Jaipur blasts expose intelligence failure,Indian Politics, News Analysis, India News Online

Terrorists struck in the Rajasthan capital, Jaipur, in a big way last week, exposing the failure of intelligence gathering set up and bringing out lack of security for the citizens. Nearly 80 people were killed in the seven explosions set off by terrorists suspected to have links with Bangladesh-based and ISI-backed outfit, Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI). The terrorists reportedly used vehicles including a car, cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws to plant the bombs which were detonated with remote controlled devices.

The seven blasts took place in crowded areas in Jaipur’s walled city on Tuesday, May 13. Another bomb which did not explode, was defused by the security forces.

Apart from the scores of people killed in the explosions, over a hundred were injured, with many of them still fighting for their lives in hospitals.

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Pointers towards HuJI

Security forces have come across several leads increasingly pointing to the suspected involvement of the Bangladesh-based terrorist group, HuJI, which generally carries out such strikes in tandem with Pakistan-based terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad and with the help of sleeper cells linked with the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The Centre said that the Jaipur attack betrayed a deep-rooted and very well planned conspiracy to disturb communal harmony, indicating the hands of a neighbouring country. Without specifying any country, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in New Delhi on May 14 that it could be any of the neighbouring countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar, that had been gripped by internal turmoil.

While saying that he would not like to name the outfit responsible for the blasts till investigations are complete, the Minister said there could be a link between the Jaipur blasts and those that had occurred earlier in places such as Varanasi, Faizabad, Ajmer and Hyderabad. In most of these terror strikes and also that in Malegaon, in Maharashtra, there had been tell-tale signs of HuJI footprints.

The modus opernadi involved carrying out the strikes in or around premises of temples on Tuesdays, like in Jaipur and Vara¬nasi, and mosques on Fridays, or Friday eve, as in the case of Hyderabad and Malegaon. The terrorist outfits obviously would like the incidents to result in creating communal bad blood.

There are also reports that HuJI has a support base in Jaipur besides having sleeper cells in Ajmer. Investigations into the Ajmer blasts had revealed that the terrorists involved had stopped over in Jaipur on the way to Ajmer.

The investigators are also reportedly looking at the pos¬sibility of a SIMI sleeper cell having offered logistical support to HuJI terrorists suspected to be involved in the Jaipur blasts.

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Terror outfit claims responsibility

A little known outfit, Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for carrying out the Jaipur blasts and to support its claim, sent video clips to the media of a cycle strapped with a bag that it claimed held a bomb. The authorities have traced the E-mail to a Ghaziabad cyber cafe and have detained the owner of the shop as part of the investigations.

The E-mail said that the group wanted to cripple tourism in Rajasthan and teach what it called, “Hindu India” a lesson. It also criticised the moderate Muslims calling them “a bunch of cowards.”

The eighth bomb which did not explode is reported to have provided vital clues to the authorities about the killers. They have come to know where the cycles used to carry the bomb were bought and what the bombers looked like. Alert bystanders had reported the eighth bomb outside the Chandpole Hanuman Mandir, following which the bomb disposal squad defused it.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje said the RDX used by terrorists was similar to the explosives used in bomb attacks in Uttar Pradesh, especially the serial blasts in court premises in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in Oct. 2007.

Police release sketches of suspects

Based on interrogation of eyewitnesses, the police have released sketches of suspected terrorists.

Nationwide alert sounded

In the wake of the serial blasts in Jaipur, the Central government has put all metropolitan cities including the national capital on high alert. The Centre has also promised to provide all possible assistance to the Rajasthan government in getting to the bottom of the conspiracy behind the terror attack.

President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil condemned the blasts.

Rajasthan to deport Bangladeshi migrants

Following the bombing of Jaipur allegedly by Bangladesh-based terror group HuJI, the Rajasthan Government has decided to identify and deport Bangladeshi migrants presently residing in the state. Collectors and Police Chiefs of all districts have been told to scrutinise ration cards and voter IDs that have West Bengal addresses and check their authenticity with the West Bengal Government. Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore said that the verification process will be completed in thirty days and anyone found to have given a fake address will be thrown out.

