Author: B.Raman
Publication:
Date: July 23, 2001
In our earlier paper titled "Musharraf,
bin Laden & the Lashkar" disseminated on July 1, we had, inter alia,
stated as follows about the links of Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the self-reinstated
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), the self-styled Chief Executive and the
self-promoted President of Pakistan, with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JEM), terrorist organisations active in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
"Musharraf denies any links of the
Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the LET and
other jihadis. What 's more, he denies their very presence in Pakistani
territory. On June 24, a fortnight after the famous rebuke of the Ulema
of June 5, which was more shadow-boxing than reality on the eve of the
Washington visit of Mr.Abul Sattar, Major-Gen.Rashid Quereshi, the media
spokesman of Musharraf, was asked about the activities of the LET and other
jihadi organisations. He replied without batting an eye-lid: " No group
operating in Kashmir has any base in Pakistan." ("The Hindu" of June 25).
"In the past, Musharraf had been
saying that if there was progress on the Kashmir issue in the bilateral
talks with India, he might appeal to the jihadis to deescalate their activities.
Now, his spokesmen have been saying that since these are indigenous Kashmiri
organisations, Pakistan has no influence over them just as they have been
telling the US that Pakistan has no influence over the Taliban and bin
Laden.
"Pamela Constable of the "Washington
Post", who was one of the foreign correspondents briefed by Musharraf last
week on the forthcoming summit, has reported as follows: "Musharraf brushed
aside questions about whether he would rein in armed Islamic groups that
support fighters in Kashmir, insisting that the Kashmiri insurgency is
"indigenous".
"It is, therefore, likely that whatever
be the outcome of the forthcoming summit, Pakistan will continue its proxy
war against India through its jihadi surrogates even while denying any
links with or control over them. Any optimism of a reduction in violence
and cross-border terrorism as a result of the summit would be misplaced.
Musharraf will continue to play his double game---overtly friendly, warm
and seemingly accommodating and covertly continuing to make our security
forces bleed. To expect anything different from him and to lower our guard
against him could be suicidal. India will continue to pay a heavy price
for its failure to evolve and implement consistently an effective counter
proxy war policy. The policy of "kabi naram, kabi garam" (sometimes soft,
sometimes hard) doesn't pay against Pakistan. It will only confirm Musharraf
in his perception that India is a soft State, which lends itself to easy
manipulation."
During his televised breakfast discussions
with Indian editors at Agra on July 16 and his press conference at Islamabad
on July 20, Musharraf described the terrorists operating in J & K as
"indigenous freedom-fighters" and denied that they were based in Pakistan
or that they were receiving any assistance from Pakistan. A similar stand
was taken by Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the Pakistani High Commissioner in New
Delhi, during a TV interview on July 22 when he was asked about the post-summit
massacre of some Hindu pilgrims going on their annual pilgrimage to the
Amarnath cave by the Al Umar Mujahideen and the massacre of the Hindu residents,
including women and children, of a village in the Doda district of Jammu
by the LET on July 22.
In its issues of February 13,1995,
and March 27,1995, the "News" of Pakistan had carried two detailed investigative
reports by Kamran Khan, a well-known Pakistani journalist, on an international
terrorist network consisting of the HUM (then known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar)
and other Islamic terrorist organisations operating from Pakistani territory
with the knowledge and connivance of the Pakistani authorities. He reported
that about 200 HUM members from Pakistan had died in clashes with the Indian
security forces in J & K since 1991 and that its cadres were also active
with the Abu Sayyaf group in Southern Philippines and with the terrorists
in Chechnya. He also brought out the links of these organisations with
Ramzi Yousuf, now undergoing imprisonment in the US for his role in the
New York World Trade Centre bombing in February, 1993, and their role in
the explosion at a holy shrine at Mashhad in Iran on June 20,1994, killing
70 people and in training Saudi fundamentalist eleme! nts opposed to the
ruling family.
Subsequently, a number of other
reports from equally well-known Pakistani journalists and published in
the Pakistani press brought out in great detail the role of the Pakistani
Army and the ISI in sponsoring terrorism against the Indian security forces
in J & K in order to achieve their political objective of annexing
J & K without the direct involvement of the Pakistan Army.
