MUSHARRAF AND TERRORISM
by B.Raman
In our earlier paper titled "Musharraf, bin Laden
& the Lashkar" disseminated on July 1 and available at www.saag.org/papers3/paper266.html,
we had, inter alia, stated as follows about the links of Gen.Pervez
Musharraf, the self-reinstated Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), the
self-styled Chief Executive and the self-promoted President of Pakistan,
with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), terrorist
organisations active in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
"Musharraf denies any links of the Pakistan Army
and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the LET and other
jihadis. What more, he denies their very presence in Pakistani
territory. On June 24, a fortnight after the famous rebuke of the
Ulema of June 5, which was more shadow-boxing than reality on the eve of
the Washington visit of Mr.Abul Sattar, Major-Gen.Rashid Quereshi, the
media spokesman of Musharraf, was asked about the activities of the LET
and other jihadi organisations. He replied without batting an
eye-lid: " No group operating in Kashmir has any base in
Pakistan." ("The Hindu" of June 25).
"In the past, Musharraf had been saying that if
there was progress on the Kashmir issue in the bilateral talks with India,
he might appeal to the jihadis to deescalate their activities. Now, his
spokesmen have been saying that since these are indigenous Kashmiri
organisations, Pakistan has no influence over them just as they have been
telling the US that Pakistan has no influence over the Taliban and bin
Laden.
"Pamela Constable of the "Washington
Post", who was one of the foreign correspondents briefed by Musharraf
last week on the forthcoming summit, has reported as follows:
"Musharraf brushed aside questions about whether he would rein in
armed Islamic groups that support fighters in Kashmir, insisting that the
Kashmiri insurgency is "indigenous".
"It is, therefore, likely that whatever be the
outcome of the forthcoming summit, Pakistan will continue its proxy war
against India through its jihadi surrogates even while denying any links
with or control over them. Any optimism of a reduction in violence
and cross-border terrorism as a result of the summit would be
misplaced. Musharraf will continue to play his double game---overtly
friendly, warm and seemingly accommodating and covertly continuing to make
our security forces bleed. To expect anything different from him and
to lower our guard against him could be suicidal. India will
continue to pay a heavy price for its failure to evolve and implement
consistently an effective counter proxy war policy. The policy of
"kabi naram, kabi garam" (sometimes soft, sometimes hard)
doesn't pay against Pakistan. It will only confirm Musharraf in his
perception that India is a soft State, which lends itself to easy
manipulation."
During his televised breakfast discussions with Indian
editors at Agra on July 16 and his press conference at Islamabad on July
20, Musharraf described the terrorists operating in J & K as
"indigenous freedom-fighters" and denied that they were based in
Pakistan or that they were receiving any assistance from Pakistan. A
similar stand was taken by Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the Pakistani High
Commissioner in New Delhi, during a TV interview on July 22 when he was
asked about the post-summit massacre of some Hindu pilgrims going on their
annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave by the Al Umar Mujahideen and the
massacre of the Hindu residents, including women and children, of a
village in the Doda district of Jammu by the LET on July 22.
In its issues of February 13,1995, and March 27,1995,
the "News" of Pakistan had carried two detailed investigative
reports by Kamran Khan, a well-known Pakistani journalist, on an
international terrorist network consisting of the HUM (then known as the
Harkat-ul-Ansar) and other Islamic terrorist organisations operating from
Pakistani territory with the knowledge and connivance of the Pakistani
authorities. He reported that about 200 HUM members from Pakistan
had died in clashes with the Indian security forces in J & K since
1991 and that its cadres were also active with the Abu Sayyaf group in
Southern Philippines and with the terrorists in Chechnya. He also
brought out the links of these organisations with Ramzi Yousuf, now
undergoing imprisonment in the US for his role in the New York World Trade
Centre bombing in February, 1993, and their role in the explosion at a
holy shrine at Mashhad in Iran on June 20,1994, killing 70 people and in
training Saudi fundamentalist elements opposed to the ruling family.
Subsequently, a number of other reports from equally
well-known Pakistani journalists and published in the Pakistani press
brought out in great detail the role of the Pakistani Army and the ISI in
sponsoring terrorism against the Indian security forces in J & K in
order to achieve their political objective of annexing J & K without
the direct involvement of the Pakistan Army.
