The recent spy swap between the USA and Russia is reminiscent of the Cold War era intensified espionage game played by the Soviet regime and the USA, Britain and their allies in the so-called Free World.

The FBI and CIA were aware of the existence of a substantial sleeper spy cell in the suburbs of New York, planted with meticulous planning by the Russian foreign intelligence agency, SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki).

Russian spies deported included:

“Richard Murphy” and “Cynthia Murphy” admitted they were Russians Vladimir Guryev (44) and Lydia Guryev (39)

“Donald Howard Heathfield” and “Tracey Lee Ann Foley” admitted they were Russians Andrei Bezrukov (49) and Elena Vavilova (47)

“Michael Zottoli” and “Patricia Mills” admitted they were Russians Mikhail Kutsik (49) and Natalia Pereverzeva (36)

“Juan Lazaro” admitted he was Russian Mikhail Vasenkov (66) – married to Vicky Pelaez (55), journalist born in Peru

Anna Chapman, 28 (maiden name Anya Kushchenko) – real estate entrepreneur, daughter of Russian diplomat

Mikhail Semenko – apparently operated under own name

MISSING – 11th suspect known as “Christopher Metsos”, disappeared while on bail in Cyprus

The Spies pardoned and deported to UK (2) and USA (2) are:

Igor Sutyagin, nuclear scientist jailed in 2004 for spying for CIA

Sergei Skripal, ex-military intelligence (GRU), jailed for spying for UK in 2006

Alexander Zaporozhsky, ex-agent of foreign intelligence service (SVR), jailed for thirty years.

Gennady Vasilenko, said to be former KGB agent, jailed in 2006 over illegal weapons, but actually for passing on secret intelligence to the West.

A White House official has revealed that the Obama administration was considering a spy swap well before the 10 were arrested on 27 June. White House officials were first briefed on the spy ring in February, while President Barrack Obama was made aware of the case on 11 June.

“The idea of a swap was discussed among the administration’s national security team before the arrests were made,” the source added. According to the White House, the US itself chose the names of the four men to be freed by Moscow. Its decision was based on “humanitarian concerns, health concerns, and other reasons”.

Peter Earnest, a former CIA officer, welcomed the release of the four. “This sends a powerful signal to people who co-operate with us that we will stay loyal to you,” he told the Associated Press news agency, “Even if you have been in jail for years, we will not forget you.”

The FBI was aware of the spy ring for nearly ten years. The agency followed their movements, mounted foot and mobile surveillance and monitored their phone calls. Leon Panetta, the CIA chief was kept informed. Taking into consideration the usual practice of the agencies neutralizing “sleeper spy ring” or Long-term Resident Agents at the earliest opportunity possible, it was expected that the Russian spy ring would be neutralized sooner than it was done.

According to reports, from the first detection-time, the president was told about the case on June 11 — 16 days before the Russian agents were actually arrested — a swap emerged as an option that could resolve a potentially volatile situation without undercutting Mr. Obama’s effort to rebuild Russian-American relations. The Russian spy ring would be broken, the Americans would secure the release of four Russian prisoners and both sides could then put the episode behind them. The arrest was also delayed because the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s State visit to Washington on June 24.

President Obama’s national security team spent weeks before the arrest of 10 Russian spies preparing for their takedown and assembling a list of prisoners Moscow might be willing to trade for the agents, senior administration officials said Friday.

U.S. officials began negotiating with their Russian counterparts shortly after the spies were arrested late last month. Before long, the both sides had reached an agreement that included pledges that neither would engage in any further “retaliatory steps,” such as a diplomatic freeze or expulsions, and that neither would harass each other’s officials or citizens. Officials concentrated on Friday on what they described as the smooth integration of the administration’s law enforcement, intelligence and diplomatic teams in tracking the Russian agents and turning the situation into a national security victory rather than a source of political and public concern and potential criticism. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because, they said, the undertaking had been a group effort, authorized by the president.

Some details of some of the Russian spies handed over to the West included For several years in the 1990s, Mr. Zaporozhsky, a colonel in Russian intelligence who became deputy chief of the American Department, was secretly working for the C.I.A., one of the highest-ranking American moles in history, Russian prosecutors say. After surprising his colleagues by retiring suddenly in 1997, he moved with his wife and three children to the United States and went into business. But in 2001, confident that his C.I.A. link was unsuspected, Mr. Zaporozhsky was lured back to Moscow by his former colleagues for what they promised would be a festive K.G.B. anniversary party. He was arrested at the airport, convicted of espionage and sentenced to 18 years in prison. On Friday, Mr. Zaporozhsky was flown to Vienna and then to the Washington area for the 10-for-4 spy exchange that promises to bring to a swift conclusion the saga of the Russian spy ring exposed by the F.B.I. early last week.

Another of the four, Sergei V. Skripal, seems to fit the classic cold war model, though without quite the roller-coaster intrigue of the Zaporozhsky case. A retired colonel in Russia’s military intelligence service, Mr. Skripal was convicted in 2006 of having passed classified information to British intelligence, MI6, for a decade, in return for $100,000 wired to a bank account in Spain.

But there is at least a little post-Communist ambiguity surrounding the two other men in the swap. Gennadi Vasilenko, a former K.G.B. major, was arrested in 1998 for contacts with a C.I.A officer but soon released, only to be arrested again in 2005 and imprisoned not for spying, but for illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives. And Igor V. Sutyagin, working at a Moscow think tank, did contract research for a British company, which may or may not have been a front for Western intelligence. He has maintained his innocence, and human rights activists have defended him. But, his swap prove that Sutyagin really worked for MI6 (Secret Service).

While the Russian media gave credible coverage to the spy swap some US commentators reacted severally. Simon Shuster of Time.com writes the US and Russia seem to have both avoided the topic of the 11th suspect: “Both sides also seem to have skirted the 11th alleged Russian spy named in the US indictment. He disappeared last week in Cyprus after authorities there granted him bail, and no public mention of his fate has been made amid the swap negotiations. On Thursday, Gennady Gudkov, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s security committee, said the most important part of the deal was damage control, not details.” Perhaps Russia avoided uncovering of its other intelligence operations by quickly agreeing to a swap.

Chris Stirewalt at the Washington Examiner feels that USA might be getting the bad end of the deal with Russia: “We are sending them 10 Russians accused of living under false identities and actively trying to get information about American defense, industry and government. We are getting in return Russian citizens who were found – some a generation ago – to have had contact with the CIA or suspected CIA front organizations.”

Such criticism in a free democracy is inevitable. But the tradecraft that Russia had applied in putting in place a large number of Long Term Resident Agents is worth appreciation. One of the spies was the daughter of a former Russian diplomat, another one was an artist married to a Peruvian lady. They spoke US accented English, studied American mannerism and social habits and had developed ostensible means of income. Their neighbours never suspected them for espionage activities. Intelligence agencies take meticulous care in targeting, training, infiltrating and embedding agents.

Agents are of different categories. Agents are recruited after assessing the task in a target area, organizations, and countries. HUMINT (human agents) are recruited after in depth study of the person, his adaptability, suitability and capability. This part of the intelligence tradecraft is applied by case officers under guidance of his superior operations directorate. All aspects are analysed by the experts and than a decision is taken to recruit a human asset and convert him/her to an agent. (Curious readers may like to read my book: Operation Triple X). An agent meant for locating in a foreign country has to undergo rigorous training. Take the cases of 10 Russian agents planted in the USA. They were given American names, were taught American social behavioral patterns, imparted training to speak in American accent and even adopt Catholic or Protestant religious rituals. Most Russians owe allegiance to Orthodox Church.

In case India intends to plant an agent in Pakistan the concerned agency is supposed to train him in similar fashion, make him a Muslim, teach all Islamic rituals, and teach Urdu and at least one dominant language (Punjabi).

All agents are not “sleeper” or Long Term Residents. There are varieties.

Casual Agents: are low level recruits/assets located in a target organisation with whom ‘case officers’ establish clandestine or open contacts for ferreting out information of topical interest through conscious or casual discussions. These categories of assets can be identified and cultivated after assignments are awarded by the analyst or desk officer to the ‘case officer.’ These low level assets are located in the media, peripheral locations of targeted organisations, and members of parliament, legislatures and even the mundane static or roving hawkers. Such casual contacts may also be cultivated amongst the relatives and friends of the main target for obtaining basic data, mapping movement pattern, personal habits, family details, friends and acquaintances etc. Often such contacts, say a media friend, are tasked to ferret out personal information about a government minister or highly placed bureaucrat. Casual contacts are listed assets and they are compensated by lavish entertainment, occasional payment and in certain cases on the basis of quid pro quo. The friend, say media people, may require some information from the government stores, which are not highly classified. Such minor give and take always takes place consciously. However, it is not uncommon to ferret out information from the casual contact during informal discussions. The contact may be reserved in nature and may also be garrulous. While ferreting out information through the unconscious or subconscious process it is advisable to gauze the mood of the contact. Such a task can be completed over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

Some casual contacts feel proud to establish rapport with a senior government officer. But some such contacts are also in the habit of advertising their connections to other friends and acquaintances. Secrecy often gets jeopardized. This practice is resorted to be the ‘case officers’ mostly during ‘secret enquiry’ as a shortcut method of obtaining fast information. It may happen that the consumer wants immediate information what is cooking up in a group of legislators, rebelling against the government. In such cases the urgency is great and the analyst or top boss may want immediate input. Information about such rebel groups are also collected through line telephone or cell phone monitoring. But the boss may be hungry for HUMINT. In such cases the controlling officer should brief the ‘case officer’ to be very discreet while activating the casual contact.

A serious fiasco had taken place in 1978. The than ruling faction wanted to have immediate feedback about certain political moves of a former PM. It was not a kid’s game to penetrate the inner circle of the leader located at the Willingdon Crescent home. The officer deputed to enquire into the development approached a close aide of Indira Gandhi, socially known to him. The aide’s loyalty was greater to his leader than to his social friend. The effort turned out to be counter effective. Indira Gandhi was alerted and she immediately amended her course of action and a section of the media was briefed about surreptitious efforts of the intelligence agency in penetrating her household. The enquiry soured up and the officer concerned was shunted out to a remote station. Such situations are not uncommon when political fluidity creates brinkmanship and political horse trading-so common to Indian democracy-occur. These are parts of the game. A few exposés create minor blisters and are taken as inevitable parts of the intelligence game. It must be mentioned that secret enquiry, unless done through embedded or high level agents may often misfire. From this point of view casual contacts are both assets and liabilities.

Embedded Agents: are very valued intelligence assets. This category of agents is regular members, functionaries and operators located inside the core areas of targeted organisation, party, institution, insurgent, terrorist and organised bodies about which the controlling authority, desk officers and analysts are keen to have authentic intelligence. It is not a correct perception that political decision makers always task the agency to penetrate a target which is rated important from the point of view of internal and external security threats.

There are soft areas as well as hard and hardest areas which are required to be penetrated for creating an Embedded Agent. Soft areas include political parties, social organisations, religious bodies / educational institutions, student, youth, trade unions, front organisations of militant underground parties and even NGOs.

Suppose Party X is in power in the Central or State government and Party Z is a close contender. Since the intelligence agencies are directly responsible to the executives of the ruling party it has become a regular feature in Indian democracy that the agencies serve the interest of the ruling faction. Decision making in respect of political strategy and likely reaction of the prominent opposition parties are assessed on the basis of intelligence gathered by the tasked intelligence agency from various sources. Embedded Agent is the most valuable HUMINT asset and his inputs allow the analyst to draw up his final report for which he may have inputs from various other open or secret sources. It is not incumbent on the policy maker to strictly follow the intelligence input drawn from Embedded Agents.

How to evaluate an Embedded Agent material? Preliminary identification is done by the desk officer, analyst or by the research branch (if there is one). Normally lists of people nearer to the top coterie are maintained by the desk and in some cases dockets on such individuals are regularly updated from open or secret data by the assigned research unit. Once a task is assigned the grassroots officers are directed to examine the existing data and collect penetrating information about each of them. From a presumed number of 12 such coterie members the targets are narrowed down to two or three after thorough study of their vulnerability. Finally, it may so happen that the controlling officer may assign 2 vulnerable targets to two different ‘case officers’ for cultivating them. One case officer is not allowed to know that another colleague has also been assigned target in the same area of coverage.

Evaluation of an Embedded Agent may take a long period. The case officer is required to sniff around, evaluate the target’s vulnerability and take into stock the softest spot through which the needle of approach can be inserted. In most cases approach is made through a common friend, family member and in some cases certain personal habits and vulnerabilities are exploited. Such targets are slyest fishes; they take time to bite the bait. Inducements are many; offer of money is one of the options. Other options are exploitation of personal requirements, family obligations and blackmailing.

In case of ideologically committed targets, as we have said earlier, the case officer is required to rise to the level of ideological comprehension of the target, sympathize with his cause and gradually arrange to bring two diaphragms closer to each other so that their psychological nearness converges. These are the toughest categories of assets. However, almost everything has a price. The case officer has to evaluate the price and consult his controlling officer. The price may be money, a suitable job of a dependent, subsidizing children’s education, putting money in the kitty of the target during a daughter’s marriage etc.

Initially the target is not treated as categorized agent, his reports are tried, compared and once the controlling officer is satisfied that the target’s productions are real meat and he is reliable than he is upgraded to B grade. Over periods of time, when the flow is regular and production is excellent that he is elevated to A grade. From a mere contact to reach the top grading, a target may take two to four years.

Let us examine the recent historical event of demolition of the disputed Babri mosque in Ayodhya. Around 1989 the controlling officer organized a brainstorming session to discuss the growing militancy among the Hindutwa organisations and their preparations to heighten the Hindu upsurge by focusing on the Ram Janambhumi aka Babri Masjid. The conclusion was clear; the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) etc were determined to take advantage of the death of two important Congress leaders and utter failure of the coalition government headed by V. P. Singh. It was emerging as a period of Hindu resurgence as opposed to emergence of acute Islamic jihadism in Pakistan and Bangladesh and their efforts to transplant Islamic jihad amongst the Indian Muslims. The Muslims, in the absence of Congress hegemony lost their political cohesiveness and started shifting loyalty to the regional and caste-based parties.

A few officers from the headquarters and in the States were briefed to target the Hindutwa organisations to create high quality HUMINT assets. Being soft ideological based entities it was not difficult to penetrate these organisations within three to five months. Thereafter avalanches of top grade reports about training the swayamsevaks in demolition methodologies, propaganda campaigns and other preparations started pouring in. The concerned agency shared all such information with the policy makers.

One particular target in the Parivar was very difficult to penetrate. However, this was achieved through a friend who belonged to the same State and was of same cast. After a period of six months the target was softened and he agreed to meet the top most policy maker in the government. The meeting was organized with utmost secrecy and the two agreed that necessary actions should be taken for preventing demolition of the mosque. The new friend agreed to brief his trusted aides to refrain from the final action of demolition. However, the psychological storm built up amongst sections of Hindus were so violent that on the destined day the top leaders either stood as muted witnesses or encouraged the volunteers to demolish the structure. The top policy making authority in the government also suffered from mental debility and failed the nation by not taking a tough stand. His vacillation could not be explained though failure of the top target in the Hindutwa organisation was explained away by the ferocity of the storm that defied his authority. Things were taken over by the politically ambitious leaders, who wanted to ride the crescent waves to capture political power. India is still divided on this issue. As a close observer I felt that both the ruling party and the belligerent opposition were equally responsible for the tragic incident. At the agency level there was no failure. Failure took place at the decision making level and at the level of enforcing the laws of the country. It was a competition between psychological madness and total inability at the decision making level.

Agent creation in the above mentioned targets was comparatively easier. But it is never a cakewalk. Toughest challenges often look starkly on the face of the case officers. A tougher illustration is necessary to convey to the readers the onerous task that agent creation is. Way back in 1970-75 it was very difficult to raise a reliable agent from the hardcore areas of the Naga Federal Government (NFG), Naga Nationalist Council (NNC) and underground Naga insurgent army factions. In 1970 it came to notice that in the October session of the Tatar Ho Ho (parliament) the Naga insurgents were to take certain key decisions about sending gangs to China and Pakistan for lifting weapons provided by the Chinese Special Bureau and the Inter Services Intelligence. Instructions were received from the controlling officer that all out efforts should be made to penetrate the Tatar Ho Ho and the top echelons of the NFG and the self styled Naga Army.

The agency covering the Naga insurgency affairs had no asset at the level that could attend the Tatar meeting and report back. The only way left was to get tidbit of information from government officers, either related or connected to the important office bearers like the Kilonsars (ministers), senior self-styled army officer and even an ordinary delegate to the Tatar Ho Ho.

An opportunity walked in. A Naga officer confided to his station chief that a school inspector of Ukhrul district (Manipur) was related to a Naga Kilonsar and he was in urgent need of some amount of money for his son’s education abroad. This was an encouraging input. The controlling officer initially did not believe that a Kilonsar could be approached. However, he nodded positively as that was the only window to enter the Naga higher echelon.

For over a month the school inspector was motivated with painstaking efforts and finally he agreed to arrange a discreet meeting with the Kilonsar on condition that the promised amount should be handed over to him once the meeting was organized. The catch was risky. Further bargain resulted in an agreement that he would receive payment only after the Kilonsar attended the meeting lasting three days and personally briefed the operations in charge (local station chief- case officer).

Discreet meeting with the Kilonsar was organized in a forested area skirting the ravine of Barak River. The place could be reached partly by river raft and partly on foot. The journey itself took 24 hours. The meeting was cordial and during discussions it transpired that the Kilonsar was suffering from chest disease and required immediate medication, including a chest X-Ray. As arranged the needful was done for his medical problem and in bargain he agreed to attend the Tatar meeting and report back to me as soon as he could explore out a safe place for meeting.

The case officer was not taken seriously by the controlling officer as the agency had not succeeded in raising an agent at that inner circle of the Naga underground movement. The suspense was over when the Kilonsar contacted the case officer through his relative and a meeting this time was organised in a jungle camp in Myanmar territory. For crossing the border the case officer required permission of the controlling officer and the government. However, exigencies of circumstances prompted him to be a guest of the Kilonsar in his jungle camp in Myanmar. After two days of verbal debriefing and collection of over thirty pieces documents the case officer returned to his base. It took 5 days to prepare a report of epic proportions which perplexed the agency. For the first time the agency made a breakthrough and in one shot two embedded agents were created that paid high dividends during peace negations with A. Z. Phizo faction of the Naga underground movement culminating in Shillong Accord between the NNC and the Government of India in 1975. This case study was recorded as an important land mark in the sphere of embedded Agent creation.

Semi-Converted Agent: Embedded Agents are the most precious human assets. The case officers are called upon to put their best, even at higher risks, to locate identity and cultivate an embedded HUMINT asset.

The next lower grade of human assets is the semi-converted agents, which are not completely won over and there exist some psychological gaps between the case officer and the target. Even after an asset has been located and identified and contacted through a direct contact or contact through a reliable intermediary the target may agree to meet and discuss certain matters bypassing the areas of core interest. Such agents try to ride two boats simultaneously. This tendency cannot be eliminated as some of the semi-converted agents are ideologically very firm, do not want to betray the organization totally but want to reap some harvest by sharing peripheral information. The case officers handling such agents are required to be very circumspect, cunning and should be able to gauge how far the agent is ready to walk with him. The desk officer and the analyst are required to be very discerning in evaluating reports from such human assets. Here is a situation that can be compared with a love affair that meets half the way and refuse to take the final plunge.

Why should the agencies prefer to cultivate partially won over agents? As commented earlier HUMINT is not freely available. The Mafia dons, underworld gangs, international terrorists, Maoists, other ideologically inspired separatist groups, insurgents and targets in the higher or highest crust of the system are most difficult areas to cultivate and win over. Looking forward to foreign agencies, about which enormous literature is available, it can be said that the CIA, MI6, Chinese Special Bureau and the KGB, FSB etc agencies did not and do not pick up agents in modern days either at the point of gun, through blackmail, allurement and ideological pretensions like picking up ripe apples from an abundant orchard. US failures in Bay of Pigs crisis with Soviet Union, CIA and MI6 failures in Iraq, 9/11 attacks and now in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan etc countries prove that the agencies mostly suffer from lack of HUMINT agents. An organisation like al Qaeda is very difficult to penetrate. India had failed with SIMI, Indian Mujahideens, and small organized modules of the HUJI, LeT and other trans-border jihad tanzeems. In such cases agencies depend on partially won over agents also and pad up reports of such agents with SIGINT, ELINT etc methodologies of gathering intelligence. The incident of killing of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsood (August 2009) was achieved by the USA and Pakistan through a partially won over agent (Baitullah’s father-in-law) and interception of signal intelligence from the phone of Baitullah. The drone that fired the missile was assisted by IMAGEINT provided by the spy satellites of the USA. To achieve such spectacular success inter-agency cooperation and support from SIGINT and other modern technical aids are absolutely necessary. Therefore, the semi-converted agents are also valuable assets in intelligence parlance.

Embedding or Infiltrating an Agent: While we do not propose to talk in details about the tradecraft, it is necessary to highlight the importance of the technology of Embedding or Infiltrating an agent from outside to the outer core, and core areas of a target organization. This poses the highest challenge to the case officer and his pyramidal hierarchy. For intelligence agencies certain areas are grey and certain areas are absolutely dark. Such granite like organisations is difficult to penetrate and create an agent from existing insiders. In such cases agencies are left with no option but to recruit, convince and win over compatible persons, train them and find out ways and means to infiltrate them in the target organisations. Such agents take longer gestating time, earn confidence of the inner core of the target area and gradually rise up.

In certain cases the process may take years and certain other cases, depending on efficiency of the infiltrated agent, a couple of months. The case officer has to be very patient and should not prod every now and then for hardcore intelligence. He must keep in touch, brief him about happenings inside the target area and to look for the real nugget. This training process is continuous and the case officer is also required to be briefed by his controlling officer.

To illustrate this task we require falling back on real instances. In case number one, it was noticed that certain madrasas in Uttar Pradesh were imparting training in militancy and egging on the students to take up jihad against kafir Hindoostan. Case officers were summoned and briefed to raise agents in some of these madrasas. The stark truth is that for Indian agencies the area of jihadist militancy is the darkest area. HUMINT assets are negligible. If there are any, the status of the agents is merely peripheral and limited to certain observation and surveillance utilities. Negative feedback was expected and received in no time.

The agency than opted for embedding some won over assets into some of these madrasas. To avoid suspicion intending students were cultivated from some states in other parts of India. After prolonged briefings they were asked to seek admission as students. Three such hits were successful. After about a year these assets started producing good results. The mission was successful.

In the other case the agency faced total blackout in infiltrating an important Sikh religious seminary which was suspected to be involved in promoting militancy and separatism. No one in Punjab dared to offer services and the case officers failed to raise any recruit for the mission of infiltrating the seminary.

A study was carried out about some former students of the seminary who were involved in religious activities in states outside Punjab. After deep research two assets were located, one from eastern India and the other from western India. They were cultivated and motivated to approach their alma mater again and seek some services in key temples in the most highly affected areas. After offering voluntary service to the seminary for three months they were deputed to serve as granthi and pathi (in charge of the holy book and daily recitation) in two temples in explosive areas of Amritsar district. Gradually the agents infiltrated certain armed militant groups and brought their leaders closer to the controlling officer. Later these leaders of the militant groups helped to counter Pakistan’s inputs in Punjab turmoil and scuttling the efforts of the separatists. The Punjab insurgency was not won by guns alone. The intelligence agencies played cardinal roles.

In these categories of agents the case officer and his controlling officer are required to exercise utmost restraint, patience and adopt all possible tradecraft measures of secret communication and contact. Almost all categories of agents require continuous briefing and debriefing about his tasks and he may also require additional input for sharpening his look out capability. This teacher student relationship is required to be maintained at steady pace and the agency officers should maintain delicate balance between suspicion and trust. Nothing should be taken as absolute truth as there is nothing called absolute truth in human behaviors.

Having discussed these preliminaries about the character and qualification of the case officer and other pyramidal hierarchy we may now move to the mysterious areas of tradecraft and discuss each item in details.

Most important task of an intelligence agency is to generate and put in place in the target country the “sleeper cells” or Long Term Resident Agents. This technology is rather complicated. For penetrating the targeted foreign country several categories of agents are created. In short, they are: shallow depth trans-border agents, who are mostly border smugglers; Itinerant short duration agents (maximum 3-5 months). They are assigned certain specific tasks in designated areas and targets. Say, in case of Pakistan, an itinerant may be assigned task to film a particular airbase or a nuclear facility.

The most important is the task of creating “sleeper cells” or Long Term Residents. These targets are chosen after in depth study and trial. Out of 50 targets only 5 may qualify. The qualified agents are given credible “cover”, taught A to Z about the target country and infiltrated through normal immigration route or through illegal channel. They are taught to obtain records of citizenship, social welfare cards, national identity cards and other techniques to merge with the background.

In case of the 10 Russian agents the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR), the foreign intelligence agency had spotted, recruited and trained the assets with meticulous care. However, whatever little is known from FBI records some of these agents had not observed the security lessons given to them by the SVR handlers. One lady agents had called her father, working in the FSB (internal intelligence) organization. Others also committed mistakes and behaved with laxity that had drawn FBI attention. Once logged on the FBI had activated surveillance, secret enquiry, and telephone monitoring and covering their several tradecraft modalities. Agents cannot afford to be off guard. The counterintelligence agencies are not always five steps ahead of the LTRA. But once these LTRA assets commit tradecraft blunder they become easy prey.

It is expected that the Russian “sleeper agent” case will become a matter of serious case study by most intelligence agencies. The countries may be different, targets may vary, the agents may be multifarious but the tradecraft techniques are unique and more or less common to most agencies.

For constraints of space other aspects of Spying Tradecraft could not be accommodated in this essay.

This strategy suited USA and its allies to allow Pakistan to be nuclear capable for matching India’s nuclear programme. Pakistan continued to act as a surrogate nation of the USA (and allies) and embraced its western allies firmly after the USSR intervened in Afghanistan. USSR’s intervention threatened the west that the giant communist block was trying to seek access to the hot waters via Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan’s neighbor Iran had ran foul of the British and US oil empires when Prime Minister Mohammad Mossaddegh nationalized the oil industry and the western powers orchestrated a coup d’tat in 1953. Mossaddegh was ousted and a puppet Mohammad Reza Shah Pahalvi, a dictator, was installed as king. However, the 1979 Islamic Revolutionary coup had minimized most western influence on Iran. Pakistan and USA and Saudi Arabia assessed that the anti-Washington regime in Iran might allow access to Moscow to tap its oil resources and gain access the hot waters of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It was decided to intervene in Afghanistan.

The story of US and Saudi intervention in Afghanistan using Pakistan as a conduit had initiated the process of Jihad renaissance and rebirth of Islamic terrorism, which is plaguing the world even now. Afghanistan-Pakistan relations were in the limbo because of the issues of validity of the Durand Line drawn by the British in 1893 rather arbitrarily and the ambition of the Pakhtun peoples living in Afghanistan and Pakistan to have an independent homeland. Pakistan availed of the opportunity offered by joint US/Saudi adventure in Afghanistan for consolidating its hold on the seven prime mujahideen groups that operated against Soviet intervention. After 1988 agreement the Soviet troops started withdrawing from Afghanistan after being severely mauled by the mujahideen, Pakistan army regulars, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami. Al Badr (all Pakistani created jihad outfits) and ISI irregulars.

