Author: B L Kak
Publication: The Daily Excelsior
Date: May 23, 2001
In a swift turn of events, the Government
has put on high alert the police and other security agencies in Jammu and
Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The Union Home Ministry's latest
directive, in fact, has called for "greater vigil" in communally sensitive
areas and "effective" measures against any attack on the temples and other
religious institutions.
The directive came after the receipt
of "classified" inputs by the country's two important spy arms, the RAW
(Research and Analysis Wing) and the IB (Intelligence Bureau), vis-à-vis
the Lashkar-e-Toiba's move to target the temples and other religious centres.
If the Jammu and Kashmir Government
headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah was urged to beef up security to prevent the
jihadis from targeting prestigious places of worship such as the ancient
cave temple of Mata Vaishnodevi in Jammu region and Amarnath shrine in
eastern Kashmir, the Centre wanted the local administrations in the rest
of the country, particularly the sensitive State of Uttar Pradesh, to make
necessary arrangements for the protection of all important temples and
other religious institutions.
More than three radio intercepts
as well as 'source information' in recent days seemed to have prompted
the Ministry of Home Affairs to alert the police and other security agencies
in the country, particularly in the northern States. The radio intercepts
had clearly indicated the Lashkar-e-Toiba's plan to target Indian temples
and other religious institutions in a bid to try and create further unrest
in the country and promoting a communal divide.
As Delhi, too, has been included
among possible targets, the Delhi Police personnel have started the process
of trying to protect religious institutions in the capital. The Pakistan-based
leadership of Lashkar-e-Toiba, according to radio intercepts, is for bomb
and rocket attacks on important holy places with the apparent intention
to foment communal rife and create tension.
To abort their plans from materialising,
the intelligence branch has alerted the Delhi Police and issued them a
fresh set of instructions to carry out regular checking of the areas where
the Kashmiris and Afghan nationals are staying, to confirm their antecedents
and to question those found suspicious. The Delhi Police personnel have
also been directed to ensure regular and thorough checks of Pakistanis
visiting the Indian capital.
The Lashkar leaders have directed
their cadres to undertake more attacks like the one carried out at the
Red Fort, and target military installations and camps not only in Jammu
and Kashmir but also elsewhere in India. To carry out these designs, special
emphasis, a top defence official told EXCELSIOR, was being laid on the
formation of suicide squads. Teenage boys were being recruited in a large
number to carry out these planes, and were being given military training.
On the other hand, Pakistan's ISI
(Inter-Services Intelligence) has been found continuing to intercept and
monitor Indian communications, as much as is possible. The ISI, intelligence
specialists have reported to New Delhi, would not like the successful spread
of net activity in India. Without adequate cyber-security, India's plans
to progress exponentially in e-commerce will come to nought.
The ISI already runs a special bureau,
known as Joint Intelligence (North). It handles all tasks concerning Jammu
and Kashmir. Its activities include propaganda, clandestine activities
and infiltration. Another institution, known as Joint Signals Intelligence
Bureau, has units along the Indian borders and it provides communication
support to militants operating in J&K.
Pakistan has been found to be in
the possession of many freelance virus generation specialists, besides
ISI's in-house experts. Many have rated Pakistan in the top 3-4 virus-generating
countries in the world. It has understood the importance of cyberwar and
is organising itself rapidly to stay ahead of India.
Pakistan's cyberwar successes, it
is pointed out, indicate that India needs to do more because Indians are
committing themselves to cyberspace. It may be recalled that in 1998 most
Indians were shocked to read reports of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre's
computer network being hacked. It was discovered that this was the handiwork
of a group called Milworm. The hackers not only stole data, deleted information,
and put out two of the eight servers, but they also copied e-mails exchanged
by Indian scientists.
Web sites of the National Information
Centre and the Indian Army were also broken into not long ago. Besides
Milworm and Armageddon, the Pakistan Hackers Club and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
have been involved in similar subversion.