During the Kargil war of 1999 too,
Musharraf used these terrorist groups to initially occupy the mountain
heights before sending the Pakistan Army. In the transcript of the telephone
conversation between Lt.Gen.Mohammed Aziz, then Chief of the General Staff
(CGS) at the GHQ, and Musharraf, then on a visit to Beijing, which was
released by the Government of India, Musharraf was assured by Aziz about
his effective control over the terrorists in the following words: "The
scruff of their neck is in our hands."
The US State Department's annual
report on Patterns of Global Terrorism during 2000 released by Gen.Colin
Powell, US Secretary of State, on April 30,2001, gave the following detailed
account of Pakistani involvement with the terrorist groups in J & K
and Afghanistan:
"The Government of Pakistan increased
its support to the Taliban and continued its support to militant groups
active in Indian-held Kashmir, such as the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM),
some of which engaged in terrorism.
"Islamic extremists from around
the world--including North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and
Central, South, and Southeast Asia--continued to use Afghanistan as a training
ground and base of operations for their worldwide terrorist activities
in 2000. The Taliban, which controlled most Afghan territory, permitted
the operation of training and indoctrination facilities for non-Afghans
and provided logistics support to members of various terrorist organizations
and mujahidin, including those waging jihads (holy wars) in Central Asia,
Chechnya, and Kashmir.
"Throughout 2000 the Taliban continued
to host Usama Bin Ladin despite UN sanctions and international pressure
to hand him over to stand trial in the United States or a third country.
In a serious and ongoing dialogue with the Taliban, the United States repeatedly
made clear to the Taliban that it would be held responsible for any terrorist
attacks undertaken by Bin Ladin while he is in its territory.
"Massacres of civilians in Kashmir
during March and August were attributed to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) and other
militant groups.
"Pakistan's military government,
headed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, continued previous Pakistani Government
support of the Kashmir insurgency, and Kashmiri militant groups continued
to operate in Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting new cadre. Several
of these groups were responsible for attacks against civilians in Indian-held
Kashmir, and the largest of the groups, the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, claimed
responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack against an Indian garrison
in Srinagar in April.
"In addition, the Harakat ul-Mujahidin
(HUM), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, continues to be active
in Pakistan without discouragement by the Government of Pakistan. Members
of the group were associated with the hijacking in December 1999 of an
Air India (author's comment: it was actually the Indian Airlines) flight
that resulted in the release from an Indian jail of former HUM leader Maulana
Masood Azhar. Azhar since has founded his own Kashmiri militant group,Jaish-e-Mohammed,
and publicly has threatened the United States.
"The United States remains concerned
about reports of continued Pakistani support for the Taliban's military
operations in Afghanistan. Credible reporting indicates that Pakistan is
providing the Taliban with materiel, fuel, funding, technical assistance,
and military advisers. Pakistan has not prevented large numbers of Pakistani
nationals from moving into Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban. Islamabad
also failed to take effective steps to curb the activities of certain madrassas,
or religious schools, that serve as recruiting grounds for terrorism. Pakistan
publicly and privately said it intends to comply fully with UNSCR 1333,
which imposes an arms embargo on the Taliban.
"In South Asia, the United States
has been increasingly concerned about reports of Pakistani support to terrorist
groups and elements active in Kashmir, as well as Pakistani support, especially
military support, to the Taliban, which continues to harbor terrorist groups,
including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya,
and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan."
DETAILS OF HUM,JEM AND LET
The State Department's report gave
the following details of the HUM, the JEM and the LET:
THE HUM
Description
"Formerly known as the Harakat ul-Ansar,
the HUM is an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily
in Kashmir. Long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-February
stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the popular Kashmiri
commander and his second-in-command, Farooq Kashmiri. Khalil, who has been
linked to Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks
on US and Western interests, assumed the position of HUM Secretary General.
Continued to operate terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan.
Activities
"Has conducted a number of operations
against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri
militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir
in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995 and the other four reportedly
were killed in December of the same year. The new millennium brought significant
developments for Pakistani militant groups, particularly the HUM. Most
of these sprang from the hijacking of an Indian airliner on 24 December
by militants believed to be associated with the HUM. The hijackers negotiated
the release of Masood Azhar, an important leader in the former Harakat
ul-Ansar imprisoned by the Indians in 1994. Azhar did not, however, return
to the HUM, choosing instead to form the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), a rival
militant group expressing a more radical line than the HUM.