Internecine fighting between the mujahidden groups and strong emergence of the Northern Alliance (backed by India and Russia) had clogged up all trade routes between Pakistan and the Central Asian countries and Turkestan. During Benazir Bhutto’s tenure (1993-94) General Akbar Khan and the ISI chief Hamid Gul and Parvez Mohammad (later President) and Nasarullah Babar the interior minister conspired to support the Taliban (all trained in Pakistan) with a view to achieving three objectives: Opening the trade route to Turkestan through Kandahar and Heart; creating a heavily supported force that could capture power in Kabul (as against the moderate mujahideen leaders) and train Markaz ud Dawa al Irshad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, HUJI, HUA etc jihadis in Afghan camps and depute them to Kashmir. The idea was conceived by Kargil culprit Musharraf and Benazir had blessed it.

According to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid between 1994 and 1996, the USA supported the Taliban politically through its allies Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, essentially because Washington viewed the Taliban as anti-Iranian, anti-Shia, and pro-Western. Between 1995 and 1997, US support was even more driven because of its backing for the Unocal (pipeline) project. He notes that many US diplomats “saw them as messianic do-gooders—like born-again Christians from the American Bible Belt.” (Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 326). Selig Harrison, a long-time regional expert with extensive CIA ties, later said that he complained at the time about how Pakistani ISI support of the Taliban was backed by the CIA. “I warned them that we were creating a monster.” (Times of India, 3/7/2001). There is evidence to prove that CIA had helped supply the Taliban with weapons during the initial period of their rise to power.

Creation of the Taliban by Pakistan with US aids has been documented by various contemporary authors. Pakistan was one of the three countries which maintained diplomatic relationship with the Taliban government in Afghanistan. In 2001, after Al Qaeda (based in Afghanistan) attack on Trade Centre towers on 9/11 the USA declared war against the Taliban regime and told Pakistan “to be with us or against us.” General Musharraf, one of the creators of the Frankenstein, had little option but to cooperate with the USA.

However, Pakistan had not cut the umbilical with Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani factions of the Taliban. In addition, after 2001 the Al Qaeda shifted its base to Pakistan and inspired by the jihad ambience in Pakistan and Afghanistan the tribal areas of FATA and NWFP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Provinces. Gradually, taking queue from ISI managed Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, HUJI, al Badr etc jihadi organizations the Taliban movement in Pakistan (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan-TTP) started rooting in Punjab province. Youths from Punjab were recruited and trained in FATA and South and North Waziristan camps. Besides the TTP, banned organizations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipaha Sahaba and Lashkar al Islam have been revitalized. These organizations are engaged in sectarian violence, suppression of the minorities and innumerable acts of crime. They move freely with weapons and cause devastating bomb blasts against government targets.

Pakistan has been following dual Counterinsurgency (COIN) and fomenting insurgency (FOIN) policies at home against the jihadi militants. Under US pressure Pakistan had pressed in the armed forces in Swat, Bajaur, Khyber, Mohmand etc agencies against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. They seemingly gained territory and killed over 7000 people and rendered nearly more than quarter of a million people homeless. Combined with ground and air attack by Pakistan US drone attacks also took toll of some TTP leaders and cadres.

The funny part is that while campaigning against the TTP Pakistan did not seal the borders to prevent the TTP to escape to Afghanistan and tie up with Omar and Haqqani group Talibans. Though under pressure from USA, Pakistan did not take any discernable action against the Al Qaeda camps and hideouts of the Arab, Chechen, Uyghur, Uzbek etc foreign jihadists that swelled up the strength of Osama bin Laden. Hilary Clinton had recently lamented that if not higher politicians certain Pakistani officials were aware of the abodes of Osama and Al Qaeda in Pakistan-presumably in the bordering areas of Chitral and Afghan territory.

Under intense US pressure Pakistan army moved against the TTP in South Waziristan and proclaimed victory. It is yet to move against the North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan. It is believed that Al Qaeda, HUJI, TTP and Afghan Talibans have established firm bases in these tracts. It is interesting to note that Jalaluddin Haqqani group of Afghan Taliban is basically based in North Waziristan. They often operate in Afghanistan under Pakistani guidance and retreat to Pakistan. It is generally believed that the ISI had used Haqqani group for attacking Indian embassy in Kabul and other Indian targets in Paktia and Kabul areas of Afghanistan.

While there are undoubted links between the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, they appear to be sufficiently distinct for the Pakistani military and ISI to treat them very differently.

Most studies support existence of relationship of co-existence between the ISI and the Afghan Taliban, and suggest that individuals or elements within, or connected to, the ISI and Pakistani military support or advise the insurgents. As per a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, many analysts believe that Pakistan’s intelligence services know the whereabouts of Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leadership elements and likely even maintain active contacts with them at some level as part of a hedge strategy in the region. Some reports indicate that elements of Pakistan’s major intelligence agency and military forces aid the Taliban. However, a 2010 Crisis Research Center (US) report suggests that: ‘Pakistan appears to have shifted somewhat to actively assisting the U.S.-led effort in Afghanistan.’

The author Ahmed Rashid argued recently (The Washington Post, 27 April 2010) that: ‘Taliban leaders and their families live in Pakistan and are in close touch with the military and the ISI. Some Taliban allies, such as the network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, are even closer to the ISI. Although the military is finally hunting down the Pakistani Taliban in the Northwest tribal areas, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani extremists in Punjab province are being left alone.’

While we propose to discuss in depth the duplicitous policy of Pakistan towards Afghan Taliban and Afghanistan we would like to focus on the national security priority of Pakistan. Pakistan’s strategic national priorities are manifold:

1. Consider India as a prime hostile country and assign greatest importance to national defensive and offensive preparations aimed at India. For this purpose Pakistan requires, besides its regular army, assistance from auxiliary armed forces created by it in the form of Markaz ud Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Herbal Mujahideen, al Badr and HUJI. Besides infiltrating these forces in Indian Kashmir, Pakistan has the capability of directing these auxiliary forces in different parts of India with helps from subverted Indian Muslims.

2. Assigning focus of Kashmir and convey messages to US and other western countries, the Arab countries & Muslim nations that unless Kashmir issue is settled to its satisfaction Pakistan would continue to maintain auxiliary armies and its linkages with Taliban.

3. Pakistan is determined to maintain its dominant position inside Afghanistan. Though compelled by USA to fight the Taliban’s, Pakistan has focused only on the TTP forces. It has not involved its resources against Mullah Omar group of Afghan Taliban and also the Haqqani group of Taliban. While US intelligence avers that both Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are sheltered in the shadow areas of Pak-Afghan border Pakistan has not moved against them. On the other hand Haqqani group is stationed in North Waziristan. Recent studies have unraveled the connectivity between the Afghan Taliban and the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan. We propose to examine this in later paragraphs.

4. Pakistan is preparing to generate political and military bases in Afghanistan keeping in perspective the abrupt or gradual withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2011 or at a later date. Since the USA and the Afghan government initiated the process of talks with Afghan Taliban Pakistan had struck the first blow by arresting Mullah Abdul Ghana Bandar in Karachi. Mullah Bandar belongs to the same branch of Duran tribe as President Karzai is. They were in close touch. Pakistan did not want to be left out of the “peace initiative.” Mullah Baradar’s arrest would signal to other Taliban leaders, including the reclusive Mullah Muhammad Omar, about Pakistan’s capability of flexing its muscles to convince them to adopt a “reasonable” position in any negotiations, turn convincingly against al Qaeda, and ensure Pakistan’s interests are safeguarded in any attempt at a political settlement. But this would be a high-risk gamble. The warning implicit in Mullah Baradar’s arrest could just as easily persuade other Taliban leaders that it is too risky to rise above the surface enough to engage in talks, and they might be better off lying low and waiting out U.S.-led troops until they begin to leave. It also removes from the scene a man who, some argue, could otherwise have been used as a go-between in any talks. Some Taliban leaders expressed that if they did not carry out ISI’s dictate they were killed by rival groups loyal to the ISA.

5. Pakistan cannot digest India’s significant presence in Afghanistan “in the ruse” of collaborating in development works. Pakistan is aware that India has developed close ties with the elements of the “Northern Alliance” and is engaged in cultivating several sub-clans of the Pushtun people. Pakistan alleges that India is building up military potential in Afghanistan and from bases in Tajikistan. It also castigates India for using the Afghan territory for supporting the Baloch revolutionary groups. To counteract Indian presence Pakistan has started deputing the Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadists to Afghanistan in collaboration with the Talibans. It is alleged that some elements of serving Pakistan army are also masquerading as Lashkar operatives.

According to Alissa J Rubin, NYT News Service, Jun 17, 2010 LeT presence in Afghanistan has considerably increased. According to her study, “The group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to have planned or executed three major attacks against Indian government employees and private workers in Afghanistan in recent months, according to Afghan and international intelligence officers and diplomats here. It continues to track Indian development workers and others for possible attack, they said… A number of experts now say LeT presents more of a threat in Afghanistan than even al-Qaida does, because its operatives are from the region, less readily identified and less resented than Arabs who make up al-Qaida’s ranks. There were a few LeT cells in Afghanistan three or four years ago, but they were not focused on Indian targets and, until recently, their presence seemed to be diminishing.

‘They are active now in six or eight provinces’ in Afghanistan, said a senior Nato intelligence official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

The ISI and Taliban nexus have been studied in depth by Haider A Mullick of JSOU (Joint Special Operations University-2009) and Matt Welden of Crisis State Research Centre (2010). Matt Welden had interviewed several Afghan Taliban leaders. His findings are revealing and shocking. According to him: “Through providing sanctuary and support to the Afghan Taliban, and arresting those who step out of line, the ISI appears to be able to exert significant influence on Taliban strategy. As a Kandahari political figure summarised: ‘The ISI have some control [over the Taliban]. They have influence in strategic decision-making. Sure, they have dominated the Taliban movement, but they [the Taliban] have some independence.’ Likewise, a political analyst in Kandahar said: ‘The Taliban is obliged to accept Pakistan’s demands – it needs their support, but is not their puppet.’

The Taliban-ISI relationship is founded on mutual benefit. The Taliban need external sanctuary, as well as military and logistical support to sustain their insurgency; the ISI believes that it needs a significant allied force in Afghanistan to maintain regional strength and ‘strategic depth’ in their rivalry with India. As a former Taliban minister put it: ‘The ISI are helping the Taliban a lot, but they only give for their own gain. There is a reciprocal issue: Kashmir. The root of the problem in Afghanistan is the Pakistan-India competition.’ Pakistan’s fundamental strategic calculus does not appear to have altered significantly since the 1970s. According to Steve Coll (The New Yorker, 24 May 2010) earlier this year Pakistan submitted a briefing to the US on its national interests in the Afghan conflict, which reportedly, ‘reflects one overriding concern: India.’ Indeed, in February 2010, the US Director of National Intelligence confirmed: ‘Islamabad’s conviction that militant groups are an important part of its strategic arsenal to counter India’s military and economic advantages’. As Steve Coll explains (The New Yorker, 1 March 2010): ‘Pakistan’s generals have retained a bedrock belief that, however unruly and distasteful Islamist militias such as the Taliban may be, they could yet be useful proxies to ward off a perceived existential threat from India. In the Army’s view, at least, that threat has not receded.”

Several reputed researchers like Johnson and Mason (2008); Antonio Giustozzi (2007) and Seth Jones have pointed out direct ISI involvement with the Afghan Taliban. There are reports that ISI officials attended the top representative body of the Taliban Quetta Shura in the recent past. The Quetta Shura is widely believed to comprise around a dozen or so members who meet several times a year; while certain members and sub-committees may meet more frequently. It was strongly suggested by Matt Welden that that the ISI has representatives on the Shura, either as participants or observers, and the agency is thus involved at the highest level of the movement. Significantly, even a limited ISI presence on the Shura would allow the agency to monitor the Shura’s decisions and take steps against members who are not perceived to be acting in Pakistan’s interests.

A former deputy minister under the former Taliban regime and who frequently liaises with the Taliban, said that three to seven ISI officials attend the Quetta Shura as observers. He believes that the ISI has responsibility for organising the meetings and that it exerts pressure on individual participants beforehand, especially if major decisions are to be taken. An Afghan conflict analyst, with years of experience in southern Afghanistan and contacts with the Taliban, concurred, pointing out that the ISI, use people who have the same appearance, language, behaviour, and habits as Afghans. They wouldn’t be strange to the Talibs, who seem to them to be Muslims, also fighting infidels. Besides Quetta the ISI is represented in the Miramshah and Peshawar Shura of the Taliban.

The ISI officials often chose targets of attack get the target surveyed and train and arm the Talibans to attack and destroy the target. For such collaboration Pakistan often offers the strike commanders $ 25,000 to 30,000 and reward and incentive. Often strategic supplies are pumped into Afghanistan to bolster up the fighting morale of the Taliban commanders.

Pakistan has kept the Taliban groups divided into smaller and manageable fighting components. The ISI often orders attacks on Indian targets, civilians, esteemed maulanas who do not support wanton violence. Foot soldiers and junior commanders refusing to obey ISI orders are eliminated brutally. Out of nearly 2.5 million Afghans still in Pakistan the ISI recruits Taliban fighters from amongst them and deputes them to Southern and central Afghanistan. In the eastern provinces ISI commands the loyalty of over 1500 Taliban army headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani. According to Ahmed Rashid (2008) ‘by 2004 they [the US and NATO] had confirmed reports of the ISI running training camps for Taliban recruits north of Quetta, funds and arms shipments arriving from the Gulf countries, and shopping sprees in Quetta and Karachi in which the Taliban bought hundreds of motorbikes, pickup trucks and satellite phones. American soldiers at firebases along the border in eastern Afghanistan and US drones in the skies watched as army trucks delivered fighters to the border at night to infiltrate Afghanistan and then recovered them on their return a few days later. Pakistani artillery gave covering fire to Taliban infiltrators crossing into Afghanistan, and medical facilities were set up close to the border by the army for wounded Taliban.’

Hundreds of Talibans are trained in Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta madrasas and then taken to forward bases for arms training. They are supplied with motor cycles, pickup vans and satellite phones besides weapons. Often ISI officers are attached with these groups. In March 2010 the New York Times reported that western officials believe ‘Colonel Imam’, a senior former ISI official, continued to train, recruit and finance the insurgents. Along with a number of other retired Pakistani intelligence officials, they say, he had helped the Taliban stage a remarkable comeback.

America has pumped in 11.6 billion in security (military) related aids and $ 6 billons in economic aides. Though Obama has proclaimed binding relationship with Pakistan and expressed hopes of future strategic collaboration, even a naïve observer can see how much of the aid are used for economic uplift of the Pakistani people, how much are diverted to arm the armed forces to meet “Indian Challenges” and how much diverted to maintain the Afghani Talibans and LeT like outfits acting as proxy army of Pakistan.

The paradoxical situation reached a pinnacle when Asif Ali Zardari, President, visited a jail where about 600 Talibans were incarcerated. He told them that they were Pakistan’s own people but were arrested under intense pressure of America. He promised to release them in batches; the minor elements first and the senior leaders later. Surprisingly about 300 Talibans were released soon after Zardari’s visit to the jail.

Pakistan is playing the dual game of fighting counterinsurgency (COIN) against the Pakistani Talibans and pursuing the dirty game of fomenting insurgency (FOIN). No doubt it fought TTP in Swat, Bajaur, Mohmand Miramshah, and South Waziristan areas. But it is now understood that sections of Pak Taliban have developed nexus with Afghan Talibans and recently they captured 35 personnel of Pakistan Frontier Guards. These captured soldiers have not yet been released. On the other hand TTP has started spreading in Punjab. The Punjabi speaking Northern and central Punjabi tanzeems and the Seraiki speaking southern Punjabis are dominating the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jais-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipaha Sahaba outfits. On the lure of cash incentive most of these elements have started veering around TTP and the outfit is styled as Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab.

According to Nazam Sethi (Daily Times 18.06.10), “Another worrying aspect vis-à-vis the terrorist nexus is the emergence of the Punjabi Taliban, a loose terror network that is spread all over the country. This group is not only in cahoots with the Pakistani Taliban but they also have suspected links with al Qaeda. It is about time that the so-called assets of the state like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba are disbanded and crushed. These groups have enjoyed state patronage for years. Pakistan has suffered enough at the hands of its skewed foreign policy goals. We cannot afford to do so anymore. Enough is enough. Let our soil be finally cleansed of our sins of the past.” But saner people like Sethi are not heard in Pakistan. Policy matters are decided by Pakistani armed forces.

Pakistan itself, India and Afghanistan have been affected by Pakistan’s FOIN policy as a part of its national security doctrine. In Pakistan it created LeT, JeM, LeJ, HUJI and Sipaha Sahaba etc outfits. These very forces, except the main body of LeT have gone out of control. They are creating serious internal security problems for Pakistan. The TTP was originally created for aiding the Afghan Talibans and fighting against India. Gradually under Al Qaeda and Taliban influence the TTP contingents turned the guns against Pakistan with a view to establishing a pure Islamic State. The splinter TTP groups are now combined with splinter groups of other jihadi assets of Pakistan. Punjab and most of Sind have been affected by terrorist violence and target killings. It appears that the State of Pakistan is withering away.

Pakistan’s FOIN policies in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia and Kosovo have been well documented. Its FOIN policy against India has been continuously chronicled. Starting from Naga rebellion and escape of Phizo to Pakistan in 1948 to ravaging insurgency movements in the northeast have become integral parts of India’s internal security concerns. Pakistani collaboration, often punctuated by Chinese involvement has created several cancerous terrorist movements. This is a tremendous success story of Pakistan, especially of the ISI.

Pakistan’s FOIN operations in Punjab (1984-1992) was aimed at training, equipping and funding groups of Sikh separatists which was whipped up by a fundamentalist preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Thousands of lives were lost and finally the movement was brought under control. However, even now nearly 32 important separatist Sikh leaders are hosted by the ISI in and around Lahore. Occasional attempts are made to infiltrate terrorists with weapons and explosives for reviving the separatist movement. Among important leaders are Lakhbir Singh (nephew of Bhindranwale), Wadhwa Singh, Mehal Singh, (Babbar Khalsa), Paramjit Singh Panjwar (KCF), Ranjit Singh Neeta (Khalistan Zindabad Force) etc.

In Kashmir Pakistani involvement started immediately after partition, when the Mehsud tribal bandits were sent to invade Kashmir. Indian army intervention defeated Pakistani design partially. Since then the Joint Intelligence North (JIN) of the ISI has been deputing own agents, trained terrorists to create an ambience of insurgency. However, large scale FOIN operations were started from 1988 with the help of JKLF and splinter terrorist groups. Hizbul Mujahideen was created and housed in Pak occupied Kashmir and recruits were raised from Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. The Lashkar-e-Taiba and HUJI were launched in 1992-93 by the ISI in collaboration with Markaz ud Dawa al Irshad and Al Qaeda. These auxiliary forces were trained by serving and retired ISI and army officers in POK and Afghanistan camps. They were infiltrated in Kashmir and other parts of India. Often Nepal and Bangladesh were used for infiltration and arms and explosive supplies.

Another area of Pakistani FOIN operation targets the vulnerable Indian Muslim groups. Between 1990 and present day about 8 tanzeems were created in Kerala, 6 in Karnataka and Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. There are about 9 active Muslim militant groups in Assam, Manipur and West Bengal. These groups are buttresses by Bangladeshi HUJI, Jamait ul Mujahideen, Hizbut Tehrir, Allahar Dal (party of Allah) groups. These groups are aligned with LeT and Al Qaeda. I have detailed these aspects in my book Fulcrum of Evil-ISI, CIA, Al Qaeda Nexus and a largish essay ‘Fulcrum of the Eastern Dark’ that can be found in the archive of this website. In the same process Pakistan succeeded in radicalising the Student’s Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Scores of SIMI activists were trained in Pakistan. After SIMI was banned it changed over to Indian Mujahideen and carried out several acts of violence.

Through the process of religious preaching, propaganda materials, financial support and internet propaganda Pakistan and related Islamists have succeeded in replanting the seeds of secessionism amongst certain sections of the Indian Muslims. In these very subverted pockets Pakistan’s FOIN operators have established cells and modules of terrorist and separatist outfits including the HUJI, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Ahl-e-Hadith. The network is on the increase. The impact is felt more certain districts of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh as well as Delhi NCR.

Pakistan must rethink its national security perspective and put halt to arming itself to the teeth with generous and foolish US gifts and Chinese helping hands. Pakistan has not given up the NS policy of retaking entire Kashmir through FOIN and direct military operations. Its increased nuclear capability (more than India), missile power and fresh nuclear aid from China indicate that Pakistan would gear up for a “Final war of all wars.”

Its perspective that India is abetting Balochistan insurgency, simmering discontent in Sind, rising militancy in Punjab and increased Taliban activities in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas is not substantiated by ground realities. Pakistan must understand that its internal COIN policy cannot succeed if it simultaneously plays the duplicitous policy of FOIN in Afghanistan and India. It is now confirmed that Pakistan has deputed large contingents of LeT to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan guerrillas. Its FOIN policy is dictated by the urge of maintaining control on the Taliban and enhances Pakistani presence in Afghanistan with a view to establishing its hegemony on the troubled country after US and NATO withdrawal. Washington and Obama are not fools not to understand the endgame in Afghanistan. Sooner than later they have to seek a roadmap to exit honourably.

“Meanwhile, terror groups that had been established and supported by the Pakistani establishment to do its bidding in India, Kashmir and Afghanistan turn their guns and their bombs on Pakistani security forces and civilians, killing thousands. This is the problem with developing a security framework without any reference to the people and the political leadership. The military, smug in the belief that only it knows what’s good for the country, has continued to run a secretive, rogue policy that contravenes international law as well as Pakistan’s own interests…

With the Afghan endgame now clearly in sight, it is all the more necessary that India, Pakistan and Afghanistan must resolve their differences and come to some understanding irrespective of the military and domestic compulsions of Nato states active in the region. Unfortunately, the zero-sum game that has characterised Indo-Pak relations will probably prevent this logical convergence of interests.” (Endgame in Afghanistan, Irfan Husain, Dawn 19.06.2010).

So, the people of the extended subcontinent stand on the verge of diplomatic, political, military and fragile internal security collapse in view of Pakistan’s ambidextrous COIN and FOIN policies pursued at home, in Afghanistan and India. Pakistan army and the ISI have nearly ignited the dry powder keg. We have to wait for the devastating blast that might engulf the extended subcontinent. India stands more vulnerable.

In a multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-tradition country like India societal traditions, cultural totems and social and systemic evils often vary from region to region. Certain societal and systemic evils are commonly shared by almost all the religious and cultural groups. Most visible social evils are dowry system, poverty, gender inequality, child labour, religious sanction for drug consumption (bhang, hashish, dhatura concoction etc), child begging, honour killing and bribery. The dowry system is less acute in tribal states of northeast, Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. The system is ghastly visible in Hindi heartland including Punjab, western and southern Indian societies.

Rural poverty in common to most of the regions and in Indian economic planning and execution system normally does not recognize the curse of shattered rural economy. Like malarial fever certain governments often come up with rural employment, housing, and water supply schemes. Unbiased ground examinations prove the fallacious implementation of the scheme, as most of the money spent is misappropriated by local politicians, leaders of the LSG bodies and government officials. Despite such schemes helpless and loan-burdened agriculturalists continue to commit suicide in states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and even a supposedly prosperous state like Punjab. Globalisation of economy has failed to transform the lives of the rural poor all over India. Two parallel economies continue to coexist as they have been coexisting for hundreds of years. Besides the minor circus shows mentioned above Rural Development Programmes of the government is the highest joke going around. Some of the readers might have had the opportunity to witness the farce.

While child labour and child marriage are common all over the country regions like Rajasthan have a peculiar system called “jhagda.” This system allows parents and husbands to sell off their daughters and wives for an agreed amount. The sale deed is sanctified in a government stamp paper. No joke. Visit Tonk and you can see instances galore.

Use of young kids for begging and hawking certain merchandise is not uncommon a sight in metropolitan cities and even in small towns. Certain begging curtails and organized manpower suppliers recruit the children through kidnapping, purchasing from parents and supply the child manpower to begging cartels and commodity hawking organizations. Use of minor children as domestic helps as a common practice all over India. Besides working at homes they also work at eateries, markets, shops and other business establishments. Laws regarding child labour are blatantly violated by the people and even by social organizations and police forces. You may have often been pained but most of us have not gauged the vastness of the panorama of this Great Indian Social Circus.

Bribery and plundering of public fund have become synonymous with Indian behavioral pattern. No big governmental transaction, contract, supply and purchase mechanism can be completed without greasing the palms of the political and bureaucratic authorities. Though Bofors scandal still continue to haunt the nation, scandals in defence purchases, Telecom ministry, Infotech industries and infrastructural ventures appear to be of higher magnitude and the governmental machineries appear to be unable to detect and investigate these super-scandals. It is rather a vexing task to mention about prevalence of bribery at middle and lower levels of governmental activities. Once upon a time police was earmarked as the most corrupt department. This honour has been usurped by the Income tax, customs, excise, education, health, public works, food grains and pulses supply system and most other government departments. The poor police now stand at eleventh slot below the other lucrative and highly paying departments. Few recent cases of IAS, IPS and IRS officers booked for corruption are only tips of the icebergs.

While these are some of the visible and often discussed evils of the Great Indian Circus the other basic areas of societal evils lurk around us as parts of our cultural heritage. To decorate social evils with the condiments of cultural totems is more heinous crime than crimes listed in the penal codes.

Gender discrimination does not exactly define the crimes committed by the society in committing acts of female feticide, female infanticide and abortion of a conceived girl child. Two charts about growth of female population in India would illustrate the magnitude of crime being committed against the female child:

Image: Census

The Other chart pertains to negative ratio of female growth in Indian society:

Image: Census

The picture is horrifying. While Kerala has the higher female ratio (1,058) the lowest averages states are Uttar Pradesh (898); Haryana (861); Punjab (876); Chandigarh (777). The national average is between 920 to 970.

This Hindu belief is fortified by the so-called injunction of scriptures: “Put name narakat jo trayate so putrah.” This means a male child (putra) rescues the parents from a hell called Put. Put is supposed to be one of ten horrible hells. This Hindu belief has eroded in certain states with spread of modern education and in states like Kerala. West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra women have gradually gained near-equality with men. In metropolitan cities also this trend of equality is visible. But the vast countryside suffers from the embedded bias against the girl child.

John-Thor Dahlburg pointed out in his article “Where killing baby girls ‘is no big sin’,” The Los Angeles Times (quoted in The Toronto Star, February 28, 1994) said “From 972 females for every 1,000 males in 1901 … the gender imbalance has tilted to 929 females per 1,000 males. … In the nearly 300 poor hamlets of the Usilampatti area of Tamil Nadu, as many as 196 girls died under suspicious circumstances (in 1993) … Some were fed dry, unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death.” Dahlburg profiles one disturbing case from Tamil Nadu:

‘Lakshmi already had one daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child’s short life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infant’s famished cries, the impoverished village woman squeezed the milky sap from an oleander shrub, mixed it with castor oil, and forced the poisonous potion down the newborn’s throat. The baby bled from the nose, then died soon afterward. Female neighbors buried her in a small hole near Lakshmi’s square thatched hut of sun baked mud. They sympathized with Lakshmi, and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did. For despite the risk of execution by hanging and about 16 months of a much-ballyhooed government scheme to assist families with daughters, in some hamlets of … Tamil Nadu, murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them. “A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?” Lakshmi, 28, answered firmly when asked by a visitor how she could have taken her own child’s life eight years ago. “Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her.”