During the Kargil war of 1999 too, Musharraf used these
terrorist groups to initially occupy the mountain heights before sending
the Pakistan Army. In the transcript of the telephone conversation
between Lt.Gen.Mohammed Aziz, then Chief of the General Staff (CGS) at the
GHQ, and Musharraf, then on a visit to Beijing, which was released by the
Government of India, Musharraf was assured by Aziz about his effective
control over the terrorists in the following words: "The scruff of
their neck is in our hands."
The US State Department's annual report on Patterns of
Global Terrorism during 2000 released by Gen. Colin Powell, US Secretary
of State, on April 30,2001, gave the following detailed account of
Pakistani involvement with the terrorist groups in J & K and
Afghanistan:
* "The Government of Pakistan increased its support
to the Taliban and continued its support to militant groups active in
Indian-held Kashmir, such as the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), some of
which engaged in terrorism.
* "Islamic extremists from around the
world--including North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and
Central, South, and Southeast Asia--continued to use Afghanistan as a
training ground and base of operations for their worldwide terrorist
activities in 2000. The Taliban, which controlled most Afghan
territory, permitted the operation of training and indoctrination
facilities for non-Afghans and provided logistics support to members of
various terrorist organizations and mujahidin, including those waging
jihads (holy wars) in Central Asia, Chechnya, and Kashmir.
* "Throughout 2000 the Taliban continued to host
Usama Bin Ladin despite UN sanctions and international pressure to hand
him over to stand trial in the United States or a third country.
In a serious and ongoing dialogue with the Taliban, the United States
repeatedly made clear to the Taliban that it would be held responsible
for any terrorist attacks undertaken by Bin Ladin while he is in its
territory.
* "Massacres of civilians in Kashmir during March
and August were attributed to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) and other militant
groups.
* "Pakistan's military government, headed by Gen.
Pervez Musharraf, continued previous Pakistani Government support of the
Kashmir insurgency, and Kashmiri militant groups continued to operate in
Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting new cadre. Several of these
groups were responsible for attacks against civilians in Indian-held
Kashmir, and the largest of the groups, the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, claimed
responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack against an Indian garrison
in Srinagar in April.
* "In addition, the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), a
designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, continues to be active in
Pakistan without discouragement by the Government of Pakistan.
Members of the group were associated with the hijacking in December 1999
of an Air India (author's comment: it was actually the Indian Airlines)
flight that resulted in the release from an Indian jail of former HUM
leader Maulana Masood Azhar. Azhar since has founded his own
Kashmiri militant group,Jaish-e-Mohammed, and publicly has threatened
the United States.
* "The United States remains concerned about
reports of continued Pakistani support for the Taliban's military
operations in Afghanistan. Credible reporting indicates that Pakistan is
providing the Taliban with materiel, fuel, funding, technical
assistance, and military advisers. Pakistan has not prevented
large numbers of Pakistani nationals from moving into Afghanistan to
fight for the Taliban. Islamabad also failed to take effective
steps to curb the activities of certain madrassas, or religious schools,
that serve as recruiting grounds for terrorism. Pakistan publicly
and privately said it intends to comply fully with UNSCR 1333, which
imposes an arms embargo on the Taliban.
* "In South Asia, the United States has been
increasingly concerned about reports of Pakistani support to terrorist
groups and elements active in Kashmir, as well as Pakistani support,
especially military support, to the Taliban, which continues to harbor
terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad,
al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan."
DETAILS OF HUM, JEM AND LET
The State Department's report gave the following details
of the HUM, the JEM and the LET:
THE HUM
Description
"Formerly known as the Harakat ul-Ansar, the HUM is
an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in
Kashmir. Long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in
mid-February stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the
popular Kashmiri commander and his second-in-command, Farooq Kashmiri.
Khalil, who has been linked to Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February
1998 calling for attacks on US and Western interests, assumed the position
of HUM Secretary General. Continued to operate terrorist training
camps in eastern Afghanistan.
Activities
"Has conducted a number of operations against
Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the
Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in
Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995 and the other four
reportedly were killed in December of the same year. The new
millennium brought significant developments for Pakistani militant groups,
particularly the HUM. Most of these sprang from the hijacking of an
Indian airliner on 24 December by militants believed to be associated with
the HUM. The hijackers negotiated the release of Masood Azhar, an
important leader in the former Harakat ul-Ansar imprisoned by the Indians
in 1994. Azhar did not, however, return to the HUM, choosing instead
to form the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), a rival militant group expressing a
more radical line than the HUM.
