| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Analysis of the terrorist strike at Ayodhya |
| 2005-07-06 |
| EFL Security Guards belonging to the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) foiled a daring attempt by a group of six terrorists to penetrate a Hindu place of worship at Ayodhya, a holy town of the Hindus in the state of Uttar Pradesh in North India, on July 5,2005. The site at which the place of worship is located has been a bone of contention between sections of the Hindus and the Muslims for many years. A mosque (the Babri Masjid) located at the place was forcibly demolished by a mob of Hindu supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December, 1992. The supporters of the BJP contend that a historic temple dedicated to the God Ram, which was originally located at the site, had been demolished during the Muslim rule of certain parts of India and the mosque erected in its place. The forcible demolition of the mosque by a Hindu mob in December, 1992, led to widespread riots by groups of Muslims in different parts of North India immediately thereafter and the Muslim anger over the alleged excessive use of force by the Police of Mumbai in quelling the riots and their alleged negligence in protecting the Muslims led to an instance of mass casualty terrorism in Mumbai in March 1993. Nearly 250 innocent civilians were killed when a group of angry Muslims recruited by Dawood Ibrahim, the Indian leader of a notorious trans-national criminal group, and got trained in a camp of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM---then known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar)) in Pakistan organised a series of explosions directed at important economic targets such as the local Stock Exchange, a hotel run by the Air India etc. Subsequent investigations into the explosions brought out that the training of the perpetrators had been got organised in the HUM training camp by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which also supplied them with the explosives, detonators and timers used by them. The leading perpetrators of the act of terrorism subsequently escaped to Karachi, where they were given shelter by the ISI. Dawood Ibrahim himself, who was then living in Dubai, shifted to Karachi where he was given Pakistani citizenship under a different name by the local authorities. He played an important role in financing and assisting in the clandestine procurement and transport of nuclear material from different parts of the world by A.Q.Khan, Pakistan's nuclear scientist, presently under investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, for his role in the clandestine supply of military nuclear-related material to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Different Governments of Pakistan headed successively by Mr.Nawaz Sharif , Mrs.Benazir Bhutto and Gen.Pervez Musharraf have consistently refused to arrest and hand over Dawood Ibrahim and his associates involved in the crime to the Indian authorities for prosecution and trial. Despite the US acceptance of the Indian contention that Dawood Ibrahim was living in Pakistan under a different name as a Pakistani citizen, the Musharraf Government has continued to deny his presence in Pakistani territory. Since September 2003, when the LET organised two simultaneous explosions in a public place in Mumbai resulting in the death of over 20 innocent civilians, there was no major act of jihadi terrorism in Indian territory outside J&K. However, the Indian security agencies and the Police of different Indian States had foiled planned terrorist strikes by the LET in Dehra Dun and Bangalore. The investigations into these incidents brought out that the LET, which had previously been using mostly Pakistani nationals for its acts of jihadi terrorism in India, had been making inroads in recruiting members of the Indian Muslim community for use in future. While there have been innumerable acts of jihadi terrorism, including many involving acts of suicide or suicidal terrorism in J&K and other parts of India, committed by Pakistani jihadi organisations which support bin Laden's pan-Islamic objectives and are members of his IIF, there has till now been no instance of an act of jihadi terrorism in Indian territory by the Al Qaeda itself, which is largely an Arab organisation. This is generally attributed to the lack of support by the Indian Muslims to the Al Qaeda. It would appear that while there was general intelligence available about the LET's plans for terrorist strikes in different parts of India, no specific intelligence of the planned attack in Ayodhya was available. The terrorists---six of them, with one of them reportedly a suicide bomber driving a commandeered vehicle filled with explosives---managed to penetrate the outer security perimeter of the heavily-guarded holy premises. The CRPF guards showed quick reflexes and foiled the attempt of the terrorists to penetrate the inner security perimeter. The alleged suicide bomber and his five associates died in the thwarted operation. The identities of the terrorists----whether Indian or Pakistani nationals--- and of the organisation or organisations to which they belonged have not so far been established. From indications available so far, it is evident that this was an instance of attempted suicidal reprisal terrorism tactically meant to avenge the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December,1992, and strategically meant to provoke Hindu-Muslim clashes. Such acts of reprisal terrorism have been the hallmark of the Al Qaeda and the Pakistani jihadi organisations, which are members of the IIF. There is, therefore, a possibility that one or more of these Pakistani organisations was partly or fully involved in the attack. It remains to be seen whether any Indian member of these organisations and Pakistan's ISI had any role in this incident. Recently, there has been an escalation of acts of jihadi terrorism in Afgfhanistan and India. The Pakistani secuity forces have also been unsuccessful in their professed attempts to trace bin Laden and other survivors of the Al Qaeda and the leaders of the Taliban. It is also evident that the solumn commitment made by Musharraf to Mr.A.B.Vajpayee, the then Indian Prime Minister, in January, 2004, that he would not allow any territory controlled by the Government of Pakistan to be used for acts of terrorism against India has not been honoured. Is this due to the unwilligness or inability of Musharraf to act against the terrorists still operating from Pakistani territory in Afghanistan and India? It is difficult to answer this question at present. Whatever may be the ultimate truth, the continued availability of Pakistani sanctuaries to jihadi terrorists of various hues trying to destabilise Afghanistan and India should be a cause for serious concern to the international community and India's national security managers. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |