Filtered Posts
My Pakistan Diary: Lahore Aaya Main Othay Dil Chhod Aaya!
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 24, 2004 03:40 pm
Dost-mittar...jehad boxes...remember...
Murder on Helm Street
NDZ should form the next government even if they fall slightly short of the majority mark (271) , as long as they get 70-90 seats more than Congress+allies.
So , if the NDA performs particularly poorly and wins only 240-250 seats , the deficit of 25-35 will be made up by cunning post poll alliances.
In the post-poll scenario , I expect BJP to dump AIADMK and ally with DMK , Samajwadi Party/ BSP to abstain from the vote , and a strong possibility of Sharad Pawar`s NCP alligning with BJP. BJP have been smart enough not to antagonise anybody apart from the Congress and the Left parties, while there are many , Congress allies included , who have nothing but hatred and deep grouse against Sonia Gandhi and her party .
DMK hasn`t forgiven her for her role in dismissing their government. Sharad Pawar hates her for marginalising him when in Congress. Mulayam and Mayawathi share a contempt for her , and won`t ally with the Congress basically because much of their vote banks originally used to belong to the Congress. (Dalits ,Yadavs ,Muslims).They have basically benefited from the dilution of the congress-I and so its important for them to protect their vote banks from the congress party.
The only guaranteed support to Sonia comes from Laloo`s RJD and the Left parties.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 24, 2004 11:17 am
Harimau ,NDZ should form the next government even if they fall slightly short of the majority mark (271) , as long as they get 70-90 seats more than Congress+allies.
So , if the NDA performs particularly poorly and wins only 240-250 seats , the deficit of 25-35 will be made up by cunning post poll alliances.
In the post-poll scenario , I expect BJP to dump AIADMK and ally with DMK , Samajwadi Party/ BSP to abstain from the vote , and a strong possibility of Sharad Pawar`s NCP alligning with BJP. BJP have been smart enough not to antagonise anybody apart from the Congress and the Left parties, while there are many , Congress allies included , who have nothing but hatred and deep grouse against Sonia Gandhi and her party .
DMK hasn`t forgiven her for her role in dismissing their government. Sharad Pawar hates her for marginalising him when in Congress. Mulayam and Mayawathi share a contempt for her , and won`t ally with the Congress basically because much of their vote banks originally used to belong to the Congress. (Dalits ,Yadavs ,Muslims).They have basically benefited from the dilution of the congress-I and so its important for them to protect their vote banks from the congress party.
The only guaranteed support to Sonia comes from Laloo`s RJD and the Left parties.
An Indian in Pakistan
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 24, 2004 07:44 am
Arindam Banerjihttp://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
Train to Pakistan 2004: The Tribute
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 24, 2004 07:44 am
Arindam Banerjihttp://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
My Pakistan Diary: A Bus Trip Like No Other
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 24, 2004 07:44 am
Arindam Banerjihttp://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/23ariban.htm
Beware of Musharraf!
April 22, 2004
Jaws dropped, mouths drooled, and knees chattered -- hai! Ram!!, kya ho gaya yaar -- he`d done it again.
Just when it seemed, that Pakistan was ready for friendly behavior, Musharraf threatened us with a deadline on Kashmir. `Yet another U-turn` screamed the headlines; analysts overnight came up with well-adjudged reasons for it all -- `the MNNA status given to Pakistan by the US has made them more confident,` they claimed.
But the reality is that Musharraf has been making these threats for quite a few weeks now. As Asia Times told us many weeks ago: `Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, Corps Commander Lahore, who is tipped to be the next chief of army staff, criticized Pakistan`s ``softer`` stand on Kashmir, which forced Musharraf to give a gentleman`s promise that if India continues with its designs by not responding to Pakistan`s initiatives, Pakistan will support the Kashmiri struggle with `full heart and soul` from May when the snow starts melting.`
Of course, Musharraf has also convinced his cohorts, that the minimal acceptable good-faith response from India would be a `Pakistan keeps all it`s got, but India negotiates for the scraps it gets` plan, called the Chenab plan.
What gives -- wasn`t Musharraf supposed to have turned over a new leaf, especially after the two genuine assassination attempts? Heck, one of my favorite essayists had this to say:
`Well, having watched Musharraf carefully in Davos, where he became a star for being the Islamic world`s most moderate leader, and having listened to his speech to Islamic scholars in Islamabad last week I have to say that he does appear to have changed. Not only does he no longer seem duplicitous when he renounces jihad as something that has brought a bad name to Islam but he seemed completely sincere when he told the Islamic scholars that Pakistan needed to prove to the world that it was no longer a country that promoted terrorism` -- (Indian Express, February 22)
Let me start with my contention then -- all this hand-wringing is misplaced -- Musharraf and Pakistan have not taken a U-turn at all; in fact they never took a turn for the better, in the first place.
Surely, I must be smoking weird stuff or a down and out fundoo of some sort -- after all, venerated opinion makers have been telling us about the warm fuzzies that`s sweeping the two nations. Yeah! Right -- the good thing about opinions is that everyone has one and miraculously, most such opinions do not need to have any co-relation with facts.
Don`t believe me -- consider the recent ruminations of a suave opinion-maker on this issue:
`Whilst in the last quarter century we, in India, have become cold and suspicious of our neighbor they, (the Pakistanis) on the other hand, have become more open and welcoming of us.`
That is his opinion, of course, and he is welcome to it -- unfortunately, the facts state that in the last quarter century, these same `open and welcoming` people have killed off 100,000 Indian civilians. Ah, those pesky facts -- intruding on well-formed ideological opinions, once again.
