AS the year 2010 is coming to a close, we find jihadi terrorism on the rise and seeking to strike at more and more Western countries. Al-Qaida remained the main source of inspiration and encouragement to jihadi elements. The militant outfit is served by various organisations and groups whose common objective is to spread terror.
There was a report from Washington towards the end of August that shedding its India-centric phobia, Pakistan’ s main spy agency, the ISI, had in its new threat assessment determined that Islamist militants, not India, posed the main threat to Pakistan. The report went on to say that in a recent internal assessment of security, the ISI had come to the conclusion that much of the threat to Pakistan emanated from Islamist militants. This marked a major change in the ISI’s perception of threat assessment. Prof Hoffman of Georgetown University, considered an expert on counter-terrorism, characterised the change of stance of the ISI as “earth shattering and a remarkable change” .
The reported change of stance on the part of the ISI, however, brings no consolation as far as India is concerned. Hamid Gul, a former ISI chief who was considered as the person responsible for raising the Afghanistan Taliban in the wake of Russian occupation of that country, declared in mid-August, 2010, that the Pakistani military would remain India-centric so long as the Kashmir dispute remained unresolved. Gen Ashfaque Kayani, the Pakistan Army Chief, had openly declared that he was India-centric. His preoccupation with Kashmir is well known. Having rejected the four-point formula of Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was General Kayani’ s boss and mentor, the present Army Chief of Pakistan has reportedly promised a better solution to the Kashmir problem than was promised through the Musharraf formula.
This could only be by intensifying the activities of Kashmiri militants trained and pushed into Kashmir from Pakistan, particularly from PoK.
David Headley’ s revelations during his interrogation by the National Investigation Agency threw sufficient light on the close collaboration between the ISI and LeT.
Hafiz Sayeed, chief of LeT, remains firm in his unceasing support to terror organisations and in their activities not only in Kashmir but also elsewhere in India. It may be mentioned that during one of Headley’ s reconnaissance visits to Delhi, the ISI’s targets included the National Defence College, Raksha Bhawan as well as the Prime Minister’s residence — 7 Race Course Road. The 26/11 Mumbai attack was only a precursor. Headley revealed that several Pakistan Army officers and retired officers were continuously operating with the help of the ISI. One of the more alarming reports was that the ISI and LeT had discussed launching of more attacks in India on the Mumbai pattern by deploying militants who would be sent through Nepal or Bangladesh.
Bob Woodward, a celebrated investigative journalist and author, recently revealed that within 48 hours of the Mumbai attack Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of the ISI, was summoned to Washington through diplomatic channels where he admitted that among the planners of the Mumbai attack were at least two Pakistani Army officers who had been closely associated with the ISI. However, General Pasha reportedly claimed that the Mumbai attack was not an authorized operation but was a rogue one, whatever it might have meant.
The FBI and the CIA had done their own analysis of the Mumbai terrorist strike and felt that American cities were as vulnerable as Mumbai. They were convinced that LeT was created and continued to be funded by the ISI.
President Obama reportedly told President Asif Zardari on May 7, 2009, according to Bob Woodward, that the US did not want to arm Pakistan against India. However, the US had not been able to make things move in a positive direction and get the desired cooperation from Pakistan in the war on terror despite having increased the aid to Islamabad.
The journalist also referred to an American retribution plan, according to which the US would bomb or attack every known Al-Qaida compound or training camp which figured in the intelligence data-base of Washington DC. The retribution plan called for a brutal punishing attack on at least 150 or more associated camps, reveals Woodward’s book, “Obama’ s Wars”. For all practical purposes, this plan would remain so in the foreseeable future.
The recent disclosures by Saudi intelligence agencies that the Al-Qaida elements based in Yemen were planning attacks on several cities in Europe like Paris were interesting. The ISI’s plans for Afghanistan are of particular interest to the US. The WikiLeaks website, after having analysed thousands of documents, showed clearly that Pakistan was allowing ISI operatives to meet Taliban terrorists to organise an attack in Afghanistan and also another one on American soldiers there. The two attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul were at the instance of the ISI as established by various intelligence inputs. Islamabad was reportedly confronted by the CIA with facts in this regard and the ISI had no credible evidence to deny the role.
Topping them all comes the report that an Al-Qaida manual has surfaced in Yemen and it is a manual with numerous tips on how to carry out random terror attacks on innocent civilians in the West, including US citizens. It contains articles like “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom”. The key player behind the magazine is reportedly an American who had declared that he was proud to be a traitor of America.
The depressing narrative makes it clear that the Western countries, the US in particular, have to be prepared to face acts of terrorism at any time which the jihadis may choose. India is the prime target because of the unending hostility of Pakistan over the Kashmir question and the unseizing activities of LeT and other allied jihadi organisations. India should be prepared to face the prospects of unending jihadi attacks not only in Kashmir but also in any part of the country. Eternal vigilance is the price India has to pay.
(The writer is a former Governor of UP and West Bengal, and currently Advisor to Observer Research Foundation)
Courtesy: The Tribune
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