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India, Pakistan expel diplomats

	August 07, 2006

The Indo-Pak peace process suffered yet another blow on August 5 as the two countries expelled each other’s diplomats after Islamabad’s “outrageous” action of handcuffing, blindfolding and detaining a senior Indian High Commission official.



Hours after Pakistan expelled Deepak Kaul, Counsellor (Visa) in the Indian High Commission, New Delhi retaliated swiftly by declaring Syed Muhammed Rafique Ahmed, Counsellor (Political) in the Pakistan High Commission, persona non grata. Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner was summoned to the External Affairs Ministry to be told that Syed Ahmed had been involved in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status; the euphemism for spying – a charge Pakistan levelled against Kaul.



New Delhi reacted strongly to Islamabad’s action, first since the peace process began between the two countries three years ago, saying it would “undermine” bilateral ties. Kaul was arrested on the Islamabad-Lahore Highway when he was on his way to the Wagah border to fetch his family. A group of about eight to nine people pounced on Kaul when he was having tea at Kiosk on the highway, Indian High Commission officials said in Islamabad. “He was stopped by Pakistani security personnel and taken, hooded and handcuffed, to some unidentified location where he was quizzed intermittently for about five hours,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna told reporters in New Delhi. Kaul was later turned into the Indian High Commission with a message that he had been declared persona non grata. He was asked to leave Pakistan by August 7.



It is understand that Kaul was accused of hobnobbing with anti-Pakistani elements that are fanning trouble in Baluchistan. Islamabad deliberately chose Kaul because the post that Kaul held is the only diplomatic post that gives unhindered access to its occupant to officially interact with citizens of Pakistan without attracting suspicion. The timing of the Pakistani action is important. It has come at a time when it knows that India would, sooner or later, officially announce a Pakistani connection to the July 11 Mumbai blasts.





Foreign Secretaries meet : No decision on resumption of dialogue



Amid the chill in bilateral relations following the Mumbai blasts, the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan held their first high-level talks last week, during which New Delhi raised its concerns over cross border terrorism and hoped that these would be addressed properly. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met his Pakistani counterpart, Riyaz Mohammad Khan for about 90 minutes in Dhaka on July 31 on the sidelines of the SAARC Ministerial Meeting. They agreed that the peace process was important for both countries and all possible efforts should be made to see that it was not adversely affected. The two sides, however, could not decide on a date for resumption of the composite dialogue stalled in the wake of the July 11 blasts in Mumbai’s suburban trains. Foreign Secretary-level talks were to take place in Delhi on July 20 but were put off by New Delhi indefinitely following the Mumbai train blasts and the suspicion of involvement of Pakistan-backed terrorist groups in the carnage. Emerging from the meeting, the two Foreign Secretaries said they had agreed to share information on the July 11 Mumbai blasts. On the new dates for the Foreign Secretary-level talks, Saran said, they agreed that they will remain in touch with each other on the issue.



On his part, Khan said the peace process was important for both countries and he and Saran believed there was no option but to pursue it. According to him, if there were any leads on the Mumbai blasts, Pakistan would be ready to cooperate with the investigation.



At a Press conference the next day, Pakistan Foreign Minister K.M. Kasuri asked India to provide specific information on the Mumbai blasts so that Islamabad could help with the investigation. He regretted that New Delhi was pointing the finger at Islamabad even when conclusive evidence was not available. He said Pakistan could not be made a convenient scapegoat by India.



Commenting on India’s suspicion that Pakistan-based groups were behind the Mumbai blasts, Kasuri that there should be no knee-jerk reaction and suggested that New Delhi should focus on investigating the matter rather than “finger pointing”. Pakistan, he said, has asked for evidence but so much time has passed with out it being given. On the stalled peace process, Kasuri said Pakistan had a positive attitude on the composite dialogue adding that the ball was in India’s court to resume the dialogue process.



Pakistan, Kasuri said, is open to the idea of a meeting between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, to be held in Havana in the middle of next month.