According to Marina Porras, (Female Infanticide and foeticide) a male child is able to work in field, is insurance for economic support and an eligible male child can bring fat dowry. Preference for male child also adds fuel to the fire of dowry system and dowry related killing of brides. In India a qualified male member can earn up to 100,000 per month (more if a covenanted officer). A normal income group male child can fetch a total dowry value of 50,000 to rupees two lac. I have known certain cases of covenanted All India Service officers who garnered dowry value of rupees one crore to five crores. This system is prevalent in almost all the states, with lesser degree of evil in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and in the tribal states. In main Aryavarta and the southern peninsula the system has become aggravated. Not more than 5% marriage can be negotiated with smaller or token amount of dowry +commodities and certain amounts of demanded jewelry. A car, at least a motorbike is a common expectation from the girl’s family.

In spite of legislation female foeticide has become common feature. The prescribed laws are:

The Maternal Terminal of Pregnancy or the MTP Act came into force in 1971. This was the first law to regulate the termination of pregnancy. Thus otherwise the termination of pregnancy has been legalized. According to this Act, if the pregnancy would involve a risk to life of pregnant women or cause grave injury/physical or mental disbalance of the foetus, in that case she can go for abortion.

To check the practice of determination of sex before birth of a child is illegal in the eyes of law, according to the Prenatal Diagnostic test Act, 1994. According to the new Law, the person who disobey the PNDT Act, the penalty which at present between Rupees 10,000 to 1 lac is being enhanced to anywhere between Rs.3 to 7 lac.

In June 2007, a doctor was arrested on illegally aborting 260 female foetuses after police recovered bones & skulls from a septic tank in a maternity clinic in New Delhi.

On July 23, 2007 Nayagarh District (Orissa) police had discovered 40 dead female infants in a dry well near a private clinic & within one month again from Bhubaneswar police recovered 30 foeticides in 15 jars near a Forest Park. The only reason of these issues is discrimination between male & female children.

From official record it has been estimated that in India everyday 7000 female foeticides has taken place. Shocking statistics reveal that as many as 10 million girls in India have been killed by their parents either before or immediately after birth over the past 20 years. Perhaps most Indians are not concerned about this great female killing circus of India.

Female foeticide and female infanticide is a vast subject and is one of the most painful games that are played in the Great Indian Circus. To be a girl child is rated as misfortune in 90% Indian families. However, I propose to move out from this circus ring and like to invite the readers to visit another great game in the Indian circus. It is called Khap Panchayat.

Khap is a cluster of villages united by caste and geography. It is as old as 14th century started by upper caste Jats to consolidate their power and position. The main rule is that all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings. Jat clans like Malik, Dalal, and Dahia etc have strong roots in the age old system that was started in the 14th century for maintaining purity of the Jat community as against the foreign aggressors and supremacy of the Rajput (Thakur) clans. This era also witnessed consolidation of Jat political entities, though Jat political supremacy in parts of Punjab, UP and Rajasthan started in 17th century after decline of the Mughal regime of Aurangzeb.

Khap panchayat governs the khap formed by same gotra (clan) families from several neighbouring villages. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan. Love marriages are considered taboo in areas governed by Khap panchayats. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village. Many young couples have been killed in the past for defying khap rules.

Khap panchyat imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases end up either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide. All this is done in the name of brotherhood and honour. Inherent weakness of democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions has emboldened the Khap panchayats to abrogate exclusive power. The police and other wings of administration either connive or look on helplessly. Even the governments have not done much to control their power.

The 10-15 men who constitute a Khap settle disputes and control the lives of young people. Many village people also defend these caste panchayats as they deliver the verdict in one sitting whereas court cases drag for years.

In some Haryana villages, the young girls are routinely threatened, abused and killed all under Khap verdicts. It is acceptable for the families to feed pesticide pills to the teenage girls and then dispose off their bodies by burning them without any police records. The entire onus of siblinghood rests on the girl. She is the keeper of village honor. Sometimes rules are bent for the boys but a girl is never allowed to bend the rules. If a couple run away the families risk boycott and hefty fines in lakhs of rupees. Even the other women of the household can suffer abuse. There are instances of mass rape of women who dared to defy the dictate of the Khap panchayat.

In keeping with the khap rules, older villagers try to keep the young people apart. Some schools are also forced to have separate timings for the boys and girls. Fearing their daughters would go astray, many parents marry them off at an early age. People have unquestionable faith in the justice of khap. The question of rights for women does not exist anywhere in the territories ruled by Khap panchayats.

On July 24, 2009 the Khap panchayat ordered the entire family of Ravinder and Shilpa to vacate their village because the couple had married in interrelated gotras. Ravinder, a Gehlot Jat had married Shilpa of Kadyan caste, supposed to be related to the Gehlots. Ravinder and Shilpa now live in Delhi but they require police escort as ordered by court, whenever they visit the village.

A few days earlier Ved Pal Mor was lynched by the Jat villagers for marring in the same Gotra. In June 2009 Khap panchayat had forced Manoj and his wife Babli to drink pesticide as they married in the same gotra. An order from the High Court to give police protection to the couple did not help. In June 2009 itself the village khap allured Sonu and Anita (married in same gotra) to return to the village on promise of pardon. On their arrival they were stabbed to death by khap volunteers in the presence of police. These are some of the tantalsing scenes from the great Khap game of the Jat community of Haryana.

Besides the Hindu jats some Muslim jats of Mewat area of Haryana have also started resorting to Khap tyranny. An eight-time national wrestling champion, Ikhlash, 22, is facing the wrath of a khap of 360 villages of Meo Muslims for getting married within the same gotra.

Little did Ikhlash, a resident of Mewat’s Dwarka village, know what he would be up against when on May 9 he married Anjum. Her ancestors had migrated to Rajasthan from Haryana.

Now, instead of planning his honeymoon, Ikhlash, a constable in the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Bhondsi, finds himself and his family excommunicated for marrying the girl from same gotra.

Ramzan Chaudhary, who describes himself as the coordinator of khaps and the head of Mewat Vikas Manch, justified Ikhlash’s social boycott as an initiative to protect the honor of the villages and the Meo community. “We follow Islam. But, at the same time we strongly follow our tradition derived from Haryana. We don’t allow same gotra marriage. The girl belongs to Barkiya gotra which has a strong presence in 22 villages of Mewat area. Her ancestors moved to Alwar in Rajsthan but the gotra remains the same.” Ikhlash is not ready to compromise and is still trying to fend the Muslim Khap maniacs.

Irked at being equated with the Taliban and kangaroo courts, khap panchayats in Haryana are now determined to get some legal sanction for their atrocious activities. They are at work to draw up recommendations for making “suitable” amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) at the state level so that their rulings become valid under law.

At a two-day meeting in Rohtak that ended on September 6, 2009, the Sarv Khap Panchayat, a conglomerate of various khaps, decided to set up a core committee to suggest amendments to the Act to disallow same-gotra and same-village marriages as per Jat tradition.

Lt Col (retd) Chander Singh Dalal, an advocate in Rohtak who organized the “seminar”, said: “After elections, I plan to send the draft recommendations to each of the 90 MLAs and persuade them to bring a Bill in the assembly. I am sure it won’t be opposed.”

Justice (retd) Devi Singh Teotia, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana HC, who actively participated in the Sarv Khap Panchayat, said: ‘‘Khap leaders are keepers of Jat tradition and they have lately been facing flak for it. If the amendments come through, there will be no more clashes between tradition and the law, and they (the khap leaders) won’t be maligned.”

Again in April 12, 2010 defiant leaders of various ‘khap panchayats’ or caste councils decided to support six people convicted by a Haryana court for an honour killing and sought an amendment to the Hindu Marriage They pleaded that the constitution and law cannot stand in the way of Khap traditions. At a chaotic meeting of the mahapanchayat of over 20 khaps from across Haryana and adjoining states, a section of the leaders suddenly announced their decision to support the six convicts, five of whom were last month sentenced to death for killing Manoj and Babli in 2007 for marrying within the same gotra.

The decision of the Sarv Khap Jaat Mahasammelan was, however, opposed by a section of khap leaders from Haryana saying all views were not allowed to be expressed at the meeting. The Khap leaders blocked a road in protest saying the Haryana government would have to assure them that it would write to the central government seeking an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Surprisingly, a young, educated and scion of an industrial empire Navin Jindal (MP-Congress) carried a brief on behalf of the Khap Panchayat Mahasabha advocating amendment in Hindu Marriage Act. After tons of discussions and condemnation Jindal tried to explain that he was just forwarding a request from his electorate. Some Araya Samaji Hindu fanatics of Hindi Heartland and the Jat leader of UP have also joined the Khap circus.

The circus is not yet complete. The Congress party partly singed by the Khap initiated honour killing and partially stubbed by the burning of the Dalit village Mirchpur by the Jats in presence of police, has activated the coordination committee for Haryana. This is supposed to oversee the performance of the state government (Congress ruled) over the Khap issue as well as ignominious barbaric treatment of the Dalits by the Jats.

It is time we move out of the sky-train of Khap tyranny and move over to the merry-go-round of Caste Based Population Enumeration. It is claimed that Hindu scriptures had sanctioned the Varnashram. Lord Krishna is supposed to have told Arjuna that He had created four Varnas according to qualification and work-station in life. The experts on Gita now say this is a Brahminical interpolation. Some scholars claim that the Purusha Suktam of the Rig Veda is the origin of Varna system. Purusha is described as a primeval gigantic man, not unlike the Norse Ymir or the Greco-Roman Zeus, from whose body the world and the varnas (castes) were created. He is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet. It is claimed that in the yagna (sacrifice) of Purusha, the Vedic chants were first created. The horses and cows were born; the Brahmins (priests) were made from Purusha’s mouth, the Kshatriyas (warriors) from his arms, the Vaishyas (traders) from his thighs, and the Shudras (lower castes) from his feet. Several Sanskrit and Vedic scholars now claim that the Purusha Suktam were inserted by the Brahmins much later in societal development of India to establish supremacy of the Brhminic community and their supporting arms- the kshatriyas and vaishyas. The sudras were supposed to serve the other upper castes.

The curse of caste system in India, invented by the Brahmins and their allies has kept the Indian Hindu society segmented and culturally diffused. Intra-societal immobility and inter-societal segmentation had divided the people so much that they were vaguely known as Hindus but their religion and culture never coalesced to make them a Nation of people within a defined geographical entity.

The demand for restoration of caste-based census has got a boost with members of the Union Cabinet making a forceful pitch for the enumeration of OBCs (other backward classes) nationally. Among those arguing strongly for the return of caste census are OBC faces such as law minister M Veerappa Moily, minister for overseas affairs Vayalar Ravi, telecom minister Andimuthu Raja and fertiliser minister MK Alagiri. Pranab Mukherji and P, Chidambaram also supported them. Only Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik cautioned that the practice abandoned 70 years ago should not be revived. The development came after a strong demand in Parliament for revival of caste census. The BJP and the left parties joined OBC leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, and Sharad Yadav in demanding that caste be brought back as a census criterion.

The last census to enumerate caste was in 1931, when the British were ruling India and Lord Irwin was the viceroy. There was no census in 1941, thanks to the Second World War. After independence, India’s founding fathers decided to do away with caste as a census criterion because of their desire to build a casteless society. Now politicians, particularly from the OBCs, are demanding resumption of caste enumeration in the census. In fact, they want it done in the exercise that is already under way. They say the reality of caste in India cannot be wished away and enumerating caste would help in implementation of many policies based on caste, such as reservation in education and employment. But those opposed to such a census say the dream of a casteless social order should not be given up and efforts should be made to weaken the caste structure based on oppression of those at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Fluidity of Indian caste system and segmentation of the society was not exploited by the Muslim rulers. In fact, remaining in contact with the Hindus and the converted Muslims also borrowed the Hindu caste system. The British society of 18th and 19th century was demarcated by sharp class division. Even Robert Clive was known as an upstart who tried to climb up the social ladder with the help of plundered Indian wealth. The British had found it convenient to divide the Indian society on religious and caste lines. They had developed segmented and partisan policies towards the Muslims to balance and checkmate resurgent nationalist awakening amongst the Hindus. At a later stage the British tried to experiment with the Four Nation policy for India-Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Scheduled Caste & Dalits. The Sikh people preferred to cast their lot with the majority of the Indians on the face of inevitable partition of Punjab. The British egged on several SC leaders, but failed to win over Baba Saheb Ambedkar, who had struck a deal with Gandhi for protection of the SC and Dalits. We will describe in short the views of Gandhi and Ambedkar on Jativad (caste & varna) issue in a later paragraph.

However, The British succeeded in roping a foxy Bengali SC leader Jogendra Nath Mandal to demand separate nationhood for the Scheduled Caste community and allured him to tag with Jinnah. Mandal was a minister in Muslim League government in Bengal and later a minister in Pakistan government. Finally disillusioned, he migrated and settled down in India abandoning the third nation status for the SC community.

The British, however, adopted an attitude of neglect if not hostility towards the tribal community in the heartland area of British India. In the northeast they segregated the tribal people and converted them to Christianity. The reason for British aversion to the tribal people can be found in repeated tribal uprising against British occupation of their land. Some of the major tribal rebellions were:

1.Halba rebellion (1774–79)
2.Bhopalpatnam Struggle (1795)
3.Bhil rebellion (1822–1857)
4. Paralkot rebellion (1825)
5.Tarapur rebellion (1842–54)
6.Maria rebellion (1842–63)
7.Santhal rebellion (July 1855 to May 1856) in areas of present Jharkhand and W. Bengal.
8.Bhil rebellion, begun by Tantya Tope in Banswara (1858)
9.Koi revolt (1859)
10.Gond rebellion, begun by Ramji Gond in Adilabad (1860)
11.Muria rebellion (1876)
12.Rani rebellion (1878–82)
13.Bhumkal (1910)

Most of these rebellions were brutally suppressed, tribal homes burnt, cattle plundered and women raped. Following these events the British started deputing Christian Missionaries to the areas to “civilize” the naked tribals.

Surprisingly, the post-independent government of India followed the British thesis of neglect and non-interference. Nehru had followed the thesis of Verrier Elwyn (A Philosophy for NEFA) and said, “I am alarmed when I see – not only in this country but in other great countries too – how anxious people are to shape others according to their own image or likeness, and to impose on them their particular way to living. We are welcome to our way of living, but why impose it on others? This applies equally to national and international fields. In fact, there would be more peace in the world if people were to desist from imposing their way of living on other people and countries. I am not at all sure which is the better way of living, the tribal or own. In some respects I am quite certain theirs is better. Therefore, it is grossly presumptuous on our part to approach them with an air of superiority, to tell them how to behave or what to do and what not to do. There is no point in trying to make of them a second-rate copy of ourselves.” (Jawaharlal Nehru in the preface of the book by Elwyn).

Nehru’s successors had not changed the policy. This is one of the inherent causes of Maoist advancement in the hinterland tribal areas.

Let us briefly examine what two great sons of India Ambedkar and Gandhi had to say about Jativad (caste and varna) system. We cannot overlook the caution sounded by one of the hardcore nationalist fighters, Lala Hardayal. He said, “Caste is the curse of India. Caste, in all its forms, has made us nation of slaves. It is not Islam, it is not England that has destroyed India. Our enemy is within us. Priest-craft and caste have slain us.”

Snippets of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s views are reproduced below:

‘Originally, varnas were based on worth, but castes became based on birth.’

‘The law of chaturvarna prohibited the Shudras from pursuing knowledge, from engaging in economic enterprise, and bearing arms with the result that they could never revolt.’

‘Caste system embodies the arrogance and selfishness of a perverse section of society.’

‘It has narrowed a man’s loyalty to his caste, made virtue and morality caste ridden.’

‘Caste has made Shuddhi, i. e., conversion to Hinduism impracticable – and so long as there is no sangathan the Hindus will remain weak and meek and will tolerate insult and wrong meekly.’

‘Although the castes in Hindu society have similarity of customs, beliefs, and thoughts, they are neither a society nor a nation in the true sense of the term. They are a collection of castes.’

‘Caste has ruined the Hindu race and has destroyed, demoralised, and devitalised Hindu society.’

Let us reproduce some of the snippets of the views of Gandhi on this issue:

“If the Shudras (low castes) leave their ancestral profession and take up others, ambition will rouse in them and their peace of mind will be spoiled. Even their family peace will be disturbed. (Hind Swaraj).”

“I believe in Varnashrama (caste system) which is the law of life. The law of Varna (color and / or caste) is nothing but the law of conservation of energy. Why should my son not be scavenger if I am one? (Harijan, 3-6-1947).”

“He (Shudra, low caste) may not be called a Brahmin (uppermost caste), though he (Shudra) may have all the qualities of a Brahmin in this birth. And it is a good thing for him (Shudra) not to arrogate a Varna (caste) to which he is not born. It is a sign of true humility. (Young India, 11-24-1927).”

“According to Hindu belief, he who practices a profession which does not belong to him by birth, does violence to himself and becomes a degraded being by not living up to the Varna (caste) of his birth. (Young India, 11-14-1927).”

“As years go by, the conviction is daily growing upon me that Varna (caste) is the law of man’s being, and therefore, caste is necessary for Christians and Muslims as it has been necessary for Hinduism, and has been its saving grace. (Speech at Trivandrum, (Collection of Speeches), Ramanath Suman (1932)).”

“I would resist with my life the separation of “Untouchables” from the caste Hindus. The problem of the “Untouchable” community is of comparatively little importance. (London Round Table Conference 1931.).”

“I call myself a Snatana man, one who firmly believes in the caste system. (Dharma Manthan, p 4).”

“I believe in caste division determined by birth and the very root of caste division lies in birth. (Varna Vyavastha, p 76-77).”

These quotes are not meant for undermining Gandhi’s movement against untouchbility, but to illustrate his personal faith in caste and Varna system.

It is not surprising that Gandhi’s political heirs had not done anything to listen to the warnings of Lela Arrayal, Subhas Bose and Ambedkar. They rather added fuel to the fire. While Indira Gandhi maintained the constitutional status quo the Janata Party regime headed by Morarji Desai constituted ‘Mandal Commission’ under B. P. Mandal, MP to identify the socially and educationally backward communities in 1979. Indira Gandhi did not want to open up fresh controversies by implementing the Mandal recommendations about Other Backward Classes and additional reservation policy. A beleaguered V. P. Singh confronted by BJP’s Ram Temple agitation and political intrigues by Devilal and Chandrasekhar hastily decided to implement the provisions of the Mandal Commission on Auguat 7, 1990. It was followed by tumultuous situation in the country, fall of V. P. Singh government and prolonged political instability in the country.

This being the historical background it is for the Nation as a whole to decide if population enumeration should take place on the basis of Varna and caste. The Hindu society is already sharply divided and consummation of the divisions by reflecting caste strengths in the census may again turn the table on so-called upper castes. The question would boil down to the following cardinal issues:

OBC majority in several states
Loss of political hegemony by certain upper castes
Demand by Muslim OBC and SC for additional reservation
Demand by Christian OBC and SC/ST for additional reservation
Demand by Sikh OBC and SC for additional reservation.

The great circus that may ensue may witness constitutional, social and political upheaval. Though the Union Cabinet has not taken a firm decision, it has referred the issue to a Group of Ministers. As the Congress party depends on two Yadav leaders and Mayawati in the face of Mamata’s recalcitrance it is presumed the GOM will recommend caste based enumeration.

I hope this mini-tour of the Great Indian Circus would evoke some thought process in the minds of the national and international readers and draw their attention to the glaring aspects that instead of waxing and joining the national fault lines, our political class are bent on widening the social chasm and fragmenting the Indian society.

If these few snippets of the GIC appeals to your crania please protest and say loudly that we in India, in 2010, do not want such circus to continue. Alongside economic reforms the political and bureaucratic class should also apply mind to social reforms and redirect the cultural values of the Indian society.

Loktak lake: Image: e-pao

The treaty that merged Manipur with India was not universally acclaimed by all Meiteis. From the beginning sections of royalists and traditionalists held the view that Manipur was under titular suzerainty of the British and after they quit the paramountcy reverted back to the Maharajah. Some of them also raised another bogey that Pundit Nehru had formalized the cession of Kabaw Valley which once formed the part of Manipur to the Burmese government. This is a red herring allegation. The transfer of Kabaw Valley was done under British supervision and the boundary of Manipur and Burma was settled well by 1935. The government of India only ratified a new border agreement with Burma.

What led to the growth of separatism amongst sections of the Meiteis? The seed of separatism was sown by communist leader H. Irabot Singh. He had planned an armed struggle for liberating Manipur and establishing a pro-Moscow regime. He followed the ideology of the Communist Party of India. The left wing dissent continued to ignite imagination of the youth. They were encouraged by people of royal descent and people who harbored the thin dream of restoring the monarchy. The psyche of Meitei nationalist ideology was strengthened by agitation for replacement of Bengali script by ancient Meitei script. Recognition of Meitei language in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, restoration of the fort of Kangla on a patch of land occupied by the Assam Rifles and conferment of statehood on Manipur.

In the meantime, Delhi’s direct administration through the Chief Commissioner offered group C union territory status to Manipur and was dominated by the officers deputed from other parts of India-the IAS, IPS, engineers, doctors etc. Arbitrary rule by the Chief Commissioners as per policies laid down by Delhi had created a separate class of rulers of outside origin, called mayangs by the Meiteis. The government of India had taken over all administrative responsibilities of the King but in reality there was maladministration or no administration. Corruption right from the Chief Commissioner to the lowest rung of bureaucracy introduced Indian culture of plundering public money by the rulers.

Between 1950 and 1960 Manipur did not see any tangible economic development, medium and small scale industry and agro-based industries. Cultivation o silk remained a household commercial venture and spinning of thread and weaving also was dominated by the womenfolk. The government made very negligible investment. Educationally also Manipur had to look forward to Assam or West Bengal. Very few could send their children to Delhi and other places. While the Hill Tribals were treated as Scheduled tribes the Valley Meiteis were treated as upper caste Hindus. With poor educational facilities only a handful youth could compete in all India Services. Outside Manipur the Meiteis were treated as foreign strangers. The Manipuris and the rest of Indians did not mix up well. The outsiders were treated as mayangs and the Meiteis were treated as sub-humans, despite their fabulously rich cultural heritage.

Besides paddy cultivation (mostly one crop) the populace had no other venue for employment. Gradually some youths joined lower ranks of government services, police, Manipur Rifles and other armed police forces. On the other hand a good number of youths were trained by the SSB in armed combat as a reserve force to work behind the enemy lines during any war. To get a government job one had to shell out huge bribe money.

In the midst of insurgency in the Naga Hills of Manipur and Mizo and allied Kuki rebellion the Meitei youth also smarted under the impression that without taking up arms they would not get concession from Delhi. Some of the SSB trained youths looked forward to Arambam Somorendra Singh, an ideologue and RK Meghen and RK Ronen two sons of the Manipur SSB chief RK Madhurjit Singh.

In the meantime Nagaland was given full state status in 1963. Along with it started the demand for Greater Nagaland with portions of Naga inhabited areas of Manipur and Assam. The Naga demand on the one hand and the Mizo demand for merger of Thanlon etc areas with proposed Mizoram created a fear psychosis in Meitei minds. Their demand for statehood intensified. By I964 United National Liberation Front (UNLF) was floated by Arambam Somorendra Singh and his group of firebrand youths. That was the beginning of insurgency in the valley. Anti-India sentiment pervaded through the younger generation, but the government of India did not do much to understand the agonies of the Meiteis. The senior echelon of the civil and police administration neglected the emerging wrath of the people. The Chief Commissioner was contemptuous about the indigenous people and always promoted the outsiders. His personal corruption also encouraged the lower formations to plunder public assets freely. Taking advantage of the boiling cauldron of anger some youths formed the Revolutionary Government of Manipur (RGM) in the style of an underground government in Nagaland. Oinam Sudhir and Namrekpam Biseswar led a contingent of youth to Pakistan (east) for training and weapons.

The RGM indulged in bank robbery, extortion and mass mobilization. About 150 Meitei youths of Manipur were arrested while they were returning from Pakistan after defeat of the Pakistan army in Bangladesh’s freedom struggle. Biseshwar and other tried to establish contact with China. They were intercepted while trying to cross over Nepal-China border.

In the meantime the agitation for statehood of Manipur intensified and the agitators even attacked the meeting venue of Indira Gandhi at Imphal in September 1969. Around the same time the Naga and Mizo insurgents also intensified their armed struggle. Taking advantage of the popular upsurge the UNLF intensified mass campaign and finalized preparations for armed struggle.

As stated earlier The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the oldest Meitei insurgent group in the State was formed under the leadership of Arambam Somorendra Singh on November 24, 1964 to achieve independence and a socialist society. A pan-Manipuri Youth League was formed in December 1968, which functioned as an over ground body for the UNLF. The PMYL actively built up mass agitation in support of statehood demand. Later, differences within the outfit surfaced over the issue of strategies to be adopted. While Somorendra Singh sought to spread ideological consciousness before launching an armed struggle, the more radical leader Oinam Sudhir Kumar and N. Biseshwar Singh established a Revolutionary Government of Manipur (RGM). Somorendra Singh was killed by unidentified terrorists in Imphal on June 10, 2001. In the seventies and eighties, the UNLF concentrated mainly on mobilization and recruitment. In 1990, it decided to launch an armed struggle for the ‘liberation’ of Manipur from India. In the same year, it formed an armed wing called Manipur People’s Army (MPA).

The UNLF aims to establish an independent socialist Manipur. Rajkumar Meghen alias Sana Yaima, son of RK Madhurjit of SSB and a former air force officer is the current Chairman of UNLF. Other important leaders include ‘General Secretary’ Th Sanachou; ‘Secretary of Defence’ A. Wangpa; ‘Secretary of Organisation’ M. Nongyai; and ‘Secretary of Publicity’ N. Thabal. The Women’s wing Chief is Nganbi Devi; Deputy Women’s wing Chief: Banti Devi. The then UNLF Chairman, Namuizum Okendra was arrested on May 19, 1993.

The outfit’s armed wing is called the MPA (Manipur People’s Army). It also maintains a communication and publicity cell. The outfit operates in the Jiribam valley and Cachar district of Assam. It has strong presence in Imphal valley as well.

Soon after its formation, the UNLF leaders established political relationship with the authorities of the then East Pakistan, and underwent military training in that country in 1969. They also supported the Pakistani army during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. Later, the group also developed relationship with China even while continuing its relations with Pakistan. On June 14, 1975, UNLF leader N. Bisheswar Singh and 16 other Meitei rebels proceeded to Lhasa to seek Chinese assistance. As stated earlier this group was intercepted. The group has links with Naga rebel outfits as well. On May 22, 1990, the UNLF, along with other insurgent groups operating in the Northeast – the National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang (NSCN-K), the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), and the Kuki National Army (KNA) – floated a pan-Mongoloid coalition called the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front (IBRF) to wage a united struggle for the independence of Indo-Burma region. The UNLF has training camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh, mostly in Manipuri inhabited areas of Sylhet.

There are about two dozen armed terrorist groups in Manipur. The prominent ones are: Kangleipak Communist party (KCP); Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL); Manipur People’s Liberation Front; People’s Liberation Army; People’s Liberation Party of Kangleipak and United Liberation Front (all proscribed and banned.)

Other groups active in the hill district are:

Hmar People’s Convention-Democracy (HPC-D); Kuki Liberation Army (KLA); Kuki National Army (KNA); Kuki National Front (KNF); Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA); National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM); United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) and Zomi Revolutionary army (ZRA).