An estimated 50,000 Bangladeshis live illegally in Rajas¬than, a fifth of them in Jaipur. Most of them claim they belong to Cooch Behar or North or South 24 Parganas in West Bengal. HuJI operatives are often believed to hide in Bangladesh migrant communities spread across major Indian cities. According to the shopkeepers who sold the bicycles used in the attacks, the buyers had strong Bengali accent.

The Congress and civil rights groups have criticised the State Government’s decision, accusing it of targeting Muslims on the pretext of fighting terror.

The State Government has constituted a special investigat¬ing team (SIT) to probe the blasts. It also announced the formation of a special task force to fight terror.

Blame game on

Even as Jaipur is limping back to normal, a fight has start¬ed between the Congress and the BJP with both trying to blame each other for the resurgence of terrorism in the Jaipur capital.

The war of words between the two parties was triggered by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje saying that the Congress president, instead of visiting the state to look at the places where the blasts took place, would do better to help in the Centre giving clearance for the anti-terror law framed by the state government. Reacting to Vasundhra Raje’s statement, AICC spokesman Manish Tiwari on May 15 held the State Government responsible for Tuesday’s terror attack. He claimed some specif¬ic information was given to the Rajasthan Government around 45 days back about possible terror strikes in Jaipur. He said, “Rather than try to blame the Centre for everything, it would have been appropriate had they taken care of law and order and acted on actionable intelligence.”

Tiwari said he could not understand why Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje has questioned Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Jaipur and not that of BJP prime-ministerial candidate L.K. Advani.

On the other hand, the BJP demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should call a meeting of all Chief Ministers to discuss what it called credible action for combating terrorism. It criticised the Congress-led UPA Government for what it called its”disastrous” failure and soft and inept handling of terrorism and internal security. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said there is need for a coordinated action plan to fight terror¬ism.

Bring back POTA : Advani

During his visit to Jaipur, BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh went round the blast sites and visited hospitals on May 14 and appealed to the Centre to have a rethink on Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Advani said, the BJP believed that reintroduction of POTA is the need of the hour. He alleged that the Manmohan Singh government, for fear of losing its vote-bank, was not showing enough commitment in the fight against terror.

No link between POTA repeal and terror strikes : PM

Reacting to the calls for the reintroduction of POTA, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in New Delhi that there is no co-relation between repeal of POTA and terror strikes. Speaking on the sidelines of the defence investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, he said there is no dearth of laws against terror in the country. He pointed out that many terrorist attacks like the ones on Parliament, Akshardham Temple and Raghunath Temple had taken place when POTA was in force.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the government is not soft on terror and there has been no lack of firmness in its resolve to deal with terrorism. He said terrorists had the advantage of springing surprises. “We cannot anticipate everything,” he added.

While declining to name any country for the Jaipur blasts, the Prime Minister said the timing of the blasts and two incid¬ents of firing on the border was intriguing as it took place before External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Islamabad. Dr. Singh said there are elements who do not want normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. He said, there is an imperious design to create communal disharmony.

PM calls for Federal Agency to fight terror

Addressing a Press conference at Bagdogra on May 17 on his way back to Delhi from Bhutan, the Prime Minister advocated the need for creation of a federal crime agency, an idea which, he admitted, could not go past the proposal stage so far because of “reluctance” of states to “surrender” powers.

Dr Singh said the terror incidents should not become an issue of politicking and urged parties such as the Congress and the BJP to put their minds together to see how the problem could be addressed.

Asked about a letter written to him by Gujarat Chief Min¬ister Narendra Modi seeking a conference with chief ministers to discuss the matter of terrorism, Dr Singh said he had already had several such meetings on internal security, the recent one being on Naxalism.

“It is not a matter that should divide political parties. Congress, BJP all have obligation on their part to tackle the issue. We have to put our heads together,” the Prime Minister said.

Congress too wants Federal Agency to fight terror

The Congress on its part has called upon state governments to give up what it called resistance to the idea of a federal investigative agency for terrorism. Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said there is need for a single window nodal agency to coordinate the fight against terrorism.