Saran rejected Pakistan’s claim that India had not provided evidence of Pakistani connections of the terrorists operating in India. He said at the last meeting of Home Secretaries, evidence was provided. He reiterated India’s stand that Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, parent wing of the Lashkar-e- Taiba, and Syed Salahuddin, chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, were roaming free in Pakistan. Referring to Pakistan’s repeated assertion that it was doing what it could do to fight terrorism. Saran said, the arrest of persons like Saeed and Salahuddin could be done easily.





New Delhi’s conditions for resumption of dialogue: Nab wanted terrorists

New Delhi has repeatedly said that the dialogue process is dependent on the steps taken by Pakistan to curb cross-border terrorism. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh averred that “elements across the border” were responsible for the Mumbai blasts, security agencies have collected evidence of Pakistan’s role in terrorist activities. New Delhi had demanded that Islamabad should arrest and hand over to India underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, to show its commitment to the fight against terror. New Delhi also maintains that Islamabad has been furnished with evidence of cross-border terrorism but has failed to act in the past, and that it is now time for some action on the ground. India, on its part, will continue supplying evidence of cross-border terrorism to Islamabad.



The talks between the two Foreign Secretaries in Dhaka showed that New Delhi took the opportunity to underline the threat to the peace process from the expanding scope of terrorist violence in India. But, by denying any link with the Mumbai blasts and insisting that terrorism should not come in the way of the peace process, Islamabad has tried to shift the onus of defining the future of bilateral engagements on India. Political observers say, while the Prime Minister strongly believes that the “destinies” of the peoples of the two nations were “interlinked” and that he is strongly committed to the peace process, he needs credible assurances and action from Pakistan on cross border violence. At Dhaka, once again, Saran is believed to have reminded his Pakistani counterpart of his country’s solemn commitment in Jan. 2004 to prevent its territory from being used for terrorism against India. New Delhi believes the Mumbai blasts could not have been organized without help from outside.



Syed Salahuddin, chief of Hizbul Mujahideen and chairman of the Muzaffarabad-based United Jehad Council, is keeping silent for the past one month which is attributed to his keenness to ensure that he is not handed over to India after New Delhi renewed the demand for his arrest and deportation. As for Dawood Ibrahim, four hawala operators in Mumbai, who are known for being connected to deals involving his finances in the city are being questioned by officers of the Anti-Terrorist Squad [ATS]. Though the Karachi-based don may have no direct role in the serial blasts, he could have played the role of facilitating the transfer of ISI funds to India.





Militants plan further attacks - Infiltration into police force

The Government has conceded in Parliament that the Pak-based militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba, was planning to carry out strikes on the country’s critical infrastructure, military targets and religious places. Responding to the concerns raised by BJP’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the Defence Minister said on July 31, “It is evident for sometime now that the scope of such terrorist activities is on the increase”. National Security Adviser Narayanan also said last week that there is “a very serious threat” that the Lashkar-e-Taiba may be planning a “major assault” on the country’s nuclear installations. The most disquieting is the news that the terrorists have infiltrated the security agencies. They managed to get recruited into the police in places in Jammu and Kashmir. Now even the Army has found a few terrorism backers in its ranks. It has been revealed in Jammu that some police personnel in J&K have been supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists. The lid was blown off the racket with the arrest of three policemen and civilians in Doda. The four – head constable Nisar Hussain, constable Mohammed Ashiq special police officers Mohammed Yusuf and Mohammed Yasin – have been arrested on charges of supplying arms and ammunition from the Kishtwar police station weaponry store to terrorists. Another police officer, the Head Warden of the high-security Kothbalwal Jail in Jammu, Ghulam Mustafa, has been arrested for allegedly acting as a conduit for channelling money to Pakistan-based militants in the prison. Mustafa was arrested after a tea vendor, who had been picked up for carrying Rs. 36,000, claimed that he used to hand over hawala money to Pak militants.