So, I say -- show me the evidence; show me the ground realities. Only then will I believe in any of these apoplexies of bonhomie. Can we faithfully answer such simple questions, as `has the killing in Kashmir really gone down since the peace moves?` After all, a basic measure of good faith would be to stop killing the people that you`re trying to be at peace with -- right?
Apparently, the answer to this simple question is an unequivocal NO!!.
`Interestingly, February 2004 saw a marginal increase in violence compared with the same month of 2003. There were 60 attacks on security forces last month, compared with 53 in February 2003. 183 people died in terrorism-related violence, compared with 126 the previous year,` says Praveen Swami, a well-known security expert.
In other words, 57 more people have died this year in Kashmir, as compared to the same time last year. Of course, last year we were nearly at war with that nation, but this year we are at peace with Pakistan. As for those infiltration rates --don`t worry, that too is being taken care of as IntelligenceOnline reports:
`Following the US decision to make Pakistan a ``major non-NATO ally,`` the Indian Army and security forces have seen a perceptible heightening of terrorist preparations to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the snows melt, and officials say that General Pervez Musharraf is going back on his peace commitments to India.`
So, we have our first peace dividend data:
► Peace Dividend #1 -- Terrorist related deaths have shown a sharp increase in peaceful February 2004 compared to February 2003, when near-war like conditions existed. Total deaths including those of terrorists went up by 45%; deaths of Indians civilians and security forces went up 76%
Enough chit-chat -- let`s look at the evident ground realities of the last 6 months and tally up the other peace dividends.
No terrorism from Pakistani soil -- fact or fiction?
We were informed `there would be no more terrorism against India from any territory controlled by Pakistan.` Of course, some of us even believed it. But, once again the facts are very different from our wishes, hopes and opinions. The basic facts, that I will point out is that not only are groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly carrying out attacks on India, they hold public jihad meetings and have been going on nation-wide fund-raising campaigns for jihadi terrorism. Perhaps, the worst news is that, the political party that is in majority in two provinces and holds 20% of the seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan is openly trying to legitimise these terrorist groups, by incorporating them into the alliance called the MMA. The Pakistani weekly The Friday Times tells us, that
`Maulana Samiul Haq`s faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-S) is devising a plan to widen the existing membership of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party religious alliance. But the JUI-S is trying to play its hand cleverly. The party seems to be moving towards getting other groups in by going through the `jihadi` groups. ``We do not reckon Lashkar-e-Taiba (now Jama`at-ud-Dawa) and banned Jaish-e-Mohammad as enemy organizations and consider them as patriotic as anyone else in Pakistan,`` JUI-S Khan told TFT.`
However, the Lashkar`s recent activities provides much more direct evidence. We were told `India has made its continued participation in the peace talks contingent on Musharraf`s efforts to crack down on groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba.`
Only during the few days of the SAARC summit, were there any restrictions put on the Lashkar -- its web site was shut down and its chief restrained from giving speeches for those days. In fact, even during those few days, an Indian journalist friend managed to have a skin-crawling encounter, when he paid a visit to the very open, very active Lashkar offices in Islamabad. Since the SAARC summit, things have gone back to normal, as you`ll see [Hindu, February 24].
In fact, just about an hour after Indian and Pakistani diplomats meeting in Islamabad had proclaimed the successful conclusion of their first round of peace talks; talks made possible in part by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf`s solemn promise to put an end to the activities of the extremists waging war against India in Kashmir -- the Lashkar held a large jihadi meeting right in the middle of Islamabad.
The NYT put it thus: `There was no way to hide the gathering of 500 or so solemn, heavily bearded men who had assembled alongside one of Islamabad`s smartest shopping centers to hear him (Lashkar chief Hafiz Sayed) speak. Brightly colored carpets were strewn around the grass, and banners were strung up around the park extolling the virtues of the ``jihad`` being waged against Indian rule in Kashmir.`
Virulently anti-Indian speeches were topped by Hafiz Sayed who declared `Beat the infidels so harshly that they run away,` probably referring to the minority populations who are being systematically cleansed out of Kashmir valley. Denouncing Musharraf`s support for the United States in its proclaimed war against terrorism, Saeed told his supporters that the jihad for Kashmir `will continue until Kashmir is free.` The Pakistani police simply looked on.
The contrast of these openly anti-India activities right along side the so-called peace talks, did not go unnoticed by the foreign press -- only that much of the Indian press missed it. As Amy Waldman tells us, `The anti-Indian speeches at the park were a pointed contrast to what Pakistan`s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, described Wednesday as the ``very constructive`` atmosphere at the talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Shashank.`
Lying blatantly, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat openly defended the terrorist group `Jamaat ul-Dawa (Lashkar) had not been banned because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside Pakistan.`
Same old story -- so, let us investigate that last statement.
