Author: Kanchan Gupta
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 15, 2006
Is there a Colombo angle to the increasing
level of jihadi activities in southern India?
This question is being asked in Intelligence circles, counter-terrorism experts
and diplomatic staff at foreign missions in Delhi who monitor Islamist terrorism
in India after the December 28 terror strike on Indian Institute of Science
in Bangalore and subsequent arrests of operatives and members of sleeper cells.
The attack on IISc is not being seen in isolation of the suicide bombing in
Hyderabad, arrest of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operatives in Andhra Pradesh and Islamists
in Tamil Nadu. Intelligence experts are trying to fit into the larger jigsaw
puzzle of jihadi violence and arrest of operatives in the southern States.
The emerging picture suggests that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
has effectively encircled India by making Colombo one of its hubs for disruptive
activities.
Dubai and other stations in the Gulf region continue to be used by the ISI
for covert Intelligence gathering and indoctrination of potential recruits
for sleeper cells in India among the Indians working there, as well as for
briefing and debriefing operatives.
Kathmandu is a launching pad for operatives. Dhaka is increasingly becoming
a major hub of ISI operations. And, now ISI's long-term plans of using Colombo
in the south are coming to fruition.
The plan took off with Pakistani President and Army chief Pervez Musharraf
appointing a former director of the Pakistani Intelligence Bureau, Col (retd)
Bashir Wali Mohammed, as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
Col Bashir Wali Mohammed had earlier served as head of Intelligence operations
in the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo during the 1990s. After his 1999
military coup, Gen Musharraf has effectively made the Pakistani Intelligence
Bureau a part of the Inter-Services Intelligence, putting it under the overall
control of the ISI chief.
It was during his earlier posting in Colombo that the Tamil Nadu based jihadi
outfit Al Ummah spread its wings. Col Bashir Wali Mohammed's next posting
was at the Pakistani High Commission in London.
It is believed that he was involved with recruiting
operatives for Lashkar from the immigrant Muslim community during his stint
in Britain. So successful was he in this enterprise that the British Government
had to step in and impose a ban on the LeT. The sleeper cells that he set
up then were subsequently pressed into action.
A report prepared by a former senior analyst
of the Cabinet Secretariat points out: "Col Wali was and still is an
active member of the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), which acts as the cover organisation
of Pakistani jihadi organisations such as the LET, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
(HUM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM)
and helps them in their recruitment of cadre not only in Pakistan, but also
in other countries of the world."
The report adds also provides another clue
as to why this Pakistani Intelligence officer is among Gen Musharraf's favourites
and has been posted to Colombo as mission head: "During his earlier stay
in Colombo, he had reportedly sent a number of Tamil Muslims from the Eastern
Province to Karachi to study in the Binori madarsa on scholarships provided
by the Tablighi Jamaat. Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai of this madarsa, who was
considered the mentor and godfather of Taliban, Al Qaeda and Pakistani jihadi
and anti-Shia organisations, was assassinated by unidentified elements in
Karachi on May 30, 2004."
According to this report, "While in Pakistan,
Col Wali used to attend regularly the annual conventions of LeT at Muridke
near Lahore, and was also attached to Taliban as an adviser for some months
in the 1990s. He was considered a protege of Brig (retd) Imtiaz, who headed
the political division of the ISI during the tenure of the late Gen Zia-ul-Haq,
and had helped Imtiaz in running the ISI operations for training the terrorists
from India's Punjab in Pakistani territory and arming them."
There is credible evidence to believe that
ever since Col Bashir Wali Mohammed took charge of the Pakistani mission in
Colombo, there has been an upsurge in radical Islamic fervour in the Eastern
Province among young Tamil Muslims. The process began with the 2002 riots
that saw the free distribution of pamphlets purportedly issued by the 'Osama
Brigade'.
It is suspected that the Pakistani mission in Colombo is using the services
of recruits among Tamil-speaking Sri Lankan Muslims who freely travel to India
and collect information. It is also suspected that the mission is using Colombo
as a transit point for ISI operatives from India who are ferried to Pakistan
on PIA aircraft without their passports being stamped. Curiously, the Government
of India, which could have tried to stall the appointment of Col Bashir Wali
Mohammed as Pakistan's High Commissioner by bringing pressure on Sri Lanka
chose not to do so. Nor did the Sri Lankan Government hesitate to accept the
appointment despite his past record.
Southern Discomfort
The Pakistani mission in Colombo is using
the services of recruits among Tamil-speaking Lankan Muslims who travel to
India and collect information. It is also suspected that the mission is using
Colombo as a transit point for ISI operatives from India who are ferried to
Pakistan on PIA without their passports being stamped.