Terrorist camps – US satellite proof

Islamabad’s bluff that it was not supporting terrorism against India was called by an American imagery expert with the Defence Intelligence Agency, Eric Benn who disputed Pakistan’s claim that it does not have terrorist training camps on its territory. Speaking during a trial of a 23-year old Pakistani American, Hamid Hayat, accused of terrorism related charges, Benn said there was a 70 per cent probability that satellite images pointed to a militant training camp near Balakot in North East Pakistan. The structures in the remote terrain fit the “signature of militant training” as opposed to regular training of Pakistan’s armed forces, he said.



India has said the US intelligence agency, FBI, giving proof of the existence of terror camps in Pakistan substantiates its stand. Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said New Delhi had repeatedly provided evidence of the existence of terror camps. He told Parliament on Aug 1 that as many as 32 organisations, including the Al-Qaeda, the LeT, the JeM and the Hizbul Mujahideen continue to be banned as terrorist organizations under the Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act.



The Lok Sabha was informed by the Government that as many as 52 terrorist training camps are being run in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). In a reply to a question seeking an update on terrorist camps operating in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said, as per reports by Indian intelligence agencies, the terror camps in PoK include LeT’s “main training grounds of the jehadis at Aqsa and Chelabandi, both very close to Muzaffarabad. The Hizbul Mujahideen is known to train its men at the major Garhi Habibullah camp, also close to Muzaffarabad, and at the ‘Jungle-Mangal’ camp. Ahamed recalled that Pakistan was bound by the commitment it had made in January 2004, as a prelude to the present dialogue that it would not permit any territory under its control to be used to support terrorism in any manner. He said the Indian Government has in its interactions with Pakistan at all levels, continuously stressed that Islamabad needs to take effective action to dismantle the infrastructure of support to terrorism on a permanent basis.



Speaking at a function at Jamianagar on July 24, Home Minister Shivraj Patil gave a clean chit to madrasas, saying that the madrasas in various parts of India were not the centres of terrorism but “seats of social service”. But the Minister’s words delivered in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts on Mumbai trains were in sharp contrast to the information of his own security agencies. Intelligence agencies have irrefutable evidence to suggest that a majority of these madrasas are not only breeding grounds of terror but are also in league with anti-India forces. There are 350 madrasas within 10 kilometres of the Indo-Nepal border on the Indian side. In central and eastern Uttar Pradesh, more madrasas have come up than in the western part. In the 10-km belt of the bordering districts of Bihar such as West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi,, Madhubani, Saupal, Araria and Kishanganj, over 180 madrasas have come up after 1993. What has rung alarm bells in the security set-up is the setting up of madrasas on the Nepal border. The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and terrorist outfits have been funnelling funds and recruiting jehadis from these schools of subversion, intelligence sources said.





Long history of Pak proxy war – LeT’s role

Pakistan’s proxy war has a long history and began in 1947 with the infiltration of tribesmen into Jammu and Kashmir. Despite the Indo-Pak peace process, there is no let-up in the proxy war and violence. Pakistan restarted its proxy war in 1988 and till last year, 42,000 people were killed, nearly 86 per cent Kashmiri Muslims. The period 1992-95 saw the highest level of infiltration, violence and fatalities averaging annually more than 3000 attacks against security forces and others. Thereafter, there was a perceptible decline in violence till Kargil was sprung. Violence perked up again. A marked downslide in infiltration followed the launching of Operation Parakaram in the wake of the attack on the Indian Parliament. For example, against 1,200 terrorist-initiated incidents in 1994, the figures for the past three years are: 499, 348 and 333. Infiltration has been brought down progressively from 2,417 in 2001 to 597 last year. At one time, the terrorist population in Jammu and Kashmir is believed to be between 1600 and 1800 but never below 1500. Of these, 55 per cent are foreigners and the rest from Jammu and Kashmir. Despite the commitment made by President Musharraf on Jan 6, 2004, and twice at the height of Operation Parakaram, that Pakistan would not allow the use of territory under its control, infiltration and cross-border terrorism have been business as usual.