A few weeks ago, three Lashkar Pakistanis, attempting to attack the international airport in Delhi were caught, interrogated and made available to some pressmen. Describing what they heard to be `disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba,` The Hindu informed us about four separate `specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport.`
The first group was almost completely decimated by Indian security forces. So, as The Hindu goes on to say, `Lashkar commanders had earlier dispatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadres volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died.`
The remnants of these two groups planned were then asked to carry out the attacks on IG airport, where the plan was to carry out a `frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings.`
The third group was arrested in Delhi right before Republic Day, preventing a huge international fiasco. `In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. Indian soldiers eventually recovered three bodies, while Pakistani troops took two.`
The evidence of Pakistani machinations in continuing big attacks in India is actually much broader than that. Asia Times has reported in the last few months about an `a new recruitment campaign for militants -- to be used in cross-border raids into Indian-administered Kashmir` -- that has been started in all big cities. Throughout the last six peaceful months Lashkar has been never stopped its fund-raising, brazen terrorist attacks or its public recruitment drives. Throughout the winter months of October through January, the Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo was engaged in country-wide jihad conferences to raise money and awareness for jihadi-terrorism in Kashmir.
Zulfiqar Shah expresses surprise at Maulana Masood Azhar`s `recent countrywide tour to address a number of widely publicised jehad conferences` and goes on to say `Masood Azhar`s tour -- widely considered as a major proof of the resurgence of jihadi activity …raises questions as to whether it could have taken place without the government`s consent. ``The tour has established that he enjoys the state support,`` says an analyst who wanted not to be named. ``It`s astonishing that on one hand Musharraf says he is against jihadis and on the other hand he has given Masood Azhar free hand to hold jihad congregations throughout Pakistan,`` says Iqbal Hyder, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs and executive council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. ``Masood has been operating under complete patronage of government agencies,`` he claims.`
Describing one such conference that took place in Karachi, the author says `Followed by wide publicity though pamphlets, posters and banners all around the city, the conference was able to attract thousands of people to come and listen to him. Even the city government headed by Jamaat Islami`s Naimatullah Khan, which otherwise is very quick in removing unauthorised advertisement banners and hoardings, gave the organisers free hand for the publicity of the conference. Contrary to past practice when Jaish`s functions were closed for many people especially media, Masood Azhar`s jehad conference in Karachi was an open event. The way it was publicised clearly showed that the organisers wanted to draw as many people as they could. Masood Azhar, who has renamed his organisation as Pyam-e-Islam, has addressed similar conferences attended by thousands of people in Hyderabad and Nawab Shah in Sindh and Lahore and other cities in Punjab`
Today, Masood Azhar is supposed to be on the run, due to his involvement in internal terrorist acts, but most Pakistani newspapers claim that he is hiding in the open under the protection of a Punjab minister. None of these leaders of terrorist groups have been arrested or have had their activities curtailed within Pakistan.
The denial of course, goes on at all levels -- speaking to an Aussie television station, Musharraf went to bat for the Lashkar with `Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not threatening anybody. Who has told you that they are threatening anybody?` and even denied the now well-reported arrests of Lashkar honchos in Iraq -- pretty much like he`d given 400% denials about any nuclear proliferation from Pakistan 2 years ago!!
► Peace Dividend #2 -- Anti-India terrorist groups still receive Pakistani government support and encouragement; these groups, especially the Lashkar, are raising funds in public, recruit openly, disseminate terror propaganda, carry out nation-wide jihad conferences and plan/carry out attacks on India; worse still, they are now being legitimized through incorporation into powerful political parties and of course the denial continues.
An Indian in Pakistan
There is no need for friendship with Pakistan , a country that ranks 144 on human development index. I would rather have our idiotic policy makers concentrate on building better relationships (based on economics and trade) with US , Israel ,EU and the ASEAN countries . India should be working hard at getting out of this third world rut, not fall head long into it. All this crap about India-Pak friendship, brotherhood looks patently third worldish to me.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 23, 2004 12:25 pm
My point is , who are these closet jihadis to decide who represents real India or not ? Who the hell are these Tahmeds,Ahmedzais,YLHs etc. to decide who is a secularist or a fundamentalist ? There is no need for friendship with Pakistan , a country that ranks 144 on human development index. I would rather have our idiotic policy makers concentrate on building better relationships (based on economics and trade) with US , Israel ,EU and the ASEAN countries . India should be working hard at getting out of this third world rut, not fall head long into it. All this crap about India-Pak friendship, brotherhood looks patently third worldish to me.
An Indian in Pakistan
Only Sapra and his type represent real India you know...
Those of you nasty hindu fanatics who want to get rid of that tag and enter the world of honorable moderates will have to do the following...
1. Compose a 1000-word glowing essay on the paragorn of secularism M.A.Jinnah.
2.Compose a 1500-word essay on why Pakistan is a more perfect democracy than India.
3. Express your horror over the human right violations perpetrated by the barbaric Indian Army on the muslims of Indian and on the people of Kashmir , (which never was a part of India to begin with).
4.Make a pledge to vacate Pakistan`s territory (Kashmir) asap.
5.State for the record that all those Indians who do not wish to carry Pakistani flags (as the most honourable Mrs.Sapra did in the photo above) or fall in love with Pakistan (dil chod aya..la dost-mittar) are indeed nasty communal hindu thackerays , to be spat at by the world at large.
Thank you.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 23, 2004 06:49 am
Alephnull ,#197, one more post like that and you will be added to the ever growing list of `hindu fanatics` ...who by the way , do not really represent real India , according to the head master of chowk , Tahmed Chachu...Only Sapra and his type represent real India you know...
Those of you nasty hindu fanatics who want to get rid of that tag and enter the world of honorable moderates will have to do the following...
1. Compose a 1000-word glowing essay on the paragorn of secularism M.A.Jinnah.
2.Compose a 1500-word essay on why Pakistan is a more perfect democracy than India.
