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Volume 1, No. 9 - February 2002 |
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Terrorism Update The Post-Speech Scenario in Kashmir After Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf’s January 12 speech, most western officials took his word at face value, and declared an end to terrorism in Kashmir. At ground zero in Jammu and Kashmir State of India, the situation was far from calm. Terrorist killings of civilians, especially Hindus and pro-India Muslims continued throughout the month of January. On January 31, an attack on Hindus at a bus stand in Udhampur district killed 5 people, including two children aged 2 and 4. New York Times reported that ethnic cleansing of Hindus is rampant in various districts of Jammu region. Most Hindus of Kashmir valley left their homeland in 1990 in the first wave of ethnic cleansing orchestrated by Pakistan. Other terrorist violence continued in the state, and spilled over to the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. Pakistani terrorists attacked the USIS office building in the city, killing five police guards. Infiltration Decreases - But Why? India’s Border Security Force reported that infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir had diminished during January. Does Musharraf really mean business? US officials think so, and are pressing India to de-escalate tensions with Pakistan. But consider this: the passes in the mountains spanning India and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are blocked with record snowfall this year. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of extra Indian troops are deployed since late December in the state, providing few easy routes for the terrorists to cross over. Despite these hurdles, several attempts at infiltration occurred during January, and some terrorists succeeded in entering the state. Reports indicate that Pakistan intends to continue jehad in Kashmir under a different name. Names of terrorist groups have been changed, funds moved to different accounts, signs outside still functioning offices painted over; but the jehad industry survives. B. Raman of the South Asia Analysis Group reports that Musharraf has quietly reinstated Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aziz, who commanded Pakistan’s wing of the Al Qaida for many years. Complicating matters is the surely suicidal American decision to allow Pakistan to evacuate over 5,000 terrorists and their masters during the Kunduz fall in November. The escapees have formed a new group, which is planning attacks in Kashmir in the near future. The group is doubtless biding its time before it turns its attention to the US. Bush Perpetuates American Lies About Pakistan President Bush continued his administration’s twisted, ridiculous policy of pointing its fingers everywhere except at the epicenter of terrorism, Pakistan. In his State of the Union speech, he singled out North Korea, Iraq and Iran as the “axis of evil”; once again giving the terrorist masters of Pakistan a free ride. The January 30 issue of World Net Daily carried an exclusive article detailing official Pakistani connections to the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11 last year. One of the financiers of the attacks, Omar Sheikh had wired money to lead hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, at the behest of ISI chief Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmed. Omar Sheikh, Lt. Gen. Ahmed, the 20 terrorists whose extradition was demanded by India, and thousands of others, continue to live in Pakistan as pampered guests of the ISI. Pakistani nuclear scientists who assisted Bin Laden with nuclear weapons technology have been freed. The Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped recently in Pakistan, had reported earlier in the month that Pakistani offices of terrorist groups targeting Kashmir continued functioning after Musharraf’s speech. Pearl had also been investigating shoe bomber Richard Reid’s connections to Pakistan. The three countries mentioned by President Bush, while not exactly models of peace and progress, are nowhere near the same league as Pakistan. Iraq is boxed in and unable to continue with its earlier aggressive policies. Iran, while pursuing missile and nuclear technology, has elements that would like a return to moderation and has very few connections with the Al Qaida, and in fact assured the US of use of airfields for emergency operations during the Afghanistan war. North Korea remains a problem due to its export of weapons of mass destruction to Pakistan and Iran; however, it likely has little to do with the Al Qaida. President Bush, by omitting Pakistan’s role as the epicenter of terrorism since the last decade, has regurgitated a disastrous lie that has been perpetuated by the US administration since ex-President Clinton’s early days. If Clinton had taken pre-emptive action against the ISI while it was wreaking terrorism in Kashmir, sponsoring the Taliban and collaborating with the Al Qaida, September 11 may never have happened. |
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