For long now, besides Kashmir, Nepal has been a conduit for infiltration into Kashmir and the rest of India. The mix of terrorism, insurgency and low intensity conflict sponsored by the ISI is designed to pressurize India into making concessions on Jammu and Kashmir.



Unable to hurt the Army, terrorists are increasingly targeting civilians and the paramilitary forces. The hand grenade has become the favourite weapon. Fifty per cent of the 130 grenade attacks till mid-July had been in the Kashmir Valley. Terrorists have outsourced lobbying of grenades to children and civilians for Rs. 50 a throw. Tourists and civilians have been made special targets. Between 1999 and 2005, 67 cases of Fidayeen attacks were recorded in which 131 terrorists were killed for 237 security forces and 131 civilian fatalities which is an impressive 1:2 in favour of the Fidayeen. Ninety per cent of these attacks were launched by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Despite the fencing, sensor technology, three-tier deployment, 900 terrorists killed annually and huge recoveries of weapons and explosives, the ISI has succeeded in maintaining its pool of 1500 terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.



Most of the terrorists, currently operating in India, are trained in Pakistan. A large number of training camps dot the border of Pak-occupied Kashmir. But Pakistan invariably denies it and tries to convince the world that India has fallen into the habit of blaming Pakistan for everything. Pakistan is in fact, the cradle of Islamic terrorism, but diplomacy has helped it reach an advantageous position so much so that Pakistan has been able to successfully hoodwink the US as well. The US had taken action against Afghanistan but remained silent on terrorists currently in Pakistan. Pakistan is pampered by the US as the latter seeks military favours from it.



Despite all the talk of “irreversibility” of the peace process that India and Pakistan launched in 2004, the shadow of terrorism has been lurking in the background as a potential spoiler. The dialogue between the two countries was based on a quid pro quo – India would talk Kashmir with Pakistan and Pakistan will not allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism directed against India. True to its commitment to not let the peace process become hostage to terrorism, India stayed the course despite a number of high-profile terrorist attacks, the trail of which invariably led to Pakistan-based jehadi organizations, generally the Lashkar-e-Taiba. In the process, India became something of a hostage to the peace process until the Mumbai serial blasts, when under intense public and political pressure the Government of India was forced to postpone the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan.



While there are some indications of a post-7/11 crackdown on the jehadis in Pakistan, it is not clear how far Gen. Musharraf will be inclined to go in this direction. As remarked by columnist Sushant Sareen, there are four big problems for Gen. Musharraf in taking any major action against the jehadis in Pakistan. One, he will be seen to be acting on what some people in Pakistan would see as Indian diktats. Two, Gen. Musharraf has gained nothing tangible from the peace process which could justify a crackdown on the jehadis. Three, at a time when the Pakistan Army is engaged in combating insurgency in Waziristan and Balochistan, he may not like to open another front inside Pakistan. Finally, there is so far no substantial evidence that directly or indirectly implicates Pakistan, the ISI or any Pakistan-based jehadi group in the Mumbai serial blasts.



Asma Jehangir’s room searched



In misplaced zeal Delhi police raided the hotel room of Pakistan’s well-known human rights activist, Asma Jehangir, on Aug 2. Jehangir had come to India to attend a meeting of the South Asians for Human Rights. Jehangir strongly protested the action. She said apart from violating the standard norm of having a woman constable in their team when they search a woman’s room, the police officers did not have a warrant. On learning about the incident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said sorry. He telephoned Asma Jehangir and apologized to her for the “ill-treatment” meted out to her by the Delhi Police.





Liver transplantation of a Pak boy

Amid this unfortunate incident came the news of a successful liver transplantation operation of a one-year boy from Karachi, Sheryar, at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi. The boy’s 45-year-old grand mother, Nasreen Fatimma, donated 25 per cent of her liver. Sheryar was born with billary atresia, a condition in which the bile ducts of the liver responsible for draining the bile produced in the liver into the intestinal tract for digestion are absent or underdeveloped. At the age of three months, the boy underwent corrective surgery in Pakistan but it was not successful, necessitating repeated hospitalization for infection and bleeding.