Strength
"Has several thousand armed supporters located in
Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda
regions. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris and also
include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and
heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets.
HUM lost some of its membership in defections to the JEM.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several
other towns in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but members conduct insurgent and
terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The HUM trains its militants in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
External Aid
"Collects donations from Saudi Arabia and other
Gulf and Islamic states and from Pakistanis and Kashmiris. The
sources and amount of HUM's military funding are unknown."
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed)
Description
"The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) is an Islamist group
based in Pakistan that has rapidly expanded in size and capability since
Maulana Masood Azhar, a former ultrafundamentalist Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA)
leader, announced its formation in February. The group's aim is to
unite Kashmir with Pakistan. It is politically aligned with the
radical, pro-Taliban, political party, Jamiat-i Ulema-i Islam (JUI-F).
Activities
"The JEM's leader, Masood Azhar, was released from
Indian imprisonment in December 1999 in exchange for 155 hijacked Indian
Airlines hostages in Afghanistan. The 1994 HUA kidnappings of US and
British nationals in New Delhi and the July 1995 HUA/Al Faran kidnappings
of Westerners in Kashmir were two of several previous HUA efforts to free
Azhar. Azhar organized large rallies and recruitment drives across
Pakistan throughout 2000. In July, a JEM rocket-grenade attack
failed to injure the Chief Minister at his office in Srinagar, India, but
wounded four other persons. In December, JEM militants launched
grenade attacks at a bus stop in Kupwara, India, injuring 24 persons, and
at a marketplace in Chadoura, India, injuring 16 persons. JEM
militants also planted two bombs that killed 21 persons in Qamarwari and
Srinagar.
Strength
"Has several hundred armed supporters located in
Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda
regions. Following Maulana Masood Azhar's release from detention in
India, a reported three quarters of Harakat ul-Mujahedin (HUM) members
defected to the new organization, which has managed to attract a large
number of urban Kashmiri youth. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and
Kashmiris and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan
war. Uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars,
improvised explosive devices, and rocket grenades.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Peshawar and Muzaffarabad, but members
conduct terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The JEM maintains
training camps in Afghanistan.
External Aid
"Most of the JEM's cadre and material resources
have been drawn from the militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI)
and the Harakat ul-Mujahedin (HUM). The JEM has close ties to Afghan
Arabs and the Taliban. Usama Bin Ladin is suspected of giving
funding to the JEM."
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)
Description
"The LT is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based
religious organization, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI)--a Sunni anti-US
missionary organization formed in 1989. One of the three largest and
best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India, it is not connected
to a political party. The LT leader is MDI chief, Professor Hafiz
Mohammed Saeed.
Activities
"Has conducted a number of operations against
Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir since 1993. The LT is
suspected of eight separate attacks in August that killed nearly 100,
mostly Hindu Indians. LT militants are suspected of kidnapping six
persons in Akhala, India, in November 2000 and killing five of them.
The group also operates a chain of religious schools in the Punjab.
Strength
"Has several hundred members in Azad Kashmir,
Pakistan, and in India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. Almost
all LT cadres are foreigners--mostly Pakistanis from seminaries across the
country and Afghan veterans of the Afghan wars. Uses assault rifles,
light and heavy machineguns, mortars, explosives, and rocket propelled
grenades.
Location/Area of Operation
"Based in Muridke (near Lahore) and
Muzaffarabad. The LT trains its militants in mobile training camps
across Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Afghanistan.
External Aid
"Collects donations from the Pakistani community in
the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and
Kashmiri businessmen. The amount of LT funding is unknown. The
LT maintains ties to religious/militant groups around the world, ranging
from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the MDI
fraternal network."
In its annual report for 2000 presented to the Canadian
Parliament on June 20,2001, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service
(CSIS) stated as follows: " Pakistan’s long-standing support of the
Sikh extremist issue is a major factor in its endurance. The effects
of ongoing support by Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus of the Jammu and
Kashmir conflict, with its growing linkage to the Taliban, have spilled
over into east-Asian expatriate communities around the world. "
While Musharraf's spokesmen have been projecting the
jihadi organisations as indigenous Kashmiri organisations with no base in
Pakistani territory, the HUM and the LET themselves, in their propaganda
literature and official web sites, project themselves as Pakistan-based
organisations. They give their addresses and telephone/fax numbers
in Pakistan and particulars of the Pakistani banks in which their accounts
are held to which their supporters should send their contributions.
