtiarabad area.
Over five dozen villages were also submerged in Nasirabad district and Bakhtiarabad.
A large number of people were rendered homeless after their homes were washed away by the torrential rains which hit most parts of Balochistan, including Sibi, Dera Bugti, Kohlu and Barkhan.
PROVINCIAL FIGURES--PUNJAB
6.The provincial government needs Rs37 billion immediately for relief work out of which Rs25 billion have been received from the Federal Government. According to an estimate, Muzzafargarh needs Rs16 billion for rehabilitation, while D.G. Khan Rs10 billion, Rajanpur Rs11 billion, Mianwali Rs10 billion, Bhakkar Rs 5 billion, Laqyyah Rs3.5 billion, and Rahim Yar Khan Rs10 billion for rehabilitation. These funds are required for the construction of houses, restoration of infrastructure, and for the restoration the of the irrigation system. The floods have destroyed 3,132 villages, 5.2 million acre irrigated land, 8.2 million people are displaced and 51 people lost their lives.
PROVINCIAL FIGURES---POK & GILGIT-BALTISTAN
7. At least 15 people lost their lives.
Torrential rains damaged the Karakoram Highway at three points between Gilgit and Hunza-Nagar and the Gilgit-Skardu road at two places.
Boat service in the Hunza lake was suspended, adding to the hardship of the people of Hunza-Gojal.
The area was without electricity for seven days.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority has not yet been able to assess the damage because of disruption of the communications system.
PROVINCIAL FIGURES--SINDH
8.Fatalities --- 11
Number of people affected ---3.7 million
Total damage Rs. 40 billion
UN ESTIMATE OF AID REQUIRED BY PAKISTAN
10.The United Nations aid agencies and their partners on August 11 asked for about 460 million U.S. dollars. According to Mr.John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator at the UN Headquarters: "The death toll has so far been relatively low compared to other major natural disasters, but the numbers of affected are extraordinarily high ( 20 million). If we don't act fast enough, many more people could die of diseases and food shortages." .
11.According to the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one hundred per cent crop losses have been recorded in many areas and tens of thousands of animals have died. Wheat, gram, lentil, tobacco, rapeseed, barley, cotton and mustard crops have been washed away in thousands of acres in the country.
12.The basic infrastructure including roads, railway lines, bridges, electricity and communication system and health centers have been completely damaged in the flooded areas.
13.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the floods will cause "major harm to the economy" of Pakistan. An IMF spokesman said on August 10 that the floods "are very likely to cause major harm to the economy in terms of loss of output and budgetary consequences."
AID PLEDGED SO FAR
14.The US $ 71 million.
The European Union $ 39 million
Canada $ 32 million
China $ 10 million
India $ 5 million ( not yet accepted by the Pakistan Government)
Other countries Not available
US MARINES FOR FLOOD RELIEF, POOR RESPONSE FROM WESTERN PUBLIC
15.At a press conference at Washington on August 12 jointly addressed by Mr. Dan Feldman, the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Mr. Mark Ward, acting Director of USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the following details were given:.
* Mr.Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, has authorized the deployment of 19 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps helicopters consisting of 12 Sea Knight helicopters, four Super Stallion helicopters, and three Dragon helicopters. These will replace the six US Government helicopters that are currently in Pakistan on loan from the U.S. Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be visiting Pakistan to make an on-the-spot study of the US aid effort.
* From the questions posed at the press conference, it was evident that the public response to the appeal made by the State Department to US citizens and corporate houses to contribute to the aid effort has been very poor as compared to the public response at the time of the Haiti quake. Whereas in the case of Haiti, the public contributions touched US $ one million a day, in the case of Pakistan the public contribution has been around a few thousand dollars a day. This disappointment over the inadequate response was evident from the following question posed by Mr.Anwar Iqbal, the Washington correspondent of the "Dawn" of Karachi: "Nineteen helicopters, ten boats, for more than 14, 15 million people, probably now almost 20 million people. This seemed very inadequate. I’m not trying to blame or belittle the U.S. contribution, but somehow the right response is not coming from the international community. Even the Pakistanis living in America or Britain are not coming forward. They’re very, very reluctant. What is preventing them? I mean, one reason that comes to mind is the lack of trust in the present Pakistani Government. People say, openly when you go to them, they will steal our money and run away, particularly with this President ( Mr.Zardari). They seem very upset. I’ve spoken to my American friends, they say that they feel that we will give them money and the credit will go to the Taliban. So how do you overcome this and what do you do? How to actually get the people involved and why are not they involved so far?" The two US officials could not give a satisfactory reply. They attributed the poor public response in the US to the fact that the fatalities in Haiti ran into thousands and that Haiti is a next-door neighbour.
16.An article dated August 9 in the Time magazine stated as follows on the public fury against President Asif Ali Zardari: “"Popular fury has settled on President Asif Ali Zardari, who has been criticized for abandoning his people to tour Europe. As television channels carried images of waters washing away buildings and homes, Zardari was seen racing off on a private plane, sporting blue jeans and his trademark high-voltage smile. As flood victims anxiously awaited the arrival of a rescue helicopter from the Pakistan military's limited fleet or the half-dozen Chinooks supplied by the U.S. military, Zardari was seen floating across northern France in a private helicopter to visit his family's château in Normandy. And when he made a nationally televised speech, while addressing a gathering of party supporters in the British city of Birmingham, there was only a glancing reference made to the tragedy unfolding at home. During the Birmingham speech, a protester who had managed to sneak into the hall hurled his two shoes at Zardari, missing by some distance. Zardari's supporters insist that his visit was necessary to secure aid for disaster relief. Opponents counter that such aid could have been appealed for from home and that even the $150 million that has been received, $35 million of which was donated by the U.S., is barely a fraction of the amount needed. One of Zardari's ministers was less fortunate. In a sign of the rage that has built up in recent days, crowds pelted the junior economic-affairs minister Hina Rabbani Khar's convoy with stones as it arrived in southern Punjab on Sunday, Aug. 8. It was the first time, enraged constituents said, that she had ventured there since the floods had hit."
17. The same article contrasted the Army’s role with that of Mr.Zardari in the following words: “Although its response has been limited, the Pakistan army at least has been visible. Television images prominently showed soldiers plunging into high waters to rescue the stranded, though critics said the footage was courtesy of camera crews dispatched there on helicopters that could have been used for further rescues. Some 30,000 soldiers are currently at work in the affected areas. In the country's major towns and cities, men in fatigues have set up makeshift tents to gather donations. In sharp contrast to Zardari's summer sojourn, Army General Ashfaq Kayani was the first of Pakistan's prominent leaders to hasten to see flood victims. He announced that every soldier in his force would donate a day's pay to flood relief — a gesture that shamed lawmakers who refused to do the same.”
18.The "Daily Telegraph" of London attributed the poor response to the fact that more than 300 million pounds of aid to help rebuild parts of Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake was diverted to other projects. Citing unnamed senior Pakistani officials, it said there were fears this diversion of funds would put off foreign donors from giving money to help 20 million people affected by the floods. “There's reluctance, even people in this country are not giving generously into this flood fund because they're not too sure the money will be spent honestly,” opposition leader Nawaz Sharif told the newspaper.
19. While the Pakistani public has been reluctant to contribute to official flood relief funds, it has been contributing readily to funds set up by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and the Jamaat-e-Islami both of which have been very active in flood relief as they were in quake relief in 2005. As a result, the prestige of these organizations has shot up. People have been comparing their selfless service with the indifferent attitude of Mr.Zardari and his colleagues.
20. The same article of Time stated as follows in this regard: "Also standing to benefit from the disaster are Pakistan's hard-line Islamist groups, pushed to the sidelines by elections and weakened by military offensives. Unlike the civilian government and the army, which took days to marshal aid, Islamist groups boasted of efficient networks of volunteers. This is especially true in the volatile northwest, where the bulk of the devastation is taking place. The Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, a charity with alleged links to the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) — which was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai massacre — has for days been feeding tens of thousands of affected people. Drawing on a similar popularity achieved during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, members of the group say they receive donations from the urban middle class of Punjab, who are turning increasingly to religious conservatism. Such aid will make it difficult for the government to crack down on the do-gooders, no matter how malevolent Islamabad alleges their motives to be.”
21.The magazine quoted Farzana Sheikh at London's Royal Institute of International Affairs as saying as follows: "The Government now finds itself in an awkward position. If there is any pressure for it to move against these groups, it's going to find itself in much the same position as Gen. Musharraf, who during the Kashmir earthquake said, 'We need all the help we can get from whatever source.' Given the circumstances, for it to now act against groups who are seen to be doing a sterling job in terms of helping people will be absolutely suicidal." The article added: “Working alongside the LeT-affiliated charities are the social-welfare wings of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the hard-line Islamist political party. It and other Islamist parties have lately been polling poorly in elections, perceived as having been too close to former dictator Pervez Musharraf and too indulgent of the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest when they controlled the provincial government there. But observers warn that with the failures of the current civilian government, the Islamists could seize the opportunity to rebuild local support. More worrying, the devastation wrought by the disaster might give armed militants — chastened by a Pakistani army offensive last year — an opportunity to stage a comeback, seizing advantage of a government in crisis, an army overstretched and a local population enraged."
