Our National Security – Time for Ground Realities

by Siddharth Verma

March 12, 2006

For decades terrorism was confined to our borders - be it the guerilla attacks by ULFA, the separatist movements in Punjab, Maoists seeping through Nepal, LTTE marauding in south or the biggest of them all – relentless infiltration into Kashmir thanks to organized military camps being run in the neighboring country. Kashmir is still considered a cherry on the pie for Pakistan and a fortiori their main agenda, however the focus on Kashmir has shifted to a broader network that ranges across the entire breadth of the country. Insurgency that was once confined to the gates now finds itself lazing around in our bedrooms. March 8th bomb blasts in Varanasi is another grueling reminder of this new terrorist network that has been on the ascendancy for some time now. It also speaks of the government’s callous and inefficient approach in handling this and if the powers at the center do not get their acts right, then such incidents would continue to rip our country to smithereens.

The blasts in Varanasi on the eve of Holi, twin blasts in Delhi right before Diwali point to a merger in ideology that these terrorists have conceived to disrupt communal harmony. But their efforts have taken a huge beating thanks largely to our Muslim brethren of Varanasi who not only condemned the twin blasts but also volunteered to donate blood and extend any help possible to the injured. The recent terrorist attacks at ISc Bangalore, Akshardham temple in Gujarat, the car bombings in Mumbai point to a rapidly growing network that has infiltrated deep into the heart of our country. Only a few days ago a captured terrorist unveiled their nefarious machinations to trigger blasts in Goa in coming months. That followed with bombs found at Byculla train station in Mumbai. Had not been for the timely discovery many lives would have been lost. I am sure most of you would have forgotten similar blasts at a train station in Ahmedabad not so long ago. Their approach is simple – target civilian lives at busy places.

So who is running the show? Only hours within the Varanasi detonations, two terrorist were gun down, one a Lashkar Commander in Lucknow and the other Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami activist (HUJI) from Bangladesh. Why am I not surprised to learn that HUJI and LET are being nurtured arms and money in Pakistan. Why am I not surprised that both have strong ties to Al Qaeda. HUJI operates from Dhaka and Ghulam Yazdani its supreme commander who once lived in Nalgonda in AP now swears its allegiance to the LET. He is the prime suspect in the attack on ISc, Bangalore and Shramjeevi express blasts. The fact that these two terrorist outfits have joined hands for their common cause is bone-chilling.

In spite of their numerous arrests and seizure of their explosives and ammunitions, their numbers continue to swell. It was recently revealed that there is very large terrorists network that has taken hideouts in Delhi to plan these deadly attacks – thanks to an extensive support base they are being provided with.
These jehadis have managed to find local sympathizers who provide shelter to orchestrate these bombings while also extending their hospitality through food, logistics and leaking precious information. SIMI’s (Students Islamic Movement of India) involvement in such activities has long been discovered with their alleged hand in serial train blasts in North India where ammonium nitrate was used. Their alleged hand in supplying the same to LET cannot be ruled out especially when this fertilizer was also used in Varanasi bombings and the train blasts of Shramjeevi and Sabarmati Express.

India is a sovereign state and the government of India is elected to protect civilian interests as much as it is responsible to safeguard its military installations. However, in recent years we have come to realize the meekness that our government has shown for its lack of interest or the will to curb terrorist attacks that has become so frequent that for many it has become a way of life.

The pro-western lobbying by the Congress or Sonia’s ineptitude to reinforce hard-line measures to ward off such terrorist attacks, considering everyone else are stooges in the government ranks, is a worrying concern for all of us. The Congress has been plagued with its own avarice for power and has thus compromised on more pressing agendas such as national security. They have failed to check Bangladeshi refugees from entering India, which serves as a gateway for HUJI activists to sneak into our country with leisure and support. I read somewhere that on a train from Patna one Bangladeshi national Kalim (on his way from West Bengal) was recently caught and on severe interrogation he led police to LET South India commander Abdul Rehman.

Our government is as much to blame as these terrorist outfits. The government’s agenda to promote friendship and peace with Pakistan has backfired. Be it the train services from Thar or the Lahore Amritsar bus service, the government has invariably ensured safe passages for these LET commanders. The government must apply strong pressure on Pakistan to stop aiding and abetting these terrorist camps. Once Pakistan starts showing the results as a gesture of goodwill only then can that country be trusted for any kind of friendship. But for now friendship to them is just a diplomatic leverage that provides them enough leeway to send their recruits and unleash terror. Oh we will do ourselves well to remind that on his recent trip to Pakistan, Bush was extremely irked by Pakistan’s continued role in patronizing Taliban and the Al Qaedas when he was intimated by Hamid Karzai on his unexpected stop in Kabul. Did we not hear Bush’s remarks that India and Pakistan are two different countries justifying why Pakistan cannot be entrusted with any nuclear deal. When a long time ally like US is not willing to trust Pakistan, why should we?
 

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