Organizational details of all these outfits are too complicated. The Kuki outfits are divided as they are organized according to their clan affiliation. However the NSCN operates in Manipur Naga areas with impunity and runs a parallel government.

In the valley two important terrorist groups are:

The Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) was formed on April 13, 1980, under the leadership of Y. Ibohanbi. Although the group is ostensibly Communist, named after the historical name of Manipur, i.e. Kangleipak, the KCP is more concerned with the preservation of Meitei culture and demands secession of Manipur from India. Founder of the KCP, Y. Ibohanbi, was killed during a security force operation in 1995. Subsequently, the KCP split into several factions such as the ones headed by City Meitei (KCP- City Meitei), Prithvi (KCP-P), Mangang (KCP-M) and Noyon (KCP-N). On May 30, 2005, four front-ranking KCP cadres, including Moirangthem Boicha alias Prithvi, chief of the KCP-P, and his wife Ibemcha Devi were killed during an encounter with the security forces (SFs) at Nongada Makha Leikai in Imphal East district. However, following a decision taken during a five-day central committee meeting held during May 4-8, 2006, the KCP factions are reported to have merged together.

The main objective of KCP is to restore the independence of the erstwhile Manipur kingdom and to bring about an egalitarian society, which is to be achieved by uniting all ethnic-Mongoloid groups belonging to South-East of Himalayan region, liberating Manipur from the Indian rule, building up the strength of the working class and reviving the indigenous culture.

The KCP has, in the past, passed decrees with an objective of widening its level of social acceptability. In February 2005, it banned Government doctors in Manipur from working in private clinics. In April 2005, the KCP pressed for the introduction of the Manipuri script, Meetei Mayek, in educational institutions in the State. In September 2005, the outfit banned shooting and exhibition of digital movies and music albums for a year. The KCP held its ‘second national convention’ on October 20-23, 2006, at an undisclosed location in Manipur and reconstituted the Party Central Committee. The party hierarchy consists of:

President – Senggoi Meetei
Vice President – K. K. Mangang
General Secretary – K. K. Nganba
Information and Publicity – H. Poirei
Organisation Secretary – Sh. Pakhangba

The KCP started with a small number of cadres. However, its strength has grown over the years and presently, it is known to have about 300 active participants. Half of its active cadres are known to possess an array of weapons ranging from AK series rifles, US carbine, Chinese made grenades and mortars. The KCP is mostly active in the valley areas of Manipur, though it has also been found to be engaged in extortion and other activities in the hill districts, such as Churchandpur. Like most other insurgent groups in the northeast, the KCP funds its activities through extortion of local villagers and businessmen.

The KCP has a close working relationship with most of the outfits operating in the valley districts of Manipur. Even though, the UNLF had imposed a ban on the City Meitei faction of the KCP in the beginning of 2006, the ban was reportedly revoked to pave way for the unification of various factions. In October 2005, the KYKL too had banned the KCP-P. In the past, the KCP maintained operational linkages with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Besides the KCP the KYKL is an active terrorist group in the valley:

Kanglei Yawol Kanba Lup, Organization to Save the Revolutionary Movement in Manipur was formed in January 1994. It is basically funded through extortion. The Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) is an ethnic Meitei group based in Manipur, India. The group is well known for its violent vigilantism and decrees aimed at rebuilding Manipuri society by cleansing it of immoral activities. The name of the group means Organization to Save the Revolutionary Movement in Manipur.

Although known for its ethnic diversity, Manipur is also famous for its diversity of violent insurgent groups. Some of these groups are protection outfits for certain tribes or ethnic groups, while others are somewhat more nationalist in their aims. The KYKL, although chiefly made up of ethnic Meiteis, is focused almost solely on social reform, despite the fact that the group espouses the nationalist goal of a unified ‘Seven Sisters’ region of India.

Although KYKL occasionally participates in attacks on other rival terrorist groups in Manipur and against Indian security forces in the region, the group is mostly focused on social vigilantism. Since its foundation the group has mounted numerous attacks against people and institutions it deems immoral. Along with allegedly corrupt politicians, drug dealers and prostitutes, the KYKL has attacked teachers, journalists, and HIV-positive innocents in an effort to supposedly cleanse Manipur of unwanted elements. The group has issued decrees banning Hindi films, women wearing pants, and newspapers using Hindi script. The group maintains links with many of the other insurgent groups in the region, including the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Zomi Revolutionary Army. Like most Manipuri outfits, the KYKL is funded through extortion.

Despite being one of the smaller groups in Manipur, the KYKL continues to intimidate, threaten, and attack its perceived enemies. While the KYKL may not see its goal of a unified Seven Sisters in remote future, the group can be considered highly active and a threat to the safety and security of the region.

The scenario is grim. While India fights jihadists in Kashmir, in Manipur it has not been able to contain the discontentment of the populace though there is an elected government of some kind. The political government is under the mercy of the terrorist groups and some of the politicians are known to be in cahoots with terrorist. Some of them shelter the terrorists. They silence them by paying hefty amounts. In Manipur everyone has to pay to the armed groups-government servants, teachers, doctors, contractors and all other professionals including the business community. One the one hand they pay to the terrorists and on the other they plunder the exchequer. Merely 15-20% of government expenditure is utilized in developmental activities.

Educational institutions are in a big mess. The All Manipur Student’s Union and other militant groups realize protection money from the teaching staff. The terrorists like the Talibans, issue dictates about dress code, close down institutions on the slightest pretext and often physically assault teachers coming from other parts of India. The main DM College campus and the Manipur University campus are run basically by the terrorists. They are the deciding factors in most administrative matters.

What has caused such a calamitous situation in Manipur? Nearly two Divisions of army and paramilitary forces are deployed in the valley and the hills. There are more daily clashes and attacks in Manipur than in Kashmir. The populace, on the slightest pretext takes to the streets and paralyzes normal administration. Right from the Chief Minister to the lowest government employee has to pay minimum 10% of their income to different terrorist groups. The terrorists freely move in the business centers and raise weekly contribution. On the any youth seeking government employment has to pay anything between 3-5 lacs as gratis. Though some financially capably youth seek study courses in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and other cities, the others have to depend on existing educational institutions in Manipur. Quality of education is not good enough to enable the youth to compete with other candidates in superior services in India. However, the Meiteis have been finally recognized as OBC.

Industrially Manipur is almost bankrupt. The government sponsored Manipur Cycle Corporation; Manipur Cement Ltd; Manipur Spinning Mills Corporation Ltd; Manipur Pulp & Allied Projects Ltd; Manipur Food Industries Ltd and Manipur Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd are bankrupt and sick and are in the process of winding up. There are about 30 Small Scale Industries which are basically agro-based and some are related to handicrafts. Thread spinning is a lucrative biasness in Manipur. But the job is now partly done by women at home and bulk of the threads is imported from outside markets by the Marwari traders. It is easier to get a Sholapuri shawl in Imphal than original Chador of the Meiteis and the national Chadors of different tribes; which are really rich in color and texture. The Ima (mother) market now suffers from shortage of raw materials and the fabulous Manipuri silk clothes are rare to come by.

The valley has immense potential for pisciculture. Officially some loans are granted. But the avid fish eater Meiteis now have to depend on fish supply from other parts of India. Lack of railway connectivity renders supply of perishable good uncertain as most of the time two highways are blockaded by the Meitei or Naga-Kuki agitators. Thus, prices of perishable consumables are very high compared to markets in Assam.

Manipur has to depend on rice, pulses, cooking oils etc imported from other parts of India though way back in 1970s the state was self sufficient in rice production. The Hills produce some quantity of rice and other grains but the Jhoom cultivation is still in vogue. In neighboring Nagaland and parts of Mizoram terrace cultivation has become popular. Lack of government initiative and traditional tribal practices still encourage the people to denude forests for cultivation.

Manipur has the unique potential of tea, coffee and rubber cultivation besides the traditional practice of silk cultivation. The plains in Jiribam and lower hills in Tamenglong, Churachandpu, Senapati and Ukhrul are ideal for investment in tea plantation. In same kind of terrain in Barrack Valley and N.C. Hills in Assam and certain areas of Nagaland have been brought under tea plantation. Certain mid-rise hill ranges have similar climatic condition like Kerala. In these areas some individuals have taken up Coffee and Rubber cultivation. Large scale production of Coffee and Rubber is feasible provided the government of Manipur and the North-East Development Council prepare plans and invite investment from entrepreneurs. No such tangible efforts have been made in last 60 years. Manipur Hills produce good quantity of pineapple, orange and some apple. No effort has been made to introduce orchard cultivation of fruits, ginger and cardamom in commercial quantity. These cash crops can earn huge revenue for Manipur. However, plundering of government fund being the main objective, no political leader has so far bothered to import expertise from Assam, Sikkim, Himachal and other states.

In addition to chaos in day to day administration, interference in developmental activities and in the sphere of education Manipur has become a fertile ground for hate-India sentiments. Outsider labor forces are discouraged or killed en masse to drive in fear. Several such incidents have almost choked migration of labor in Manipur. Almost every month the militants close down the highways connecting the state through Nagaland and through Barak Valley. This results in economic crisis and even shortage of essential commodities. Each truck operator has to pay handsome ransom money to Kuki, Naga and Meitei rebels. The situation presents a picture of horror and anachronism.

Besides, agitation for withdrawal of the Army Special Power Act has become a contentious bone. A lady is reportedly fasting for last four years. There are occasional hartals and closures. The terrorist take shelter in the houses of ministers and legislators and live and operate comfortably from within the villages. Politics in Manipur has become synonymous with tickling and tackling the terrorists by paying huge amounts and often arranging state protection for them. The most affected districts are Imphal East and West, Thoubal, Kakching, Sugnu, Chapkikarong, Moirang and Bishnupur. The terrorists have set up camps in neighboring Myanmar and often they manage to buy weapons from Myanmar rebels and even from NSCN (I-M) and Bangladesh. It is estimated that in the valley alone there are 4000 active armed terrorists in addition to nearly 1500 NSCN (I-M) cadres operating in Naga Hills and nearly 2000 armed Kuki rebels in Kuki dominated areas of Senapati, Churachandpur etc areas.

It is high time that the government of India wakes up and takes stock of the deteriorating situation in the state and takes note of the very high waves of frustration, disillusionment and separate nationalist demand of the Meitei people. The sword of demand for Greater Nagaland after separating Naga areas of Manipur are adding to the anger and frustration of the valley people. The government has to squarely make it clear to the Naga interlocutors that at no point of time it would agree for dismemberment of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to please the festering sores called Th. Muivah and Isac Swu. Early clear stand on Naga demands may mollify Meitei sentiments considerably. The latest development of Th. Muivah trying to visit his home village Somdal in Ukhrul with government of India approval has raised a serious conflict situation between the Naga and Meitei inhabitants. Muivah tried to enter Manipur through Mao Gate bordering Nagaland. Manipur police resisted the local Nagas numbering 500 from welcoming the separatist leader of NSCN (I-M). Police had to use force resulting in death of one Naga and kidnapping of two police constables by the Naga ultras.

The basic question is: how can the government of India agree to Muivah’s proposal in spite of warning of serious consequences in Manipur? This is a blazoned blunder by the blind political bandicoots of India. Muivah in Manipur would automatically set wild fire of unrest in Manipur which is already burning. The Meitei’s would not allow dismemberment of their state at any cost. By pampering the Nagas the government is alienating the Manipuris. It is already a Kashmir like cauldron. Has the GOI any plan to contain the wild fire of clashes between the Nagas, Kuki tribes and the Meiteis? Obviously the blundering bandicoots have not learnt anything from the treacherous games being played by NSCN and the so-called NGOs supporting it.

Has India not reached the last opportunity to plan and invest in comprehensive economic development in the state? It is probably the last chance for the Congress Party to depend more on the people than on the armed forces, a suicidal policy being pursued since the late sixties. Otherwise, Manipur may become another festering Kashmir in the east. Manipur requires a balanced approach for removing the dirt of stinking corruption, unconcern about welfare of the people and for building new economic infrastructures. Most Meiteis have started asserting own nationalist psyche and gradually cutting off the moorings with Hindu cultural and religious umbilical. They do no more like to use Hindu surnames-Singh and Sharma. A Moirangthem Anouba Singh is now stylized as Anouba Mirangthem. Hopefully Delhi’s intelligence and political bums have taken note of these significant social changes. This is a dangerous trend. Hindu Vaishnavism can no longer keep the Meitei society tied to the cultural apron of India.

A titular Governor imprisoned in his castle has no means to suggest better economic and political situation, as most of them are former policemen rewarded for loyalty. It is not in the capability of a retired policeman to plan wholesome economic development. Can an economist of wider experience be posted in Manipur for preparing a new blueprint in collaboration of the Planning Commission? Wider vision and unorthodox forward approach can alone deliver goods in next 50 years. Can Congress Party restrain its politicians from bleeding the state by thieving and plundering? It is time to act. Fifteen year hence the situation may degenerate beyond political control.

Green Pins Pakistan Occupied, Red Pins China Occupied (click to enlarge)

In India there exist some misperceptions that Abdullah and Nehru’s Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Leh constitute the geopolitical status of Kashmir. Historically speaking the entire Northern Area of J&K ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh was annexed by Pakistan in collaboration with the British officers posted there as administrative and military heads. The area known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) or Azad Kashmir was annexed by Pakistan as Sheikh Abdullah and Nehru were not determined to allow the Indian army to chase away the Pakistani aggressors beyond Muzaffarabad. The sordid history of that episode has been bleeding India incessantly since 1948. This is an instance of effeminate foreign policy and inexcusable intervention in the war plan of the Indian army; a greater colossal blunder than emasculation of the armed forces between 1950 and 1962 that encouraged China to humiliate India and encouraged Pakistan to attack India again in 1965. Leadership failure has chained the country almost permanently to the Kashmir quagmire and possible future wars with China and Pakistan.

When India talks of Composite dialogue it probably means a fresh legalized partition of Kashmir along the Line of Control. When Pakistan talks about Comprehensive dialogue it means total vacation of Kashmir by India-ultimate fulfillment of the agenda of partition. When the Indian Kashmiri separatists talk about solution, some insist on merger with Pakistan and some others talk of independence-sans Indian and Pakistani interference; a South Asian Switzerland. Some politicians in India (including the Congress and Sangh Parivar Brigade) talk in term of restoration of the entire Kashmir to India. In the case of Congress this is a mere populist posture; not even a diplomatic approach and strategic formulation. The Sangh Parivar reflects common Indian sentiment but even during the BJP rule it did not make headway diplomatically, least to speak of strategically. The other political forces are busy with bread and butter and pocketfuls of people’s money. Existence of live contradiction in perception in India has contributed to the failure of structuring a broader bilateral and international diplomatic policy. Since military solution is not on the anvil the Indian forces are busy with containing the jihadi thrusts from Pakistan, which has often spilled over the borders of Kashmir and affected various parts of India. India’s failure on diplomatic as well as military fronts has given excessive leeway to the Pakistani Establishment and certain disgruntled elements in Indian Kashmir to intensify the jihad campaign. Let us examine the intricate machinery that Pakistan employ to bleed India.

It is necessary to analyze how Pakistan views and treats the occupied portions of Jammu and Kashmir. The so-called Azad Kashmir is totally under the control of Pakistan and ISI and Islambad’s will determine all the parameters of election to the legislative assembly, appointment of Governor and ministers. Most key officers are exported from Punjab and few key departments are held by serving or retired officers of the armed forces. In all practical considerations Azad Kashmir is an extended part of Pakistani Punjab, acting as a buffer and geostrategic depth for key cities of Pakistan which are at a vulnerable distance from Indian borders and even short range missile strike.

Before we proceed further it is necessary to discuss with the readers two important aspects concerning the Kashmir and general proxy war conducted by Pakistan. India is the only nation against whom hostile neighbours engage in proxy war by supporting the ethnic and ideological insurgents and the jihadi groups inspired by religious fanaticism which has become an integral part of the state policy of Pakistan. This requires some illustration:

Jihad Machinery of Pakistan

At the root of the proxy war problem is the psyche of the leaders and elites of Pakistan now embodied in the highest command of Pakistan army, considered as the soul of Pakistan. It is like the fabled witch: whose soul live in a parrot or a maynah. Till that bird is killed the evil soul cannot be subdued. India achieved that goal once but allowed the opportunity to emasculate the Pakistan army through the instrument of Simla Agreement 1972, which made the LoC permanent.

The controls the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Joint Intelligence North (JIN) conducts proxy war in Kashmir and the Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous (JIM) jointly with the JIN and JIX conduct jihad warfare in rest of India.

At present the main tool of operation is the Markaz- ud- Dawa al Irshad, the master terrorist organization located at Muridke near Lahore. The main operational tool of the Markaz and the ISI is Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI). The Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Allah) was established by Hafiz Mohammad Ibrahim and Zafar Iqbal in May 1990 under patronage of the ISI. Initially the volunteers were trained in NWFP and Afghanistan. Later the training facilities were shifted by the ISI in PoK. The head quarter of the Lashkar (Markaz-e-Lashkar) is situated at Muridke. This force, armed to the teeth by Pakistan army, and numbering about 3500 recruits (figure varies) is now totally under control of the ISI and Pakistan army. The Lashkar has not been allowed to mingle with Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan and Al Qaeda factions. However, the Lashkar is utilized mainly in Indian Kashmir, other parts of India on its own or in tandem with United Jihad Council of Syed Salahuddin and a major faction of the HuJI.

HuJI was formed in 1984 by Fazalur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar, as the first Pakistan-based jihadist – Islamic terrorist – outfit to fight alongside the Afghan mujahideens against the USSR. Khalil later broke away to form his own group Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), which later emerged as the most feared militant organization in Kashmir. After the Afghan war this group was reassembled as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen after HuA was banned by the USA. The HuJI was directed by the ISI to export jihad to the Indian state of J & K. HuJI’s footprint was extended to Bangladesh when the Bangladesh unit was established in 1992, with direct assistance from Osama bin Laden. Illyas Kashmiri group of the HuJI is aligned with both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al Qaeda. Both HuJI and Lashkar are encouraged to expand operation in Chechnya, Dagestan and other parts of the Russian federation.

The United Jihad Council or Muttahida Jihad Council was formed in 1994 of which Hizb-ul-Mujahideen is the largest and dominating component consisting members from Indian Kashmir and Pakistan. At present the ration of Indian and Pakistani component is 35%-55%. Headquarter of the Council is located near Muzaffarabad and all logistics are supplied by Pakistan army and the ISI. The member components are: Harakat-ul-Ansar, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Jihad, Al-Barq, Al-Badr, Ikhwan-ul-Mussalmin, Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen. Around 1999, as many as fifteen organizations were affiliated with the Council. However, the most important components are Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Badr and Tehrik-e-Jihad. Most of these are recognized as terrorist organizations by the US and the UN. The US recently urged Pakistan to eliminate the Lashkar as the high profile attack on Mumbai (26/11) was jointly organized by Pakistan army, ISI, Markaz ud Dawa and the Lashkar. David Coleman Headly Tahawwur Rana now under trial in USA is also connected with Lashkar and Illiyas Kashmiri. Their links with serving Pakistan army officers have been well established by the US investigators.

Osama bin Laden’s Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have so far not directly operated in Kashmir. However, Illyas Kashmiri, a Mirpuri PoK national had joined the Special Services group (SSG), a commando force of Pakistan. He later, under ISI direction trained the HuJI and the Afghan mujahideen. Later he broke away with the parent body of HuJI and floated his own outfit Brigade 313. It is affiliated to Al Qaeda and he often directs some of the Lashkar operations. Once he was arrested in India but escaped from jail. Later he was arrested on suspicion of attempt on life of President Musharraf for attack on the Lal Masjid. Kashmiri’s force often independently operates in Indian Kashmir and he was one of the masterminds of the 26/11 attack on Mumbai.

There are satellite images and other ground inputs about patronization of the jihad forces by Pakistan. Till 3 months back Brigadier Rathore was in charge of the Jihad formations and training and arming them with assistance from retired army and ISI officers. It is understood that a new brigadier is in charge of Pakistan’s Kashmir and India operations. Earlier nearly 18 camps were located in NWFP and Punjab. These camps have now been shifted to PoK. According to Indian sources there are 42 live camps in PoK where about 2500 terrorists are undergoing training. The illustration below would indicate training facilities and main infiltration points:

Red-Camps; Yellow-Infiltration routes; Illustrative

Having discussed the basics let us understand what is Pakistan doing with the PoK and Northern Areas, comprising Gilgit, Baltistan, Skardu etc areas. Understanding POK and Northern Area’s problems would require a brief journey through the pages of history between 1935 and 1947. Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhri Ghulam Abbas of Muslim Conference had spearheaded the movement for greater devolution of power to the subjects through elected representatives. The vortex of One Nation independence movement spearheaded by the Congress and the creation of Pakistan on the basis of presumed Two Nation theory had also affected the leadership of the Muslim Conference. Sheikh Abdullah charmed Nehru and Newton’s 3rd Law propelled Ghulam Abbas to the lap of Jinnah. These two leaders were willing to arrive at a compromise with Sir Gopalswami Ayeangar, than PM of J&K. The two Kashmiri rivals were united on the issue of opposition to the Maharaja but disunited on most other issues. Their ego bags had no space in a common political geography. In Nehru’s perception Sheikh wielded the key to Kashmir problem. Congress did not consider it necessary to tackle the Maharaja soon after 1940, when it was clear that Jinnah would not stop at anything but partition of India. He wanted his roast to be cooked according to his specifications with Kashmir thrown in as top dressing. Pakistan had not left anything to be decided by the departing British power.

Pakistan Occupied Kashmir comprises of the Muzaffarabad region, adjacent to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree, Manshera and Gujrat etc strategic border areas of Pakistan. By grabbing these areas in 1948 Pakistan acquired a strategic depth against India’s conventional war thrusts. By technically integrating the POK areas with its main territory Pakistan had flagrantly violated the UN resolutions, Tashkent and Simla Agreements. Pundits have elaborated these aspects of Pakistan’s perfidious activities.

Indian mind is not trained to think in terms of understanding that vast areas of the kingdom of Kashmir, besides the Muzaffarabad region described by Pakistan as Azad Kashmir, are under Pakistani and Chinese occupation. These territories of the kingdom of Kashmir, which merged into India, have almost disappeared from Indian memory and are considered as ‘technical cartographic definition.’

The political class and the governments in India have so far not made average Indians aware of the fact that Pakistan had ceded 1/3rd of J&K to China on the strength of assumed parameter ‘the defence of which (the ceded area) is under the actual control of Pakistan.’ What follows from this assumption? Pakistan reserves the right to cede the Gilgit and Baltistan areas of Northern Areas of J&K to China or America on some other strategic consideration on the same plea of de facto military presence in the area. It’s as bad in international law as is the forcible amalgamation of parts of Gaza strip, Western Bank and Golan Heights by Israel. While Pakistan joins voice with other Arab governments to condemn Israel, it has no explanation to give to the people of J&K and India; the legal inheritor of the territories of the Maharaja of J&K. India has also not kept the item on diplomatic dinner plates in Agra, Delhi and Islamabad. The present foreign office diplomats and Track II and III diplomats are also not adding the POK and the Northern Areas including Areas Ceded to China to the menu card.

A detailed reading of the land mass transferred to China in 1963 indicate that Pakistan was preparing the grounds for a decisive round of war against India in 1965 with tacit Chinese help and silent nod from America, which was using Pakistan to build a bridge with China. After the devastating defeat in 1962 a stupefied India could do very little to stop China from grabbing a territory through deceit. Article Two of the treaty delineates the ceded area, which include important Passes like Mintake Daban, Parpik, Yutr Daban, Muztagh, and Karakoram.

The Gilgit and Baltistan tracts of the kingdom of Kashmir are known as Northern Areas. Maharaja of Kashmir occupied the territory in 1842 and the British recognized his sovereignty in 1846. Through a recorded history of turmoil, finally, in 1935 the British Crown assumed firm control of Gilgit Agency through a lease agreement. However, the lease did not terminate sovereignty of the Maharaja. During transfer of power, The British did not consider either India or Pakistan as legal claimants of this territory. Paramountcy was reverted to Srinagar durbar and only the Maharaja had legal rights to transfer that territory either to India or Pakistan.

Pakistan repeated the show it staged by stoking rebellion in Poonch, Mirpur and Kotli. It started negotiating with the figurehead rulers of the area and the Sirdars. Mostly Muslims, the Gilgit Scout was also influenced by Pakistan through local religious leaders, Sirdars and potentates. Like the ‘Provisional Government of POK’ a move was mooted by Shah Rias Khan to set up ‘The Gilgit Republic.’ History bears evidence of Pakistani connectivity of Rias Khan. Delhi or Srinagar could do precious little to intervene decisively as pro-Pakistani British officers controlled military balance. William Brown, the British major in charge of the forces of the Maharaja in his memoir ‘The Gilgit Rebellion’ mentioned that taking advantage of the withdrawal of the British the Pakistani authorities incited the Muslim tribesmen and arranged their congregation in Gilgit town. They were incited to kill Hindu and Sikh officials and other J&K citizen. Absence of authority, especially inability and helplessness of the circumstances of India allured Pakistan to incite Poonch, Mirpur type rebellion under leaders like Rais Khan.

Major Brown was the only military authority in Gilgit and his colleague Captain Mathieson was in Chilas. Brown put the Crown representative Ghansara Singh and his associates under house arrest on the ruse of protecting them. Major Brown came under severe pressure from his superior Col. Bacon at Peshawar and Col. Iskander Mirza, Defence Secretary of Pakistan to declare merger of Gilgit Agency with Pakistan. On the morning of 4th November, he raised Pakistan flag over his headquarters.

The area is divided into five administrative units: Gilgit, Baltistan, Diamir, Ghizer and Ghanche. A population of nearly 2 million inhabits the 72,495 square kilometer geographical spread. The main ethnic groups are Baltis (Balawaris), Yashkuns, Mughals, Kashmiris, Pathans, Ladakhis, Tajik, Uzbek, Mongol, Turkmen and population of Greek origin. Though Pakistan is trying to impose Urdu in the Northern Areas the main languages spoken are, Balti, Shina, Brushaski, Khawer, Wakhi, Turki, Tibeti, and Pushto.

Religious sect-wise breakdown of population in the Northern Areas is:
Gilgit – 60% Shia, 40% Sunni (imported from Pakistan); Nagar- 100% Shia, Hunza, Yasin, Punial, Ishkoman, Gupis- 100% Ismaili (Aghakhani), Chilas, Darel, 100% Sunni, Astor- 90% Sunni and 10% Shia and Baltistan- 98% Shia and 2 % Sunni. There are about 10% Nurbakshis in the Northern Areas. The Sunnis are predominantly Hanafi with sprinkles of Maliki and Hanbali sects.

While the PoK was granted some charade of self rule the Northern Areas were so far directly administered by Islamabad. Discontent at growing Punjabi domination and lack of any kind of self-rule had given rise to the demand of independent Balawaristan by some of the protagonists.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009, replaces the Northern Areas Legal Framework Order of 1994.  Under the order, Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly will formulate its own Rules of Procedures, while legislation on 61 subjects will be done by a council and an assembly in their respective jurisdictions.  The region will not be regarded as a province, as the self-rule has been granted on the pattern of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.  The self-governance to Gilgit-Baltistan will have no impact on the future of Kashmir.  The Legislative Assembly will elect its own Chief Minister; however, the Legislative Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan would have no control over defence and treasury.  The elections in the areas would be held in October this year.  Out of 36 assembly members, 24 would be elected directly whereas seven seats each would be reserved for the technocrats.