US MARINES IN SWAT
22.There has been speculation in Pakistan that the US has been inducting a large number of its Marines into the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtoonkwa and the FATA ostensibly for implementing its flood relief projects and that some of them could actually be used for ground operations against Al Qaeda and the Taliban and for catching or killing Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, both of whom are believed to be in North Waziristan. These misgivings were reflected in the questions posed to Brigadier General Michael Nagata, deputy commander of the Office of the US Defence Representative, Pakistan, who briefed the Pakistani media on the US aid effort at Islamabad on August 13.
23.He said, inter alia, in his replies: " The first Marine element landed here at Ghazi Air Base yesterday ( August 12 ). We’ve been receiving additional aviation assets and personnel throughout the day. As a matter of fact, a couple of additional helicopters just landed within the last hour. But it’s going to take us a few days to get the entire complement in here. Meanwhile, the army element that has been here now for almost two weeks continues to operate. And our goal is to make this transition from army aviation to Marine aviation as seamless and as transparent as possible to the Pakistani military partners that we are – have been working with ever since this effort began. In terms of operational focus, I anticipate right now that the focus of the Marine aviation effort, once the army element leaves, will be the same as what we have been doing already, which is focused on the Swat valley, where we have been delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds of relief supplies and recovering thousands of stranded personnel from this very large river valley, because of infrastructure damage, bridge destruction, road erosion, etc, many, many people are in need. ..... First of all, as is pretty obvious, our focus is purely humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Secondly, while there is, obviously, a militant threat in this region, not just in Pakistan, there are some security challenges here, but the Pakistani military, ever since we stood up this task force, have done simply an incredibly energetic and totally committed job at providing multiple layers of security around our activities both in the air and on the ground. I think the best transparency I can provide is to simply tell you what we have here. We do have Marines here in Pakistan. We have Marine security guards at our US embassy, as we do in every embassy around the world. I just talked about the Marines that are coming in with the aviation element, coming here to help Pakistani citizens in need, and partner with Pakistani military forces. You started your first question or you started the question earlier talking about how some people talk about thousands of Marines or thousands of US military personnel that are in Pakistan. It is not true. It is – it wasn’t true then. It isn’t true now. Everything we do here, every single US service member we bring to Pakistan is based on one thing and one thing only: the request for support and partnership that we receive from the Pakistan military and appropriate government authorities. That is as literally as transparent as I can be."
24.In spite of this, there is persistent speculation in Pakistan that the Pakistan Government, which is in desperate need of US assistance, has agreed to the Marines coming for flood relief mounting a hunt for bin Laden and al-Zawahiri.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BALOCHISTAN, POK & GILGIT-BALTISTAN
25.There have been allegations of discrimination in the distribution of flood relief materials against the people of Balochistan, the POK and Gilgit-Baltistan. The “Dawn” of Karachi wrote on August 15 as follows: “The National Disaster Management Authority has so far not covered itself with glory in the delivery of relief goods in flood-hit areas. According to NDMA’s own statistics, it does not appear to have reached the millions in need of shelter, food and medicine. The authority has so far sent only 59 emergency medicine kits — 17 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24 to Punjab and 18 to Sindh. Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgilt Baltistan have not received any medicine kit. And this was the authority’s own admission on Friday (August 13), two weeks after the calamity struck the country. The large-scale displacement in hot, humid weather, where camps are makeshift and amenities minimal has increased the chances of outbreak of diseases such as cholera. The NDMA has distributed 149 cholera kits — all in Punjab. The other provinces got nothing. The authority has distributed 3,500 mosquito nets among the affected people — 600 in Balochistan, 750 each in KP and Punjab and 1,500 in Sindh. But whether or not the distribution has been driven by some empirical evidence of more mosquitoes in Sindh remains unknown. For general health and welfare of the flood victims, the NDMA has sent 59 emergency medicine kits of which the lion’s share of 24 went to Punjab and 17 to KP.Clean drinking water is a major issue. According to NDMA data, it has provided 41 water purification plants — 13 to KP, 15 to Punjab, 13 to Sindh. Balochistan, AJK and GB have received nothing. The authority has so far distributed 1,272 water bottles — 300 each in KP and Sindh and 672 in Punjab. With the millions affected, it does appear to be the proverbial drop in the ocean, but then the authority has provided 80 more water tanks — 35 in Balochistan, 13 in KP, 19 in Punjab and 13 in Sindh. But where the flood victims are desperate for basic things such as clothes, the NDMA has generously distributed over 2,000 towels, but strategically so — only Sindh and Punjab got this amenity; perhaps the people in KP, AJK and Balochistan did not need any. A similar logic was followed for soap which too only went to the two bigger provinces and not to other regions. All the buckets, however, went to KP as did the 24 foam beds, a luxury that the other areas did not get. Punjab got all 15 tons of dates distributed by NDMA. When it came to provision of other food items, the NDMA said it had so far distributed 2300 bags — 650 each in KP and Sindh and 1,000 in Punjab. However, all 437 food bags and their unknown contents were sent to KP, perhaps in exchange for all dates that were sent to Punjab.” (15-8-2010)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
BALOCHS STEP UP FREEDOM STRUGGLE
B.RAMAN
Coinciding with the63rd anniversary of Pakistan's Independence Day, Baloch freedom-fighters have stepped up their freedom struggle in different parts of Balochistan, including Quetta, the provincial capital. There has been a number of incidents of attacks on the police and para-military forces, rocket-firings and targeted killings of Punjabis living in the province. Incidents have also been reported from Gwadar, where the Chinese have constructed a major port.
2. On August 13, 2010, the day before Pakistan's Independence Day, seven persons---- three Punjabi policemen, a Pashtun soldier of the Frontier Corps and three Punjabi civilians---- were killed. The three Punjabi policemen died when the freedom-fighters attacked their check-post in the Chaki Shawani area of Saryab and took away the arms and ammunition kept there. A Pashtun Subedar of the Frontier Corps was killed when the freedom-fighters atrtacked an FC checkpost near the Rakshan river in the Panjgur area and took away the stored arms and ammunition.
3. According to the "Daily Times" of Lahore (August 14), there were three rocket attacks in Quetta and explosions and hand-grenade attacks in Khuzdar, Gwadar and Mastung. The residence of Mr.Akbar Hussein Durrani, the Home Secretary of the provincial Government, was among the places targeted by one of the rocket attacks in Quetta, The Home Secretary escaped, but a bystander was seriously injured. One of the rocket attacks in Quetta also targeted a Shia place of worship.
4. There were two explosions in Gwadar targeting the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and Radio Pakistan. The buildings were damaged, but there were no human casualties.There were two explosions in Khuzdar near the Government Model High School and another outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office. In Mastung, a hand grenade was thrown at the residence of a doctor. However, no casualties were reported. In Khuzdar, a hand grenade was thrown at a power grid station in the Sorab area.
5. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed the responsibility for the attack on the police check post , in which three police personnel were killed. It said that the attack was in retaliation for the continuous recovery of bullet-riddled bodies of allegedly those who had been kept in illegal detention by the intelligence and security agencies.
7. On the Independence Day, 16 Punjabi settlers were killed by unidentified gunmen in two incidents. Ten of them were travelling in a bus and the remaining were casual labourers. There has been no claim of responsibility for these incidents. ( 15-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. ( 15-8-10)
Coinciding with the63rd anniversary of Pakistan's Independence Day, Baloch freedom-fighters have stepped up their freedom struggle in different parts of Balochistan, including Quetta, the provincial capital. There has been a number of incidents of attacks on the police and para-military forces, rocket-firings and targeted killings of Punjabis living in the province. Incidents have also been reported from Gwadar, where the Chinese have constructed a major port.
2. On August 13, 2010, the day before Pakistan's Independence Day, seven persons---- three Punjabi policemen, a Pashtun soldier of the Frontier Corps and three Punjabi civilians---- were killed. The three Punjabi policemen died when the freedom-fighters attacked their check-post in the Chaki Shawani area of Saryab and took away the arms and ammunition kept there. A Pashtun Subedar of the Frontier Corps was killed when the freedom-fighters atrtacked an FC checkpost near the Rakshan river in the Panjgur area and took away the stored arms and ammunition.
3. According to the "Daily Times" of Lahore (August 14), there were three rocket attacks in Quetta and explosions and hand-grenade attacks in Khuzdar, Gwadar and Mastung. The residence of Mr.Akbar Hussein Durrani, the Home Secretary of the provincial Government, was among the places targeted by one of the rocket attacks in Quetta, The Home Secretary escaped, but a bystander was seriously injured. One of the rocket attacks in Quetta also targeted a Shia place of worship.
