Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 16, 2001
Introduction: Al-Qaeda's reference
to Kashmir is a self-serving exercise
The latest propaganda videotape
from Al-Qaeda is fresh proof of increasing desperation within the terrorist
camp. In bringing up Kashmir, the Al-Qaeda spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith,
continues the mischief of Osama bin Laden in an earlier videotape when
he raised the Palestinian and Iraq issues. These are transparent attempts
to win over people in those territories and turn them against the US. It
is also very clearly intended to sow confusion in Muslim countries like
Pakistan which are supporting the military attacks on Al-Qaeda and the
Taliban. However, except for fringe elements, most people ought to be able
to see through the game and recognise it for the cynical self-serving exercise
it is. After all, the first time bin Laden was heard to express sympathy
for the Palestinians and Iraqis was when the bombing of Al-Qaeda facilities
by the US became a certainty; before that he was either critical or indifferent.
Today bin Laden focuses on Kashmir; tomorrow it may well be Chechnya or
Xinjiang or Nigeria. Anything will do as long as it provokes reaction in
the streets.
Vis a vis Kashmir, of course, matters
are somewhat more complex. There is no evidence that Kashmir has ever been
a bin Laden priority but the Al-Qaeda connection is both direct and long-standing
through the terrorist groups who have trained there and draw sustenance
from it. Was there a message for them in the latest tape? It is hard to
say. Jaish-e-Mohammed is under severe pressure and close scrutiny and may
have no choice but to lie low just now. Lashkar-e-Toiba and others are
not to be under similar restraints. In any case, it would be wise to read
the latest Al-Qaeda videotape as a bid to stir up trouble within India.
As the US closes in on Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime begins to implode,
as desperation grows, India's security forces will have to stay on high
alert. Above all, the propaganda on Kashmir is meant to fuel suspicion
among Pakistanis about the Musharraf government which had agreed to make
Pakistan the key frontline state in the US military operations. Those in
India who imagine there can be any movement forward with Islamabad on the
Kashmir issue in this situation, do not have their feet on the ground.
While guarding against fresh terrorist atrocities in Kashmir and elsewhere
in the country, New Delhi's best policy would be to keep relations with
Pakistan on an even keel and wait out the immediate war on Al-Qaeda. After
that there should be less insistence on Washington doing the Vajpayee government's
work for it and more effort on resuming the bilateral dialogue.
Bin Laden's purpose is to turn the
international campaign against terrorism into a battle of Islam against
the rest. That would serve his fundamental objectives very well. Those
aims are to exploit every existing quarrel involving members of the Islamic
faith and even imaginary ones in order to fashion, as it were, a coalition
against the forces of modernisation and globalisation. Washington frequently
reminds the world, it will be a long campaign against terrorism. There
should be no illusion either about the determination of those who would
drag their societies and countries backwards into the past.