3. Express your horror over the human right violations perpetrated by the barbaric Indian Army on the muslims of Indian and on the people of Kashmir , (which never was a part of India to begin with).
4.Make a pledge to vacate Pakistan`s territory (Kashmir) asap.
5.State for the record that all those Indians who do not wish to carry Pakistani flags (as the most honourable Mrs.Sapra did in the photo above) or fall in love with Pakistan (dil chod aya..la dost-mittar) are indeed nasty communal hindu thackerays , to be spat at by the world at large.
Thank you.
My Pakistan Diary: A Bus Trip Like No Other
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 22, 2004 07:02 am
What ! After all that time spent in Paki-land , the pre-historic dost-mittar didn`t come across those jehad boxes ? Any stay in Pakistan is incomplete without making a contribution to the K-cause.
An Indian in Pakistan
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 21, 2004 05:11 am
I think we should give away Kashmir to Pakistan to further the cause of India-Pakistan friendship and ever lasting peace in the subcontinent. After all , we are one people , aren`t we ? Why should brothers fight brothers ? What better way to thank the Pakistanis for their hospitality towards Mr. and Mrs. Sapra ? Give away Kashmir I say.
An Indian in Pakistan
Mind mentioning the argument that has been `turned on its head` ? Silly rhetoric won`t do.
But then , mian , seriously , the only person who runs away is you. Remember last time - when I said India`s gdp grows at 3-4% rate faster than Pak`s gdp....you in your typical sarcastic style commented that that was unlikely as Pak`s gdp grew at 6% this recent quarter.
But when I mentioned that India`s gdp grew at 10.4% the same quarter (and provided links to prove the same)...you were nowhere to be seen....
You are a pompous fool , Romair and a coward to boot. And have far too much time on hand , especially for an apparently middle aged guy.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 19, 2004 11:41 pm
Subedar Clueless : ``It is interesting to now see individuals like sadna, arjunm, gujjubania etc. running around for cover, as all their arguments have been turned on their heads. ``Mind mentioning the argument that has been `turned on its head` ? Silly rhetoric won`t do.
But then , mian , seriously , the only person who runs away is you. Remember last time - when I said India`s gdp grows at 3-4% rate faster than Pak`s gdp....you in your typical sarcastic style commented that that was unlikely as Pak`s gdp grew at 6% this recent quarter.
But when I mentioned that India`s gdp grew at 10.4% the same quarter (and provided links to prove the same)...you were nowhere to be seen....
You are a pompous fool , Romair and a coward to boot. And have far too much time on hand , especially for an apparently middle aged guy.
An Indian in Pakistan
Never forget what happened to Lt.Saurav Kalia.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 19, 2004 02:08 pm
Sincere advice to fellow Indians -> Never forget what happened to Lt.Saurav Kalia.
An Indian in Pakistan
``we know what high regard you hold us pakistanis in. allow for someone who isn`t utterly polluted and blinded by hatred as you are to share his experience. or is every indian who isn`t like you and chooses to see the good in `pakis` a soppy fool``
Its difficult to see any good in Pakistan as long as you continue with your `Bleed India` policy. Give up your claim over Kashmir , give up sending over unemployed and unemployable jehadis across the border , dismantle terror camps , stop lusting over Indian territory - and then , only then , you may expect real India-Pakistan friendship.
Until that happens , although you will still have people like Dost-Mittar , this Sapra guy and others like them lighting candles on the Wagah border and singing about some common culture etc. , but they will always be a tiny minority.
All it takes is one major militant strike - and believe me , all this cricket-diplomacy-bonhomie will be totally forgotten.
ps : I personally do not see any good in a country or a people that see it fit to gleefully mutilate ,dismember ,torture 21-22 year olds just because they happen to be kafir Indian soldiers. I can never forget what happened to Lt.Saurav Kalia. I know people like Dost-Mittar , Sapra etc. dont really care about Lt.Saurav Kalia . They dont care whether Indian soldiers live or die. All they care about is some shared culture with Pakistan. And attending some ridiculous party hosted by some feudal in Lahore. I have nothing but total contempt for such people.
Indeed , people like Dost-Mittar get offended much more when poor ol` gujju abuses Pakis on some obscure message board ...
We (Indians) must realise we are dealing with a ruthless , even barbaric enemy. All Pakistan is doing right now is a tactical retreat . They are basically taking stock of the situation , and preparing to strike the enemy at the right time..
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 19, 2004 01:12 pm
Nooralain :``we know what high regard you hold us pakistanis in. allow for someone who isn`t utterly polluted and blinded by hatred as you are to share his experience. or is every indian who isn`t like you and chooses to see the good in `pakis` a soppy fool``
Its difficult to see any good in Pakistan as long as you continue with your `Bleed India` policy. Give up your claim over Kashmir , give up sending over unemployed and unemployable jehadis across the border , dismantle terror camps , stop lusting over Indian territory - and then , only then , you may expect real India-Pakistan friendship.
Until that happens , although you will still have people like Dost-Mittar , this Sapra guy and others like them lighting candles on the Wagah border and singing about some common culture etc. , but they will always be a tiny minority.