4. There were two explosions in Gwadar targeting the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and Radio Pakistan. The buildings were damaged, but there were no human casualties.There were two explosions in Khuzdar near the Government Model High School and another outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office. In Mastung, a hand grenade was thrown at the residence of a doctor. However, no casualties were reported. In Khuzdar, a hand grenade was thrown at a power grid station in the Sorab area.
5. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed the responsibility for the attack on the police check post , in which three police personnel were killed. It said that the attack was in retaliation for the continuous recovery of bullet-riddled bodies of allegedly those who had been kept in illegal detention by the intelligence and security agencies.
7. On the Independence Day, 16 Punjabi settlers were killed by unidentified gunmen in two incidents. Ten of them were travelling in a bus and the remaining were casual labourers. There has been no claim of responsibility for these incidents. ( 15-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. ( 15-8-10)
WHISTLE-BLOWERS OF INDIA: TIME TO BLOW YOUR WHISTLES
B.RAMAN
( Written for the Independence Day issue of “India Abroad”, a weekly of the US published by Rediff.com )
As India celebrates its 63rd Independence Day, the focus will be on all the great things we have achieved.
Let us also highlight what we have not achieved. Our failure to force our political class to bring about a greater transparency in governance, administration and national security management should top the list. We, the citizens of India, have been kept in the dark by all political parties that had ruled the country since 1947 about one wrong-doing after another.We hardly know the truth about so many things that went wrong during our 63 years of freedom.
We do not know 48 years after the humiliating performance of the Indian Army at the hands of the Chinese Army as to why the Indian Army fared badly. Was it due to intelligence failure? Was it due to deficiencies in military command and control? Was it the result of poor political handling? An enquiry was held by the Government to determine what went wrong and why. The report of the committee of enquiry consisting of Lieutenant-General Henderson Brooks and Brigadier P S Bhagat, the then Commandant of the Indian Military Academy, has not been shared with the public. It is alleged that the retired Lt.Gen, a distinguished Anglo-Indian officer who subsequently settled down abroad, retained a copy of his report which he was readily showing to foreign analysts and observers.Foreigners know the truth about the findings of the committee, but not we the citizens of India.
During the 1965 war with Pakistan, the advance of the Indian Army into the Lahore sector was stalled. The Army blamed the Indian intelligence for its lack-lustre performance in the Lahore sector despite the famous victory scored by our tanks over Pakistan's US-gifted Patton tanks in the Khemkaran sector. The Army alleged that the intelligence on the Ichogil Canal furnished by the Intelligence Bureau was found vague and unhelpful. An enquiry was ordered by an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs. What were the findings of the enquiry? We, the citizens of India, have not been told about it.
In 1966, we were totally taken by surprise by the revolt of the Mizo National Front headed by Laldenga. The IB was again blamed. An enquiry was held. It was alleged that the enquiry report brought out failings by the Congress leadership in Assam, which facilitated the MNF revolt. The report has remained suppressed for 44 years.
Between 1975 and 1977, the country passed through a dark period in its history when Indira Gandhi imposed a State of Emergency to counter a public agitation against her headed by Jayaprakash Narayan . The press was muzzled. Critics of the Government were jailed without evidence of criminal conduct against them. The Intelligence and investigative agencies were misused to spy on Indian citizens in India as well as abroad. We, the citizens of India, still do not know the entire truth of the Emergency. The guilty men and women of the Emergency managed to flourish for years thereafter despite their wrong-doings.
The Government of Morarji Desai, which came to power after the defeat of the Congress in the elections of 1977, appointed a high-power committee headed by L.P.Singh, who was Home Secretary in the 1960s, to enquire into allegations regarding the misuse of the intelligence and investigative agencies during the Emergency. Its report has remained hidden from the public.
It has been reported that attempts by some persons to seek access to the papers and files relating to the Emergency under the Right To Information Act have met a stonewall with the reply that the papers are not traceable.
In 1984, the country went through a colossal human tragedy in Bhopal due to the leakage of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide factory. Thousands of innocent civilians died immediately after the accident. Thousands more continue to die as a result of the after-effects of the gas. Twenty-six years after the tragedy,we, the citizens of this country, still do not know who are the guilty men and women of Bhopal. Who ordered the release on bail of Warren Andersen, the US-based Chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation, and helped him to leave the country and why? Was there a quid pro quo between the then Government headed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Ronald Reagan Administration? If so, what was it? An analyst had drawn attention to the fact that the son of a senior Muslim Congress leader, who was close to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, was then facing prosecution in the US under some criminal charges and frantic efforts were allegedly being made by the Congress and the Government to persuade the Reagan Adminisatration to drop the case against him and let him return to India.Before the visit of Rajiv Gandhi to Washington DC in June 1985, the case against him was dropped by the Reagan Administration and he was allowed to leave the US as mysteriously as Andersen was allowed to leave India without blemish. Was this the quid pro quo? No answers possible because no papers available. Important decisions involving the fate of thousands of victims of the tragedy were taken and the papers relating to them are supposedly untraceable. Take it or leave it. We the citizens of India have been left with no other option.
Between 1987 and 1989, the country passed through one of the greatest public scandals relating to the purchase of the Bofors guns by the Indian Army. The then Government misused the intelligence and investigative agencies to prevent the truth from coming out. As blatantly as the Richard Nixon Administration did in the US in the Wateregate scandal. The Nixon Administration could not ultimately succeed in its cover-up. Many heads rolled.Nixon was forced out of office in humiliation. In our country? Not all the relevant questions have found an answer. No heads have rolled.
One can go on citing many more such instances. That need not be necessary. Is there no way of breaking this stonewall which repeatedly seeks to prevent the citizens of this country from knowing the truth?
There is. Wikileaks has shown the way. It is time for an Indian version of Wikileaks. That is the crying need of the hour as India celebrates its 63rd Independence Day.
( Written for the Independence Day issue of “India Abroad”, a weekly of the US published by Rediff.com )
As India celebrates its 63rd Independence Day, the focus will be on all the great things we have achieved.
Let us also highlight what we have not achieved. Our failure to force our political class to bring about a greater transparency in governance, administration and national security management should top the list. We, the citizens of India, have been kept in the dark by all political parties that had ruled the country since 1947 about one wrong-doing after another.We hardly know the truth about so many things that went wrong during our 63 years of freedom.
We do not know 48 years after the humiliating performance of the Indian Army at the hands of the Chinese Army as to why the Indian Army fared badly. Was it due to intelligence failure? Was it due to deficiencies in military command and control? Was it the result of poor political handling? An enquiry was held by the Government to determine what went wrong and why. The report of the committee of enquiry consisting of Lieutenant-General Henderson Brooks and Brigadier P S Bhagat, the then Commandant of the Indian Military Academy, has not been shared with the public. It is alleged that the retired Lt.Gen, a distinguished Anglo-Indian officer who subsequently settled down abroad, retained a copy of his report which he was readily showing to foreign analysts and observers.Foreigners know the truth about the findings of the committee, but not we the citizens of India.
During the 1965 war with Pakistan, the advance of the Indian Army into the Lahore sector was stalled. The Army blamed the Indian intelligence for its lack-lustre performance in the Lahore sector despite the famous victory scored by our tanks over Pakistan's US-gifted Patton tanks in the Khemkaran sector. The Army alleged that the intelligence on the Ichogil Canal furnished by the Intelligence Bureau was found vague and unhelpful. An enquiry was ordered by an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs. What were the findings of the enquiry? We, the citizens of India, have not been told about it.
In 1966, we were totally taken by surprise by the revolt of the Mizo National Front headed by Laldenga. The IB was again blamed. An enquiry was held. It was alleged that the enquiry report brought out failings by the Congress leadership in Assam, which facilitated the MNF revolt. The report has remained suppressed for 44 years.
Between 1975 and 1977, the country passed through a dark period in its history when Indira Gandhi imposed a State of Emergency to counter a public agitation against her headed by Jayaprakash Narayan . The press was muzzled. Critics of the Government were jailed without evidence of criminal conduct against them. The Intelligence and investigative agencies were misused to spy on Indian citizens in India as well as abroad. We, the citizens of India, still do not know the entire truth of the Emergency. The guilty men and women of the Emergency managed to flourish for years thereafter despite their wrong-doings.
The Government of Morarji Desai, which came to power after the defeat of the Congress in the elections of 1977, appointed a high-power committee headed by L.P.Singh, who was Home Secretary in the 1960s, to enquire into allegations regarding the misuse of the intelligence and investigative agencies during the Emergency. Its report has remained hidden from the public.
It has been reported that attempts by some persons to seek access to the papers and files relating to the Emergency under the Right To Information Act have met a stonewall with the reply that the papers are not traceable.