These details as given in their web sites are shown below:
- Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Head Office: House No.
B-154/, Khayban-i-Sir Sayad, Near C.D.A. Bus Stop, Rawalpindi.
Pakistan, Phone/Fax No. 4414810 .
-
- Account: Current Account No. 2758-9, Muslim
Commercial Bank, Aabpara Branch, Islamabad. Pakistan.
-
- Monthly Journal Sada-e-Mujahid Office: I -10
Markaz, Usman Plaza, Islamabad. Pakistan. Phone No. 051-431776.
-
- Weekly Al-Hilal News Paper Office: 6 Sumaira
Apartment, 2nd Floor Block 13-B, Near K.D.A Bus Stop, Gulshan Iqbal,
Karachi. Pakistan. Phone/Fax No. 021-4991819 .
Markaz Dawa al Irshad , the political
wing of the LET: 5-Chamberlane Road, Lahore – Pakistan. Tel:
(92-42) 7231106
Lt.Gen.Mahmood Ahmed, Musharraf's DG of the ISI, was
reported to have attended the annual conference of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LET) held at Muridke from April 13 to 15, which passed a resolution
calling on its cadres in India to emulate the example of Mahmood Ghaznavi,
capture Hindu temples, destroy the idols and then hoist the flag of Islam
on them.
Last year, Musharraf, under pressure from the Clinton
Administration, denied the LET permission to hold its annual conference at
Muridke in November. This year, anticipating that there would be no
similar pressure from the Bush Administration, he initially allowed them
to hold the deferred confertence of 2000 in Muzaffarabad in
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), but subsequently, when the LET insisted
on holding it at Muridke, he let it do so and asked the ISI to ensure that
no journalists, Pakistani or foreign, was able to have access.
Despite this, some Pakistani journalists managed to have
access. The "News" of April 22 reported as follows:
"The Lashkar operates six private military training camps in Pakistan
and Azad Kashmir where several thousands of cadre are given both military
and religious education…. With more than 2200 unit offices across
the country and over two dozen launching camps along the Line of Control
(LOC), the Lashkar boasts of the biggest jihadi network in Pakistan… The
followers of the Lashkar come from all walks of life from the defence and
nuclear establishment to the industrial labour."
The March issue of "Herald", the monthly
journal of the "Dawn" group of Karachi, quoted Dr.Khalid Mehmood
Soomro, Secretary-General of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI), Sindh, based
in Larkana, as saying as follows: "Why is the Pakistan Army not
fighting for Kashmir? Why are they getting our youth killed there? They
are using our young men for their own goals…Let's be clear on one
thing. These jihadi groups can't function and survive without
official patronage. Is there a single militant training centre in
Pakistan which can operate without the consent of the Pakistan Army? All
militant groups are created and run by Pakistan's secret agencies.
They have mobile phones, land cruisers and weapons. Where are they
getting the funds from? Surely, it can't be all funded through public
donations. Because if that were so, we would be getting similar
donations, if not more."
Irfan Hussain, a Pakistani columnist, wrote in the
"Dawn" of March 3,2001, as follows: " For years, successive
governments have been denying military support for Kashmiri militants
while jihadi outfits have been openly collecting funds to buy arms and
train infiltrators at camps established in Punjab and Azad Kashmir.
In these efforts, these groups have received more than a wink and a nod
from shadowy agencies that have sought to keep the Kashmir pot on the boil
while preserving official deniability."
Najam Sethi, the distinguished Editor, wrote in the
"Friday Times" ( May 18 to 24,2001) as follows: " The
Musharraf model seeks to covertly ally with the jihadi groups while
overtly keeping the mainstream religious parties out of the power
loop. This is to enhance and sustain its covert external agenda,
while internally maintaining an overtly moderate anti-fundamentalist
stance for the comfort of the international community whose economic
support is critical to Pakistan's financial viability."