All it takes is one major militant strike - and believe me , all this cricket-diplomacy-bonhomie will be totally forgotten.
ps : I personally do not see any good in a country or a people that see it fit to gleefully mutilate ,dismember ,torture 21-22 year olds just because they happen to be kafir Indian soldiers. I can never forget what happened to Lt.Saurav Kalia. I know people like Dost-Mittar , Sapra etc. dont really care about Lt.Saurav Kalia . They dont care whether Indian soldiers live or die. All they care about is some shared culture with Pakistan. And attending some ridiculous party hosted by some feudal in Lahore. I have nothing but total contempt for such people.
Indeed , people like Dost-Mittar get offended much more when poor ol` gujju abuses Pakis on some obscure message board ...
We (Indians) must realise we are dealing with a ruthless , even barbaric enemy. All Pakistan is doing right now is a tactical retreat . They are basically taking stock of the situation , and preparing to strike the enemy at the right time..
An Indian in Pakistan
Hmm..I don`t know about that. But everytime I read such cheesy stories on India-Pak-Love-Story , I remember what happened to the patrol of 5 Indian soldiers led by 22 year old Lt.Saurav Kalia , when they were captured by Pakistani soldiers who had sneaked into Indian territory just before Kargil war began.
Lt. Saurav Kalia and his men were tortured in every way imaginable for 22 days in all. When their severely disfigured , dismembered and mutilated bodies were returned to the Indian Army , it was quite obvious to one and all the sort of barbaric treatment they were subjected to. Their ear drums were pierced ; their skins scalded ; ears , nose , fingers cut off; genitals mutilated; eye balls plucked out ; limbs smashed ; toes crushed ...
Now how were these people who did such horrible things to a 22 year old and 4 other equally young boys ? They were Pakistani soldiers. Where do these Pakistani soldiers come from ? Typical , ordinary Pakistan families...the sort who according to Nazar Khan supposedly have a soft spot for India , the same people who don`t charge Indian customers any money ...
They really were good to Saurav Kalia weren`t they...
There are a lot of easily excitable and easily flattered fools in India . We have suffered enough because of such dimwits. The `Hindi-Cheeni bhai-bhai` thing which preceded the 1962 China was , was probably not much different from this India-Pak-cricket-Love-Story....
Why go so far back as 1962 , Lahore Declaration preceded the mutilation of young Lt.Kalia.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 19, 2004 07:48 am
``I have been regularly putting across to some interacters ( Jay, Gajjubania for instance) tht an average Pakistani does not harbour any hatred towards India. ``Hmm..I don`t know about that. But everytime I read such cheesy stories on India-Pak-Love-Story , I remember what happened to the patrol of 5 Indian soldiers led by 22 year old Lt.Saurav Kalia , when they were captured by Pakistani soldiers who had sneaked into Indian territory just before Kargil war began.
Lt. Saurav Kalia and his men were tortured in every way imaginable for 22 days in all. When their severely disfigured , dismembered and mutilated bodies were returned to the Indian Army , it was quite obvious to one and all the sort of barbaric treatment they were subjected to. Their ear drums were pierced ; their skins scalded ; ears , nose , fingers cut off; genitals mutilated; eye balls plucked out ; limbs smashed ; toes crushed ...
Now how were these people who did such horrible things to a 22 year old and 4 other equally young boys ? They were Pakistani soldiers. Where do these Pakistani soldiers come from ? Typical , ordinary Pakistan families...the sort who according to Nazar Khan supposedly have a soft spot for India , the same people who don`t charge Indian customers any money ...
They really were good to Saurav Kalia weren`t they...
There are a lot of easily excitable and easily flattered fools in India . We have suffered enough because of such dimwits. The `Hindi-Cheeni bhai-bhai` thing which preceded the 1962 China was , was probably not much different from this India-Pak-cricket-Love-Story....
Why go so far back as 1962 , Lahore Declaration preceded the mutilation of young Lt.Kalia.
Blasphemy
Anyway , I asked him a question on the FV thread a few days back that he failed to answer. So I repeat...
[Dost-Mittar - I was wondering if you noticed those jehad boxes while enjoying the hospitality of the Pakistani shopkeepers during your much heralded stay in Paki-land ??
I`m sure you were quite the perfect guest and made your contribution to the cause as well... ]
Thank you for your time.
PS : Loved the article . So yeh hain Pakistan ??!!! Hahaha...
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 15, 2004 03:04 pm
Now why doesn`t it surprise me that Dost-Mittar is `doing a Manto` on Jinnah...Anyway , I asked him a question on the FV thread a few days back that he failed to answer. So I repeat...
[Dost-Mittar - I was wondering if you noticed those jehad boxes while enjoying the hospitality of the Pakistani shopkeepers during your much heralded stay in Paki-land ??
I`m sure you were quite the perfect guest and made your contribution to the cause as well... ]
Thank you for your time.
PS : Loved the article . So yeh hain Pakistan ??!!! Hahaha...
Murder on Helm Street
[``Gujjubani``]
Oye mulleh , its G-U-J-J-U-B-A-N-I-A. Get that clear. You better..
``Now, you know better than to produce these unreferenced claims. url kahan hai?! ``]
The online edition is for subscribers only. So can`t help you on that. (Unless you lend me some money of course... 500$ will do... (Thats probably 2000 australian $ ...not sure..))
Still , for the time being , I request you to kindly read the followling article by a certain nuclear physicist ...