Pakistan views this as a landmark step towards integration of the occupied Northern Areas with rest of the country. In their view: The declaration of “Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009” has not only fulfilled the longstanding demand of the people of Northern Areas for self-rule on the lines of AJK type of governance, it will also frustrate the nefarious designs of Indian external strike in Northern Areas.  It is beyond doubt that the Northern Areas of Pakistan lag behind the rest of the provinces of the country.  Sectarianism, poverty, Indian connection, weak judicial system, burgeoning of small arms, and separatist forces like Balawaristan National Front (BNF), Karakoram National Movement (KNM), are some of the major concerns that had alarmed the NA Administration.  Some of the demands put across by the people of Pakistan’s mountainous Northern Areas were:  (1) Self-governance like that of AJK or as a province.  (2) Fully autonomous Legislative Assembly with Chief Minister. (3) Set up an independent High Court and Supreme Court. (4) The reforms in education set-up, e.g., affairs of Karakoram International University to be straightened, quota for Gilgit Baltistan be separated from FATA, setting-up of Medical College and Engineering College. (5) The Land allotment to non-locals, NGOs and foreign Govts should be banned. (6) Economic Developmental Package for the uplift of common people.  (7) Control over the sectarianism. This is far from the truth prevailing on the grounds. Discontent and preparations for armed conflict with Pakistan are growing in the Northern Areas which prompted Islamabad to depute two additional brigades and a large contingent of the ISI and the SSG.

Another issue that is disturbing India is Chinese intrusion both in PoK and the Northern Areas for execution of certain hydroelectric and other infrastructural projects. Pakistan and China signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of Bunji dam in Northern Areas in August 2009. The agreement was signed on behalf of Pakistan’s ministry of water and power and China’s Three Gorges Project Corporation by the Chairman, Board of Investment, Saleem Mandviwala, and Li Yang’an. The ceremony was attended by President Asif Zardari.

“Political and administrative reforms recently announced by Pakistan for its Northern Areas, known officially as Gilgit Baltistan, are basically aimed at providing better security cover for the rapidly growing Chinese interests in the territory. Gilgit, the Northern Areas capital, has acquired the status of a gateway to Central Asia in the wake of a Pakistan-China barter trade agreement and accords with Central Asian states. China has invested heavily in a range of projects in the Northern Areas and is poised to launch several new projects, particularly in power sector, costing billions of dollars. In August 2009, during a visit by Zardari to China, the countries signed a memorandum of understanding on construction of a hydro-power station at Bunji, in Gilgit Baltistan. The countries also agreed in June to allow market access for bilateral trade in 11 services sectors and to intensify their efforts to increase border trade, which constitutes merely 5% of their overall trade, and takes place through the Karakoram Highway (KKH), whose repair and upgrade is likely to be completed by 2012.” Syed Fazl-e-Hyder, in Pakistan acts to guard Chinese interests; Asia Times, September 4, 2009.

India has recently lodged protest with China for undertaking works in the Northern Areas and PoK as these areas are legally parts of India and Pakistan has no right to invite China to carry out development works in Indian Territory without Delhi’s concurrence. The Indian foreign minister is likely to take up this issue with his Chinese counterparts during his forthcoming visit to Beijing.

Talks with common Kashmiris indicate that they are tired of continuous military operations and violation of human rights. Security of life, women and property are main concerns. A good percentage of them understand the catch 22 situation created by Pakistan sponsored proxy war and jihad and India’s law and order response. They pine for peace and stability and economic advancement. The developmental administration has failed the state almost in every sector. The emphasis of the state and the central administration should be on the battle of winning over hearts of the people. Hopefully, multipronged offensive and defensive military actions would be accompanied by sustained and corruption free developmental activities. War for winning the heart of the people is more important than defensive war against jihadi guerrillas operating from Pakistan.

Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, called Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, for which he fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct Action Pogrom of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national minorities, after 3 millions were killed in communal riots and several million escaped to the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the State…We are starting with this fundamental principles that we are all citizens and equal citizens of our State.”

People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal Muslim leader (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah Kathiawadi lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta visit, breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic attitude of the people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a Shia), but pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue Muslim politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the person who boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central Legislative Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or organized the fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless suppression of the Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the Governor General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of Jinnah’s bunches of lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in collaboration with Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the Mountbatten Plan for partition, backing out from original agreement that Mountbatten would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan and finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a day of Ramadan (later shifted to dinner).

With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and falsehood Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority was then and even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a democrat he would have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop killing of the Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he assumed the gaddi of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since Jinnah the Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and now they have become an endangered community. Those interested may read Jinnah of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report on the Last Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter.

For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of Pakistan was limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, Balochistan, NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and Assam and other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan theory of Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to amalgamate Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan.

However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in the absence of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he had commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem of Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous situation in common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the national song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the national songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath Azad, son of Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days before the creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first national anthem. It had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that Jinnah sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to write the national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national anthem composed by a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great disrespect to the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers correctly said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu elixir.

Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source Wikipedia)

At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of Pakistan was estimated at approximately a quarter of the total population. For example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was 450,000, of which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, Karachi’s population had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of 600,000 Muslim refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of Karachi was 96% and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu population in all of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would certainly be expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic trends and further diminution of Hindu population.

According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly over 4,924 Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population is 1,921. After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military operations hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand of Jizya, a Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment.

Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for freedom of religion. In practice, however, the government imposes limits on this freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan proclaimed itself an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has become a core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle for separate homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the Hindus and not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with hatred against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to law, public order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. Actions or speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not protected. In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be consistent with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both Muslims and religious minorities. This observation has been supported even by the U.S. State Department’s report on International Religious Freedom report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani Christians the IRF had expressed similar views.

Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia injunctions discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other minorities in Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates the death sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration of the Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, and the accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions once the accusation has been made, although most such allegations of desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March 24, 2005, Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating the mention of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. The Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in chair, had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the rule after its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. The move was seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s former President General Pervez Musharraf.

The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming pace in Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued Islamization of Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the 1980s. Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the rights of religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadiyas, diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the fear of threats to their lives and property, desecration of their places of worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of death. Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s Muslims winning by intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by threatening it, by abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out or succumbs to the Muslim murderers.”

There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni militant outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the large-scale riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His report is an eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to agree on a definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called heads of all Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of a Muslim. No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of our so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard of the beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, New age Islam.

Violence against women in general continues throughout the world, but more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. Violence against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor killings, and domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two hours on average, and at least ten women a day die in honor killings. Moreover, Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison thousands of women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of laws that were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the then President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended “to bring in conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects of the criminal justice system and make certain offences punishable by hadd, which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy Quran or Sunnah.”

The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February 1979, preamble and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . The laws introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences of Zina (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf (wrongful accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property and Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the Ordinance, whenever “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse without being validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina Ordinance. Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally meaning ‘forced adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred without the consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina Ordinance excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence.

According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four male witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. If the victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped for adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is banned in Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human rights groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, the Pakistan government has yet to take action. Readers may have not forgotten the famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international indignation. Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the majority sections of people in a country that still lives in the barbaric Middle Ages.

Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration and destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting of Hindu property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu females. Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted human rights abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the continued decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also because reports of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local media or completely ignored. In most cases police do not register cases reported by Hindu victims.

A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind province, is that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to convert to Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and kidnapping of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On September 14, Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter in Sind, and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to Islam. The authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court dismissed the case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement that she willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a legislator in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should be categorized as rape and should be registered as such an offense for the abductors.

In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine in the Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married man and father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi Abdul Aziz converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and married her to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, Muslim extremists deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. Sapna, terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her parents, who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, is claimed to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain contact with kafirs; non-believers of Islam?”

In a recent investigative report it is described how young girls, as young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted to Islam, and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to sign stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” said Laljee Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council of village leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have taken place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and Larkana districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for Interior, had upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was quoted by the state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are taking place to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been living for the past 5,000 years.”

In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young Hindu girls had suddenly converted to Islam.  The three girls, Reena (21), Usha (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, a Hindu couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, Pakistan – went missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely circulated report in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion losses,” the London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, described the shock experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned home after work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters had unexpectedly disappeared.  Only after desperate queries to the police, the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ conversions to Islam.  Private visits with their daughters, free from chaperones and even police officers that have supervised their only interactions thus far, have been consistently denied.  After their disappearance from home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic seminary) in the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied the freedom to return home.

Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she was gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of providing her with medical treatment, officials drugged her into unconsciousness for three days and then transported her to a psychiatric hospital to prevent her from reporting the rape.  Due to her persistence of reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in Karachi.  The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her house meant that she was working as a prostitute.  Although her husband has stood by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi disgraced the family and should be killed.

Although violence against women transcends their religion, it is disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan.  In May 2005, a group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration for equal rights in Lahore.  In response, the police beat them and took them to police stations.  In particular, they targeted Asma Jahangir, a U.N. special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.  Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence official close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the (expletive) a lesson (and) strip her in public.”  The police tore her shirt off and tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, the Kargil invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated country.

Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of Hindu women were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two other temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According to estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly occupied in Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students studying in government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj.

I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the Baloch people and had written two essays in this portal. However, in Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are several instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released after hefty ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch elements and the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that the Hindus are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. Only in 2009 five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. Only three lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in cash, but paid with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, continue to face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President Musharraf in October 1999.  The native Balochis experience a severely degraded status since the occupation.  Although the exact number is unknown, more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the unrest in Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005.  Militant Muslim groups have desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and destroyed Hindu shops and property.  Here too, Hindu females, particularly school students, are forcibly converted to Islam.  

On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one hundred and fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when Pakistan’s Frontier Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, rockets, and indiscriminate machine gun fire.”  Among those killed were innocent Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti tribesmen

The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley of Hingol river is however, respected by the Baloch political leaders. In 2008 Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency to confirm a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. Balochistan’s Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo and other provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the assembly over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam being constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where an annual festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly resolution warned that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under water sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of all Hindus. It requested the federal government to have the dam constructed elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the Hindus in Sind and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally enjoy trust of the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure from Punjabi settlers.

Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways that Hindu, Sikh and Christian students are automatically discriminated. Extracts, translated from Urdu to English, from the government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and inflammatory portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan:

Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good things, and the Hindus did not respect women.”
Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of Islam.”
Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and cruelty.”
Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as a nation and several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim culture and civilization.”
Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery all over the world.”
Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and brotherhood…There is no such concept in Hinduism.”

Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani system. Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees fundamental human rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. However, Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of Islam in the country. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article 20 which states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.” Unfortunately, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in Pakistan today despite the assurance provided by the Constitution. Temples are desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk persecution, particularly because of the Blasphemy Act.

Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law…There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, honor killings, and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the women of Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as the Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection.  They continue to face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and will continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not repealed.  Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 states, “The State shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services.”  In reality, however, neither families nor minorities are being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced conversions of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the felons. 
Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or signing the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), although it did ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, 1966.

However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some visible presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are more concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice green colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus are classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, night soil carrying job and other menial works. Except for the appointment of Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on Quran) no other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder in the Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of national activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks on the Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this essay.

Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan have organized a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and other causes with the provincial and federal governments:

* Pakistan Balmiki Sabha

* Pakistan Hindu Council

* Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF)

* Pakistan Hindu Panchayat

* Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP)

* Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association

* Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC)

* Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha

Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces important towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the provincial Nazims (district collectors), police officials and political leaders. Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad representative body which works in close liaison with the Human Rights activists in Pakistan.

” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other Hindu MNAs walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest against highly derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court judge. “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that Hindus were financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu members of Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest on Wednesday.

“The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt by Justice Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan People’s Party lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu lawmakers who then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, joined in. Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s national assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the remark while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of Afghan Taliban leaders on Monday.

The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s observation that a US security firm was responsible for the blasts in Pakistan, including the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him saying, “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in Pakistan. Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.”

As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for intervention from president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of Pakistani Hindus had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the “highly objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to the assembly after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on March 18. 2010.

On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic community-slightly more than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and a few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is more than 96% Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic inspector from the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, a poetess and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban rampage in Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and settled with their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas.

They were again uprooted from FATA area when Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) as Jizya. About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released after paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted Sikhs are still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA locations.

Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The Sikh temple at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims in August 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB) had recently taken over lands worth millions of rupees which belonged to Samadh Bhai Man Singh and Gurdwara Deh.

Recent kidnapping of the Sikhs in NWPF area, beheading of two and quarantine of the others demanding Jizya has sent shiver of fear amongst the Sikhs of Pakistan and the world community has also been rattled. The Taliban and local Nazims are demanding Jizya from the Hindus and the Sikhs-a detestable religious tax revived in India by the bigoted Mughal Empire Aurangzeb, which was prevalent off and on till the British had put an end to the barbaric system.

Sikh affairs in Pakistan were in disarray. Pakistan constituted a Gurdwara management body in April 1999 with Lt. General Javed Nasir, the hardcore Tablighi and former ISI chief as the chief. He opened his office inside Gurdwara Nanakmatta, Lahore. After one year the body was disbanded and one Shyam Singh (Sindhi) was appointed Chiarman. Shyam Singh had earlier acted ac coordinator between the Sikh terrorists and the ISI. However, there has not been any formal election to the committee and the chairman, a front man of the ISI, manages the religious affairs of the Sikh community in Pakistan. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee of India poses as self appointed caretaker of the Sikhs of Pakistan. They are treated as a pliable tool by Pakistan. It is alleged by certain Pakistani journalists that some figures in the SGPC receive underhand money from Pakistan. It is difficult for the author to probe authenticity of such allegations.

There are several comments in Pak media that Pakistan gives some preferred treatment to the Sikhs because of its hidden agenda in “Indian Punjab.” Pakistan had earlier encouraged, assisted and armed the Sikh terrorists and even now the ISI has sheltered leaders of the Khalistan Zindabad Force, Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Commando Force, Khalistan Liberation Force and the International Sikh Youth Federation. Important leaders who live in Pakistan as guests of the ISI are Lakhbir Singh Rode (nephew of Bhindranwale), Wadhwa Singh, Mehal Singh, Vikram Singh Canada, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Ranjit Singh Nita etc. Pakistan is trying to revive terrorism in Punjab through these desperate tools living at the mercy of the ISI. However, collusion between the Sikh terrorists and the Pakistan establishment does not offer any solace to common Sikhs. They live on the point of threat of the Saif (sword) of Islam.

The Hindus of Pakistan, now reduced in number, have lost all leverages in political, economic and administrative systems of Pakistan. There are only two Captain rank doctors in Pakistan military hospital; Capt. Danish and Capt. Aneel Kumar. There are no Hindu officers in the fighting ranks. In the administrative services no Hindu holds high position and to come by any Hindu in strategic lower position even in the provinces of Punjab and Sind is rather impossible. They are not simply trusted and are not given preference in spite of the fact that some of them are better qualified. We must not forget Dipak Kaneria, the Pakistani leg spinner, who is more shunted out of the team than allowed to display his cricketing skill.

A major issue Hindus faced until 2002 was that of the separate electorates for Muslims and non-Muslims. In the system of separate electorates, members of religious minorities could only vote for members of their group, which resulted in their marginalization in the National Assembly. The Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association convened a national conference on the issue in December 2000. In 2001, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas successfully conducted a partial boycott of the elections. In 2002, Musharraf granted religious minorities the right to vote for mainstream general seats of National and Provincial assemblies, which they did in 2002. While this was definitely a positive step for the well being of Hindus and the democratization of Pakistan, it remains to be seen how this will affect their overall status. Politically the Hindus have no voice in any power structure in Pakistan, whereas in India the Muslims are gaining more political stature.

Despite Musharraf’s assurances minorities are still elected to the National Assembly from reserved constituencies. They are mostly elected from Sind, Punjab (Multan), NWFP (Bannu) etc places. Majority of them were elected to the NA from PPP tickets, though PML, PML N and MQM also had fielded minority candidates in their own concentration areas. Shabaz Bhatti, MNA from Lahore, belongs to an influential family and is minister in charge of minority affairs. But his portfolio has very little to do with minority welfare. Bhatti is treated more as a minority face to a system that is squarely poised against the minorities including the Ahmadiyas (treated as non-Muslims).

The Hindus, who had received assurance from Jinnah, despite his not so mute encouragement to communal killings, the community that counted for one fourth of Pakistan’s population after independence is now shrinking by the day; now they count for 1.6% of the population. Not only the Hindus are discriminated in matters of jobs, services and any other means of livelihood that require some sort of state patronage, they are threatened, induced and even forced to convert to Islam. Their landed properties are forcibly grabbed, their temples destroyed and their women kidnapped systematically. Under such pressure thousands of Hindus have escaped to India from Sind, Punjab and Balochistan. In Rajasthan alone over 20,000 refugees from Pakistan are living in temporary encampments or with relatives. Neither the government of India nor the present Rajasthan government has taken up any welfare programme to settle these refugees from Pakistan.

According to Seemant Lok Sangathan (SLS), a group working for refugees in Rajasthan, over 10,000 Hindu migrants from Pakistan is living in Jodhpur alone. Nearly 20,000 others are scattered in Jaisalmer and other areas of Rajasthan areas bordering Pakistan. Efforts of the SLS resulted in granting of long term visa by the government of India, but no relief work was initiated.

Only during the last BJP government in Rajasthan more than 4, 50,000 refugees from Pakistan were given voting rights and one refugee was given ticket to contest election. In contrast to this the new Congress government closes eyes when hundreds of Pir Pagaro followers of Sind (Muslims) cross over to India and settle down in the bordering villages with their relatives and clansmen. The illegal Pir Pagaro followers are given voting right, issued ration cards and are pampered by the vote-bank political sharks. Here exist a situation similar to West Bengal and Assam where political patronage by the ruling parties encourage Pakistani Muslims to settle down on the bordering region. Unfortunately for last 20 years the government has not undertaken any survey of these Muslim dominated villages.

Interview of several Hindu refugees conducted during November-December 2009 indicate that they were physically assaulted, they were paid paltry remuneration as against the Muslim employees. Parents have to keep Muslim names for their children with a view to get admission in schools. Besides destruction of temples, desecration of deities the Hindus, mostly of lower casts are subjected to extortion and their women are kidnapped, raped and converted to Islam. Hindus in Pakistan are persecuted for their religious belief. Even the Sindhi rural Muslim landlords indulge in forcible grabbing of lands belonging to Hindu farmers. Few summed up points of inhuman condition in which the Hindus have to live in Pakistan are enumerated below:

Hindu Children do not get admission into schools.

Hindus are converted into Islam by force.

Hindu Girls & Women are abducted, molested & raped.

Hindus and Sikhs are forced to pay Jizya Tax by Talibans.

Hindu Employees are beaten to death in the factory complex.

Provocations against Hindus are inserted in the school text books.

Hindu children are forced to pray Namaz & generally called as ‘Kaffir Kutta’ – Infidel Dogs.

Hindu farmers and labours are forced to do their jobs as bonded labours, with very paltry payment.

80% of lands are snatched from the Kaffir Hindus to fortify total Islamisation of Pakistan.

The about 20% population of Hindus in Pak in 1947 came down to 1.6% in 1991.

Hindus in Pakistan are treated as 3rd Class citizens or not the citizen of Pakistan at all.

The migrating Pakistani Hindus in India also face various troubles to get long term visa.

The Government of India takes a very biased stand. They do not push back the Pakistani Muslims to Pakistan from India, though their presence is reported by agencies. The Hindus migrating from Pakistan are treated as unwelcome guests and the vote-bank secularists treat them as possible voters for their political opponents.

Besides these general observations certain specific instances may drive home the message that Indians are not all concerned about the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian minorities in Bangladesh and Hindu-Sikh and Christian minorities in Paksitan. Destruction of one mosque at Ayaodhya by Hindu fundamentalists had divided the country communally as well as politically. However, when Hindu, Sikh and Christian temples in Pakistan are destroyed these very “secularists” prefer to look the other way. We have mentioned about the destruction of Rangmahal Hindu temple in Lahore. In the heart of Liyari area of Karachi a part of the Hindu temple at Baghdadi area was forcibly taken over by a group of butchers and the sacred place is now used for slaughtering animals. A huge portion of the temple land has been taken over by the land mafia by forcing the Hindus to surrender the land at a minimal cost. The Human Rights Commission of Punjab protested against these incidents. But the governments at Karachi and Islamabad did very little to restore the temple and the land in question to the Hindu trustees.

According to BBC reporter Riaz Sohail (March 2007) Garish Kumar, an engineer from Hyderabad was kidnapped and his mutilated body was later discovered near a madrasa. Though police passed on this as an offence by a militant organisation it was known in the area that Garish was kidnapped for ransom and later killed. His is not the isolated case. Kumar’s father Saspal Das is a trader at Kunri town in Umerkot district. He was of the opinion that though more than 90% Hindus of Pakistan live in PPP president and national president Zardari’s home province he has very little time for minority welfare. However, Kishenchand Parwani, adviser on minority affairs to the provincial government openly refutes any atrocity against the Hindus but admits that Hindus are targeted even in Karachi town by the communal Muslim elements. In recent years kidnapping for ransom has become a routine in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Larkana etc areas. Ramesh Lal, MNA agrees that nearly 20 traders were kidnapped by the communal goons and only 12 could buy their release. Others were not rich enough to pay ransom and lost their lives.

From upper Sukkur four Hindu women were kidnapped in late October by a known fundamentalist listed as a leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They were taken to a mosque, forcibly converted and married away to middle aged married persons with children.

Surprisingly, the Indian Human Rights activists and secular protagonists, who labour beyond all conceivable elasticity of the Indian system, do not shed even crocodile’s tears for the Hindu-Sikh-Christian minorities in Pakistan. These matters are not even taken up either in first track or second track diplomatic talks with Pakistan. Systematic destruction of Hindu temples and desecration of Sikh temples do not attract attention of the Indian political leaders and so-called secularist compradors. They are busy in distributing largesse among the minorities (Muslim) in India but are averse to even look at the plights of the Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The minority situation was created by the partition of the country. Plight of the minorities is an unfinished agenda of of the partition. India is attending to that duty rather with pathological urgency in respect of Indian Muslims. On the other hand in Pakistan and Bangladesh the minorities are persecuted with pathological criminal intentions. Can India not use diplomatic pressure, like other unfinished agenda of the partition, to ensure better deals to the minorities in the neighbouring countries? Would our secular, democratic and human rightist political leaders dare to answer the angry questions asked by the beleaguered Pakistani and Bangladeshi minorities? One Kandhamal incident in Orissa had created political storm amongst certain secularists, but systematic attack on Pakistani Christians, Sikhs and Hindus do not ruffle the feathers of so called secular and democratic leaders, NGO professionals and societal organisations. Mera Bharat Mahan?

I have no reason to disbelieve my media friends in Pakistan who do not want conventional or nuclear war between India and Pakistan. I have reasons to believe that the STATE OF PAKISTAN is engaged in this strategy and the latest meeting of the jihadis in Muzaffarabad and Markaz ud Dawa rally in Lahore are indicators of that very strategic policy of Pakistan. Starting with deputing the Mehsud tribals to invade Kashmir in 1947 Pakistan has depended on dual policy of direct ISI intervention and intervention through the tanzeems created by it. A third dimension has been added to the strategy after Pakistan succeeded in creating hundreds of Modules and Cells amongst sections of Indian Muslims; whose visible faces are SIMI, Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba Al Alami (International).

This third dimension has been added to allow Pakistan the diplomatic deniability of any of the terror groups in Pakistan. Already there are propaganda in Pakistan and through the electronic media that Indian Muslims are now geared up for another war of liberation and creation of two more Pakistan like nations out of existing India. Hopefully, Indian leaders in Delhi are listening to these underground rumblings.

Indians have either become immune to such dastardly Pakistan sponsored attacks, which has the potential of engulfing the country or they behave like zombies who leave their welfare to fate or at best to the snake-charmer politicians, who sing paean from time to time saying-Sab Thik Hain. After the Pune incident also P. Chidambaram, Union Home Minister asserted that there was no intelligence failure and the state government was earlier alerted about the possibility of jihadi attack on Osho Ashram, German Bakery and the Jewish Chabard establishment. The alert was issued after the FBI informed India about David Headley’s visit to Pune and his surveying of the sensitive establishments. Pune also figured in the jihad speech of Makki, number two in the Markaz ud Dawa establishment.

It should be understood that Alert is a security exercise based on Intelligence Assessment. On the basis of alert the security wings of police arrange for physical security of the threatened vulnerable places and installations. This exercise should not be confused with actionable intelligence generation. The logical sequence of security and intelligence drill is: Intelligence assessment>>Threat determination>>Alert Notice>>Intelligence generation to buttress the intelligence assessment. In case of Pune, even in case of 26/11 incident, intelligence assessment and threat determination stages were observed by the Central IB and the State police were adequately alerted.

The next important course of action is related to intelligence generation about the likely perpetrators of the terror action through Human Intelligence and Electronic Intelligence. In case of Pune, it was known that modules of the Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba were active in Kondhwa, Janwadi etc areas of Pune. There were reports of several hardliner clerics from Azamgarh being employed in local madrasas and some of the Lashkar and IM members had recently migrated from Aurangabad and Pimpri to Pune. In spite of these inputs neither the Central IB nor the State police intelligence succeeded in generating Human Intelligence or Electronic Intelligence to decipher the nexus between the Pune plotters and their handlers in Pakistan and their planned modus operandi of the dastardly terror attack.

In simple language, there was complete intelligence blackout. None of the intelligence agencies had made any effort to penetrate the modules and cells which normally function from within the clustered Muslim areas in and around Pune and nearby towns. Such continuous failure to generate Human Intelligence and absence of sophisticated Electronic Intelligence is unpardonable. Informed Pune sources assert that the intelligence units in the city are in hibernating condition. There is no sophisticated equipment to gather electronic intelligence.

Even basic measures of physical security were not taken in adequate manner to enforce German Bakery to install CC TV and metal detector scanners. Surprisingly the important and vulnerable locality did not even have a police post to patrol the area. Only after the incident a temporary camp has been opened up. Therefore, Chidambaram’s observation that in Pune there was no intelligence failure and the attack was insidious in nature is nothing but a political cover-up of colossal state failure.

In the Pune bombing the jihadis used RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon, possibly with electronic timer device using a mobile phone. The modus operandi and the technology were similar to serial bombings in Rajasthan and Gujarat and some of the train bombing incidents in Mumbai. However, it must be remembered that IED formulae are widely known and several Indian Muslim youths have been trained in Pakistan in the craft of manufacturing explosive devices. There is no brand right by any group. The technology is well known and widely available in the Internet. However, use of ammonium nitrate indicates that the chemical may have been locally procured and the IED was manufactured in one of the cells of the Lashkar or the Indian Mujahideen.

Several speculations are on the air about Riyaz Bhatkal being the ‘mastermind’ behind Pune blast. According to reports Riyaz Bhatkal is in Karachi and he works in tandem with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the mafia gang of Dawood Ibrahim. His brother Iqbal Bhatkal is reportedly in Dubai. One of the two persons detained by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in connection with German Bakery blast case had sheltered the elusive Indian Mujahideen co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal in the neighbouring town of Pimpri between 2005 and 2007. Present indications point fingers at IM, LeT and HuJI. Existence of a huge illegal Bangladeshi concentration in the clustered areas require deeper probe. Though banned in Bangladesh HuJI is active in India.

