Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 4, 2008
Islamists have a field day
Islamist terror, spreading its tentacles steadily
across India, had crossed the Vindhyas some years ago. Now it seems deeply
entrenched in Karnataka. It is disquieting but not surprising that a jihadi
terrorist training camp has been detected right under the nose of the authorities,
and for the first time, in southern India. The interrogation of three arrested
Islamist radicals and subsequent investigations which have unearthed a thick
forest area flanking Dharwad and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka being
used for nefarious purposes, has revealed much more than the existence of
terrorists in this part of the country. It has partly explained the phenomenon
that could well have turned local doctors into the Glasgow bombers; one of
the arrested jihadis, Mohammed Asif, is an MBBS student. The woods, surrounded
by religious shrines, had been serving as training camps of Islamist recruits,
teaching them how to use firearms. Most obnoxiously, Pakistani flags have
been found fluttering mockingly at the camp whose existence has sinister implications,
indicating that the terrorist network in southern India is much wider and
better organised than what was so far believed. It's now understood that the
recent spate of terrorist attacks in southern India -- from the shooting at
Bangalore's Indian Institute of Science to Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid blasts
-- were no flashes in the pan. These have all been part of a concerted plan
by groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyeba to extend terrorism's scary hold on more
and more parts of the country and inflict increasing injury to the Indian
state. Bangalore has, in particular, been a target for long, with Islamist
terrorists' indefatigable efforts to build capabilities out of this city as
part of attempts to build bases in southern India.
Though Islamist terrorists did not find much initial success in the south
for want of enough recruits, they have been resilient and finally been able
to vitiate and motivate the minds of many in the local population to execute
their nefarious plans. The exposed training grounds are indicative of a natural
progression whereby the various terrorist outfits, networked with Pakistan
-- prime suspect Mohammed Ghouse worked for a terror outfit in Pakistan --
have been expanding their activities. That they have been allowed to establish
a base in Kalghatgi speaks volumes of the apathy India's security issues have
received from authority although the Prime Minister does tend to lose his
sleep when potential jihadis are picked up. It is surprising that each time
the issue of Islamist terrorism in southern India is raised, it is swept under
the carpet as if the problem does not exist. The latest revelations have come
as a wake-up call. If the Centre and the State Government continue to sleep,
India will have to bear the cost of their monumental folly.