State-sponsors of terrorism generally tend to project
the terrorist groups backed by them as "freedom-fighters", just
as Musharraf has been doing since he captured power on October
12,1999. How to differentiate between terrorists and
freedom-fighters is one of the questions considered by President Reagan's
Special Task Force on Terrorism headed by Mr. George Bush (Sr), his
Vice-President and the father of the present President. It said that
while freedom-fighters confine their attacks only to security forces, who
are in a position to defend themselves, terrorists are those who kill
innocent civilians. It defined a State-sponsor of terrorism as a
State "supplying money, weapons, training, identification documents,
travel documents, or safehaven for terrorists."
The USA's Department of Defence Directive 2000. 12
issued in 1996, finetuned the definition of terrorism in order to bring
under its ambit acts directed against civilians as well as security
forces. Its definition of terrorism is as follows:" Unlawful use or
threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property, with
the intention of coercing or intimidating governments or societies, often
for political or ideological purposes."
It laid down the following other definitions:
* International (or Transnational) Terrorism.
Terrorism in which planning and execution of the terrorist act
transcends national boundaries. In defining international terrorism, the
purpose of the act, the nationalities of the victims, or the resolution
of the incident are considered. Those acts are usually planned to
attract widespread publicity and are designed to focus attention on the
existence, cause, or demands of the terrorists.
* Non-State Supported Terrorism. Terrorist groups
that operate autonomously, receiving no significant support from any
government.
* State-Directed Terrorism. Terrorist groups
that operate as agents of a government, receiving substantial
intelligence, logistical, and operational support from the sponsoring
government.
* State-Supported Terrorism. Terrorist groups
that generally operate independently, but receive support from one or
more governments.
The State Department's report on the Patterns of Global
Terrorism during 2000 has further expanded the definition of terrorism to
bring under its ambit even attacks on military installations. It
said: "We also consider as acts of terrorism attacks on military
installations or on armed military personnel when a state of military
hostilities does not exist at the site" .
A Declaration on Principles of International Law
concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in Accordance
with the Charter of the UN approved by the UN General Assembly on October
24,1970, has laid down that "every State has the duty to refrain from
organising, instigating, assisting or participating in acts of civil
strife or terrorist acts in another State or acquiescing in organised
activities within its territory directed towards the commission of such
acts."
Subsequently, while speaking during a debate on another
Declaration on the strengthening of International Security, which was
passed as Resolution No. 2734 on December 16,1970, delegates from the USA,
the UK, Canada, Italy, Australia, Japan and the then USSR described the
sponsoring by a State of acts of terrorism at another State as indirect
aggression.
The right of a victim-State to defend itself against
such indirect aggression by the use of appropriate conventional as well as
non-conventional means was underlined in an address delivered by Mr.George
Shultz, the then US Secretary of State, after the signing on April 3,1984,
by President Reagan of a National Security Directive on this subject and
again later in a foreword contributed by Mr.Bush Sr to a study on
Terrorist Group Profiles in November, 1988.
Mr. Schultz described State-sponsored terrorism as a new
form of warfare and said that the success of diplomatic options in dealing
with State-sponsors of terrorism would depend on the readiness of the
victim-State to hit back, through conventional military and
non-conventional clandestine means if the diplomatic options failed.
He, therefore, expressed the determination of the US to follow a strategy
of active defence, that is, taking the counter-terrorism operations into
the territory or against the interests of the State-sponsor of terrorism,
if left with no other alternative.
In his Foreword, Mr. Bush Sr reiterated the
determination of the US to demonstrate to State-sponsors of terrorism that
their actions would not be cost-free.
Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism in the Punjab
since 1980, in J & K since 1989 and in other parts of India since
1993. It instigated the hijacking of a number of aircraft of the
Indian Airlines by Sikh terrorists when Zia-ul-Haq was the military
dictator , of another aircraft under Musharraf by the HUM in December
1999, caused the massacre of over 9000 civilians in J & K since 1989
and of over 350 civilians in Mumbai in March, 1993 and committed other
shocking acts of terrorism, the like of which would not have been
tolerated by hard States such as the US or Israel.
Even though international law and practice give us the
right of active defence against Pakistan, we have not exercised it even
once. We do not have even after 20 years a credible counter proxy
war policy to demonstrate to Pakistan that its proxy war will not be
cost-free.
Is it any wonder that Musharraf behaves towards us with
such impudence? There is not even a sense of outrage in us as was seen by
the way we fell over each other in welcoming and lionising Musharraf.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (Retd), Cabinet
Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For
Topical Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com
)