The other question that has whipped up political debate is about the timing of the explosion. India-Pakistan secretary level talks are likely to be resumed in end February. The BJP has demanded suspension of talks on grounds of possible Pakistani hand behind the terror attack. They also quoted the Prime Minister who had earlier said that there could not be any talk with Pakistan unless all the infrastructures of terror in Pakistan were demolished. The USA also is keen to see resumption of India-Pakistan composite talks and has even said that such talks are central to a permanent solution in Afghanistan. The US, on the other hand, has undermined India’s position by liberally supplying weapons and billions in grants to Pakistan, major parts of which are used in building war infrastructure against India.

India may as well talk to Pakistan but must keep on the table the issue of dismantling terror infrastructure in the neighbouring country. Slogans are being raised in Pakistan that without solving the Kashmir problem any permanent peace can be achieved. There are points of view in India that Kashmir as a whole belongs to India and the Kashmir problem can only be solved if Pakistan vacates illegal occupation. From these diplomatic and strategic rigmaroles it is understood that this time around Indian and Pakistan would talk for the sake of talking. Engaging an adversary is good in diplomacy but not preparing the country to defend against that very enemy’s direct and proxy attack is a pointer to political and strategic bankruptcy. It is feared that the UPA government has run out of ideas and policies to fortify the country from sniper jihadi attacks to be followed by avalanche to jihadi rampage all over the country. Pune is just one of those indicators to starkly remind the country: We never learn lessons.

Earlier in January 2009 dramatic changes took place in the political scenario of the struggling nation. Political developments during last decade had brought into sharp focus on the quantum of ideological chasm between the forces headed by pro-liberation and secular combine headed by Sheikh Hasina Wazed and the post-Mujib political usurpers, pro-Pakistani and Islamist conglomerate headed by Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). If Ziaur Rahman was a part of the plot to kill Sheikh Mujib, how can his wife remain ignorant about that? She should be made to speak and disclose the truth and crimes committed against the people of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was born out of the aspirations of the Bengali speaking people to achieve political, economic, and cultural freedom from the overwhelming alien ethnic forces represented by Punjabi dominated political, bureaucratic and military hegemony. The movements also aimed at restoration of the unique secular tradition of the Bengali speaking people-on either side of the geopolitical fence.

Violent changes imposed on the people of Bangladesh by the conspiratorial forces of Pakistan, USA; represented by the ISI and the CIA and the fundamentalist Jamait-e-Islami had tried to virtually negate the achievements of the liberation war. Mujib’s death and ultimate capture of power by Ziaur Rahman marked the stark dividing line between the forces of liberation, establishment of secular democratic forces represented by the Awami League and the pro-Pakistan, pro-Islamist non-secular forces represented by the BNP. The BNP was not only a political face of the military regime; it emerged as the umbrella for all non-secular Islamist anti-Indian forces and an echo pillar for the Pakistani conspirators. Common sensible people in Bangladesh call the BNP as Bangla Name Pakistan (Pakistan in the garb of Bangla political front).

This was proved beyond doubt when Ziaur Rahman allowed the Jamait chief to return to Bangladesh and reopen the fundamentalist shop. Zia’s open collaboration with the CIA and the ISI resulted in recruitment of over 15, 000 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas for undergoing training in ISI, Al Qaeda and Afghan mujahideen camps and fighting against the USSR. Nearly 2000 Bangla jihadis were deputed to Bosnia, Chechnya and other theatres of jihad directly or indirectly sponsored by the USA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda. Zia was responsible for Islamization of secular Bangladesh and dragging it closer to Pakistan.

After conclusion of the Afghan jihad 8000 odd jihadis returned to Bangladesh, who opened new jihadi outfits to Islamicise Bangladesh and remove the last vestiges of the secular identity of the Bangladeshi people. Since then the Jamait and the jihadi forces did not have to look back. Islamization process, proliferation in activities of the jihadi groups and stranglehold of Pakistan and pumping in of Arab world fund for strengthening Islamic resurgence were given priority by the BNP and Jamait coalition government. Between 1993 and 2003 over 36 jihadi tanzeems rooted in the country and over 8000 afghan war veterans opened new jihad accelerating bodies, started over 65 new madrasas and proclaimed that their objective was establishing Nizam-e-Mustafa in Bangladesh. The BNP/Jamait government did everything possible to bury the name of Bangabandhu, arranged attempt on Sheikh Hasina’s life and closed eyes on the activities of Jamait-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI), Bangla Bhai, Hizbut Tehrir, Ahl-e-Hadith and Allahar Dal etc armed terrorist movements. Pakistani jihadi tanjeems like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad etc also opened shop in Bangladesh and the ISI, in collaboration with the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) accelerated terrorist activities in India. It is needless to say that the pro-Pakistani tools of governance in Bangladesh were treated as the most trusted allies by the Indian ethnic insurgent groups.

However, oxidization of the golden hue dream of Sonar Bangla was abruptly checkmated with the landslide win of the Awami League headed by Sheikh Hasina in the last election and marginalization of BNP, Jamait-e-Islami and other fanatic forces. The people of Bangladesh voted overwhelmingly for Sheikh Hasina to restore freedom of the country that was earned with blood of millions of Bangla citizens. However, this new earned freedom faced immediate threat in the form of bloodied revolt by the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force. Within two months of installation of the new government of liberation the Bangladesh Rifle officers and jawans staged a revolt in Dhaka and other detachment headquarters. The bloodied revolt, ostensively staged on certain grievances, there were informed opinions that political opponents and sections of the armed forces and the military intelligence, the DGFI, had motivated the revolt to get pro-democracy Army Chief General Moeen removed and bring about a army coup by dismissing the newly elected government. There were reports that BNP and Jamait leaders were the main motivators. However, Sheikh Hasina tackled the national crisis with firm grit and determination and pragmatic approach.

It can be said that Hasina has succeeded to a great extent in defanging the DGFI and has established reasonable control on the armed forces by pushing aside the prominent BNP and Jamait leaning senior army officers. To General Moeen goes the credit of helping the secular and democratic government.

After completion of one year in January 2010 , despite several internal shortcomings, Hasina government has maintained reasonably high level of popularity. According to a study carried out recently by Daily Star newspaper of Bangladesh, the new government has suffered some erosion in popularity on certain fronts. But it maintained considerable popular support. In an impoverished country like Bangladesh it is not possible for any government to maintain 80% popularity. Drought, flood, cyclones and shortage of food, shelter and lack of employment opportunities obviously maintain high level of disapproval of any government in a struggling country like Bangladesh. Bangladesh depends heavily on manpower export to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Libya and the Gulf countries. After the global recession thousands of labour force working abroad returned home, putting pressure on the employment front. The youths are restive and they want the Dhaka government to negotiate with other countries to facilitate their job opportunities in foreign markets; mostly in semi-skilled labour sectors.

Government actions to ban jihadi entities like Ahl-e-Hadith, Jamait-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, HuJI, Allahar Dal and hanging of three JMB criminals for serial bombings obviously irritated good number of fanatics, which constitute nearly 15%-20% population of the state. Large numbers of jihadi activists were arrested and are being tried. The discovery of huge arms and ammunition manufacturing facility at Bhola, an island, which was being run by a British national of Bangladesh origin, Faisal Mustafa under cover of Green Crescent madrasa, highlighted the determination of Hasina government to deal firmly with all terror breeding organizations.
The government also relentlessly pursued the illegal import of 10 trucks full of sophisticated weapons by the ULFA in collaboration with the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the DGFI. The arms were imported by ULFA chief Paresh Barua in 2004. The BNP government winked at the induction of 10 trucks full of weapons for carrying out depredations in Assam and other places in northeast India. Only after the new government came to power several senior officers of the NSI and the DGFI and other accused persons related to BNP were arrested and brought up for trial.

These steps, coupled with the government decision to modernize madrasa education and streamlining religious education in co0nformity with the education policy of the country has angered the Maulvis and other streams of religious teachers. This class is not happy with government decision to overhaul rural primary education and to root out organized armed gangs dominating several educational institutions in the country.

Devastation caused by Cyclone Sidr in November 2005 and Cyclone Aila in May 2009 left hundreds of villages in ruins. The rural poor in the southern districts were most hard hit. Despite mobilization of internal and international help the government has not been able to restore normalcy. Economic recession accompanied by shortage of funds and other amenities have left thousands of families still uprooted and unsettled.
The government of Sheikh Hasina struggled to cope with natural disasters, challenges from the Islamist terrorists, pro-Pakistani political conspirators and global recession. In a politically volatile country economic depression and price rise and inflation add to restlessness and such opportunities are exploited by diversionary political elements like the BNP, Jamait-e-Islami and their cohorts. In the midst of such chaotic ambience Hasina completed her one year in power and the survey taken up by Daily Star indicate that despite several factors of dissatisfaction Hasina has maintained high degree of popularity.

Source: Daily Star, January 8, 2010.

There are few other reasons of dissatisfaction in several segments of the populace. Though violence was injected into the political and social souls of Bangladesh by the killers of Mujib and later military dictators, the people of Bangladesh have not succumbed to the culture of violence, as imbued by the Pakistani society, where religious banditry is passed as Islam. However, in Bangladesh the student’s movement has become the violent fringes of political ideology.

The student wing of Awami League, Chattra League, is a powerful institution. The League has firm stranglehold in most educational institutions and they are also known for interfering in local administration. Bangladesh politics is crucially dominated by students unions, mainly Chattra League (AL), Chattra Dal (BNP), Islamic Chattra Shibir (Jamait-e- Islami), Islamic Student Movement of Bangladesh (want Khilafa), and Revolutionary Students Unity of Bangladesh (Left) etc. These students unions, aligned on political lines, often clash in the Universities and other educational institutions. They try to capture the university hostels and dictate terms on the authorities. During BNP/Jamait rule the Chattra Dal and Chattra Shibir along with Islamic Student Movement of Bangladesh dominated the political scene, tender grabbing for government works, killing and maiming Chattra League activists and maiming the local administration.

Now that Awami League is in power the Chattra League is flexing muscles. Grabbing tenders for government works has become an issue of serious concern. There are frequent violent clashes between Chattra League, Chattra Dal and Islamic Chattra Shibir. In recent months there have been serious efforts by Chattra Dal and Shibir to capture political grassroots in different districts by violently dislodging the Chattra League. In January 2010 a combined group of Shibir and Chattra Dal carried out violent armed attack on a Dhaka university college.

Such clashes often result in killing of students and members of the faculty. Sheikh Hasina has several times tried to discipline the Chattra League leaders and party leaders who exercise control on CL in different districts. General public opinion is against such activism by the student unions of the political parties. However, there has been some qualitative difference this time. A number of Chattra League leaders have been booked under the law for criminal activities. The government does not want to come down heavily fearing upsurge of student unions owing allegiance to the opposition parties. Hasina has some tight rope warning ahead. She has to convert the dynamism of the students and youths to constructive activities for fighting fundamentalism, promote secularism and get them imbued with spirit of sacrifices committed by the leading freedom fighters. Mukti Juddha (freedom struggle) is still a vibrant dream in the minds of majority of Bangladeshi people. The students can help Hasina by harnessing these sentiments.

The other issue that agitates public minds is Cross Firing by Rapid Action Battalions (RAB). In Bangladesh Cross Fire means faked encounter. During BNP/Jamait rule there were over 500 Cross Fire killings of criminals, political opponents and Marxist-Leninist and Maoist leaders and workers. In the western districts of Bangladesh the revolutionary Maoist left movement is quite strong. During last one year about 100 people have died in Cross Fire. This legacy of killing the people in the ruse of encounter allegedly helps the administration to avoid going through the encumbered hassles of legal prosecution. Only recently Hasina government has issued some directives to examine each and every case of Cross Fire death. Bangladesh Human Rights activists are also agitating against this legacy of the military rule and reckless rule by BNP/Jamait.

The issue of security of the minorities (Hindu, Buddhists, Christians and peripheral Hindu tribals) is a burning issue. With the return of Sheikh Hasina the minorities had heaved a sigh of relief that they would no more be subjected to rioting, forcible eviction from their lands and homes, their women would be protected and their religious places would not be destroyed by the BNP, Jamait and Jihadi groups. According available statistics during the BNP/Jamait rule over 1500 homes of the minorities were forcibly occupied, about 1500 acres of land grabbed, 370 minority women were raped and about the same umber kidnapped, converted and married to Muslims. Besides such atrocities plundering of Hindu business establishments and killing of businessmen had become a common feature. The minority segments of the people, especially the huge tribal population of Chittagong Hill Tracts still feel insecure. Hasina government has taken some steps to ensure security of the minorities, but in a wild riverine country dictates of the law are often hijacked by the Islamists and minority baiters. Being the head of a secular and democratic government Sheikh Hasina has to perform better and bring in new legislation for constitutional protection of the minorities as prevalent in India. Bangladesh requires constitutional guarantees for their rights. This action would be the acid test of Bangladeshi secularism.

Bangladesh government has been cautioned against promulgating a law that would encourage land grabbers to illegally seize properties belonging to minority Hindus, accelerating a process that has been on since India’s partition in 1947. Human rights activists, lawyers and NGOs urged the government to scrap the proposed ‘Vested Property Verification, Selection and Settlement Ordinance, 2008′. They are of the view that ‘Vested Property Return Act 2001’ is good enough to resolve the land issue of the minority community (Hindu). This replaced a Pakistan era law enacted to deal with the ownership rights over the ‘enemy property’, left behind by millions of minority Hindus who migrated to India. It was either left to the care of relatives who chose to stay behind, or was grabbed, generating legal disputes. Studies have shown that this process continued after the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 and land-grabbing has been condoned by all political parties. The Awami League government was keen to introduce the new proposed law in the Parliament. However, under pressure from different lobbies the government has deferred the move. Some modifications have been suggested. This historic issue should be settled to the satisfaction of the minorities, otherwise Hasina government would lose popularity amongst the minority population. Surprisingly enough the government of India had not brought up this subject for bilateral discussion with the Bangladesh Prime Minister during her recent visit to Delhi. Sheikh Hasina must gather support to bring about a new law that would protect land, lives and dignity of the minorities, setting up a standard for all other Muslim majority countries.

Corruption and price rise in Bangladesh is rampant as in India and various parts of South Asia and South East Asia. Poverty is more acute in Bangladesh, particularly in the rural areas. High rise in consumer commodity prices during last one year has caused severe distress amongst the poor segments of the people. Observers opined that Hasina government is either unwilling or in collusion with the corrupt hoarders, speculators and price manipulators. This allegation is wild. She is personally honest, but it is not possible to inject honesty serum in all politicians and bureaucrats. India has miserably failed. Why bait Bangladesh alone?

Fish, a staple daily diet has become scarce. Bangladesh has to import fish from India though certain categories of fish are allowed to be exported to earn foreign exchange. Obviously, Bangladesh is heavily dependent on India for edible oils, pulses, condiments, sugar and other items of daily needs. Closure of legal or illegal trade with India for more than 15 days would create severe scarcity in Bangladesh, which is capable of provoking critical political crisis. With the improvement of bilateral relations border trading and regular export and import situation should improve. Hasina’s government has marginally succeeded in bringing down prices of essential commodities to some extent and the country gained bumper production in the wake of giving subsidy to agriculture inputs.

While the above narrated issues are responsible for dwindling popularity of Hasina government within a year of her thundering return to power she deserves applause on certain other scores. There cannot be exclusive black and white situation.

Her government has displayed that it is determined to root out jihadism and terrorism in any form. The interim government as well as the new elected government has started taking firm action against the major and minor Islamist, terrorist and jihadi organisations. The Ahl-e-Hadith Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, Jamait-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Hizbut Tehrir and Allhar Dal etc virulently violent organisations have been banned. Several JMB activists, bomb specialists have been arrested and prosecuted. JMB is regarded as the affiliate of Taliban in Bangladesh, Its connectivity with al Qaeda is well proved. A special Bangladesh court sentenced three members of militant Islamic groups to death on in February2008 for involvement in a suicide bombing more than two years ago in which eight people were killed. Besides this the JMB was responsible for 49 serial bombing on a single day. Prime Minister Hasina made it clear in public speeches that Bangladesh would not be allowed to become a playground of jihadis and terrorists like Pakistan. Pakistan’s policy of creating and playing with terror groups has backfired on it. It is reeling under self-grown jihadist attacks.

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld a 2005 ruling by the High Court throwing out the fifth amendment of the constitution, which had allowed religion-based politics to flourish in the country during the last three decades. But Begum Zia government did not implement it. Following the apex court order, dozens of Islamic political parties must drop Islam from their name and stop using religion during their election campaigns. Religion based politics was added to the constitution by the Fifth Amendment carried out during late president Ziaur Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government in 1979.This had allowed the religion-based political parties to play freely and added the Arabic “Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim” or in the name of God, the most merciful, benevolent in the preamble in the constitution. Some interpreters commented that the words “Bismillahir Rahman ar Rahim” in the preamble of the constitution would remain intact as the High Court verdict did not say anything about the words and those were part of the constitution’s preamble, not of the “main body”. The word “secularism” would automatically be restored in the constitution once the Court verdict is implemented. The latest order of Bangladesh Supreme Court confirming earlier order of the High Court that the regimes in Bangladesh after Mujib assassination to 1979 ascendance of usurper Ziaur Rahman has finally invalidated the 5th amendment to the Constitution. This is a big victory for the Bangladeshi freedom fighters. Perhaps Hasina government can now proceed to nullify various other orders perpetuated by Zia and his successor government for making Bangladesh an Islamic fundamentalist nation.

The fundamentalist and reactionary leaders of Jamait-e-Islami, Islamic Chattra Shibir, Islamic Oikyo Jot, Khilafat Movement of Bangladesh and Ulema Council of Bangladesh had organized a gathering in front of Dhaka’s National Press Club and voiced protest against the Supreme Court verdict. These groups and other resurgent Islamic organisations are likely to link up with BNP and whip up protest in the ruse of Sheikh Hasina signing several agreements with India allegedly jeopardizing Bangladesh’s sovereignty and security. The pro-Pakistani and Islamist lobbies are on the verge of whipping up unrest to regain political toe hold after their humiliating defeat in last Parliamentary and local body elections. These pro-Pakistani forces, as a last resort, pick up the anti-India broom to clean up their own dirty homes.

Cracking down on organized crime, identifying and prosecuting corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, improving general law & order situation are some of other achievements of Hasina government. The U.S. government has dropped Bangladesh from its watch list following the improvement in the human rights scenario.

Despite global economic recession, the Bangladeshi economy did not suffer the way as feared by many economists and experts. The stimulus package announced by the government for vulnerable sectors helped a lot to keep the economy going. The country’s foreign exchange reserve exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, and inflation was pulled down to 4.69 percent in August 2009 from 10.11 percent when she formed the government on Jan. 6 last year. The flow of remittances has increased 22.4 percent from the previous year. The scenario of rural employment has improved significantly.

Another golden hue was added to the history of Bangladesh when the Bangla Supreme Court handed down death sentence on five former army officers for assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his other colleagues in and death warrant was issued against Lt. Col. Syed Farooq Rahman, Lt. Col. Sultan Sahriar Rashid Khan, Major Bazlul Huda, Maj. A. K. M. Mohiuddin Ahmed and Lt. Col Mohiuddin Ahmed. The process of prosecution had started in 1996. It took 13 years to conclude the proceedings of the most unfortunate crime committed by former army officers. The killers had enjoyed indemnity under Khondakar, Ziaur and Ershad regime. The development has, on the one hand buoyed up moral of the secular forces and on the other has set up an example to the erring army officers and pro-Pakistani forces. Several documents and evidences pointing finger at Ziaur Rahman being one of the background plotters of assassination of Mujib has embarrassed the BNP and lowered its image in public eye.

Sheikh Hasina’s recent visit to Delhi has resulted in mutually beneficial agreements. Several contentious issues have been sorted out. In the 50 point historic communiqué issued after the summit meeting at Hyderabad House, PM Hasina and PM Manmohon had pledged commitment to working positively for solving all issues with the spirit of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation. The Indian government has categorically committed that nothing that harms Bangladesh will be done at Tipaimukh hydro project. The PMs also vowed to work positively to reach an agreement regarding sharing of Teesta River water. The Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting is likely to meet soon to expedite this and also on issues related to Feni, Muhuri, Khowai, Dharala and Dudkumar rivers will be held at a convenient time in the current quarter of 2010. Actions on dredging of Ichamati River and protection of Mahananda, Karotoa, Nagar, Kulik, Atrai, Dharala and Feni rivers were also agreed to be worked out. India appreciated the urgency of Bangladesh government to regenerate required water flow in all rivers and agreed to support Bangladesh initiatives to dredge rivers for flood control, navigation and access to ports. India agreed to provide dredgers on urgent basis.

The two PMs also agreed to resolve maritime boundary disputes through mutual discussions. They acknowledged the initiation of proceedings under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and in that context India welcomed a visit of a Bangladesh delegation. Issues related to land boundary disputes were agreed to be resolved keeping in view the spirit of 1974 Land Boundary agreement. It was agreed to convene Joint Boundary Working Group to address this issue.

Bangladesh agreed to let India, Nepal and Bhutan use Mongla and Chittagong port by rail and road for trading. It was also agreed that Rohanpur-Singabad broad gauge railway link will be available for Bangladesh for transit to Nepal. Bangladesh informed India of its intention to convert Radhikapur- Birol railway line into broad gauge and requested railway transit link to Bhutan as well. To facilitate smooth trading of goods, it was agreed that trucks from Bhutan and Nepal would be allowed to enter about 200 meters into the zero point at Banglabandha at Banglabandha-Phulbari land customs station. Necessary arrangements will be mutually agreed upon and put in place by both countries.

Countries agreed to jointly combat organized terrorism, insurgency and criminal activities. Countries earlier signed to exchange convicted criminals. PMs assured each other that the territory of either will not be allowed for activities inimical to the other, and resolved not to allow their respective territories to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by domestic or foreign terrorist/militant and insurgent organisations and their operatives. Both prime ministers agreed that the respective border guarding forces will exercise restraint, and underscored the importance of regular meetings between the two border security forces to curtail illegal cross border activities, and to prevent loss of lives.

Apart from above Bangladesh and India earlier signed three agreements and two MOUs. Bangladesh under power trading agreement will import about 250MW power from Indian eastern grid. The actions required for Grid connectivity will be completed soon. Power trading agreement is the stepping stone to set up regional power grid and energy ring.

Besides these agreements Bangladesh has shown goodwill by arresting and handing over to India important leaders of ULFA, NLFT and NDFB organizations. Paresh Barua the military commander of ULFA has now taken shelter in China. With the improved relationship India and Bangladesh can perhaps establish a common economic zone that would benefit both the countries. In case the present trend is sustained and Sheikh Hasina’s government gets a longer lease of life Bangladesh can make enormous progress and it can invite investment by foreign countries including India for rapid economic progress and improvement of its natural resources. Several Indian investors have expressed intention to invest in power, oil exploration and other industries in Bangladesh. Hopefully, at the bilateral level some positive structures can be worked out.
It may be recalled that India and Bangladesh now jointly stand as buffer between Islamist jihadism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Southern Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. If this buffer is allowed to strengthen, both the countries can become islands of democracy and secularism in South and South East Asia. As it appears, India is ready to walk alongside Bangladesh in this mission.

The people of Bangladesh has finally proved that despite hijacking of the polity and policies of secular Bangladesh by pro-Pakistani forces and attempted Islamisation of the country from1976 to 2006, the Bengali identity, cultural values, traditions of secularism and love for freedom and liberty remain the main building blocks of the nation. The dream of Mujib’s Sonar Bangla may not materialize but the present developments present a golden hue. However, the dark clouds of machinations by pro-Pakistani BNP and Islamsit Jamait-e-Islami jihadist forces are just hibernating. They have the capability of striking against the forces of secularism and freedom movement in collaboration with their foreign mentors and moneybags.

The USA is now bogged down in the Arabian Peninsula, neighbouring Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

Credit: maps.com

The map above will give some idea about the dimension of US involvement in the major Muslim countries minus certain North African Muslim nations and Central Asian Republics, which also profess Islam.

Besides the countries shown in the map US involvement in Egypt, Libya and several West African countries is rated as hegemonistic in nature. Similar is the lesson drawn from US involvement the Balkans, creation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo from the post Cold War ruins of Yugoslavia. The US involvement in Georgia, Ukraine and Armenia etc countries still smack of the whiffs of the Cold War heat. Efforts to squeeze out Russian influence on the East European countries are palpably perceivable. The advancement of the US in the Central Asian countries, economic competition with China and Russia and tacit US support to the Islamic jihadis in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Ossetia raise suspicion that America is still pursuing the policy of encirclement of the Russian Federation and isolate it from its former and existing federating units and nationalities. While we propose to discuss US and Chinese presence in the Central Asian Republics (CAR), for the purpose of this essay, we propose to discuss the aspects of US’s war against Islamic countries in the Middle East and in our geopolitical proximity in Afghanistan and Pakistan. India has strong geostrategic interest in the entire region including the Muslim countries in the CAR region.

The British and US interference in the Middle Eastern countries have become a saga of blatant political-military and espionage thrusts of the big powers on the disarrayed Arab and Persian peoples. Installation of Shah Pahlavi as the monarch of Iran and CIA (Operation Ajax) and MI6 clandestine operations to remove Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, simply because he was opposed to foreign intervention in Iran and he had nationalized Iran’s oil industry, was as bitter as the assassination of President Salvador Allende of Chile. This perverted energy policy of the US and its allies later brought about the Islamic revolution in Iran under Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini in 1979. The Iran revolution instantly brought about Islamic resurgence from Morocco to Mindanao in the Philippines. Islam and Islamic countries had started undergoing revolutionary resurgence strengthening the concepts of Wahhabism and Salafism and unleashing the forces of militancy. Journey back to religious orthodoxy was buttressed by armed militancy as a perceived means of liberation of Islam from the perfidious modern forces represented by the Western Jewish and Christian powers.

If hunger for oil and energy had prompted the USA and UK to intervene in Iraq, it finally germinated the seeds of Shia Islamic jingoism. Around the same time another storm was brewing in the region. December 1979 witnessed another upheaval in Afghanistan, a neighbor of the USSR, Pakistan and Iran, direct Soviet intervention in the beleaguered country. USA’s desire to humble the Cold War rival USSR hustled Washington to get involved in the Afghan cauldron. It is propagated that the USA had intervened in Afghanistan by supporting the mujahideens after the Soviet attack. Now it is known, as revealed by Chalmers Johnson, a former naval officer and a Japan and Asia scholar, in his book Blowback: the Costs and Consequences of American Empire: “The USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan was deliberately provoked. In his 1996 memoirs, former CIA director Robert Gates writes that the American intelligence services actually began to aid the mujahudeen guerrillas in Afghanistan not after the Soviet invasion of that country, but six months before it. In a 1998 interview with the French weekly magazine Le Nouvel Oberservateur,former president Carter’s National Security Adviser,”Zbigniew Brzezinski, unambiguously confirmed Gates’s assertion…

“According to the official version of history,” Brzezinski told the Nouvel Oberservateur, “CIA aid to the mujahideen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality, closely guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed it was July 3, 1979, that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet intervention.” (Italics by author).

When asked whether he regretted these actions, Brzezinski replied:
“Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, essentially: ‘We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War.” (Italics by author).

Without revisiting the prolonged mujahideen wars in Afghanistan, US, Saudi and Pakistani involvement, it can be stated that the US orchestration of secret warfare to invite the USSR in its Vietnam in Afghanistan has now turned to America’s third Vietnam. The US and UK’s invasion of Iraq was the second Vietnam. America’s fourth Vietnam is taking shape in Pakistan. It would seem that the eclipsed imperial power, the United Kingdom, and the successor imperialist power the USA, are prone to invoke wars simply not because of ideological divergences with the Communist giants, but mainly for securing their imperial outposts like Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam and energy rich nations like Iran and Iraq and strategic geopolitical entities in Venezuela, Panama. Mexico, Colombia, Guyana and Ecuador in South America and the oil and gas rich countries in Central Asia and the countries in the rim nations of Caspian Sea and Black Sea. Jumping from one war to another has characterized the successive US regimes and its allies like the UK and some of NATO members.

