Terror returns

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

07 May 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Terror returns

By Vishwa Mohan, TNN   "The day is not far when we will slaughter you in the streets of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and other cities of India." — Email received minutes before the UP serial blasts in November 2007   The bloodied streets of the Pink City are proof that this was no empty threat. Terror has returned, this time striking one of the country's hottest tourist destinations and virtually announcing its plan to bleed India by inflicting wounds at regular intervals. How long the lull in between will last is anybody's guess.   "I will not be surprised if terrorists are able to hit us once every month given the weak security scenario," says retired IPS officer and ex-BSF chief Prakash Singh. Of course, the remote control of this terror game lies in Pakistan where the ISI guides the timing of such attacks with Islamabad's internal power equations in mind. The current regime might have done a U-turn on aiding terror, especially since it has itself been at the receiving end of jihadi ire of late, but the threat from across the border has intensified once again.   The warning signal came barely two weeks before the Jaipur blasts, and former IB joint director M K Dhar wonders how the intelligence and security agencies could have missed it. It came in the form of an announcement by United Jihad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salahuddin in Muridke, Pakistan last month, where he called for a renewed offensive against India. "He openly urged cadres to advance the cause of jihad in Kashmir and India."   The call seems to have galvanised the jihadis. Last week, the BSF repulsed a major infiltration bid. Then, security forces fought a pitched battle with infiltrators in Samba (J&K). This was followed by strikes in the Pink City.   According to Dhar, terrorists have now reached a stage where they can strike and even announce it beforehand. The email sent (using ID guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr) before last November's serial blasts in UP was the first instance. The investigators managed to trace the cyber cafe (in East Delhi) used by the terrorists but hit a deadend in the absence of any concrete lead. UP's Special Task Force SSP Amitabh Yash admits their limitations, particularly when terrorists are trained not to leave any trace behind. "The probe did not yield much. However, it is confirmed that the senders of the email had connections with the perpetrators of the serial blasts in UP."   Terrorists sent another email — this time they did it a day after the Jaipur blasts, using ID guru_alhindi jaipur@yahoo.co.uk. And to give credence to their previous claim, they disclosed the password of their earlier ID (guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr) — which had hitherto been known only to top sleuths in IB, UP and Delhi Police — in one of the attachments. Officials involved in the probe confirm this to be the correct password, making it clear that terrorists are virtually operating with impunity.   And they are doing it in places of their own choosing — which may be anywhere in the country. While Jammu and Kashmir has been their traditional war zone, other parts of India have become a prime target in recent years — starting with the fidayeen attack on the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya in July 2005. The attack on the Pink City is the 21st strike outside J&K since then. Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Malegaon, Hyderabad, Faizabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Ajmer...the list of terror targets is only growing longer.   Prakash Singh, who has also served as police chief of UP and Assam, says the terrorists are well aware of the chinks in India's security and intelligence set-up. "The weak security set-up coupled with votebank politics are only aiding the terrorists' cause." What makes them even more lethal is the fact that police forces have not been able to catch the kingpins behind any of the major blasts in the past couple of years.   The ex-BSF boss is not wrong there. It took the country nearly 14 years to get convictions in the 1993 Bombay blasts. Among the recent blast cases, there have been virtually no breakthroughs in Malegaon (September 2006), Samjhauta Express (February 2007), Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad (May 2007), Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park, Hyderabad (August 2007) and the serial bombings in UP courts (November 2007). Though there have been a few arrests, security agencies don't appear to be on an entirely sure footing. "The rush to solve cases led the police to either arrest the wrong people or mere foot soldiers who did not even know whom they were working for. After a point, this results in a deadend while the actual perpetrators of the crime remain at large," says a senior CBI official involved in probing terror-related cases.   Meanwhile, a recent development in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is likely to add to the worries of Indian security agencies. The provincial government there reached a ceasefire agreement with terrorists in Swat on May 9. This means they can now turn to India, which has been spared their attentions during the past four-five months. The period, incidentally, coincided with the uncertainty in Pakistan before the formation of the democratically elected government. With rogue elements within the Pakistani establishment now refocusing in this direction, it looks like the period of respite may be over for India. Times of India, 20 May 2008 vishwa.mohan@timesgroup.com