(The said nuclear physicist even has a fan club headed by a certain mullah from Sydney, don`t you know...)
http://www.saag.org/papers9/paper876.html
Guest Column-by Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD
Importance of a Trend
China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only $5,000 per capita. This doesn’t compare favorably with most developed countries that have typical GDP per capita of over $20,000. In particular this pales in comparison with America that has a GDP per capita of over $36,000. But the real importance of China’s GDP comes into picture when one realizes that since 1978 its GDP has quadrupled, with China averaging an economic growth-rate of over 7% every year! This trend in the economic growth of China tells us where China is heading. It determines how countries should start preparing for a future with China, with its importance determined not by the current figure of $5,000, but the trend of continued high economic growth rate.
Like China, India too is an emerging nation with an average economic growth rate of about 5% since 1990. Although the GDP per capita of India is only $2,600, it is the trend that makes India be taken all the more seriously.
Conclusion: Economic growth trend is a friend for India.
Trends in Conflicts
India has been facing naxal-driven insurgencies from time to time. In West Bengal, this was a problem in the 1960s but was eventually rooted out. One is again seeing this reoccurring in parts of Andra Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
In Punjab, there was a Sikh-based insurgency aided by Pakistan. But it too fizzled out.
The ongoing insurgencies in the North-East are associated by Christian and Hindu groups. They appear to be financed and armed by Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Hindu group ULFA doesn’t seem to have large following. It appears to be reeling since the attack on its terror camps by Bhutanese troops. The insurgency in Mizoram was neutralized by the way of a political settlement. There seem to be some headway made in reaching political settlement with the Nagaland insurgency group.
But the North-East insurgencies pale in comparison with the other major insurgency in India, - the Muslim Kashmir insurgency. This has tied down a very large percentage of Indian army and it costs India considerable resources. Now Kashmir is used as a staging post to launch jihad against the entire “infidel” India.
Trends in Muslim Kashmir Insurgency
India has been losing grip on Kashmir since its ascension to India in 1948. One measure of this is the reduction in Hindu population in Muslim majority areas and introduction of Muslim population in non-Muslim areas, over and well above the population growth rates. The Kashmir valley Muslims constitutionally wield power disproportionate to their population percentage and have used the power to push the jihadisation of Jammu and Kashmir relentlessly, at the expense of others (http://www.saveindia.com/woes_of_jammu_and_ladakh.htm). The origin of this thrust comes from most Islamic centers that consider it as a religious duty to marginalise infidels and expand Islamic frontiers.
Even as India holds on to Kashmir by deploying a large contingent of its military, the trends indicate an increasing Islamisation of the state and the marginalisation of Indian interests.
Conclusion: India is continuing to lose Jammu & Kashmir
Current trends indicate that in India Islamic threat would continue
Unlike India’s only Muslim majority state of Kashmir that is boiling with insurgency one doesn’t expect similar level Muslim insurgencies elsewhere in India as Muslims are well distributed among the majority Hindu community. The question arises as to what indicators can be used to qualify and quantify the extent of jihadisation of Indian Muslims and more importantly what are the trends.
Over the years some Hindus have been leaving Muslim enclaves in the rest of India owing to feelings of insecurity. This perception is built up by their portrayals in local mosques that view Hindus as infidels. This slow ethnic cleansing too must be regarded as a low-intensity jihad.
The above observation must be kept in mind in relation to the massive ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims in every Muslim majority area of South Asia (including Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and the constitution-based mistreatment of non-Muslims in such regions.
Indicators of a losing trend for India:
* Growth rate of security expenses related battling Islamic fundamentalism in India is far outpacing economic growth rate, with the end result of the government running up huge budget deficits and with little money left for India’s economic development.
* In Uttar Pradesh recently, the clerics have overwhelmingly rejected any attempts to introduce job-oriented state-financed modern education in about 20,000 madarasas – Muslim religious schools. This paves the way to create future generations of Islamic extremists and terrorists, as the clerics insist on teaching only Islamic theology, and a glorified version of Islamic history achieved through jihad against infidels such as Hindus.
* A poll conducted among Indian Muslims showed over 60% support for the Afghan Taliban. A recent India Today poll showed 49% of Indian Muslims considering Pakistan as an ally/brother/friend (only 16% of Hindus did).
* A revelation of Indian Muslim mindset popped out in the early 1990s, when there was a large effort by them to collect funds to rehabilitate Bosnian Muslims ethnically cleansed by Serbs. However, this happened when in the Indian Kashmir, Hindus were ethnically cleansed by Kashmiri Muslims. No consorted effort was undertaken by Indian Muslims on behalf of displaced Kashmiri Hindus.
* Indian Muslims continue to slip in every measure of progress – literacy, wealth and health.
* Extrapolating the census figures of 10% Indian Muslim population in 1951 and 12.6% in 1991, by 2050, the percentage will rise anywhere from 16% to 24%, depending upon the extent of illegal Muslim Bangladeshi migration. It is useful to be reminded that when India was divided on the basis of Islam in 1947, Muslims constituted about 24%.
* Bangladeshi Muslims continue to infiltrate in large numbers, with the government not being able to send back the millions of Bangladeshi Muslims already in the country.
Conclusion: Current trends indicate that in India Islamic threat would continue.
Reversing the Trend
As someone who has developed new approaches toward solving the Islamic threat India faces, I can confidently state that India can solve this problem. Every enemy has weaknesses that can be exploited to achieve victory (http://www.saveindia.com/islams_weakness.htm). What India needs is a self-belief that it can win this war!