America’s Mission Afghanistan aimed at dismantling the USSR and score victory over the Cold War rival was impregnated with the seeds of another war: Islamic Jihad vs the US and other western powers, basically termed as the holy war against the Jews and the Christians. International strategic observers agree on the common point that original US involvement in Afghanistan followed by sudden withdrawal and Pakistani entrance via the Taliban train had created a cruces of Islamic jihad that witnessed birth of the al Qaeda, transformations of Taliban outlook as a religio-political philosophy of the resurgent Islamic groups that has created a crescent of upsurge of the Wahhabi-Salafi doctrines.

The al Qaeda-Taliban movements have attained the stature of new Islamic ideological bedrock almost like what Communism did to the global upsurge against western imperialism. The entire Islamic world has been influenced by this neo-religious resurgence, which believes in armed struggle for establishing the supremacy of Islam. These forces are also active in the European and American countries in addition to countries in Asia and Africa. There are tons of written books and documentations to prove that Osama bin Laden was patronized by the CIA, ISI and Royal Saudi intelligence agencies. The al Qaeda was born in the thick of Afghan thrust by USA, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in 1989. The Arab volunteers and associates had maintained distinct identity from the Pakistani tanzeems and regular troops and the seven- party lose coalition of the Afghan Mujahideens. Osama’s alienation from the USA and Saudi Arabia started soon after US’s involvement in Iraq-Kuwait war in 1990, on the ground that Saudi Arabia had allowed non-Islamic military troops to defile the holy land of the Prophet.

Without narrating minute by minute extracts of the war between the USA and al Qaeda it should be sufficient to say that Osama bin Laden had started training his cadres in Afghanistan-Pakistan. Under US pressure he had set up militant training camps in Sudan and began searching for nuclear material and weapons. On Feb. 26, 1993 a 500-kilogram bomb was exploded in a garage under World Trade Center in New York, killing six and injuring 1,042. Osama bin Laden’s associate Ramzi Yousef, a person of Pakistani origin, was responsible for the blast. It was a rehearsal for the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers.

Between 1995 and September 2001 al Qaeda mounted at least 8 major attacks on US targets including the apocalyptic attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre on 9/11/2001. The USA promptly retaliated by attacking Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The US military’s Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was launched, along with a number of coalition allies. The UK joined the war in 2002, naming the intervention Operation Herrick. Later the NATO forces also joined the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda. Incidentally India also accorded support to the US invasion. The Russian Federation had also extended tacit support as the Taliban regime was not acceptable to any orderly modern nation state. Indian presence in Afghanistan is limited to developmental and reconstruction works, despite assassination of several civilian Indian employees and ISI engineered attacks on the Indian embassy at Kabul.

Over last 8 years the USA and allies have been waging a war, in which victory is nowhere in sight. President Obama’s recent Afghan surge plan may not make significant dent on the war situation. Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda groups are sheltered in the remote areas on Pakistan and Afghanistan borders. Despite aerial bombings and ground operations the al Qaeda in Pakistan-Afghanistan appear to be an elusive enemy that has transformed itself as the fountainhead of global Islamic Jihad, as against America’s global war against terrorism. India had extended moral and diplomatic support to the USA. Pakistan is running with the hare and hunting with the hounds; pursuing two diametrically opposite objectives. It is receiving huge largesse from the USA in the ruse of fighting terrorism and using major part of the grant and aid to strengthen its armed forces to take on India in any future war. It is also sheltering and supporting the Afghan Taliban leaders and top leaders of al Qaeda. Pakistan assisted the Afghan Taliban Shura to be held in Balochistan and persuaded Washington not to use the drones in Baloch territory. There are reliable reports that the ISI had accommodated Mullah Omar in a Karachi safe house in recent past. The quagmire in Pakistan and Afghanistan is so complicated that the USA may find it difficult to extricate itself in an orderly manner. The USA had earlier exited from Iran and Vietnam amidst chaos and indignity.

The Afghan broth cooked by the USA, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and their allies has transformed the global Islamicist philosophy and battlefront actions significantly. The Iran revolution had kick started rebirth of Islamic resurgence and the oil rich Muslim countries realized that they had two potent weapons to confront the tormentors of the Arab and Islamic world-the British imperialists and the American neo-hegemonists. The new gained confidence coupled with historization of bitter memories of imperialist highhandedness, poverty, deprivation and sense of loss of identity generated a new surge in the Islamic world; forcing a vast majority to seek out the root-identity and adopting a neo-militant movement for asserting religio-political identity through organized armed struggle; often named Jihad against the kufr tormentors, historicized nearly over three centuries.

While the Afghan broth was in the process of cooking the USA and allies realized that another oil rich country was slipping out of their orbit and their once-upon-a-time puppet Saddam Husain was emerging as another Frankenstein. Saddam (meaning one who likes to confront) had, as a member of the Ba’athist party, opposed the coup by General Abd-al-Qasim (pro-USSR) which had deposed the British-US puppet king Faisal II of Iraq. Later in 1959 Saddam was allied to the UK and USA when the Ba’athist army officers overthrew Qasim. The US viewed Saddam as a bulwark against communism. However, his action of nationalization of the oil industry had upset his western friends. However, the Iran revolution had upset the political balance in the region. Encouraged by US and UK and with tacit support of China, France and Russia Saddam attacked Iran. Lavish US funding of Saddam has been acknowledged by many scholars.

Saddam’s relationship with the USA soured after he attacked Kuwait in 1991 and even made tactical moves to proceed against Saudi Arabia. Saddam’s overstaffed and under equipped army was routed by the US led allied counter attack. By 1998 the USA adopted a new doctrine of “regime change” if some governments failed to conform to US estimation and strategic interests and if such a regime confronted the geostrategic and geo-economic interests of the USA and its allies. In October 1998, removing the Hussein regime became official US foreign policy with enactment of the “Iraq Liberation Act.” Enacted following the expulsion of UN weapons inspectors the preceding August after some had been caught spying for the US, the act provided $97 million for Iraqi democratic opposition organizations to establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq. This legislation contrasted with the terms set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, which focused on weapons and weapons programs and made no mention of regime change.

George Bush began formally making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in his September 12, 2002 address to the UN Security Council. Key US allies in NATO, such as the United Kingdom, agreed with the US actions, while France and Germany were critical of plans to invade Iraq, arguing instead for continued diplomacy and weapons inspections. After considerable debate, the UN Security Council adopted a compromise resolution, UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which authorized the resumption of weapons inspections and promised serious consequences for noncompliance. Security Council members France and Russia made clear that they did not consider these consequences to include the use of force to overthrow the Iraqi government. However, the mysterious issue of WMD and Iraqi nuclear programme were used as a cover and the US and UK intelligence community fabricated intelligence to suit the war-policy of Bush administration. Saddam was a confounded and conceited dictator, more sadist than Hitler. But, the US had no mandate to remove him.

But, the ruses used by the USA and UK to mount attack on Iraq for “regime Change” had ushered in a dangerous international foreign policy that had prompted the US Congress to pass a legislation to “liberate” a country. In post Second World War this was the worst example of imperialist intervention with massive destruction of lives and properties in a country, Iraq, where the ruling clique was obnoxious and the innocent peoples were at the mercy of the ruling family clique. From 1983 to present day USA’s Iraq war has witnessed more loss of lives and destruction of properties and transplantation of al Qaeda brand Islamicist resistance against the western powers. Though invited, India had declined to be a part of the coalition against “the axis of Evil” a concept developed by Bush administration. History would sure ask of America if Iraq was one of the evil powers at par with North Korea what prevented it to pass legislation for regime change in North Korea! US intervention in Iraq has been one of the worst human tragedies in modern times. Unfortunately, the US President and UK Prime Minister cannot be tried for war crimes, like smaller fries from Serbia and other countries.

Seeding of Islamic jihad in Iraq was directly connected to US led attack on the country. Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is playing an active role in the insurgency situation. Initially it was led as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Group of Monotheism and Jihad) by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He died in 2006. Non-Iraqi fighters played key role in AQI network. The movement is now led by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, probably an Egyptian. The group has taken over from al-Zarqawi’s original organization, Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. It owes allegiance to bin Laden’s al Qaeda and identifies itself as Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (“Organization of Jihad’s Base in the Country of the Two Rivers“). Al Qaeda in Iraq is still active even after death of al-Zarqawi. The AQI had been responsible for 45 violent incidents in Iraq in 2009 in which over 300 people lost lives. American claim of eradication of al Qaeda from Iraq is not fully correct.

Intervention in Iraq, it is said by many pundits, was aimed at capturing the country’s oil resources. Vice President Dick Cheney broadly supported this objective. Funnily enough in December 2009 a consortium led by China’s top oil producer National Petroleum Corp, France’s Total and Malaysia’s Petronas signed a deal for developing the Halfaya oil reserves in southern Iraq. Most American commentator’s observed that China and France reaped the benefits of tremendous national losses suffered by the USA simply because its leaders were more emotionally jingoistic than pragmatic geostrategic thinkers.

Similarly the rise of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (western and northern Africa) has started worrying the USA, France, Spain, the UK and other European countries. A look at the combined map of North Africa and Europe would give an impression that militant Islam is stridently germinating its bacterial colonies in the heart of Europe, most of them allies of the USA. For the sake of brevity we do not include details of violent incidents in the affected region.

Briefly speaking the Al Qaeda in Maghreb depends on affiliated groups and groups franchised by Jawahiri and Osama. Most important affiliated groups are Tunisian Combatant Group (two of its members had assassinated Ahmed Shah Masood of the Northern Alliance; Takfir wal Hirja (Egypt), Ikhwan ul Muslimeen (Egypt), Al Gama’at Al Islamiyya (Egypt), Armed Islamic Group-GIA (Algeria), Asbat al- Ansar (Lebanon), Bayat al-Iman group (Jordan), Libyan Islamic Group, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Salafist Group for Calling (originated in Egypt) etc. The USA is not yet directly involved in military combats with these groups but special operation groups of the CIA are actively perusing the activities of these groups. Taken together with the Arab world, Afghanistan and Pakistan the map of al Qaeda affected areas appear to be a vast zone of active combat. It is yet to be seen how long the USA and its allies can refrain from direct intervention.

The rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser had acted as a political elixir amongst several Muslim countries. That was an age of assertion by the Muslim nations, though militarily and economically they were far behind the colonial masters. The Iran revolution coupled with rise of Islamic resurgence in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had generated turbo effect into the combined forces of political buoyancy, militarist consolidation and religious fundamentalist resurgence. The USA and its allies were intoxicated with the glorious achievement of demolition of the Berlin wall, success in roping in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for waging a proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan and final demolition of the Communist monolith.

The West, in its intoxication over defeat of the USSR, ignored the infamous historic acts of general Zia-ul-Haq which transformed Pakistan to a theocratic country, as theocratic as Saudi Arabia. In December 1978 Zia-ul-Haq announced promulgation of Nizam-e-Mustafa, Sharia Law, to be implemented in every walk of life. To him goes the credit of pushing Pakistan to the path of retardation and resurgence of militant Islam that destabilized country, its neighbours, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The new dispensations even allowed Pakistani jihadis to take part in Chechen, Bosnian and Kosovo rebellion. The Inter Services Intelligence was converted as a tool of exporting jihad.

Till his death in 1988 Zia had promulgated series of ordinances, mainly Hudood Ordinance, Zina (adultery) Ordinance, regularization of Rajm (Stoning to death), compulsory midday prayer in government offices (Salat Al Zuhur), Zakat and Usr Ordinance (compulsory donation), introduction of Riba (no interest on loans) etc. Even after his death, during Benazir regime, the paranoid Islamists promulgated the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance-1990 that permitted victim of a crime the right to inflict on the offender. The USA, the purse provider of Pakistan, ignored the seeding of Jihad initiated by Zia and subsequent governments, which led to the mushrooming of jihadi tanzeems and growth of al Qaeda and Taliban influenced religious terrorism that has become endemic in entire South Asia and has rooted in UK, USA, Germany, Spain, France, Netherlands and other western countries, in addition to countries in South East Asia and Africa.

Had the USA exercised some restraint on Zia and subsequent regimes and maintained its presence in Afghanistan after Russian withdrawal, the unbridled growth of Islamicised Wahhabi and Salafi jihad campaign could have been controlled to a great extent. Lavish funding of the mujahideens and allied tanzeems in Pakistan and Afghanistan on the one hand and recalcitrance to exercise geopolitical control made the USA squarely responsible for growth of terror campaign and emergence of al Qaedaism and Talibanism as new philosophies of jihad for chunks of global Muslim population. We shall discuss in brief the main jihadi groups in Pakistan and how they are connected to al Qaeda and Afghanistan Talibans.

The scenario can be examined from tangential intervention of the USA and allies in Somalia and Yemen. Somalia, wrecked by civil wars, clan rivalry and rivalry between warlords came to a point of anarchic madness after Siad Barre regime failed to restore order and survive wars against the warlords. Famine, death and degradation of human values invaded the backward and underdeveloped country in the crucial Horn of Africa. The USA stepped into Somalia initially with a humanitarian mission of distribution of food under Operation Restore Hope. Gradually its forces (nearly 1500) and allied troops got bogged down in the same old policy “restoration of order and installation of a regime acceptable to western standard. Between 1992and 1994 the USA received a severe beating in Somalia in the hands of frenzied clan warriors and finally withdrew with a tally of over twenty US lives lost. It is relevant to mention that Pakistani terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammad was involved in the Mogadishu massacre of US soldiers. Now he lives in Bahawalpur under the very benign eyes of the ISI. India cannot forget Maulana Azhar for whose release from Indian jail IC 814 was hijacked and taken to Kandahar. Azhar had confessed that in 1993 he traveled to Nairobi, to meet with leaders of al-Ittihaad al-Islamiya, an al-Qaeda aligned Somali group. He also helped to bring in Yemeni Arab mercenaries to Somalia to fight against the US and allied forces.

The next round of war in Somalia between Ethiopia (supported by USA and allies) and the Islamic Court Union (ICU) and Islamist allies witnessed partial victory of Ethiopia and the Transitional Federal Government. Some elements of US army also followed the Ethiopian forces allegedly to hunt down al Qaeda elements. It is now established that Somalia has become a strong fort for al Qaeda affiliated organisations especially southern areas controlled by Hizbul Islami, IUC and various pockets in Putland area in the north east. Eritrea is reportedly supporting the al Qaeda forces. Frequent clashes between the Islamicists, al Qaeda affiliated forces and the tottering Federal government continue to haunt the Horn of Africa. Obviously Somali pirates dominate parts of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean region. US intervention in Somalia has created an explosive situation in Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya and Sudan.

The US officials aver that bin Laden spent $3 million to recruit and airlift elite veterans of the Afghan jihad to Somalia via third countries, such as Yemen and Ethiopia. Several hundred foreign veterans of the Afghan jihad, expelled from Pakistan in 1993, also joined the Somali jihad after passing through Sudan. Tariq Nasr Fadhli, a radical Islamic leader from Yemen, who fought under bin Laden against the Soviets in Afghanistan, was behind bringing Yemeni mercenaries to fight in Somalia. Laden later claimed responsibility for the deaths of the 18 U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu. In a 1997 interview with CNN, Laden gloated that al-Qaeda had trained and organized the Somali fighters who did the actual fighting. This tactic, developed by the Afghan mujahideen (holy warriors) in their war against the Soviets, was the same one al-Qaeda forces used to bring down two U.S. helicopters near Gardez, Afghanistan, during Operation Anaconda in early March 2002. In conclusion, it may be said that Somalia has all the potentials to become another Jihad territory confronting USA and its allies. A redeeming feature is self proclaimed independence by British Somaliland and Putland. These are emerging as stable areas in the vast anarchic Somali territory.

Yemen was the birthplace of Osama’s father. According to a Yemeni terrorism expert Saeed Obaid, “Al-Qaeda started in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, but it was raised and nurtured in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other places. Now it is clear that it is coming back to its roots and growing in Yemen. Yemen has become the place to best understand al-Qaeda and its ambitions today.”

The Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is in firming up stage. Yemen’s collapsing government is busy with Shia-Sunni civil war in the north, secessionist activities in the south and crumbling economy. The Yemeni tribes were easily drawn to al Qaeda. Thousands of Yemenis have fought in Afghanistan and Iraq; many returned to Yemen. A good number of Yemeni al Qaeda fighters are still in Pakistan-Afghanistan and Somalia. In 2000, al-Qaeda militants rammed the USS Cole with an explosives-packed speedboat off the southern city of Aden, killing 17 US sailors.

It is reported that Wuhayshi and his deputy, Said al-Shihri, a Saudi national and former detainee at the U.S facility at Guantanamo Bay, are leading the al Qaeda outfit in Yemen and they work in close collaboration with the al Qaeda group in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni group has collaboration with Bayat al-Iman Group of Jordan, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al-Itthihad Al-Islami of Somalia, Islamic Army of Aydin (Yemen), Lebanese Partisans League, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group and other al Qaeda affiliated groups in the Middle East and Africa.

The Yemeni movement and other al Qaeda affiliated activities in the region are guided by Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen of Yemeni descent now living in Yemen. Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the Nigerian, who tried to blow up a US aircraft over Detroit on Christmas day, was motivated by Awlaki. He was trained in Pakistan also. Awlaki’s relationship with Major Nidal Hasan, the assassin at the US military base at Fort Hood, Texas, begun at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in northern Virginia and continued via e-mail from Yemen.

The USA, UK and the government of Yemen with full support of Saudi Arabia are engaged in air strafing and bombing of suspected al Qaeda hideouts in Yemen. With the joining of many Guantanamo Bay detainees the al Qaeda outfit in Yemen has become a serious strategic concern to the USA. Washington is apprehensive about Osama bin Laden shifting his operational HQ to Yemen, if he is pursued relentlessly by the NATO forces and Pakistan. Presence of Osama in Yemen is likely refresh the fire of Islamic revolution in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Arab countries in the region. The affiliated groups in west, north and central Africa are likely to be revitalized. Yemen, therefore, has emerged as newest theatre of warfare for America. According to the New York Times the USA was likely to spend nearly 250 million Dirham in 2010 for training the Yemeni army, deputing special operations groups from the CIA and for funding Yemen in acquiring modern gadgets to eradicate al Qaeda menace from the territory. This appears to be tall order and Yemen may become another al Qaeda black hole to suck in lots of US resources.

Majority of these countries are vital to India’s energy interest and are in the orbit of geostrategic concerns. Any military confrontation in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa automatically generates in India internal political concerns and concerns about energy supply and stability of the trade route. India is considered a major power in this region and cannot remain unaffected by internal convulsions and US military involvement in these countries. Indian Muslims are an inalienable part of the Ummah and some sections develop misperceptions that India is an active partner of the USA in its war against global terrorism (read Islamic Jihad). Indian foreign policy has always been independent of any Block interests-Soviet or USA. India has reasonably well established relations with Iran, present regime in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria and other countries north and west Africa. India has binding interests in the Gulf of Oman, Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf and the Arabian Gulf in the oil rich region. USA and China have also emerged as major energy players in this region. China now intends to have permanent bases in this region with a view to exploiting Iranian, Saudi and other Gulf country’s oil resources. India should emerge as good a player as China is.

On the other hand India cannot afford to be harsh to Yemen, though Delhi is aware of increasing al Qaeda influence in the country. Aden on the tip of the Yemeni territory is vital from energy, trade and military point of view. The Gulf of Djibouti, the Red Sea region and the Indian Ocean front near Somalia have attained crucial strategic status. To prevent Somali and other pirates the USA, EU, India and China have deployed their naval vessels in the region to protect the vital sea routes. Al Qaeda’s predominance in Somalia and Eritrean bellicosity poses serious regional threat in this vital area of geostrategic interest. Yet India cannot be seen as a partner of the USA in its war against Islamic Jihad. At the same time India cannot distance itself from geopolitical and strategic obligations as a self-declared partner of the USA in its war against global terrorism. These concerns require well calibrated response bilaterally and multilaterally. India never supported US/UK war against Iraq, though it was critical of the dictatorship of Saddam Husain.

India has always maintained cordial diplomatic, economic and other bilateral relations with Iran, other Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. India’s support to the USA to refer Iran’s nuclear policy to the United Nations was criticized at home by all the opposition parties. Many Gulf watchers believe that India’s action was not motivated by its national interest. It is understood that Iran’s nuclear capability (when acquired) will not be aimed at India. Many questions were raised about Indian support to the USA on Iran nuclear issue. The USA was fully aware of Pakistan-China-North Korea nexus in developing nuclear warheads. It did nothing to alert India and tried all possible tricks to prevent India from carrying out its own tests. In the bargain India failed to achieve the objectives of Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline; while China clinched the deal for Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline and other lucrative oil deals with Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and African countries.

India’s presence in Afghanistan is a continuum of previous policies of supporting a democratic and non-Islamist regime in the war torn country. India’s smooth relationship with the Northern Alliance was a bulwark against the combined forces of the Taliban and Pakistan. India had actually established a hospital at Farkhor in Tajikistan, just 2 km from Afghan border. It treated Northern Alliance personnel injured in battles against the Taliban. Later this hospital was shifted to Afghan territory when the Northern alliance improved its hold. Later the BJP government and Tajikistan government signed an agreement in 2002 to establish an India airbase at Farkhor. The airbase was commissioned in 2007, where Indian air force men and machines are located to protect Tajikistan from any possible attack by Afghan jihadists and other enemies. An army detachment is also based at Farkhor. So far, there has been no objection to the Indian base at Farkhor from the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SOC) powers-Russia, China and all the CAR countries.

Another geostrategic area that may invite US intervention is the Central Asian Republics, rich in oil and gas and passing through ideological transition and economic stagnation. The CAR countries are oil and gas rich, especially the Caspian Sea bordering areas of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Besides the above two Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also energy rich countries. Prior to the breakup of the USSR the Soviet Russia used to exploit the energy resources. What was earlier Russia-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan triangle has started turning to Russian-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-China quadrangle. The pipelines shown in the map below clarify vividly as to how China is tapping the energy resources of the CAR countries. Earlier Russian-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan energy axis was vital to the stability of the region and an important source of supply to the European countries.

China has also signed energy accords with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Its existing accord with Iran, Saudi Arabia and African (Sudan, Nigeria etc) countries are indicator of China emerging as the second largest energy consumer only after the USA. This would mean that by 2030 China would leapfrog to the pinnacle of economic growth to the detriment of USA and allies and even Japan, India and Russia. According to M. K. Bhadrakumar, IFS (Asia Times-24.12.09) “Growing nervousness in Washington about the Chinese pipeline was quite palpable. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a rare hearing in July regarding China’s geopolitical thrust into the Central Asian region. Testifying at the hearing, Richard Morningstar, the US special envoy for energy, underlined that the US needed to develop strategies to compete with China for energy in Central Asia. This was perhaps the first time that a senior US official has openly flagged China as the US’s rival in the energy politics of Central Asia. US experts usually have focused attention on Russian dominance of the region’s energy scene and worked for diminishing the Russian presence in the post-Soviet space by canvassing support for Trans-Caspian projects that bypassed Russian territory. In fact, some American experts on the region even argued that China was a potential US ally for isolating Russia. Certainly, 2009 was a turning point in American discourses on Chinese policies in Central Asia. As China’s Turkmen gas pipeline got closer to completion, US disquiet began to surface.”

The US has air bases in the CAR region. The Karshi-Khanabad Air Base is located in southern Uzbekistan not far from Tajikistan; Manas Air Base is situated just north of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The United States began leasing both Soviet-era bases during the US led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. They are used primarily to station soldiers, refueling jets, and cargo planes. Each airfield houses roughly 1,000 U.S. troops and civilian contractors. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security body whose members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan has been pressing the USA to close down these bases. The Kazakh opposition parties have demonstrated several times demanding US withdrawal. Geostrategic experts feel that USA is trying to stick to its bases in the CAR with a view to counter balance Moscow’s influence on its former federated units. China is apprehensive that USA has plans to aid and abet the Uyghur Islamic rebels who are fighting for independence of the Xinjiang province of China, terming it as East Turkestan Republic. It may be noted that al Qaeda and Pakistani jihadist groups are also associated with Uyghur rebels.

China also suspects India for assisting and abetting the Tibetan rebels who rise up at regular intervals, despite severe Chinese oppression. Xinjiang and Tibet has common borders. Some Chinese strategists aver that Washington, Moscow and Delhi are working in tandem to encourage the Uyghur rebels. To counterbalance such pressure China periodically puts pressure on India by making strident demands on Arunachal Pradesh and other disputed areas. China also works overtime to enhance military cooperation with Pakistan by supplying it with missile technology, aircraft production and other ancillary military hardware. India’s CAR policies are yet to crystallize with distinct bilateral and multilateral nuances apart from objectives of the USA, which considers the CAR region as a future energy reserve to be reversed from the present Russian and Chinese preponderance.

India has no access to the energy resources of Central Asia. If India happens to adopt a pro-active energy policy in near future it can tap the Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russian oil and gas resources along a pipeline running through Iran and consigning the product to India from Bandar Mahashahr or Bandar Imam Khomeini. This would require improving the quality of bilateral relationship with Iran and the other littoral countries. Iran is vital to India’s energy resources as well as a bulwark against Sunni jihadist thrust in India. Hopefully this grandiose idea would catch up with South Block sooner than later.

India’s inability to tap the gas resources of Bangladesh and Myanmar indicate that its energy policies have not coincided with foreign policy and the quality of bilateral relations with these two neighbours. Minor irritants with Bangladesh can now be sorted out taking advantage of a secular and democratic regime now ruling from Dhaka. India’s economic umbrella can get a boost in Bangladesh provided a broader foreign policy is pursued pragmatically. China, on the other hand has signed memorandum of understanding with Myanmar for tapping its gas and oil resources.

India is required to give assistance to the USA in curbing the Islamist jihad in its own geopolitical region, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan. If America and the allies withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011 and if Pakistan turns out to be totally unreliable ally against the international jihadists, India may have to collaborate more stridently with the USA. Spill over of the al Qaeda and the Taliban movement from Afghanistan and Pakistan would prove to be more disastrous than extending limited cooperation to America. This may also become a mutual necessity in near future with a view to contain China’s ambition in these Asian regions and its goal of achieving supremacy in the Indian Ocean region. To frustrate China’s policy of encircling India the US overtures for strategic linkages should not be ignored. But, all care must be taken not to get India involved in America’s global war against Islamic jihad.

The speed with which the movement is spiraling has not been analyzed in the correct perspective by the political decision makers, intellectuals, intelligence agencies and law and order implementing agencies. The reasons are many, parts of which I had shared with the readers in my article Maoist Apparatus and Bridging Old Fault Lines, published in this portal. It is proposed to outline some more details in this essay concluding the last essay.

It is better to have a peep into the efforts of the Union and State governments in the direction of meeting the menace with approximated correct prognosis.