In 1984, the country went through a colossal human tragedy in Bhopal due to the leakage of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide factory. Thousands of innocent civilians died immediately after the accident. Thousands more continue to die as a result of the after-effects of the gas. Twenty-six years after the tragedy,we, the citizens of this country, still do not know who are the guilty men and women of Bhopal. Who ordered the release on bail of Warren Andersen, the US-based Chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation, and helped him to leave the country and why? Was there a quid pro quo between the then Government headed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Ronald Reagan Administration? If so, what was it? An analyst had drawn attention to the fact that the son of a senior Muslim Congress leader, who was close to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, was then facing prosecution in the US under some criminal charges and frantic efforts were allegedly being made by the Congress and the Government to persuade the Reagan Adminisatration to drop the case against him and let him return to India.Before the visit of Rajiv Gandhi to Washington DC in June 1985, the case against him was dropped by the Reagan Administration and he was allowed to leave the US as mysteriously as Andersen was allowed to leave India without blemish. Was this the quid pro quo? No answers possible because no papers available. Important decisions involving the fate of thousands of victims of the tragedy were taken and the papers relating to them are supposedly untraceable. Take it or leave it. We the citizens of India have been left with no other option.
Between 1987 and 1989, the country passed through one of the greatest public scandals relating to the purchase of the Bofors guns by the Indian Army. The then Government misused the intelligence and investigative agencies to prevent the truth from coming out. As blatantly as the Richard Nixon Administration did in the US in the Wateregate scandal. The Nixon Administration could not ultimately succeed in its cover-up. Many heads rolled.Nixon was forced out of office in humiliation. In our country? Not all the relevant questions have found an answer. No heads have rolled.
One can go on citing many more such instances. That need not be necessary. Is there no way of breaking this stonewall which repeatedly seeks to prevent the citizens of this country from knowing the truth?
There is. Wikileaks has shown the way. It is time for an Indian version of Wikileaks. That is the crying need of the hour as India celebrates its 63rd Independence Day.
Monday, August 9, 2010
CHINESE AIR FORCE TESTS MISSILE MOVEMENTS BY TRAIN TO TIBET?
B.RAMAN
Please refer to my article of August 5,2010, titled "China to Counter India's Military Advantages in Arunachal Pradesh" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers40%5Cpaper3966.html . I have been in receipt of the following comments from a reader, who is known to be well-informed on China:
"This refers to your interesting report on the sucecessful completion of an an important logistic task on the Qinghai-Tibet railways for the PLA Air force. The strategic logistic equipment was the ballistic missiles that were for the first time transported by the rail net work into Tibet for the use of the Air Force & misille units stationed inside Tibet.These missiles are based in the Qinghai province.For the first time they were transported out from Qinghai in 1985 for display in the national day parade presided over by Deng xiao ping.The live ballistic missiles were paraded by the PLA for the first time. The PLA was shocked to notice that these missiles had bottled up due to the pressure difference between Beijing and the rarified atmospheric pressure in Qinghai.The missiles were repaired in Beijing .Now the PLA has repeated the same exercise and tested whether these missiles can withstand the pressure difference during rail transporation through rarified atmospheric pressure.The results revealed showed that these were transported successfuly. " ( 10-8-10)
Please refer to my article of August 5,2010, titled "China to Counter India's Military Advantages in Arunachal Pradesh" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers40%5Cpaper3966.html . I have been in receipt of the following comments from a reader, who is known to be well-informed on China:
"This refers to your interesting report on the sucecessful completion of an an important logistic task on the Qinghai-Tibet railways for the PLA Air force. The strategic logistic equipment was the ballistic missiles that were for the first time transported by the rail net work into Tibet for the use of the Air Force & misille units stationed inside Tibet.These missiles are based in the Qinghai province.For the first time they were transported out from Qinghai in 1985 for display in the national day parade presided over by Deng xiao ping.The live ballistic missiles were paraded by the PLA for the first time. The PLA was shocked to notice that these missiles had bottled up due to the pressure difference between Beijing and the rarified atmospheric pressure in Qinghai.The missiles were repaired in Beijing .Now the PLA has repeated the same exercise and tested whether these missiles can withstand the pressure difference during rail transporation through rarified atmospheric pressure.The results revealed showed that these were transported successfuly. " ( 10-8-10)
CHINA : A WAKE-UP CALL FOR VIETNAM & INDIA
B.RAMAN
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. The two countries are observing it as the China-Vietnam Friendship Year. In November last year, they had signed a number of agreements on the demarcation of their 1,300-kilometer land boundary and agreed to begin discussions to formulate the guidelines to solve the pending issues relating to the South China Sea.
2. This was followed by apparently cordial discussions during the fourth meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Co-Operation, which was held at Beijing on July 1,2010. According to a despatch of the Xinhua news agency, during the meeting the two countries agreed "to properly deal with the maritime territorial issues in the South China Sea". According to the agency, this was one of the five consensus decisions reached at the meeting , which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.
3.According to Xinhua, Mr.Khiem reaffirmed that Vietnam was willing to work with China to properly handle the South China Sea issues in the light of the overall situation of bilateral relations and the friendship between the two peoples, as well as the need to maintain stability.
During the meeting, China and Vietnam also agreed to further increase political exchanges, deepen economic and trade cooperation, strengthen cultural exchanges and enhance coordination on major international and regional issues.
4.Mr.Dai said that the bilateral relations were at a crucial period of inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future. He added: "The 60-year history of bilateral relations prove that developing China-Vietnam friendship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.It is also conducive to the peace and prosperity of the region."
5.Mr.Dai further said that since the third meeting of the Steering Committee on Cooperation last year, the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries had achieved new progress. He mentioned in this connection the growing political exchanges, productive mutual beneficial cooperation, dynamic cultural exchanges, progress in dealing with boundary issues, and closer coordination and mutual support on major international and regional issues. He stressed that, in the interest of the future development of bilateral relations, the two sides should always bear in mind the general situation and take a long-term perspective while maintaining good neighborly friendship. He called on the two sides to learn from each other so as to achieve common development, and to increase mutual trust and understanding to appropriately cope with problems through friendly negotiations. He added: "China is ready to work with Vietnam to steer the development of bilateral relations from a strategic height and use the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation as a platform to push forward the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."
6.Mr.Khiem said it was the firm position of the Vietnamese party and Government to continuously enhance the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which was also the priority of Vietnam's foreign relations. He added: "Vietnam always remembers China's support and help for its revolution and construction and is committed to developing a long-lasting friendship with China. Vietnam is willing to work with China to enhance cooperation in various areas."
7. Thus, till the first week of July,2010, the relations between the two countries remained cordial despite the persistence of differences over their respective claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea and there were indications that they had agreed to discuss the differences in an attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement similar to their agreements of last year on the demarcation of the land border. Things started going wrong between the two countries after Mrs.Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, forcefully referred to the South China Sea issue at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) at Hanoi in the third week of July,2010, and projected the US as an interested party in ensuring the right of free navigation. While the US has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, it has vital interests in protecting the right of free movement of ships and aircraft. An obvious inference from her intervention was that the US has decided to challenge any Chinese claim that China had sovereignty over the entire South China Sea.
8. China had been making this claim for some years and it was reiterated after the ARF meeting. Xinhua reported as follows on July 30,2010: "A Chinese Defense Ministry official Friday (July 30) said China had "indisputable sovereignty" over islands in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters.Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a press conference that China would push for the resolution of differences regarding the South China Sea with "relevant countries" through dialogue and negotiations and objected to having the issue internationalized. China would respect the liberty of ships and aircraft from "relevant countries" traversing the South China Sea in accordance with international laws, Geng said."
9. It was this projection of the South China Sea as national waters over which China had historically exercised sovereignty which Mrs.Clinton sought to challenge vigorously, The US had been challenging such Chinese claims even earlier, but in a low-profile manner so that it did not affect the USA's bilateral relations with China. The Hanoi meeting of the ARF marked a turning point in the US pronouncements on the subject. Mrs.Clinton openly and vigorously put forward the US position on the issues raised by China's stand on the South China Sea without worrying any longer about its impact on US-China relations. It was as if the US had decided that the time had come for a frank projection of the US stand in public instead of expressing its misgivings to Beijing in private as it was doing in the past.
10.What caused the significant change in the US stand? Was it the unhappiness of the Administration of President Barack Obama over what it perceived as the non-co-operative Chinese stand at the climate summit at Copenhagen towards the end of last year? Was it the concern of Washington DC over the Chinese reluctance to condemn North Korea in connection with the attack on a South Korean ship in March last? Was it Washington's anger over the perceived snub from Beijing which refused to agree to a visit by Mr.Robet Gates, the US Defence Secretary, to Beijing in protest against the US proposal to sell more arms to Taiwan? Was it any private expression of concern to the US by some members of the ASEAN over the increasing assertiveness of the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea and over what they perceived as China's double standards on the issue. China sought to prevent any attempts by countries such as Vietnam to explore the area and waters claimed by them for oil and gas on the ground that all issues relating to sovereign rights of exploration, fishing rights etc should be kept reserved for settlement at a future date, while Beijing itself did not observe this agreement in letter and spirit. It is difficult to say exactly what caused the vigorous US intervention in favour of the ASEAN countries at Hanoi. It was probably a mixture of all these factors.