Strength
"Has several thousand armed supporters
located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda
regions. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also include
Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and heavy machineguns,
assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. HUM lost some of its
membership in defections to the JEM.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi,
and several other towns in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but members conduct
insurgent and terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The HUM trains
its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
External Aid
"Collects donations from Saudi Arabia
and other Gulf and Islamic states and from Pakistanis and Kashmiris. The
sources and amount of HUM's military funding are unknown."
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of
Mohammed)
Description
"The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) is an
Islamist group based in Pakistan that has rapidly expanded in size and
capability since Maulana Masood Azhar, a former ultrafundamentalist Harakat
ul-Ansar (HUA) leader, announced its formation in February. The group's
aim is to unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the
radical, pro-Taliban, political party, Jamiat-i Ulema-i Islam (JUI-F).
Activities
"The JEM's leader, Masood Azhar,
was released from Indian imprisonment in December 1999 in exchange for
155 hijacked Indian Airlines hostages in Afghanistan. The 1994 HUA kidnappings
of US and British nationals in New Delhi and the July 1995 HUA/Al Faran
kidnappings of Westerners in Kashmir were two of several previous HUA efforts
to free Azhar. Azhar organized large rallies and recruitment drives across
Pakistan throughout 2000. In July, a JEM rocket-grenade attack failed to
injure the Chief Minister at his office in Srinagar, India, but wounded
four other persons. In December, JEM militants launched grenade attacks
at a bus stop in Kupwara, India, injuring 24 persons, and at a marketplace
in Chadoura, India, injuring 16 persons. JEM militants also planted two
bombs that killed 21 persons in Qamarwari and Srinagar.
Strength
"Has several hundred armed supporters
located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and
Doda regions. Following Maulana Masood Azhar's release from detention in
India, a reported three quarters of Harakat ul-Mujahedin (HUM) members
defected to the new organization, which has managed to attract a large
number of urban Kashmiri youth. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris
and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light
and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, improvised explosive devices,
and rocket grenades.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Peshawar and Muzaffarabad,
but members conduct terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The JEM
maintains training camps in Afghanistan.
External Aid
"Most of the JEM's cadre and material
resources have been drawn from the militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad al-Islami
(HUJI) and the Harakat ul-Mujahedin (HUM). The JEM has close ties to Afghan
Arabs and the Taliban. Usama Bin Ladin is suspected of giving funding to
the JEM."
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of
the Righteous)
Description
"The LT is the armed wing of the
Pakistan-based religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI)--a
Sunni anti-US missionary organization formed in 1989. One of the three
largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India, it is
not connected to a political party. The LT leader is MDI chief, Professor
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
Activities
"Has conducted a number of operations
against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir since 1993. The LT
is suspected of eight separate attacks in August that killed nearly 100,
mostly Hindu Indians. LT militants are suspected of kidnapping six persons
in Akhala, India, in November 2000 and killing five of them. The group
also operates a chain of religious schools in the Punjab.
Strength
"Has several hundred members in
Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions.
Almost all LT cadres are foreigners--mostly Pakistanis from seminaries
across the country and Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars. Uses assault
rifles, light and heavy machineguns, mortars, explosives, and rocket propelled
grenades.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Muridke (near Lahore)
and Muzaffarabad. The LT trains its militants in mobile training camps
across Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Afghanistan.
External Aid
"Collects donations from the Pakistani
community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani
and Kashmiri businessmen. The amount of LT funding is unknown. The LT maintains
ties to religious/militant groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines
to the Middle East and Chechnya through the MDI fraternal network."
In its annual report for 2000 presented
to the Canadian Parliament on June 20,2001, the Canadian Security and Intelligence
Service (CSIS) stated as follows: " Pakistan's long-standing support of
the Sikh extremist issue is a major factor in its endurance. The effects
of ongoing support by Pakistan's intelligence apparatus of the Jammu and
Kashmir conflict, with its growing linkage to the Taliban, have spilled
over into east-Asian expatriate communities around the world. "
While Musharraf's spokesmen have
been projecting the jihadi organisati ons as indigenous Kashmiri organisations
with no base in Pakistani territory, the HUM and the LET themselves, in
their propaganda literature and official web sites, project themselves
as Pakistan-based organisations. They give their addresses and telephone/fax
numbers in Pakistan and particulars of the Pakistani banks in which their
accounts are held to which their supporters should send their contributions.
