HVK Archives: Other side of Pakistan
Other side of Pakistan - The Observer
Dina Nath Mishra
()
14/6/96
Title : Other side of Pakistan
Author : Dina Nath Mishra
Publication : The Observer
Date : 14/6/96
As Indians, we tend to ignore the unpleasant and
bitter experience of Islamic invaders of the bygone era.
We even ignore and forget the bitter happenings of par-
tition and the three wars that India and Pakistan
fought with each other. Many Indians wilfully trivia-
lise the real nature of the Kashmir problem. We delib-
erately understate the horrendous experience of
Kashim at the hands of terrorists. We are in the
habit of shutting our eyes towards the ever incres-
ing multipurpose ISI network and its anti-Indian,
anti-Hindu activities in whole of the country. If a
consignment of 400 Chinese pistols is caught by the
police and ISI agent along with the end- recipients
are caught, it is bypassed as any other ordinary
event of the day. During election campaign, two power-
ful blasts had taken place, at Lajpat Nagar in Delhi and
Dausa in Rajasthan. Conclusively, it was proven that
the ISI was behind these blasts.
Today we have a government at the Centre which
has a vested interest in appeasing muslims. Many in it
go to the extent of rescuing ISI agents arrested by the
police. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has the responsi-
bility of ensuring nation's security, had defended in-
filtration of Bangladeshis on record during the
discussion on confidence-vote of Vijpayee. The con-
stitutes of the UF and the Congress are cometing with
each other to prove themeselves ultrasecularists. If
one could go through the common minimum programme of
UF, one is sure to find a void on security concerns.
It may be recalled that Benazir Bhutto gloted
over the fact of a weak government comingto power in
India. She herself proposed for the Indo-Pak
talks. Foreigns Minister Gujral was too eager to
grab the proposal. During his earlier stint as for-
eign minister in the V P Singh government, India mis-
handled its policy towards Pakistan. Pak-sponsored
terrorists dictated their terms in Kashmir Governor
Jagmohan was recalled from Kashmir, basically at the
behest of Benazir Bhutto. V P Singh government was
weak, no doubt. But the present government is weaker.
While dealing with Pakistan, one must understand
that it is the most complex Islamic country.
A large part of Islamic terrorism origi-
nate from Pakistan. Successive Pakistani regimes have
adroitly used the Islamic fundamentalists for man-
aging internal politics in the country and undertak-
ing foreign policy thrusts by providing encourage-
ment to Pak-Islamic activities and links.
In the context of the latter, Pakistan
has been particularly successful in foreign close
links with religious fundamentalists in the Middle East
and has even made attempts to entwine the `Kashmiri'
agenda with issues affecting the Islamic world. With
this intent, it continues to utilise the services
of local Islamic fundamentalist parties which selec-
tively receive official patronage. These religious par-
ties have also thrived on generous financial assist-
ance from the Gulf countries, notably Saudi Arabia.
The Pak Government has encouraged cultiva-
tion of indiscriminate foreign links by these
religious fundamentalists parties so as to secure
finances for their activities. While Sunni funda-
mentalists draw ideologicals inspiration from
Al-Eqean-al-Musalmeen (Muslim brotherhood) and finan-
cial help from saudis, Libya and Iran, the
Shaiati organisation Tahreeq-e- Zafaria and Imamia
Students Organisation have reveived generous finan-
cial assistance from Iran. In order to advance its
perceived national interests, frequent interaction
with Pan Islamic, fundamentalists and militant
elements abroad have rendered the Pakistani govern-
ment ineffective in seriously combating Islamic
militancy.
Regular visits by Islamic clerices and students
from the Arab countries and links between the
Karachi based Matamar-Al Islamic and over Pak-Islamic
organisation like the Rabito Al Alam al Islami, World
Association of Muslim Youths (WAMY) and organs of
the OIC, have also substantially contributed to
the extenasive networking among various Islamic funda-
mentalists groups. While such interactions may have
provided Pakistan with valuable access for furthering
of its national aims, it has also led to the growth of
clandestine international networks of Islamic mili-
tants.
Pakistan has also inherited and extensively
utilised Western aided military infrastructure created to
support the Afghan Mujahiddin (against the erst-
while Sovite Union) so as to provide a considerable
resource pool for the military training of Islamic
fundamentalists from different countries. With the
winding up of the Afghan Jihad, these trained terror-
ists, often unwanted in their own countries, have
either stayed back in Pakistan or moved to third
countries. Some of these elements have also managed
to enroll themselves in supposedly social welfare
institution, including the Islamic Services Bureau,
founded by Abdullah Azam at Peshawar, and the Inter-
national Islamic University (IIU) at Islamabad.
Pak-trained Arab militants have been espacially
active in Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. Further contacts
amongst them have been facilitated by the Sudaneses
regime, through the forum of Arab Islamic People Con-
ference sponsored by the prominent Sudanese cleric
Hasan Al Turabi. Training camps in Pakistan and Afghan-
istan are also used by Tajik rebels and there are re-
ports that Arab mercenaries are fighting along side
the Chachans against Russian troops.
Even while Pakistan continues to extend `pa-
tronage' to Islamic militant elements (who are now
spreading to other parts of the world), there are
sufficient indications that it is unable to control
tham. A pointer in this direction was the recent car
bomb attack in November last year on the Egyptian em-
bassy in Islamabad.
Subsequently, Pakistani Interior Minister
Naseerullah Babar acknowledged that IIU - which was ear-
lier recipient of considerabale government grants -
was a `den of criminals' and Islamic militancy in
the country. The Pakistani media further mentioned
that about 800 Arab mercenaries opposed to the regimes
in different countries were enrolled in the university,
which was described as the best available sanctuary
outside Sudan. These elements now felt so embold-
ened that they even issued open threats to the Pakis-
tani authorities when the latter tried to crack down
after the above mentioned bomb blast. Some religious
parties in Pakistan also criticised the government for
harassing theology students and cautioned against pur-
suit of unIslamic policies.
The above account would clearly suggest that Pak-
istan is exporting terrorism not only to India but to
dozens of other countries. Militancy and fundamentalism
are rooted in its social, educational and political
spheres in such a way that even the government is help-
less at times. Its intelligence agency ISI uses them
and, in turn, is used by them. Our utmost concerns are
internal and external security threats. No amount of
hollw talks is going to cut any ice with the fundamen-
talists and terrorists.
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