11.According to the "Washington Post" of July 31,2010,Mr. Dai Bingguo told Mrs.Hillary Clinton in May, 2010 during a tense exchange on the region that China viewed its claims to the South China Sea as a "core national interest." The Chinese Embassy in Washington also asked the State Department not to raise the subject in the run-up to the meeting in Hanoi and apparently thought Washington would follow its wishes.The Chinese were taken by surprise when she raised the issue despite the Chinese request not to do so at the ARF meeting on July 23,2010. The "Wasington Post" said: "The U.S. push on the issue seems to have taken Chinese leaders by surprise although U.S. officials have been speaking with China about the problem for months.U.S. and Asian officials have said that Vietnam and the United States spearheaded the push in part over concerns that China's navy has become increasingly aggressive in the sea, seizing fishing boats and arresting sailors from other countries. Some exchanges of gunfire have also occurred in recent months, Asian officials said. "
12. The extent of Hanoi's annoyance with Beijing would be evident from the fact that it has taken measures which would definitely annoy Beijing to strengthen its relations with the US. Two developments are of considerable significance in this connection. The first is the report that the US and Vietnam are negotiating a civil nuclear co-operation agreement similar to the agreement signed by the US with India in July,2005. The second is the visit, apparently with Hanoi's concurrence, of the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier USS Washington to Vietnamese waters on August 8 to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam.This ship had earlier participated in joint exercises with the South Korean Navy in the Sea of Japan. It was to have sailed into the Yellow Sea during the exercise, but the US decided to keep the exercise away from the Yellow Sea in response to Chinese protests. At the same time, it has made it clear that the US reserved the right to send the ship to the Yellow Sea, possibly in September, as part of another joint exercise with the South Korean Navy. For Vietnam to have received this ship, which is of concern to China which does not as yet have an aircraft carrier of its own, is a bold step to underline its annoyance with Beijing over the way it has been seeking to impose its will on the ASEAN countries having legitimate claims in the South China Sea. Some Chinese analysts have described these indicators of the US and Vietnam coming closer together as destabilising. This has not deterred Vietnam from going ahead with its overtures to the US.
13. Ms Nguyen Phuong Nga, a spokesperson of the Vietnamese Foreign Office, said on August 5,2010, that Chinese vessels were conducting seismic exploration since late May near the Xisha Islands ( Paracel Islands). She accused China of "violating Vietnam's sovereignty (and) its sovereign rights in the South China Sea." In an apparent rejoinder, Ms.Jiang Yu of the Chinese Foreign Office said in a press release posted on the Ministry's website on August 6 that China firmly opposed any remarks and actions that violated its sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters in the South China Sea. She added: "China has indisputable sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters."
14. Su Hao, Director of the Strategy and Conflict Management Research Center at the China Foreign Affairs University, has told the "China Daily" that international law and history gave China sovereignty over the area. "China was the first to have discovered and named the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea and also the first to have officially placed the South China Sea islands under the jurisdiction of its Government.Actually, Chinese vessels have been doing research in the Xisha area for a long time. It is not the first time. The Vietnamese are now challenging the status quo with no historical and legal backing at all and it's remarks coincided with the position of the US.Vietnam has brought the South China Sea issue up intentionally, aiming to internationalize the issue, so that it can act as a stronger counterweight to China, backed by the US."
15.Xu Liping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has claimed that Vietnam did not raise any question of China's sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters when Vietnam and China established diplomatic relations. He added: " The US needs Vietnam as one of its tools to counter-balance China's development,but in my opinion, the two countries will not get too close, they are just taking what they need from each other at the moment."
16. The Chinese response to the developments in the US-Vietnam relations need close monitoring. Will it ultimately avoid any action against Vietnam and tone down its assertiveness in the South China Sea? Or, will it further step up its assertiveness to teach a lesson to Vietnam even at the risk of a possible naval conflict in the seas between the two countries?
17. Reports of Chinese assertiveness against Vietnam in the South China Sea have coincided with reports of China further strengthening its infrastructure links to Tibet to strengthen the rapid transport capability of its Army and Air Force. Some of the projects such as the construction of new airports in Tibet and increasing the freight capacity of the railway line to Tibet have been expedited and sought to be executed ahead of schedule. Why this hurry? Are the increasing activities of its infrastructure builders in Tibet indicative of its preparing itself for a military conflict with India if it decides that the time has come to force India to stop its infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as southern Tibet. Military-related developments in China having a bearing on its relations with Vietnam and India need close attention. ( 9-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. The two countries are observing it as the China-Vietnam Friendship Year. In November last year, they had signed a number of agreements on the demarcation of their 1,300-kilometer land boundary and agreed to begin discussions to formulate the guidelines to solve the pending issues relating to the South China Sea.
2. This was followed by apparently cordial discussions during the fourth meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Co-Operation, which was held at Beijing on July 1,2010. According to a despatch of the Xinhua news agency, during the meeting the two countries agreed "to properly deal with the maritime territorial issues in the South China Sea". According to the agency, this was one of the five consensus decisions reached at the meeting , which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.
3.According to Xinhua, Mr.Khiem reaffirmed that Vietnam was willing to work with China to properly handle the South China Sea issues in the light of the overall situation of bilateral relations and the friendship between the two peoples, as well as the need to maintain stability.
During the meeting, China and Vietnam also agreed to further increase political exchanges, deepen economic and trade cooperation, strengthen cultural exchanges and enhance coordination on major international and regional issues.
4.Mr.Dai said that the bilateral relations were at a crucial period of inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future. He added: "The 60-year history of bilateral relations prove that developing China-Vietnam friendship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.It is also conducive to the peace and prosperity of the region."
5.Mr.Dai further said that since the third meeting of the Steering Committee on Cooperation last year, the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries had achieved new progress. He mentioned in this connection the growing political exchanges, productive mutual beneficial cooperation, dynamic cultural exchanges, progress in dealing with boundary issues, and closer coordination and mutual support on major international and regional issues. He stressed that, in the interest of the future development of bilateral relations, the two sides should always bear in mind the general situation and take a long-term perspective while maintaining good neighborly friendship. He called on the two sides to learn from each other so as to achieve common development, and to increase mutual trust and understanding to appropriately cope with problems through friendly negotiations. He added: "China is ready to work with Vietnam to steer the development of bilateral relations from a strategic height and use the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation as a platform to push forward the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."
6.Mr.Khiem said it was the firm position of the Vietnamese party and Government to continuously enhance the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which was also the priority of Vietnam's foreign relations. He added: "Vietnam always remembers China's support and help for its revolution and construction and is committed to developing a long-lasting friendship with China. Vietnam is willing to work with China to enhance cooperation in various areas."
7. Thus, till the first week of July,2010, the relations between the two countries remained cordial despite the persistence of differences over their respective claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea and there were indications that they had agreed to discuss the differences in an attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement similar to their agreements of last year on the demarcation of the land border. Things started going wrong between the two countries after Mrs.Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, forcefully referred to the South China Sea issue at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) at Hanoi in the third week of July,2010, and projected the US as an interested party in ensuring the right of free navigation. While the US has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, it has vital interests in protecting the right of free movement of ships and aircraft. An obvious inference from her intervention was that the US has decided to challenge any Chinese claim that China had sovereignty over the entire South China Sea.
8. China had been making this claim for some years and it was reiterated after the ARF meeting. Xinhua reported as follows on July 30,2010: "A Chinese Defense Ministry official Friday (July 30) said China had "indisputable sovereignty" over islands in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters.Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a press conference that China would push for the resolution of differences regarding the South China Sea with "relevant countries" through dialogue and negotiations and objected to having the issue internationalized. China would respect the liberty of ships and aircraft from "relevant countries" traversing the South China Sea in accordance with international laws, Geng said."
9. It was this projection of the South China Sea as national waters over which China had historically exercised sovereignty which Mrs.Clinton sought to challenge vigorously, The US had been challenging such Chinese claims even earlier, but in a low-profile manner so that it did not affect the USA's bilateral relations with China. The Hanoi meeting of the ARF marked a turning point in the US pronouncements on the subject. Mrs.Clinton openly and vigorously put forward the US position on the issues raised by China's stand on the South China Sea without worrying any longer about its impact on US-China relations. It was as if the US had decided that the time had come for a frank projection of the US stand in public instead of expressing its misgivings to Beijing in private as it was doing in the past.
10.What caused the significant change in the US stand? Was it the unhappiness of the Administration of President Barack Obama over what it perceived as the non-co-operative Chinese stand at the climate summit at Copenhagen towards the end of last year? Was it the concern of Washington DC over the Chinese reluctance to condemn North Korea in connection with the attack on a South Korean ship in March last? Was it Washington's anger over the perceived snub from Beijing which refused to agree to a visit by Mr.Robet Gates, the US Defence Secretary, to Beijing in protest against the US proposal to sell more arms to Taiwan? Was it any private expression of concern to the US by some members of the ASEAN over the increasing assertiveness of the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea and over what they perceived as China's double standards on the issue. China sought to prevent any attempts by countries such as Vietnam to explore the area and waters claimed by them for oil and gas on the ground that all issues relating to sovereign rights of exploration, fishing rights etc should be kept reserved for settlement at a future date, while Beijing itself did not observe this agreement in letter and spirit. It is difficult to say exactly what caused the vigorous US intervention in favour of the ASEAN countries at Hanoi. It was probably a mixture of all these factors.