Referring to the Centre’s efforts to bring about consensus on having central agencies to investigate certain types of crimes and to counter terrorism, Tiwari said, “unfortunately, there is resistance from some state governments... given the trans-state nature of terrorism, it is time for them to reconsider their stand.”

Minister of State for Home Jaiswal, speaking to the media in New Delhi on May 14, blamed the state governments for blocking the move for a federal agency. He said the Central Government has been trying for the last one year to convince the state governments of the need for such an investigative agency, but the response of most of the states has not been very encouraging.

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BJP, Congress caught in war of words

Taking strong exception to the comments of Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmed against senior leader L K Advani, the BJP has demanded his ouster from the Cabinet.

“His comments are irresponsible, shameful, lacking in polit¬ical grace and thoroughly condemnable. How can he equate Advani and the Rajasthan Chief Minister with terrorists ?” asked BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday.

Ahmed had said that “those trying to take political advan¬tage of the terror attacks in Jaipur should also be condemned just like terrorists”.

“Shakeel Ahmed ought to be sacked from the Cabinet for his irresponsible utterances. The Congress should apologise for its leader’s comments against Advani and BJP leaders,” said Prasad, adding “Advani’s charge that there has been no credible intel¬ligence sharing has been echoed by National Security Advisor M K Narayanan”.

While the BJP went hammer and tongs at the Congress, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil asked everyone to “desist from making statements that can create misunderstandings between the agencies and governments”. “

No statement which can create misunderstanding between the agencies and governments should be made by those who are involved in doing their duties. This is necessary to present a picture which is helpful for the task to be performed,” he said in a statement.

The BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate, however, once again slammed the UPA Government for “failing the nation”. “If the Government’s failure to contain price rise is threatening econom¬ic security of the ‘Aam Aadmi’, its failure to check terrorism is threatening national security,” Advani told reporters in Hydera¬bad on Saturday, May 17.

The UPA Government’s “dismal performance” in controlling price rise and growing terrorism would be the main issues in the next Lok Sabha elections, he said.

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Need for greater cooperation between Central and State agencies : NSA

In a significant development, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan has reportedly blamed the intelligence agencies for not providing “actionable” intelligence on terror attacks. He is said to have informed the Union Cabinet on Thursday, May 15, that there was no warning about the terrorist attack in Jaipur.

A report carried by a television news channel said that it was pointed out at the meeting that intelligence officials have been less involved in their primary task of gathering informa¬tion. Narayanan also reportedly pointed out that sharing of information at the state level between police and intelligence agencies was very weak and the foreign intelligence inputs are seldom of a specific nature. The TV channel report said that the meeting was informed that there was no specific input that came in from the intelligence organizations including the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The NSA’s assertion, which virtually confirms the charge of failure of the internal security apparatus, is certain to frus¬trate the attempts to push the blame for the attack on the BJP-controlled government in Jaipur. In his briefing to the Cabinet, the NSA steered clear of the itch in the Manmohan Singh govern¬ment to play partisan politics with a tragedy.

“The intelligence agencies are not providing actionable intelligence. There is no proper co-ordination between the state intelligence gathering machinery and the IB,” he said. What is more, the NSA said the inputs provided by the IB, more often than not, are imprecise. He also acknowledged that information from foreign agencies is normally not specific in nature and never reaches in real time.

The latest intelligence input received by the Rajasthan government warning of terror strikes at religious and crowded placed came six months ago, just after the Ajmer blasts. Most of the advisories from the IB are not only general, but also mere rituals to be followed ahead of important days like festivals and national events.

In its anxiety to shift the blame away from the Centre, the Congress had claimed that the IB had warned the state government over a month ago. The NSA’s plain talk is certain to provide ammunition to the Opposition which claims a distinct lack of interest on the part of the Centre in tackling terrorism.

Narayanan’s candid admission cannot but be distressing for the Congress as it coincides with a frenzied attempt by the party leadership to shrug off the “soft on terror” charge. Sonia Gandhi and other leaders have been claiming that it has a track record better than that of the BJP. But the admission about a nearly non-functioning IB is certain to become a potent weapon in the hands of the BJP.

The main opposition party, which has been demanding a tough terror law in the statute, will now also fault the enforcement machinery, which, by the NSA’s own admission, leaves much to be desired.