These details as given in their web sites are shown below:
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Head Office:
House No. B-154/, Khayban-i-Sir Sayad, Near C.D.A. Bus Stop, Rawalpindi.
Pakistan, Phone/Fax No. 4414810 .
Account: Current Account No. 2758-9,
Muslim Commercial Bank, Aabpara Branch, Islamabad. Pakistan.
Monthly Journal Sada-e-Mujahid
Office: I -10 Markaz, Usman Plaza, Islamabad. Pakistan. Phone No. 051-431776.
Weekly Al-Hilal News Paper Office:
6 Sumaira Apartment, 2nd Floor Block 13-B, Near K.D.A Bus Stop, Gulshan
Iqbal, Karachi. Pakistan.
Phone/Fax No. 021-4991819 .
Markaz Dawa al Irshad , the political
wing of the LET: 5-Chamberlane Road, Lahore - Pakistan. Tel: (92-42) 7231106
Lt.Gen.Mahmood Ahmed, Musharraf's
DG of the ISI, was reported to have attended the annual conference of the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) held at Muridke from April 13 to 15, which passed
a resolution calling on its cadres in India to emulate the example of Mahmood
Ghaznavi, capture Hindu temples, destroy the idols and then hoist the flag
of Islam on them.
Last year, Musharraf, under pressure
from the Clinton Administration, denied the LET permission to hold its
annual conference at Muridke in November. This year, anticipating that
there would be no similar pressure from the Bush Administration, he initially
allowed them to hold the deferred confertence of 2000 in Muzaffarabad in
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), but subsequently, when the LET insisted
on holding it at Muridke, he let it do so and asked the ISI to ensure that
no journalists, Pakistani or foreign, was able to have access.
Despite this, some Pakistani journalists
managed to have access. The "News" of April 22 reported as follows: "The
Lashkar operates six private military training camps in Pakistan and Azad
Kashmir where several thousands of cadre are given both military and religious
education.. With more than 2200 unit offices across the country and over
two dozen launching camps along the Line of Control (LOC), the Lashkar
boasts of the biggest jihadi network in Pakistan. The followers of the
Lashkar come from all walks of life from the defence and nuclear establishment
to the industrial labour."
The March issue of "Herald", the
monthly journal of the "Dawn" group of Karachi, quoted Dr.Khalid Mehmood
Soomro, Secretary-General of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI), Sindh, based
in Larkana, as saying as follows: "Why is the Pakistan Army not fighting
for Kashmir? Why are they getting our youth killed there? They are using
our young men for their own goals.Let's be clear on one thing. These jihadi
groups can't function and survive without official patronage. Is there
a single militant training centre in Pakistan which can operate without
the consent of the Pakistan Army? All militant groups are created and run
by Pakistan's secret agencies. They have mobile phones, land cruisers and
weapons. Where are they getting the funds from? Surely, it can't be all
funded through public donations. Because if that were so, we would be getting
similar donations, if not more."
Irfan Hussain, a Pakistani columnist,
wrote in the "Dawn" of March 3,2001, as follows: " For years, successive
governments have been denying military support for Kashmiri militants while
jihadi outfits have been openly collecting funds to buy arms and train
infiltrators at camps established in Punjab and Azad Kashmir. In these
efforts, these groups have received more than a wink and a nod from shadowy
agencies that have sought to keep the Kashmir pot on the boil while preserving
official deniability."
Najam Sethi, the distinguished Editor,
wrote in the "Friday Times" ( May 18 to 24,2001) as follows: " The Musharraf
model seeks to covertly ally with the jihadi groups while overtly keeping
the mainstream religious parties out of the power loop. This is to enhance
and sustain its covert external agenda, while internally maintaining an
overtly moderate anti-fundamentalist stance for the comfort of the international
community whose economic support is critical to Pakistan's financial viability."
State-sponsors of terrorism generally
tend to project the terrorist groups backed by them as "freedom-fighters",
just as Musharraf has been doing since he captured power on October 12,1999.