11.According to the "Washington Post" of July 31,2010,Mr. Dai Bingguo told Mrs.Hillary Clinton in May, 2010 during a tense exchange on the region that China viewed its claims to the South China Sea as a "core national interest." The Chinese Embassy in Washington also asked the State Department not to raise the subject in the run-up to the meeting in Hanoi and apparently thought Washington would follow its wishes.The Chinese were taken by surprise when she raised the issue despite the Chinese request not to do so at the ARF meeting on July 23,2010. The "Wasington Post" said: "The U.S. push on the issue seems to have taken Chinese leaders by surprise although U.S. officials have been speaking with China about the problem for months.U.S. and Asian officials have said that Vietnam and the United States spearheaded the push in part over concerns that China's navy has become increasingly aggressive in the sea, seizing fishing boats and arresting sailors from other countries. Some exchanges of gunfire have also occurred in recent months, Asian officials said. "
12. The extent of Hanoi's annoyance with Beijing would be evident from the fact that it has taken measures which would definitely annoy Beijing to strengthen its relations with the US. Two developments are of considerable significance in this connection. The first is the report that the US and Vietnam are negotiating a civil nuclear co-operation agreement similar to the agreement signed by the US with India in July,2005. The second is the visit, apparently with Hanoi's concurrence, of the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier USS Washington to Vietnamese waters on August 8 to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam.This ship had earlier participated in joint exercises with the South Korean Navy in the Sea of Japan. It was to have sailed into the Yellow Sea during the exercise, but the US decided to keep the exercise away from the Yellow Sea in response to Chinese protests. At the same time, it has made it clear that the US reserved the right to send the ship to the Yellow Sea, possibly in September, as part of another joint exercise with the South Korean Navy. For Vietnam to have received this ship, which is of concern to China which does not as yet have an aircraft carrier of its own, is a bold step to underline its annoyance with Beijing over the way it has been seeking to impose its will on the ASEAN countries having legitimate claims in the South China Sea. Some Chinese analysts have described these indicators of the US and Vietnam coming closer together as destabilising. This has not deterred Vietnam from going ahead with its overtures to the US.
13. Ms Nguyen Phuong Nga, a spokesperson of the Vietnamese Foreign Office, said on August 5,2010, that Chinese vessels were conducting seismic exploration since late May near the Xisha Islands ( Paracel Islands). She accused China of "violating Vietnam's sovereignty (and) its sovereign rights in the South China Sea." In an apparent rejoinder, Ms.Jiang Yu of the Chinese Foreign Office said in a press release posted on the Ministry's website on August 6 that China firmly opposed any remarks and actions that violated its sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters in the South China Sea. She added: "China has indisputable sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters."
14. Su Hao, Director of the Strategy and Conflict Management Research Center at the China Foreign Affairs University, has told the "China Daily" that international law and history gave China sovereignty over the area. "China was the first to have discovered and named the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea and also the first to have officially placed the South China Sea islands under the jurisdiction of its Government.Actually, Chinese vessels have been doing research in the Xisha area for a long time. It is not the first time. The Vietnamese are now challenging the status quo with no historical and legal backing at all and it's remarks coincided with the position of the US.Vietnam has brought the South China Sea issue up intentionally, aiming to internationalize the issue, so that it can act as a stronger counterweight to China, backed by the US."
15.Xu Liping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has claimed that Vietnam did not raise any question of China's sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and adjacent waters when Vietnam and China established diplomatic relations. He added: " The US needs Vietnam as one of its tools to counter-balance China's development,but in my opinion, the two countries will not get too close, they are just taking what they need from each other at the moment."
16. The Chinese response to the developments in the US-Vietnam relations need close monitoring. Will it ultimately avoid any action against Vietnam and tone down its assertiveness in the South China Sea? Or, will it further step up its assertiveness to teach a lesson to Vietnam even at the risk of a possible naval conflict in the seas between the two countries?
17. Reports of Chinese assertiveness against Vietnam in the South China Sea have coincided with reports of China further strengthening its infrastructure links to Tibet to strengthen the rapid transport capability of its Army and Air Force. Some of the projects such as the construction of new airports in Tibet and increasing the freight capacity of the railway line to Tibet have been expedited and sought to be executed ahead of schedule. Why this hurry? Are the increasing activities of its infrastructure builders in Tibet indicative of its preparing itself for a military conflict with India if it decides that the time has come to force India to stop its infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as southern Tibet. Military-related developments in China having a bearing on its relations with Vietnam and India need close attention. ( 9-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Saturday, August 7, 2010
DETROIT--DECEMBER 25,2009, NEW YORK---MAY 1,2010 & HORMUZ--JULY 28,2010
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--- PAPER NO.669
B.RAMAN
Forensic experts of the United Arab Emirates are reported to have concluded that the "M Star", a fully-loaded Japanese oil tanker sailing home from Abu Dhabi through the Strait of Hormuz, which suffered easily-repaired damages in an incident of unknown origin on the night of July 28,2010, had been the target of a terrorist attack which failed to cause severe damages.
2. A local news agency, citing Coast Guard sources, has reported as follows: "An examination carried out by specialised teams had confirmed that the tanker had been the subject of a terrorist attack.UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home-made explosives on the hull. Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded with explosives."
3.US and Japanese officials, who are making their own investigation, have not yet come out with their finding. However, the suspicion of the UAE experts that a boat loaded with explosives had probably been involved in the attack corroborates a claim made on August 3 on behalf of a group called the Abdullah Azzam Brigades that it was responsible for the attack. The group posted a statement and a photo on an Islamist ( Al Faloja) website known to be used by pro-Al Qaeda terrorists. The statement said as follows: “Last Wednesday (July 28), after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al-Taishan blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M.Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Oman.” The photo posted on the web site was of the alleged suicide bomber (al- Taishan) dressed in an Arab-style white robe and cap, pointing at a picture of a supertanker on a videoscreen. The group claimed the attack was meant to be a blow to the global economy and the oil market and that those who have offered other explanations for the incident are trying to cover up the incident.
4.In 2005, a group with a similar name had claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack at the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and for two unsuccessful rocket firings against two US warships in Jordan’s Aqaba port. The authenticity of the claims could not be established. It is not clear so far whether there is a separate pro-Al Qaeda organisation by that name or whether terrorists carrying out opportunistic attacks assume that name in homage to Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian of Jordanian origin who was among the first of the Arab volunteers to have gone to Pakistan to join the jihad of the 1980s against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Many consider him to have been a mentor of Osama bin Laden.He used to live in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province of Pakistan, where he was killed under mysterious circumstances. He has many admirers in the Pashtun community in the Af-Pak region. When the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the Pakistani Taliban is known, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel of Peshawar on June 9,2009, it claimed that the suicide attack was carried out by its Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade or AASB.
5. The "News" of Pakistan reported as follows on June 11,2009:
"KOHAT: An unknown al-Qaeda-linked group, Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s (June 9,2009) bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, in which 17 people were killed and around 60 were injured.
"A spokesman of the organisation, Amir Muawiya, phoned reporters in Kohat city Wednesday (June 10,2009) to claim responsibility for the attack and threaten more such bombings. He said the bombing was in retaliation to the operations by the Pakistani armed forces at the behest of the US in Swat and rest of Malakand region and also in the tribal areas of Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency. He claimed that important people including foreigners were killed when the hotel was car-bombed.
"Amir Muawiya is a Pakistani Taliban commander operating in the semi-tribal area of Darra Adamkhel, located between Peshawar and Kohat. His group, led by Commander Tariq Afridi, is affiliated to the Baitullah Mahsud-led Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
"According to Amir Muawiya, until now different groups used to claim responsibility for bomb attacks but now the central shura, or council, of Taliban and also al-Qaeda had decided that only the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade would in future do so and others would keep quiet.
"When asked about evidence that his group indeed had carried out the suicide bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, the spokesman said his group would be willing to explode a small bomb outside the BBC office in Islamabad to prove the group’s power and capability.
"The spokesman also claimed responsibility for some other recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. He said his group had carried out the attack on the Police Training Academy, Manawan, Lahore, the bombing of the Nato transport terminals on the Ring Road in Peshawar and other assaults.
"By naming the group as Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, its founders apparently wanted to honour the late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian from Jordan who was among the first Arab nationals who volunteered to join the Afghan jihad against the forces of the then Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He gave up his teaching job at the Islamic University in Islamabad and shifted to Peshawar to facilitate the Arab nationals who had been motivated by him to fight in Afghanistan.