Some readers of the Part 1 of the essay asked me to explain Mass Control and its cyclic effect. Mass Control is both physical and psychological control on the people in a given area, who look up to the STATE for means of livelihood, basic amenities, protection of lives and properties and ensuring upward movement of the people from poverty to prosperity. In vast areas of rural India, forested areas inhabited by the Advasis (aboriginal tribes) and in mining, industrial areas huge segments of people live under extreme penury. In certain areas (including prosperous Punjab) peasants commit suicide in large numbers, marginal landholders become landless, forest areas are denuded by timber tycoons, Tendu leaf (for making bidi) cultivation is hijacked by the moneylenders, forest lands are forcibly grabbed for mining purposes and most of the government schemes to help the rural people with monetary help land up in the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats and middlemen. Over period such people lose confidence on the STATE and it is gradually replaced by the revolutionary group who seek emancipation through violence.

This inevitably follows by armed conflict between the STATE and the Revolutionaries; in this case Maoists. Gradually Law & Order takes priority over other mandatory duties of the STATE. Gradually the conflict takes the shape of guerrilla warfare between the STATE and the Maoists. The STATE tries to retain Mass Control by using police forces and that alienates people to greater degrees. Sometimes the Maoists deliberately attacks police posts located in villages. This invites increased retaliation on the village from the STATE. Under STATE pressure the people surrenders to Maoist Mass Control and the chain of STATE and MAOIST violence continue to haunt the people. Once small areas are “liberated” by the Maoists they run their own government and paralyze all government establishments including schools, health centres lines of communication and even stoppage of payment of revenue to the STATE. The economy of the area is paralyzed and the STATE continues to depend on force as a multiplier ingredient to smash the Maoist movement. The diagram below may illustrate the vicious circle.

Use of the expression Fringe People is an inclusive exercise for incorporating poverty stricken, landless, jobless, uprooted mass of people. The level of poverty, as per unreliable government data is also alarming. It is estimated that 456 million Indians (42% of the total Indian population) now live under the global poverty line of $1.25 per day (PPP). This means a third of the global poor now reside in India. The Planning Commission of India uses different criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994. The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below Rs. 356.35 for rural areas and Rs. 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are daily wagers, self-employed householders and landless laborers.

Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades. Its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh (3.5%). Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are among the world’s most extreme.

The India State Hunger Index 2008, by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Punjab has the best nutritional situation, whereas malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh is worse than in Ethiopia or Sudan. Worse is the condition in tribal areas of Chattisgarh, Orissa, Garhchiroli area of Maharashtra, plain and hill regions of Jharkhand, rural areas of West Bengal and Bihar.

These are areas where the Maoists or Naxals have stepped up their Guerrilla warfare. On a given map the compact area looks like a liberated zone.

But what is the STATE response? I want to focus on two States, Chattisgarh and West Bengal, for sample profiling.

The State response basically veered around restoration of law & order, battling the guerrillas, decimating them through live action and forcing them out of the “liberated areas.” The nucleus of police response is the Police Station. For example Dantewada district in Chattisgarh has 21 police stations and 2 police outposts. Number of Police outposts has gone up during last two years. In addition to state police force a few central police force encampments have also been established. The hill district having 9046.29 Sq kms area has only 478.93 kms tarred road. Police mobility is extremely limited. Average strength of a police station is about 10-15, except on occasions Special Forces are attached to a police station for raiding Maoist hideouts. Previously most of the police stations were located in makeshift or dilapidated structures without any watch tower, perimeter defences and faster communication facilities. The phone lines are unreliable and are generally deactivated by the Maoists. Wireless communication is being improved and in recent times some police officers have been given mobile phones. The problem with mobile phones is that towers are very few and often some existing towers are blasted out by the Naxals.

A police station is supposed to dominate an area of over 450 kms. With the given available strength in a working day (normal average is 7 out of 10), poor motor transport facility, inadequacy of wireless communication and supply of antiquated rifles the presence of normal police force is considered insignificant; not fit for fighting Maoist rebels equipped with modern arms. The inventories of the Maoists include Kalashnikov rifles, Light Machine Guns, 2” mortars and assorted rapid firing weapons. In addition to these they possess several kinds of landmines and IEDs. The Maoists are well trained in guerrilla warfare, jungle warfare and tactics of ambush. Their encampments are mobile. The guerrillas have no fixed HQ. In fact, a given guerrilla group do not spend nights in the same village. The groups are mainly composed of compatible tribe members.

In Bastar area major tribes are Gond #, Abhuj #, Maria*, Bhatra #*, Halbaa#*, Dhurvaa#, Muria#*, Bison Horn Maria #*. The # marked tribes are by and large not supporting the Maoists; while * marked tribes are Maoist supporters. The #* marked tribes mean partly loyal to the government and partly to the Maoists. Loyalty to the government depends on quantum of presence of the government and governance. Most of these tribal inhabited areas are extremely poverty ridden. Cultivation, harvesting forest resources etc are main sources of livelihood. In most cases funds provided under Integrated Rural Development Programme, NREG, Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana and other social security programmes do not reach the real people. For example, if an amount of 300 is sanctioned per family under NREG the fortunate family may get rupees 100, if they are lucky. In most cases out of 100 about 7-9% people actually receive the amount; rest goes to pockets of the bureaucrats, local politicians, leaders of local self government and even petty clerks. The STATE government sanctions the amounts to the district collectors, allocated by the central government. From that point downwards the money develops wings and the real recipients remain where they were. Same is the fate with Anganwadi system introduced in some of the areas. Right from the district office to the lowest governing tool in the panchayat and certain elements in the Anganwadi institutions share the money and the real education and total child development system remain where they were.

We will discuss these aspects in later parts of the essay.

Police operations have three basic formats: group patrolling (often in platoon strength, rarely in company strength); village searches, and rare ambush parties. In group patrolling the general trend is to march in a column with 15-20 feet distance between two sepoys. These parties do not have mine sweeping vehicles and mostly they are not equipped with handheld mine detecting devices. This results in frequent mine explosions and police casualties. The information that a police party was planning patrolling in a particular direction somehow or other reaches the Maoists through their information network, interception of VHF radio talks. They plant antipersonnel mines on the likely routes to be taken by the patrol parties.

My experience in Nagaland and Manipur and the experiments conducted by army and paramilitary units indicated that instead of a single column patrol party or area domination party it was safer to send out two other parallel parties (smaller in size); one on both flanks of the main party. This tactics paid good dividends and guerrilla parties waiting in ambush were often taken by surprise.

Village searches are mostly perfidious. Police and Salwa Judum parties often enters homes, violate privacy of women and forcibly take away eatables including fowls, goats etc. Often the villagers are made to assemble in one place and some are tortured to obtain information. Police commanders do not realize that such tactics and illegal plundering and faulty operational methodology alienate the people more and they prefer the Maoists to buy protection.

Deployment of ambush parties are not done on the basis of precise human intelligence. This is the weakest area of anti- guerrilla operations. The tribesmen have basic distrust for State administration; they are alienated by malpractices of timber-tycoons, Tendu leaf contractors, loan sharks, Mahajans (who advance money against crop) and of course against police, whom they consider as ambassadors of State repression. In my discussions with three police chiefs in Maoist affected areas I noted with dismay that my serving colleagues have not been able to revamp the intelligence apparatus. The normal state intelligence outfit and its district detachments are burdened with multifarious-political errands to normal terrorist-jihad activities. They are supposed to keep track of dowry killing, starvation death by agricultural workers, village feuds and most law & order problems. They have no focused training and resource to gather human intelligence (HUMINT) about the Maoists.

It is high time the State governments create special intelligence cells for Maoist problems. In a State like Jharkhand a special intelligence cell should consist of minimum 500 officers and men, specially trained by the Intelligence Bureau and other outfits handling commando and guerrilla warfare. Several meetings of the Union Home Minister with the State police chiefs and advisories to the Chief Ministers have not been able to make them understand that without high quality HUMINT it is not possible to carry out successful armed actions against the Maoists. Every district of the affected states should have a contingent of the special intelligence unit. These units should have attached compliments of trained commandos, who can move with lightening speed to intercept the Maoist group informed upon by the human assets. The DG police and the Operations Chief in each district may order immediate planned action without waiting for bureaucratic shenanigans. Unfortunately, in States like Chhattisgarh (despite an efficient DG Police) and Jharkhand such modern anti guerrilla concepts are yet to be implemented. Neither the Union and State governments have looked into the old British model in Malaysia, US model in Vietnam, and the models practiced in Greece and Italy nor they have gone for any other innovations improving upon India’s own experiences in insurgency infested areas. The politicians talk for the sake of befooling the people.

While examining the Maoist menace at Chhatisgarh I would like to conclude by observing that the State administration is not equipped with intelligence back up, sophisticated weapons, all weather communication system and speedy mobility. Even if some Central paramilitary forces are inducted they cannot operate without help of local police and intelligence. As newcomers they are more vulnerable. Central forces can only succeed if battalions are allowed to dig in the affected areas for years together, build up defences, sanitize the villages and develop their own HUMINT potential. Temporary visiting units are guests; they are not effective operative units. Delhi must understand this and persuade the States to borrow Central forces for at least ten years. Units may change, but CRPF must be replaced by CRPF for the sake of continuity and force-homogeneity. A contingent of CRPF to be replaced by a contingent CISF after three months is a useless exercise. Minimum rotation of forces can ensure better operational capability.

While on Chattisgarh the issue of Salwa Judum is required to be briefly examined. Pro-Maoist intellectuals have painted pictures of “village grouping” by the government in the name of mobilising villagers against the Maoists. “Village Grouping” was successfully tried by the army in Mizoram. The principle was to deny water to the fish and make them vulnerable to lack of oxygen. There is no doubt that the villagers, either out of “Mass Control” factor or fear of decimation provide help to the Maoists. Once the villages are “grouped” (temporarily) the Maoists would be denied the water to swim about freely. Human rights groups and even the judiciary have intervened in the matter. I would strongly advocate revival of the system of VVF (as in Manipur), Village Guards (as in Nagaland) and Special Police Officers (as in Punjab) for deployment after sustained training by a paramilitary force in guerrilla warfare and handling of medium and heavy weapons.

IN CASE THE MAOSISTS HAVE THE PROCLAIMED RIGHT TO WAGE PEOPLE’S WAR, THE PEOPLES’ HAVE THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE TEMSELVES WITH STATE ASSISTANCE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. THE STATE CANNOT ABDICATE ITS DUTIES AND THE PEOPLE CANNOT WAIT TO BE SLAUGHTERED AT THE ALTER OF MAOISM, SIMPLY BECAUSE SOME HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS AND SOME COURTS INTERVENE.

The Constitution has bestowed rights on the people to defend themselves. No court can rule against this fundamental right.

Besides Chattisgarh I would like the readers to visit Lalgarh, Jangalmahal etc places in West Midnapore of West Bengal. Maoist activities (Naxal) are not new in this district of West Bengal bordering Bihar/Jharkhand. The Naxalite movement in Debra, Gopiballabhpur in mid-1969 had wrought the mass-killing violent movement for over 7 years, before the peak of the movement could be blunted. In fact, Debra, Gopiballabhpur, Jhargram, Shalboni, Jangal Mahal, Lalgarh etc areas are in West Midnapore district. These are most backward areas of Bengal. Except Haldia ports complex, Kharagpur and a few pockets nearer to Kolkata rest of the district is as backward as the adjacent districts of Purulia, Birbhum and Bankura are.

Some efforts were made, too late in the regime of the CPM, to start industrialization in Singur (Nano factory of TATA) and Nandigram (chemical complex of Salim group). Here is another classic case of political rivalry between the CPM and Trinamool Congress feuding over industrialization in agricultural area and politicization of land acquisition on the plea of displacement of the rural people. This feud helped TMC, Jamiat-ul-Ulama-e-Hind and several NGOs, and indirectly the Congress to create severe disturbances. The government had expressed intention of acquisition, the Haldia ports authority had issued a notice about likely acquisition, but no government action had been taken to forcibly occupy the land for the proposed SEZ at Nandigram. The TMC led agitation helped the Maoists to walk into the vortex of tornado created by political rivalry. There is no denial of fact that the issue of acquision of agricultural land for industrial use in Nandigram (Midnapore) and Singur (Hooghly) had kicked off bloody trails of political tornado, but these politicized movements might have had earned a few more votes for the TMC and the Congress, but the momentum had encouraged the Maoists to slip into Jhargram, Shalboni, Lalgarh and even Midnapore Sadar areas with arms and explosives. In Nandigram and nearby Singur area the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee and Jami Rakkha Committee etc bodies were organised and were highly infiltrated by the Maoists.

Nandigram and Singur were the stages where TMC and Congress rehearsed political revival and the Maoists initiated a new phase of sustained movement in west Midnapore, basically a forested single crop area, mostly inhabited by the tribal people-Santhal and Oraon, Majhi, Mahato, Ho, Munda etc and sprinkling of lower caste Hindus. Here also a front organisation was floated styled as Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities. This mass organisation was headed by CPM’s local committee member Chatrdhar Mahato. Besides this front organisation the Maoists also organised Solidarity Forum for Lalgarh, Shramajivi Swastha Udyog, Utsha Manush, Janaswastha Committee, and Janaswastha Swadhikar Mancha etc. These front organisations received support from Bengali intellectuals, writers and film makers.

The apex social organization of the Santhals, the Bharat Jakat Majhi Madwa Juan Gaonta took up the leadership of the struggle, although the leader of the organization, the “Disham Majhi” Nityananda Hembram openly professed that they were being guided by the people’s movement and they had no control on it. The upsurge of adivasis is continuing unabated and is also spreading to newer areas. They laid siege of Jhargram and only after discussion between the Bharat Jakat Majhi Madwa Juan Gaonta and the administration, the siege of was partially lifted. The blockade on the road connecting Jhargram and Dahijuri was lifted on 14th November but the Bharat Jakat Majhi Madwa could not convince the protesters to lift the blockades of the other roads connecting Jhargram. Besides Lalgarh, the movement has now spread to Binpur, Jhargram, Jamboni, Shalboni, Belpahari, Garbeta and Gopiballavpur. People’s response to joint State and Central operation was so spontaneous that the movement had spread to the last two blocks of the Jhargram sub-division, Nayagram and Sankrail. Nayagram block was disconnected by piling tree trunks on the roads in Dhankamra and Barpat. Dhankhori, Gajashimul, Mudakati and Kungarda areas of Sankrail block have also been blockaded. On the other hand, all connections to police stations and camps in the Belpahari block of Jhargram sub-division has been cut off. A group of around 500 armed tribal blockaded the Neguriya police camp near Chakadoba in Belpahari. The local shopkeepers and traders have declared that they would not supply anything to the policemen in the camps.

The West Bengal government cannot deny its responsibility for neglecting the area. While Below Poverty Line index in the state is 27% in West Midnapore areas the index is 43% to 37%. There are about 12 government aided schools in the tribal area, but hardly any teacher is available, The Health Centres are almost nonexistent. There is no regular doctor, least speaking of free medicine supply. Some sample study was made about a few central funded welfare projects in the Jhargram-Lalgarh areas. People have not even heard about Sampoorna Gramin Rojgar Yojana (SGRY), Rural Housing, Self Employment Programme, Berozgar Bhatta (unemployment allowance), and National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) etc schemes.

A sample study of Belpahadi indicated that the CPM leaders offered some NREG facility to their cadre. Only 7% of rest of the tribal people received some NREG support. Some sampling was made of Anganwadi (rural school) scheme in Sankrail and Nayagram areas. It was found that only 5 to 7% benefit reached the targeted people. Rest of the money was misappropriated by the village authorities, Block officials and even top notches of the Aganwadi scheme. A sample study of the Integral Rural Development Programme (IRDP) was made in Belda area. The findings were disheartening. The amount received by the district and Block authorities and the Panchayats were distributed amongst the political sharks. The real tribal people received nothing (CPM supporters excluded). It is not possible for one person to study the entire developmental activities. But the if samples are any indicator, it must be said that the governmental tools were misused and the benefits offered by Delhi were either eaten by the political-bureaucratic cartel and very little trickled down to the deserving tribal population.

The magnitude of the national problem of sharks eating up the smaller fries was horribly exemplified in a publication of the Times of India (Nov. 26, 2009) about 22,853 ghost employees drawing pay for decades from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to the tune of Rs. 17 crores per month. Statistics about only one agency has been dug out. There are about 10 such departments under Delhi government which maintain ghost employees costing the tax payers about Rs. 50 crores per month.

What is happening in the rural areas and in the forested tracts as well as in vast mining tracts in different parts of the country, where India’s shining global economy is yet to shine even for fractions of days in any given year. Nearly 30% of India’s population goes to bed in empty stomach and about 40% can barely manage two square meals in any given day. In Lalgarh area the same misfortune of the people was noticed by non-partisan observers.

Militarily the government of West Bengal failed miserably to control the Maoist movement. Local formations of the CPM (notoriously known for motor cycle groups) dominated the area and maimed all political opposition and even reasonable ventilation of genuine grievances. They were, at many places, supported by the local police. The ordinary people lost touch with the administration and the administration was blissfully ignorant about the Maoists building up local committees, arming the people, bringing in improvised explosive devices and building up comprehensive people’s fronts. Obviously, these fronts received support from Trinamool Congress and Congress, who thought of Nandigram like exploitation of the Maoists for retrieving political ground. This was a miscalculation. The Maoists are very active in adjacent Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar. The borders are open. When chased the Orissa and Jharkhand Maoists slip in Midnapore and Purulia districts of West Bengal. Similarly, the Maoists also recruit their cadres from West Bengal tribal population. The intellectual brains of Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa guide the movement. Local leaders are also emerging in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and other parts of the country.

Let us look into the military formation in Lalgarh and Jangal Mahal area of West Midnapore. The Maoists have organised village level squads for cutting of road connection, planting IED or anti-personnel and anti-tank mines (to hit mine proof vehicles). These village committees are also assigned the task of attacking isolated police posts. Major police stations are at West Midnapore Kotwali, Sankrail, Jhargram, Lalgarh, Shalboni (also EFR headquarter) Manikpara (near Kalaikunda airbase) etc. Besides the District HQ the average strength of police stations were (before joint operations) 10-15. The police were armed with .303 obsolete rifles. One jeep per police station was the only means of communication. Phone lines were unreliable and cell phones were not in profuse use because of lack of towers. Wireless communication was also generally absent. The police depended on muscle support from the CPM cadre.

Once the organised Maoist activities started in Lalgarh, Jhargram, Shalboni, and Jangal Mahal etc areas police resistance evaporated. The State did not deploy sufficient numbers of the crack Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) and other State Armed Police Battalions. Kolkata depended on ramshackle police forces and party cadre. Once these efforts were blunted by the front organisations the trained Maoists’ reserve arms caches in the hill areas were brought in. This is proved by the daring attack on Sankrail police station by 100 Maoists and kidnapping of the officer in charge. The Maoists have attacked government establishments in West Midnapore Sadar (planting of mine), Jhargram sub-divisional HQ, Shalboni, Nayagram and other places.

The joint Central and State police operations (seen on TV) were mainly conducted in plains areas of Lalgarh, amidst populated segments and in some cases under pan of TV cameras. My enquiry with local people, not connected with the Maoist movement, mostly apolitical, some owing allegiance to CPM, revealed that the State government first tried to augment ridiculously low strength in the police stations. They also depended on the trained party cadre to build up local resistance. However, backed by other tribal organisation, Trinamool Congress and Congress the Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) organised sustained opposition to police incursion. The main Maoist guerrillas provided support by planting mines and opening fire on the Central and State forces under cover of deep forested areas. The joint operation was limited to regaining government control on the Lalgarh tract and no sustained and planned operations were conducted in the hills adjoining Jharkhand and Orissa. The hardcore Maoist cadres infiltrated from Jharkhand and Orissa and revived the Naxal movement in West Midnapore areas along with pockets in Birbhum and Bankura. If a bird’s eye view is taken of the compact Maoist affected areas in this region it would seem that the belt between Birbhum (home district of Union Finance Minister), Bankura, West Midnapore, Jharkhand and Orissa is painted either red or pink. This is what the Maoists call “liberated zone.”

What are the preparations of the West Bengal government? It is a sad and shady story. Without going into the political skullduggery it can be safely concluded that the CPM and other Left partners had built up groups of Banditos, often armed with lethal weapons and homemade bombs. After about 25 years other political groups, such as the Trinamool Congress and its passive partner the Congress have also started organizing groups of Banditos, who gradually gathered the courage of physically clashing with the Left opponents. Both the sides made West Bengal into a political killing field. The Maoists are known for taking advantage of such mass chaos and side with one or the other to progress in their planned advance in selected pockets. Working in conjunction with the violent political forces they establish their own bases.

Historically the CPI (ML), the hardcore Charu-Kanu-Jangal faction was against the CPM line. My personal experiences in Naxalbari operations gave me impressions that Charu Majumdar was vehemently opposed to any negotiation with the Left leaders like Hare Krishna Konar. However, later in 1972 elections elements of the Naxals supported the Congress in districts like Midnapore, Bankura and Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan and Hooghly etc. Besides the Bangladesh war effect support from the Naxals also resulted in resounding victory for the Congress. That CPI (M) should crash from 113 in 1971 to 14 in the 1972 was totally unexpected so was the Congress party’s tally of 216 seats. The point made is that the Maoists are not averse to side with political parties of their choice to augment their own agenda. They enter a new area as tails of political parties and later establish bases of their own. If it were Congress in 1972 to seemingly exploit the Maoists, it is Trinamool Congress and its appendage, Congress in 2011. Political parties forget the universal lesson that the tiger they often ride devours the rider sooner than later.

The State government’s dependence on local police and party cadre misfired. The Maoists initially took advantage of anti-SEZ proposals of the government and often violent agitation started by TMC and its allies. Nandigram to Singur to West Midnapore was not reached in one lap. It took the Maoists and their political allies (tactical allies only) to build up movement in West Midnapore around the Union and State government’s proposal to allot 4,500 acres of land near Shalboni to Jindal Steel Works SEZ factory. The chain of events started after the 2nd November, 2009 land mine explosion targeting the convoy of West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and union steel and mines minister Ram Vilas Paswan as they were returning from the inauguration of the Jindal Steel Works SEZ. It was alleged by the Maoists and their political allies that the land in question belonged to the government and was earmarked for distribution among the tribals. The chain of events resulted in violence between CPM cadres on the one hand and Trinamool cadres supported by Maoist front organisations on the other. Unable to resist the “occupation” of Lalgarh, Jangal Mahal etc areas the State government requested for central forces and they seemingly “reoccupied” the tract from the Maoists.

The fact is that the government of West Bengal still does not have any plan to build up forces to fight the Maoist guerrillas. They, in collaboration with guerrillas from Jharkhand and Orissa have started hitting at targets even in the heart of the district head quarter. Some semblance of law and order is being maintained by the State police and the Central forces deputed to help the local authorities. There are plans to start another combing operation. But the holes in the government nets are so big that small Maoists Pisces swim in the area unhindered. The State governments in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa are yet to prepare a joint blueprint for fighting the guerrilla forces. The Central governments often announce certain offensive joint actions. However, except deputation of certain elements of central forces in the affected States no Joint Command has been conceived as yet.

There is no intelligence coordination between the State governments and the central intelligence agencies. Police stations are the best bases from where local intelligence is collected for tactical operational purposes. The intelligence networks in the rural and urban police stations have dried up. The area chowkidars, dafadars, lower revenue officials, gram sevaks, and other rural government employees have ceased to feed the police stations. Human intelligence is appallingly poor. Even the central intelligence agencies have not been able to build up HUMINT resources in the affected areas. Anti-Guerrilla warfare cannot be fought by wild goose’s chase. Forces have to act on precise intelligence.

As the Maoists often use cell phones it is not impossible to locate the GPS coordinate of the phone under use. Once located helicopter borne forces can raid the area and neutralize the target. This aspect of coordination between signal intelligence (SIGINT) and airborne attack has not been conceived as yet.
On the other hand the Maoists have excellent HUMINT assets from amongst the villagers and even educated sympathizers. Villagers not cooperating with the Maoists and suspected to be informers of the police are mercilessly punished. Recent incidents of cruel killing of police officers and innocent villagers prove that Mass Control mechanisms of the Maoists are near complete.

It is understood that the Maoists in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand. Orissa and West Bengal have obtained VHF communication sets from former LTTE members. These are used for communication between the Command with the Squads. VHF communications are able to transmit to shorter distances. If transmitted from a higher location the signals can be received even at a distance of 40 kilometers. Often the desired height is achieved by hanging an antenna on high rise trees. The State police are yet to install array of VHF monitoring instruments to pick up signals from the sophisticated VHF transreceivers used by the guerrilla forces. The police forces often use VHF sets in analog mode and not in automatic digital encryption mode. These can be easily intercepted either by identifying the frequency or by scanning the frequency logs. Police forces have not taken security precaution while using VHF sets during operations. These limitations are required to be attended forthwith.

The government agencies have just started thinking in terms of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to survey the affected areas, locate hideouts and send the live broadcasts to the nearby forces to mount counter attack. Use of UAV in forested terrains may not yield expected results, unless the government acquires infrared equipped cameras for the UAVs to enable these flying machines to look down at precise targets through thick foliage and often mist covers.

Sample studies in Chattisgarh and West Bengal (broader study in all affected areas is necessary) it is found that the State police in Chattisgarh is better prepared and their mechanism of operations are more scientific. There has been marginal increase in HUMINT assets, but paucity of force prevents the State from comprehensive area domination. In West Bengal the police forces are yet to wake up to the reality that the Maoists of today are not ragtag Naxals of seventies and eighties. These guerrillas are well trained, well armed and indoctrinated. They follow the Maoist principles of guerrilla warfare scrupulously. Bengal police forces, paralyzed by political pressure, have not been exposed to anti-guerrilla warfare.

The thin police forces are so inadequate that they are not enough in numbers to take on sustained anti-guerrilla warfare, they lack in weaponry and training in anti-guerrilla warfare. Even the Central forces are not trained to fight the guerrillas by organizing them into effective counter-guerrilla forces. Some States have designated certain numbers of policemen as Special Forces with fancy names like Cobra Force etc. The Centre and the States may like to consider assisting each affected State to raise minimum 7 battalions of anti-guerrilla Special Forces trained in the army’s anti-insurgency warfare school. The present model of training some policemen in the model of National Security Guard (NSG) training manual may sharpen the efficiency edges. But the NSG is basically a static operations force for tackling static incidents like Mumbai incident of 26/11. It is not meant for deployment in anti-guerrilla warfare. The specially trained anti-guerrilla warfare police forces, like the VVF mentioned earlier live on and in the ground divided into strike squads coordinated by the battalion and higher commands. To fight guerrillas the forces have to adopt guerrilla ways of life.

The Central government often announces coordinated joint operations. This constructive idea can better be enforced if the entire mobilized forces (from different colours) are fused into a single operational force put under command of a Special Divisional Command (like the army) and operationalised in allocated territories for specializing in that territory till they are successful to retrieve the given territory from the Mass Control and military control of the Maoists.

However, it must be added that police action cannot alone eradicate the Maoist problems. An integrated and balanced approach and inclusive action plan is necessary to implement developmental works, providing employment, remodeling rural economy, education, health care and agricultural activities. Mushrooming of enrooted corruption in different welfare schemes, as discussed in this essay are required to be probed. The government must ensure that minimum 70% of the welfare funds and yojanas benefit the people. At present only 10-15% benefits reach the real affected people.

Combating Maoist guerrillas require total attention of the political decision makers and bureaucrats at macro and micro levels. Otherwise, present efforts would prove to be a war exercise between the State and certain segments of the people, who may ultimately be 25-35% of the population in the affected areas. The Guerrillas accrue new territories trough continued mass action. The present red and pink map may get enlarged sooner than later if corrective measures are not adopted NOW and NOW.