Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 10, 2008
A seamless terror network exists
Kerala's Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
appears to be unfazed by the real extent of the threat posed by Hizb-ul Mujahideen
operatives in the State. Or else he would not have suggested that extremists
are travelling to God's Own Country for rest and recreation. The Minister
would do well to reconsider his views and accept the ground reality in Kerala,
with its Islamist organisations like NDF and PDP that affords ISI-trained
terror operatives from Jammu & Kashmir to park themselves without being
detected. One of them escaped detection for seven long years, posing as a
trader. Mr Balakrishnan, a leading light of the CPI(M) in Kerala, might not
be able to publicly admit the actual threat posed by the likes of Altaf Ahmed
Khan, the Hizb-ul operative arrested in scenic Kumili town, because of his
party's close association with Islamist outfits with an extremist agenda.
But intelligence inputs make it abundantly clear that scenic beauty is not
what lures Altaf Ahmed Khan and his ilk to Kerala. There is a clear ideological
link and operational bridge between Kashmiri Islamists and those who share
their hate agenda in Kerala.
That Altaf Ahmed Khan had been living in Kumili
for the last seven years, untouched by the police despite several tip-offs
from competent sources, raises serious questions about the commitment of both
the Congress and the CPI(M) in combating Islamist extremism. It is obvious
that what is lacking is political will, for intelligence agencies in the State
as well as at the Centre have been untiring in their effort to draw attention
to this festering problem. Islamists in Kerala are well entrenched in the
political system of the State and this ensures safety and patronage, both
for themselves as well as their compatriots from other States. In the clamour
of competitive communalism to pander to the Islamists in the hope of garnering
Muslim votes -- witness the manner in which the Congress and the CPI(M) have
gone out of their way to secure the support of Abdul Nasser Madani, who never
got his just desserts for the Coimbatore bombings -- there seems to be a consensus
across the political spectrum to turn a blind eye to the alarming spread of
radical Islam. Its implications are lost on those whose responsibility it
is to protect Kerala's -- and India's -- interests. The recent arrest of Altaf
Ahmed Khan shows that Islamists have established a network of sleeper cells
and hideouts, far away from the prying eyes of security agencies. Who would
have thought that Kashmiri terrorists on the run would seek and find refuge
in Kerala? More alarmingly, who knows how many terrorists have been provided
with refuge?