The magnitude of the threat calls for the society at large to participate fully. Given the majority religions’ lack of institutionalization, the organizations representing them, such as RSS/VHP should play a greater role in educating and galvanizing the community. Unlike Hinduism, -- Christianity, Islam or Sikhism does not particularly suffer from this lack of institutionalization. Without this galvanizing by community groups, India will not be able to reverse the trend.
The reader may note that Pakistan has relentlessly pushed its interests without worrying about others. It performed the worst atrocities including butchering at least a million Hindus in the then East Pakistan and got away. To reverse this jihadisation trend Indians must promote their interests without apology. In comparison to Pakistan, any approach taken by India can only be regarded as a genuine defense of its civilization.
The dynamics of Islamic fundamentalism within India is geared toward Islamising it slowly though various forms terrorism, demographic expansion, and destruction. Due to the converging goals Indian Muslim extremists find it convenient to work with an adversarial Pakistan. Even if Indo-Pak peace were to emerge it is not going to nullify this desire of Indian Muslim extremists. India has no other choice but to move decisively toward dismantling the power centers of Islamic fundamentalism. But such steps are not likely to be seen favorably by Pakistan. Hence, the act of trying to build friendly relations with Pakistan is not recommended.
If Pakistan is seen to threaten India with nuclear weapons, it is well within India’s right to launch massive preemptive strategic strikes on Pakistan. Such an action is easily justified given Pakistan’s history of killing well over a million Hindus in the then East Pakistan and in Kashmir, and ethnically cleansing millions more.
Perspective
I would like to describe an emerging India with a following analogy.
India is like a high school student who has for the first time started doing well in academics. He is now better nourished, feels more confident and has better finances. Unfortunately he is inflicted with a cancer in the form of Islamic fundamentalism. This student is showing promise; he could excel in college and in the rest of his life, --depending upon outcome of the battle with his growing cancer. Hence the future of this student relies upon curing the cancer permanently.
(The views expressed here are author’s own. The writer is a nuclear physicist based in America. His contact address: moorthy@charter.net)
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 14, 2004 10:06 am
ZafarA...[``Gujjubani``]
Oye mulleh , its G-U-J-J-U-B-A-N-I-A. Get that clear. You better..
``Now, you know better than to produce these unreferenced claims. url kahan hai?! ``]
The online edition is for subscribers only. So can`t help you on that. (Unless you lend me some money of course... 500$ will do... (Thats probably 2000 australian $ ...not sure..))
Still , for the time being , I request you to kindly read the followling article by a certain nuclear physicist ...
(The said nuclear physicist even has a fan club headed by a certain mullah from Sydney, don`t you know...)
http://www.saag.org/papers9/paper876.html
Guest Column-by Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD
Importance of a Trend
China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only $5,000 per capita. This doesn’t compare favorably with most developed countries that have typical GDP per capita of over $20,000. In particular this pales in comparison with America that has a GDP per capita of over $36,000. But the real importance of China’s GDP comes into picture when one realizes that since 1978 its GDP has quadrupled, with China averaging an economic growth-rate of over 7% every year! This trend in the economic growth of China tells us where China is heading. It determines how countries should start preparing for a future with China, with its importance determined not by the current figure of $5,000, but the trend of continued high economic growth rate.
Like China, India too is an emerging nation with an average economic growth rate of about 5% since 1990. Although the GDP per capita of India is only $2,600, it is the trend that makes India be taken all the more seriously.
Conclusion: Economic growth trend is a friend for India.
Trends in Conflicts
India has been facing naxal-driven insurgencies from time to time. In West Bengal, this was a problem in the 1960s but was eventually rooted out. One is again seeing this reoccurring in parts of Andra Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
In Punjab, there was a Sikh-based insurgency aided by Pakistan. But it too fizzled out.
The ongoing insurgencies in the North-East are associated by Christian and Hindu groups. They appear to be financed and armed by Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Hindu group ULFA doesn’t seem to have large following. It appears to be reeling since the attack on its terror camps by Bhutanese troops. The insurgency in Mizoram was neutralized by the way of a political settlement. There seem to be some headway made in reaching political settlement with the Nagaland insurgency group.
But the North-East insurgencies pale in comparison with the other major insurgency in India, - the Muslim Kashmir insurgency. This has tied down a very large percentage of Indian army and it costs India considerable resources. Now Kashmir is used as a staging post to launch jihad against the entire “infidel” India.
Trends in Muslim Kashmir Insurgency
India has been losing grip on Kashmir since its ascension to India in 1948. One measure of this is the reduction in Hindu population in Muslim majority areas and introduction of Muslim population in non-Muslim areas, over and well above the population growth rates. The Kashmir valley Muslims constitutionally wield power disproportionate to their population percentage and have used the power to push the jihadisation of Jammu and Kashmir relentlessly, at the expense of others (http://www.saveindia.com/woes_of_jammu_and_ladakh.htm). The origin of this thrust comes from most Islamic centers that consider it as a religious duty to marginalise infidels and expand Islamic frontiers.
Even as India holds on to Kashmir by deploying a large contingent of its military, the trends indicate an increasing Islamisation of the state and the marginalisation of Indian interests.
Conclusion: India is continuing to lose Jammu & Kashmir
Current trends indicate that in India Islamic threat would continue
Unlike India’s only Muslim majority state of Kashmir that is boiling with insurgency one doesn’t expect similar level Muslim insurgencies elsewhere in India as Muslims are well distributed among the majority Hindu community. The question arises as to what indicators can be used to qualify and quantify the extent of jihadisation of Indian Muslims and more importantly what are the trends.