CJI for “appropriate legal framework” to tackle terrorism

Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan on Saturday, May 17, called for an appropriate legal framework in the criminal justice system to tackle the menace of terrorism. He favoured adoption of a counter terrorism strategy that was aimed at secur¬ing the confidence and support of the local people.

Speaking on ‘arbitration and international standards for contract law and legal aspects of terrorism,’ in New Delhi the CJI said, “several acts that have occurred in the past few years, particularly the attacks on the Parliament, Akshardham temple, Indian Institute of Science, serial bomb blasts in Mumbai and Malegaon, massacre of labourers in Upper Assam and most recently the multiple bombings in Jaipur.”

He said all these acts demonstrate that the entire length and breadth of the nation is vulnerable. The proponents of ter¬ror, armed with modern technology and assisted by a multitude of sleeper cells, have spread their influence even to areas hitherto inaccessible.

Refering to POTA, the CJI said : “Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) became controversial and the fact that it was repealed on grounds of misuse by security agencies, stands testimony for the urgent need to envisage and enforce an effective criminal justice system that is capable of dealing of dealing with various issues.”

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India 4th among terror-hit countries

A US report says that India is among the worst terrorism-hit countries in the world.

Barring trouble-torn nations like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, terrorist violence claims more lives in India than in any other nation.

According to the 2007 Report on Terrorism brought out by the National Counter-terrorism Centre, a US Government agency, 1,093 people were killed in terrorist incidents in India last year. These also included the killings of Hindi speaking people in Assam by the ULFA activists and the deaths caused in Naxalite violence in Chhattisgarh.

The report listed 13 high-casualty incidents of terrorist violence in the country, including the serial blasts in UP and Hyderabad and the Samjhauta Express blast.

Worldwide, 22,685 people were killed by terrorists in about 14,000 terrorist strikes. Iraq alone accounted for 13,606 of those deaths. Afghanistan with 1,966 casualties and Pakistan with 1,335 deaths were the other countries to have witnessed large number of killings by terrorist organisations, the report, re¬leased on April 30, said.

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New terror offensive may be in the offing

Observers say that the timing of the Jaipur attack, which came just before External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Islamabad, shows that Pakistan-based jehadi elements are preparing for a renewed terror offensive. They believe that these elements may escalate strikes against India to put pressure on the new Pakistan government and exploit differences among Pakis¬tan’s armed forces. In this connection they point out that jehadi groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have become increasingly assertive since the new People’s Party of Pakistan-led government assumed office in March.

There are also reports that Islamists within the armed forces think that the time has come to reverse President Pervez Musharraf’s policy of distancing the institution from its Isla¬mist allies. Gen. Musharraf had broken off with Jehadi allies as he did not want to precipitate a crisis with India when much of Pakistan’s Northern Army reserve was committed to fighting in the country’s north-west. There are indications that critics of this policy have been telling the Chief of the Army Staff Pervez Ashfaq Kiani that the policy had failed.

There are also other straws in the wind. On April 21, the United Jehad Council held a rally in Muzaffarabad demanding renewed state support for its war against India - the first such public display since 2001. At the rally, UJC chief Mohd. Yusuf Shah said that jehad is the only solution to the Kashmir issue. Significantly, representatives of both the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, though banned, were present at the rally.

At a rally in Bahawalpur earlier, on April 11, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, criticising Gen. Musharraf and his western allies, said, “We will have to wage jehad to save Pakis¬tan from obliteration.”

Security tightened for Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee

Following the Jaipur blasts, the Special Protection Group has tightened security for Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Reports say that increased security was evident during her visit to her Lok Sabha constituency of Rae Bareli on May 13 night.

In the wake of inputs that militant groups are planning an attack on Pranab Mukherjee’s life, the Union Home Ministry has directed the Delhi and West Bengal police to ensure foolproof security to the External Affairs Minister. Home Ministry offi¬cials said the security agencies received an intelligence input that jehadi elements have carried out a dry run for an attack on Pranab Mukherjee, using a human bomb. Sources say that outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad were among the groups named as possibly planning the attack on Pranab Mukherjee.

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