HVK Archives: Underground, militancy lives on
Underground, militancy lives on - The Indian Express
Maloy Krishna Dhar
()
25 July 1997
Title: Underground, militancy lives on
Author: Maloy Krishna Dhar
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 25, 1997
The bombing in Bathinda and crude effort to incite communal violence at
Baghapurana, near the ancestral village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, are
symptomatic of the ISI's renewed interest in Punjab. Apprehensions have
been expressed about the exploitation of dormant Sikh militants in Punjab
and the existence of arms caches in remote rural areas. The combined forces
of Beant Singh, Gill and the Army had definitely routed the divided and
criminalised terrorists. But though the police and the state government
claim to have totally destroyed the movement, they have not been able to
give any convincing arithmetical account. Where did the fighters evaporate?
A handful had surrendered, but the rank and file just melted away. They
never abjured militancy, nor reneged on the ideology of Khalistan.
About 5,000 weapons, including those of the AK series, are still buried
somewhere. The arithmetic of weapons surrendered and recovered betrays
bureaucratic jugglery. The claims are exaggerated and subterranean
militancy lives on. The ragis and dhaddis still sing about the sacrifices
of the martyrs and the excesses committed by Delhi. In several gurdwaras
the Ardas still mentions Ghallughara. We are yet to hear the swan song of
separatism, courtesy the undying torch of subversion kept lit by the ISI.
The Pakistani establishment does not have to seek out the separatist
leaders. Important ISI guests include Lakhbir Singh Brar, a nephew of
Bhindranwale, Swaran Singh Jaffarwal (KCF-J), Paramjit Panjwar (KCF-P)
Mehal Singh, Wadhwa Singh (Babbar Khalsa International), Dr Sekhon, Balbir
Singh Canada and Satinder Pal Singh Gill, besides the permanent Pakistani
Khalistani Sikh Shyam Singh Sindhi. They are accommodated in guest houses
and their bills are picked up by the agency. Lack of response from the Sikh
youth from Punjab has not bothered the ISI. They are training diaspora
Sikh youth of European and North American origin in two camps near Mianwali
and Peshawar.
The Pakistan-based militant leaders are used by the ISI for sending regular
consignments of explosives through Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jammu borders.
The Nepal conduit is also being intensively used. The highway of
international terrorism passes through Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and
runs on to Kathmandu, Bangkok, Dubai, London, New York and Toronto.
Sikh and Kashmiri militants apart, the ISI is known to carry out sabotage
and subversion through its own agents. Resident agents are not used by the
S division of the Miscellaneous Indian Division of the ISI for carrying out
bomb blasts and killings. These are carried out by itinerary agents. A good
number of itinerary and resident ISI agents operate in Aligarh, Moradabad,
Rampur, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Delhi, besides other locations in
Bihar, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The Dhaka connection is reported to have dried up and the ISI is said to be
running a cover trading company somewhere 20 km south of Pattaya, Thailand,
and in Phuket, where the Northeast rebels and the Sikh militants throng for
arms. The ISI is diverting some of its Taliban to Kashmir before the
passes close up and in Punjab,, they are egging on their guests to resume
sporadic violence and create communal discord.
The Gujral doctrine has unnerved the establishment in Pakistan. Peace in
Punjab, J&K Assam and the Northeast would mean its defeat. Sources still in
touch with overseas Sikh militants clearly indicate that in the coining
months the ISI is likely to accelerate the process of destabilisation.
The ISI's assessment of political instability in Delhi and the existence of
several militant sympathisers in the main Akali Dal, and frenetic efforts
by several Panthik Akali Dals to revive the ghosts of separatism, have
given new ideas to the Pakistani establishment. Peace is anathema to these
hawks, and this is the time to prick pins into the balloons of
confidence-budding measures initiated by the two countries.
We need to consolidate democratic gains in Punjab. Political expediency
should take a back seat and those who are trying to fish in troubled water
should remember the Frankenstein's monster they created. The state and
central governments and their forward and counter-intelligence agencies
should wake up and stand solidly behind the people of Punjab.
(The writer is a former IPS officer with experience in intelligence)
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