Over the years some Hindus have been leaving Muslim enclaves in the rest of India owing to feelings of insecurity. This perception is built up by their portrayals in local mosques that view Hindus as infidels. This slow ethnic cleansing too must be regarded as a low-intensity jihad.
The above observation must be kept in mind in relation to the massive ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims in every Muslim majority area of South Asia (including Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and the constitution-based mistreatment of non-Muslims in such regions.
Indicators of a losing trend for India:
* Growth rate of security expenses related battling Islamic fundamentalism in India is far outpacing economic growth rate, with the end result of the government running up huge budget deficits and with little money left for India’s economic development.
* In Uttar Pradesh recently, the clerics have overwhelmingly rejected any attempts to introduce job-oriented state-financed modern education in about 20,000 madarasas – Muslim religious schools. This paves the way to create future generations of Islamic extremists and terrorists, as the clerics insist on teaching only Islamic theology, and a glorified version of Islamic history achieved through jihad against infidels such as Hindus.
* A poll conducted among Indian Muslims showed over 60% support for the Afghan Taliban. A recent India Today poll showed 49% of Indian Muslims considering Pakistan as an ally/brother/friend (only 16% of Hindus did).
* A revelation of Indian Muslim mindset popped out in the early 1990s, when there was a large effort by them to collect funds to rehabilitate Bosnian Muslims ethnically cleansed by Serbs. However, this happened when in the Indian Kashmir, Hindus were ethnically cleansed by Kashmiri Muslims. No consorted effort was undertaken by Indian Muslims on behalf of displaced Kashmiri Hindus.
* Indian Muslims continue to slip in every measure of progress – literacy, wealth and health.
* Extrapolating the census figures of 10% Indian Muslim population in 1951 and 12.6% in 1991, by 2050, the percentage will rise anywhere from 16% to 24%, depending upon the extent of illegal Muslim Bangladeshi migration. It is useful to be reminded that when India was divided on the basis of Islam in 1947, Muslims constituted about 24%.
* Bangladeshi Muslims continue to infiltrate in large numbers, with the government not being able to send back the millions of Bangladeshi Muslims already in the country.
Conclusion: Current trends indicate that in India Islamic threat would continue.
Reversing the Trend
As someone who has developed new approaches toward solving the Islamic threat India faces, I can confidently state that India can solve this problem. Every enemy has weaknesses that can be exploited to achieve victory (http://www.saveindia.com/islams_weakness.htm). What India needs is a self-belief that it can win this war!
The magnitude of the threat calls for the society at large to participate fully. Given the majority religions’ lack of institutionalization, the organizations representing them, such as RSS/VHP should play a greater role in educating and galvanizing the community. Unlike Hinduism, -- Christianity, Islam or Sikhism does not particularly suffer from this lack of institutionalization. Without this galvanizing by community groups, India will not be able to reverse the trend.
The reader may note that Pakistan has relentlessly pushed its interests without worrying about others. It performed the worst atrocities including butchering at least a million Hindus in the then East Pakistan and got away. To reverse this jihadisation trend Indians must promote their interests without apology. In comparison to Pakistan, any approach taken by India can only be regarded as a genuine defense of its civilization.
The dynamics of Islamic fundamentalism within India is geared toward Islamising it slowly though various forms terrorism, demographic expansion, and destruction. Due to the converging goals Indian Muslim extremists find it convenient to work with an adversarial Pakistan. Even if Indo-Pak peace were to emerge it is not going to nullify this desire of Indian Muslim extremists. India has no other choice but to move decisively toward dismantling the power centers of Islamic fundamentalism. But such steps are not likely to be seen favorably by Pakistan. Hence, the act of trying to build friendly relations with Pakistan is not recommended.
If Pakistan is seen to threaten India with nuclear weapons, it is well within India’s right to launch massive preemptive strategic strikes on Pakistan. Such an action is easily justified given Pakistan’s history of killing well over a million Hindus in the then East Pakistan and in Kashmir, and ethnically cleansing millions more.
Perspective
I would like to describe an emerging India with a following analogy.
India is like a high school student who has for the first time started doing well in academics. He is now better nourished, feels more confident and has better finances. Unfortunately he is inflicted with a cancer in the form of Islamic fundamentalism. This student is showing promise; he could excel in college and in the rest of his life, --depending upon outcome of the battle with his growing cancer. Hence the future of this student relies upon curing the cancer permanently.
(The views expressed here are author’s own. The writer is a nuclear physicist based in America. His contact address: moorthy@charter.net)
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Pakistanis) put forth the most reasoned discourse on various political matters on
chowk. Their tone may be harsh at times, but the thought process that goes behind
it is admirable. And they are seldom pompous.``
What about my highly logical and factual PPP arguments ? Lot of serious thinking goes behind my posts...can`t you see....
I must very humbly state for the record that I am the best poster on chowk....
Thank you.
Posted by
gujjubania
Apr 14, 2004 07:44 am
PLats: ``In my opinion, Sadna and Alephnull (among the Indians) and Fuzair (among the Pakistanis) put forth the most reasoned discourse on various political matters on
chowk. Their tone may be harsh at times, but the thought process that goes behind
it is admirable. And they are seldom pompous.``
What about my highly logical and factual PPP arguments ? Lot of serious thinking goes behind my posts...can`t you see....
I must very humbly state for the record that I am the best poster on chowk....
Thank you.
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