How to differentiate between terrorists and freedom-fighters is one of
the questions considered by President Reagan's Special Task Force on Terrorism
headed by Mr.George Bush (Sr), his Vice-President and the father of the
present President. It said that while freedom-fighters confine their attacks
only to security forces, who are in a position to defend themselves, terrorists
are those who kill innocent civilians. It defined a State-sponsor of terrorism
as a State "supplying money, weapons, training, identification documents,
travel documents, or safehaven for terrorists."
The USA's Department of Defence
Directive 2000.12 issued in 1996, finetuned the definition of terrorism
in order to bring under its ambit acts directed against civilians as well
as security forces. Its definition of terrorism is as follows:" Unlawful
use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property,
with the intention of coercing or intimidating governments or societies,
often for political or ideological purposes."
It laid down the following other
definitions:
International (or Transnational)
Terrorism. Terrorism in which planning and execution of the terrorist act
transcends national boundaries. In defining international terrorism, the
purpose of the act, the nationalities of the victims, or the resolution
of the incident are considered. Those acts are usually planned to attract
widespread publicity and are designed to focus attention on the existence,
cause, or demands of the terrorists.
Non-State Supported Terrorism. Terrorist
groups that operate autonomously, receiving no significant support from
any government.
State-Directed Terrorism. Terrorist
groups that operate as agents of a government, receiving substantial intelligence,
logistical, and operational support from the sponsoring government.
State-Supported Terrorism. Terrorist
groups that generally operate independently, but receive support from one
or more governments.
The State Department's report on
the Patterns of Global Terrorism during 2000 has further expanded the definition
of terrorism to bring under its ambit even attacks on military installations.
It said: "We also consider as acts of terrorism attacks on military installations
or on armed military personnel when a state of military hostilities does
not exist at the site" .
A Declaration on Principles of International
Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in Accordance
with the Charter of the UN approved by the UN General Assembly on October
24,1970, has laid down that "every State has the duty to refrain from organising,
instigating, assisting or participating in acts of civil strife or terrorist
acts in another State or acquiescing in organised activities within its
territory directed towards the commission of such acts."
Subsequently, while speaking during
a debate on another Declaration on the strengthening of International Security,
which was passed as Resolution No. 2734 on December 16,1970, delegates
from the USA, the UK, Canada, Italy, Australia, Japan and the then USSR
described the sponsoring by a State of acts of terrorism at another State
as indirect aggression.
The right of a victim-State to defend
itself against such indirect aggression by the use of appropriate conventional
as well as non-conventional means was underlined in an address delivered
by Mr.George Shultz, the then US Secretary of State, after the signing
on April 3,1984, by President Reagan of a National Security Directive on
this subject and again later in a foreword contributed by Mr.Bush Sr to
a study on Terrorist Group Profiles in November, 1988.
Mr.Schultz described State-sponsored
terrorism as a new form of warfare and said that the success of diplomatic
options in dealing with State-sponsors of terrorism would depend on the
readiness of the victim-State to hit back, through conventional military
and non-conventional clandestine means if the diplomatic options failed.
He, therefore, expressed the determination of the US to follow a strategy
of active defence, that is, taking the counter-terrorism operations into
the territory or against the interests of the State-sponsor of terrorism,
if left with no other alternative.
In his Foreword, Mr.Bush Sr reiterated
the determination of the US to demonstrate to State-sponsors of terrorism
that their actions would not be cost-free.
Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism
in the Punjab since 1980, in J & K since 1989 and in other parts of
India since 1993. It instigated the hijacking of a number of aircraft of
the Indian Airlines by Sikh terrorists when Zia-ul-Haq was the military
dictator , of another aircraft under Musharraf by the HUM in December 1999,
caused the massacre of over 9000 civilians in J & K since 1989 and
of over 350 civilians in Mumbai in March, 1993 and committed other shocking
acts of terrorism, the like of which would not have been tolerated by hard
States such as the US or Israel.
Even though international law and
practice give us the right of active defence against Pakistan, we have
not exercised it even once. We do not have even after 20 years a credible
counter proxy war policy to demonstrate to Pakistan that its proxy war
will not be cost-free.
Is it any wonder that Musharraf
behaves towards us with such impudence? There is not even a sense of outrage
in us as was seen by the way we fell over each other in welcoming and lionising
Musharraf.
(The writer is Director, Institute
For Topical Studies, Chennai. )