"Abdullah Azzam is also credited with convincing Osama bin Laden, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sheikh Omar Abdur Rahman and others to come to Peshawar and take part in the Afghan war against the Soviet forces and Afghan communists. He was killed along with his two young sons in a bomb explosion in Peshawar in the late 1980s and all of them were buried at the Jalozai camp for Afghan refugees some 30 kilometres from Peshawar.
"Amir Muawiya did not explain the kind of links the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade had with al-Qaeda or the identity of the leader of the group. He also did not say as to how many Arab nationals were members of this group. It was not possible to confirm the claims of this largely unfamiliar group." ( End of the "News" report)
6. Did the terrorist or terrorists, who carried out the attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel and now on the Japanese tanker, come from the same organisation, namely, the TTP or were they co-ordinated by the same command and control, namely that of Al Qaeda----either from Pakistan's North Waziristan or Yemen? That is a question, which needs looking into.
7. The modus operandi of launching a suicide attack with a boat filled with explosives used against the Japanese tanker resembles the MO used earlier by Al Qaeda for attacks on US naval ship USS Cole in Aden in October 2000 and a French tanker Limberg off Aden in October 2002.An Al Qaeda suicide bomber rammed the American destroyer Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors. Limburg, was attacked in a similar manner on October 6,2002, a few miles off the coast of Aden, and one Bulgarian crewman was killed.
8.The French tanker, carrying crude oil from Iran to Malaysia, was in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen to pick up more oil. It was sailing under charter for the Malaysian oil company Petronas. An explosives-filled dinghy rammed the starboard side of the tanker and detonated. The vessel caught fire and oil leaked into the Gulf of Aden. Local forensic experts found traces of TNT on the tanker. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. A statement attributed to bin Laden in jihadi web sites said: " By exploding the oil tanker in Yemen, the holy warriors hit the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community, reminding the enemy of the heavy cost of blood and the gravity of losses they will pay as a price for their continued aggression on our community and looting of our wealth."
9. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was suspected to have been responsible for the attack. He was earlier suspected in the attack on USS Cole too.On February 3, 2006, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee, who had been sentenced to death for the Limburg attack, and 22 other suspected or convicted Al Qaeda members escaped from jail in Yemen. Jamal al-Badawi, who organised the USS Cole bombing, was also among the escapees.Thirteen of the 23 escapees had been convicted for their role in the Cole and Limburg bombings. On October 1, 2006, al-Rabeiee and Mohammed Daylami were shot dead by Yemeni security forces in the capital Sanaa where they were hiding after escaping. One of the escapees was arrested. There was no information regarding the whereabouts of the remaining 20 escapees. There is a possibility that some of the escapees might have played a role in the attack on the Japanese tanker.
10. The attempt to blow up an American plane over Detroit on December 25,2009, the failed attempt to cause an explosion in Times Square in New York on May 1,2010, and the failed attack on the Japanese tanker have one common feature---- all the three were well-planned and well-strategised attacks that failed due to poor execution by the terrorists deputed and not due to the vigilance of the intelligence and security agencies. If the attacks had succeeded, the consequences might have been severe.
11. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was involved in the Detroit attempt. The TTP in the New York attempt. Who was involved in the Hormuz attempt? (8-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
B.RAMAN
Forensic experts of the United Arab Emirates are reported to have concluded that the "M Star", a fully-loaded Japanese oil tanker sailing home from Abu Dhabi through the Strait of Hormuz, which suffered easily-repaired damages in an incident of unknown origin on the night of July 28,2010, had been the target of a terrorist attack which failed to cause severe damages.
2. A local news agency, citing Coast Guard sources, has reported as follows: "An examination carried out by specialised teams had confirmed that the tanker had been the subject of a terrorist attack.UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home-made explosives on the hull. Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded with explosives."
3.US and Japanese officials, who are making their own investigation, have not yet come out with their finding. However, the suspicion of the UAE experts that a boat loaded with explosives had probably been involved in the attack corroborates a claim made on August 3 on behalf of a group called the Abdullah Azzam Brigades that it was responsible for the attack. The group posted a statement and a photo on an Islamist ( Al Faloja) website known to be used by pro-Al Qaeda terrorists. The statement said as follows: “Last Wednesday (July 28), after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al-Taishan blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M.Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Oman.” The photo posted on the web site was of the alleged suicide bomber (al- Taishan) dressed in an Arab-style white robe and cap, pointing at a picture of a supertanker on a videoscreen. The group claimed the attack was meant to be a blow to the global economy and the oil market and that those who have offered other explanations for the incident are trying to cover up the incident.
4.In 2005, a group with a similar name had claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack at the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and for two unsuccessful rocket firings against two US warships in Jordan’s Aqaba port. The authenticity of the claims could not be established. It is not clear so far whether there is a separate pro-Al Qaeda organisation by that name or whether terrorists carrying out opportunistic attacks assume that name in homage to Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian of Jordanian origin who was among the first of the Arab volunteers to have gone to Pakistan to join the jihad of the 1980s against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Many consider him to have been a mentor of Osama bin Laden.He used to live in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province of Pakistan, where he was killed under mysterious circumstances. He has many admirers in the Pashtun community in the Af-Pak region. When the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the Pakistani Taliban is known, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel of Peshawar on June 9,2009, it claimed that the suicide attack was carried out by its Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade or AASB.
5. The "News" of Pakistan reported as follows on June 11,2009:
"KOHAT: An unknown al-Qaeda-linked group, Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s (June 9,2009) bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, in which 17 people were killed and around 60 were injured.
"A spokesman of the organisation, Amir Muawiya, phoned reporters in Kohat city Wednesday (June 10,2009) to claim responsibility for the attack and threaten more such bombings. He said the bombing was in retaliation to the operations by the Pakistani armed forces at the behest of the US in Swat and rest of Malakand region and also in the tribal areas of Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency. He claimed that important people including foreigners were killed when the hotel was car-bombed.
"Amir Muawiya is a Pakistani Taliban commander operating in the semi-tribal area of Darra Adamkhel, located between Peshawar and Kohat. His group, led by Commander Tariq Afridi, is affiliated to the Baitullah Mahsud-led Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
"According to Amir Muawiya, until now different groups used to claim responsibility for bomb attacks but now the central shura, or council, of Taliban and also al-Qaeda had decided that only the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade would in future do so and others would keep quiet.
"When asked about evidence that his group indeed had carried out the suicide bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, the spokesman said his group would be willing to explode a small bomb outside the BBC office in Islamabad to prove the group’s power and capability.
"The spokesman also claimed responsibility for some other recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. He said his group had carried out the attack on the Police Training Academy, Manawan, Lahore, the bombing of the Nato transport terminals on the Ring Road in Peshawar and other assaults.
"By naming the group as Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, its founders apparently wanted to honour the late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian from Jordan who was among the first Arab nationals who volunteered to join the Afghan jihad against the forces of the then Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He gave up his teaching job at the Islamic University in Islamabad and shifted to Peshawar to facilitate the Arab nationals who had been motivated by him to fight in Afghanistan.
"Abdullah Azzam is also credited with convincing Osama bin Laden, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sheikh Omar Abdur Rahman and others to come to Peshawar and take part in the Afghan war against the Soviet forces and Afghan communists. He was killed along with his two young sons in a bomb explosion in Peshawar in the late 1980s and all of them were buried at the Jalozai camp for Afghan refugees some 30 kilometres from Peshawar.
"Amir Muawiya did not explain the kind of links the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade had with al-Qaeda or the identity of the leader of the group. He also did not say as to how many Arab nationals were members of this group. It was not possible to confirm the claims of this largely unfamiliar group." ( End of the "News" report)
6. Did the terrorist or terrorists, who carried out the attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel and now on the Japanese tanker, come from the same organisation, namely, the TTP or were they co-ordinated by the same command and control, namely that of Al Qaeda----either from Pakistan's North Waziristan or Yemen? That is a question, which needs looking into.
7. The modus operandi of launching a suicide attack with a boat filled with explosives used against the Japanese tanker resembles the MO used earlier by Al Qaeda for attacks on US naval ship USS Cole in Aden in October 2000 and a French tanker Limberg off Aden in October 2002.An Al Qaeda suicide bomber rammed the American destroyer Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors. Limburg, was attacked in a similar manner on October 6,2002, a few miles off the coast of Aden, and one Bulgarian crewman was killed.
8.The French tanker, carrying crude oil from Iran to Malaysia, was in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen to pick up more oil. It was sailing under charter for the Malaysian oil company Petronas. An explosives-filled dinghy rammed the starboard side of the tanker and detonated. The vessel caught fire and oil leaked into the Gulf of Aden. Local forensic experts found traces of TNT on the tanker. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. A statement attributed to bin Laden in jihadi web sites said: " By exploding the oil tanker in Yemen, the holy warriors hit the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community, reminding the enemy of the heavy cost of blood and the gravity of losses they will pay as a price for their continued aggression on our community and looting of our wealth."
9. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was suspected to have been responsible for the attack. He was earlier suspected in the attack on USS Cole too.On February 3, 2006, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee, who had been sentenced to death for the Limburg attack, and 22 other suspected or convicted Al Qaeda members escaped from jail in Yemen. Jamal al-Badawi, who organised the USS Cole bombing, was also among the escapees.Thirteen of the 23 escapees had been convicted for their role in the Cole and Limburg bombings. On October 1, 2006, al-Rabeiee and Mohammed Daylami were shot dead by Yemeni security forces in the capital Sanaa where they were hiding after escaping. One of the escapees was arrested. There was no information regarding the whereabouts of the remaining 20 escapees. There is a possibility that some of the escapees might have played a role in the attack on the Japanese tanker.
10. The attempt to blow up an American plane over Detroit on December 25,2009, the failed attempt to cause an explosion in Times Square in New York on May 1,2010, and the failed attack on the Japanese tanker have one common feature---- all the three were well-planned and well-strategised attacks that failed due to poor execution by the terrorists deputed and not due to the vigilance of the intelligence and security agencies. If the attacks had succeeded, the consequences might have been severe.
11. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was involved in the Detroit attempt. The TTP in the New York attempt. Who was involved in the Hormuz attempt? (8-8-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Friday, August 6, 2010
ARRESTS OF SOME HINDUS AS TERRORISTS: CURIOUSER & CURIOUSER
B.RAMAN
Some curious and intriguing aspects of the recent allegations of our investigating agencies against some Hindus of involvement in acts of terrorism against Muslims need to be highlighted.
2. The first relates to the incendiary explosion in the Samjauta Express. The second relates to the explosions in the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad. The "Hindu" of July 31,2010, reported as follows: " The National Investigation Agency's probe into the Samjauta Express blasts will cover links with the explosions in Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Home Minister P.Chidambaram said here on Friday ( July 30).... Asked about Hindutva organisations being suspects in the Samjauta and other three blasts, he declined to speculate."If we could do that, why would we hand it over to the NIA? Since the Haryana Police has not been able to crack the case, with their consent, the case has been handed over to the NIA."..... The CPI (M) has opposed separate investigations and called for a co-ordinated probe. It also alleged that three persons arrested for the Ajmer Sharif dargah blast (2007) were linked to the Abhinav Bharat organisation, which is said to be behind the Malegaon blast (2008). Their involvement is also suspected in the Mecca Masjid blast (2007) as the SIM card found in Ajmer belonged to the same batch used to trigger the Hyderabad blast."
3.In a press note issued on July 1, 2009, the US Department of Treasury gave the personal particulars of four persons--- a Pashtun born in Afghanistan, two Punjabis and a fourth person of unclear ethnicity originating from Karachi----associated with the Lashkare-Toiba (LET), who were designated by the Department under Executive Order 13224 “as providing direct support to Al Qaeda and the LET and as facilitating terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai.”
4. One Arif Qasmani of Karachi was specifically named by the Department as involed in the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July, 2006, and in the Samjautha Express blast of February, 2007. It said of him as follows: "Arif Qasmani is the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Tayyiba's (LET) dealings with outside organizations and has provided significant support for LET terrorist operations. Qasmani has worked with LET to facilitate terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. Qasmani conducted fundraising activities on behalf of LET in 2005 and utilized money that he received from Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime figure and terrorist supporter, to facilitate the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India. Since 2001, Arif Qasmani has also provided financial and other support and services to al Qaida, including facilitating the movement of al Qaida leaders and personnel in and out of Afghanistan, the return of foreign fighters to their respective countries, and the provision of supplies and weapons. In return for Qasmani's support, al Qaida provided Qasmani with operatives to support the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. In 2005, Qasmani provided Taliban leaders with a safe haven and a means to smuggle personnel, equipment, and weapons into Afghanistan." ( http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers33%5Cpaper3291.html )
5.Allegations have been made in India that some Hindus, who were arrested for their suspected involvement in the Ajmer Sharif blast, are also suspected of involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast of Hyderabad. On August 6,2010, the US State Department made public notifications designating the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) of Pakistan as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Ilyas Kashmiri belonging to it as an international terrorist. Similar action has been taken on US advice by the anti-terrorism sanctions committee of the UN Security Council the same day.
6. Reporting on these notifications, Mr.Peter Fowler, an American journalist, says as follows: "HUJI has carried out a number of terrorist attacks. In March 2006, HUJI was responsible for the suicide bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed four people and injured 48 others. HUJI is also responsible for terrorist attacks in India including the May 2007 Hyderabad mosque attack, which killed 16 and injured 40, and the March 2007 Varanasi attack, which killed 25 and injured 100." (http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/41551/us_targets_terrorist_organization_operating_in_india_and_pakistan.html )
7. Thus, according to American investigators the LET and Al Qaeda were responsible for the Samjauta Express blast and the HUJI for the Mecca Masjid blast.If the American investigators, who have better sources in Pakistan, are correct, how can our investigators claim that some arrested Hindus were responsible for these incidents? Justice and fairplay demand a thorough investigation into the two different versions that have emerged from Indian and American investigators. While the American investigators have blamed the LET, Al Qaeda and the HUJI, Indian investigators have blamed the Abhinav Bharat. Both cannot be correct. ( 7-8-2010)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Some curious and intriguing aspects of the recent allegations of our investigating agencies against some Hindus of involvement in acts of terrorism against Muslims need to be highlighted.
2. The first relates to the incendiary explosion in the Samjauta Express. The second relates to the explosions in the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad. The "Hindu" of July 31,2010, reported as follows: " The National Investigation Agency's probe into the Samjauta Express blasts will cover links with the explosions in Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Home Minister P.Chidambaram said here on Friday ( July 30).... Asked about Hindutva organisations being suspects in the Samjauta and other three blasts, he declined to speculate."If we could do that, why would we hand it over to the NIA? Since the Haryana Police has not been able to crack the case, with their consent, the case has been handed over to the NIA."..... The CPI (M) has opposed separate investigations and called for a co-ordinated probe. It also alleged that three persons arrested for the Ajmer Sharif dargah blast (2007) were linked to the Abhinav Bharat organisation, which is said to be behind the Malegaon blast (2008). Their involvement is also suspected in the Mecca Masjid blast (2007) as the SIM card found in Ajmer belonged to the same batch used to trigger the Hyderabad blast."
3.In a press note issued on July 1, 2009, the US Department of Treasury gave the personal particulars of four persons--- a Pashtun born in Afghanistan, two Punjabis and a fourth person of unclear ethnicity originating from Karachi----associated with the Lashkare-Toiba (LET), who were designated by the Department under Executive Order 13224 “as providing direct support to Al Qaeda and the LET and as facilitating terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai.”
4. One Arif Qasmani of Karachi was specifically named by the Department as involed in the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July, 2006, and in the Samjautha Express blast of February, 2007. It said of him as follows: "Arif Qasmani is the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Tayyiba's (LET) dealings with outside organizations and has provided significant support for LET terrorist operations. Qasmani has worked with LET to facilitate terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. Qasmani conducted fundraising activities on behalf of LET in 2005 and utilized money that he received from Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime figure and terrorist supporter, to facilitate the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India. Since 2001, Arif Qasmani has also provided financial and other support and services to al Qaida, including facilitating the movement of al Qaida leaders and personnel in and out of Afghanistan, the return of foreign fighters to their respective countries, and the provision of supplies and weapons. In return for Qasmani's support, al Qaida provided Qasmani with operatives to support the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. In 2005, Qasmani provided Taliban leaders with a safe haven and a means to smuggle personnel, equipment, and weapons into Afghanistan." ( http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers33%5Cpaper3291.html )
5.Allegations have been made in India that some Hindus, who were arrested for their suspected involvement in the Ajmer Sharif blast, are also suspected of involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast of Hyderabad. On August 6,2010, the US State Department made public notifications designating the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) of Pakistan as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Ilyas Kashmiri belonging to it as an international terrorist. Similar action has been taken on US advice by the anti-terrorism sanctions committee of the UN Security Council the same day.
6. Reporting on these notifications, Mr.Peter Fowler, an American journalist, says as follows: "HUJI has carried out a number of terrorist attacks. In March 2006, HUJI was responsible for the suicide bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed four people and injured 48 others. HUJI is also responsible for terrorist attacks in India including the May 2007 Hyderabad mosque attack, which killed 16 and injured 40, and the March 2007 Varanasi attack, which killed 25 and injured 100." (http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/41551/us_targets_terrorist_organization_operating_in_india_and_pakistan.html )
7. Thus, according to American investigators the LET and Al Qaeda were responsible for the Samjauta Express blast and the HUJI for the Mecca Masjid blast.If the American investigators, who have better sources in Pakistan, are correct, how can our investigators claim that some arrested Hindus were responsible for these incidents? Justice and fairplay demand a thorough investigation into the two different versions that have emerged from Indian and American investigators. While the American investigators have blamed the LET, Al Qaeda and the HUJI, Indian investigators have blamed the Abhinav Bharat. Both cannot be correct. ( 7-8-2010)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
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