Terror and beyond: Are we expecting peace amidst turmoil?

By Raj Narayan, 22/02/2010.....THESE ARE THE POINTS I HAVE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT...EVEN WRITTEN IN MY BLOGS.

Terror and beyond: Are we expecting peace amidst turmoil?

Violence, both externally driven and internal, has become a way of life in India. So much so, that each morning our eyes scan the newspaper for acts of terror. We let out an involuntary sigh of relief if the papers are bereft of pictures of shattered skulls, broken limbs and blood-stained roads.



Rescue workers carry the body of a policeman at a police camp attacked by Maoist rebels in Silda village, Midnapore district of West Bengal. On Monday, about 24 jawans were killed in the biggest-ever Maoist assault when the rebels caught the troops unaware. Photo Courtesy: Reuters

But such days are getting as rare as snow in the desert for Indians. The violent terror attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 2008 had barely receded into the recesses of our collective minds when the bakery blast at Pune returned to remind us of the external threats. And just as we were reeling from that blow to the solar plexus came the upper-cut straight to the jaw in the form of a daring Naxal attack on a police camp in Sildah, West Bengal.

And our country continues to bleed from a thousand cuts inflicted on us by envious neighbors and militant desperados.

In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh surprised many by his recent statement that naxalism and not terrorism was the bigger threat to India's internal security. He sought to know the reasons for this sense of alienation amongst people in central India and suggested that the new age policeman must train to be more professional, motivated, empowered and above all trained to use technology for investigation.

Be that as it may, the question that springs to mind is the ease with which terror actors get access to weapons of war and funds in the region. While external help is easy to understand, where do the Maoists find the money and the guns to raise a stink?

The answer is not too difficult to fathom. Fly three hours in any direction from New Delhi and what do you get...? A conflict zone or one where a conflict has recently resolved. There is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal - each a hotbed of conflict and each providing a haven for desperados with a veritable departmental store for arms purchase.

In effect, we are expecting a peaceful home in a noisy neighborhood!



File photo of police inspecting German Bakery blast site in Pune. A powerful blast rocked the bakery on February 13, leaving about 10 dead. Co-founder of the bakery Klaus Gutzeit, could not bear to visit the site to see the destruction. "I just passed by the bakery in a rickshaw. I couldn't bring myself to stop crying," he said. Photo Courtesy: AP

Defense experts argue that India's problems emanate from the fact that almost all of its neighbors can broadly be termed as "failed states". If the Maoists find support in Nepal and the ULFA in Bangladesh, the Islamic terrorist boast of a twin haven in Pakistan and Afghanistan while Myanmar and Sri Lanka have failed to curb the menace of drug trafficking and smuggling.

It is a scenario where the lines between an external and internal threat has blurred substantially. Most of the internal security threats to India have been externally sponsored and tolerated. This is no surprise, given that barring China none of the other regional neighbors can consider an armed conflict with India's forces.

Each of India's neighbors have at some time or the other supported and often turned a blind eye to anti-India acts that have been inspired, supported or guided by individuals or groups based out of their territory. Take a look at the none-too-distant history of our neighbors...



The body of a suspected militant lies amongst rubble after a gun battle with the Indian army in Kachwa Mqam, 55 km (34 miles), north of Srinagar. Two separatist militants were killed and one residential house destroyed in an encounter between Indian security forces and separatist militants in the village of Kachwa Mqam, police said.

Pakistan

In the 1980s, the Pak administration began lending tacit support to the Khalistan movement across the then porous borders in Punjab. By the early 1990s, Kashmir began to boil and the support from state and non-state actors across the border became obvious.

And post-1992, it was proxy war at its best as Islamabad supported both Kashmiri militants while also shielding proclaimed international offenders like Dawood Ibrahim on its turf. The military regime that governed the country for most of this period had an obvious axe to grind. If you cannot win on a battlefield, weaken the enemy from within became the motto.



Armed soldiers from the Taliban Islamic militia race towards the hijacked Indian Airlines plane at Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

The infamous IC-814 hijacking proved beyond doubt that a militant Afghanistan was no friend of India. And a porous Afghan-Pakistan border ensured safe passage to Kashmiri ultras besides becoming the lifeline for a flourishing narcotics trade and arms supply.

Though the current regime in Kabul has made the right overtures to India over terrorism, precious little has come out of it. India's open support to the Hamid Karzai regime and the American attempt to flush out terror hideouts means that there could be a long wait before New Delhi can expect any change in the situation. The only silver lining is that Pakistan has been forced to tighten security on its border with Afghanistan.



Paramilitary policemen practise during a daily training session at the Forbidden City in Beijing February 1, 2010.

China

From a purely defense perspective, China has to be the biggest external threat to India, if not for anything else but Beijing's sheer military superiority. The recent incursions on the Arunachal border and Beijing's continued tacit support to Pakistan as a nuclear ally make China a major headache for India's foreign and defense policy planners.

The Chinese, who have already fought a war over territory in 1962, have made the right noises on economic ties in the past but India's consistent stance on Tibet and its support to the Dalai Lama has always rankled Beijing. Over the past few years, Indian IT companies have entered China but New Delhi continues to be wary of cheap imports from across the border which makes Beijing see red.



The file image shows the body of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran on a stretcher at Nanthikadal lagoon, near the town of Mullaittivu in northern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka
Political historians believe Rajiv Gandhi's decision to send the IPKF in the mid-1980s was a historical blunder that pulled bilateral relations beyond reprieve. Though the Island republic has hopefully seen the last of the Tamil Tigers in its territory, the two-decade long civil war made Sri Lanka a conduit for arms and narcotics trade.

The narcotics trade was a major revenue earner for the LTTE over the past two decades. Though the Tigers have been tamed, there is all likelihood that the illegal trade routes continue to flourish. The increasing tourist traffic to the island nation is also an indicator of Sri Lanka failing to control the arms and drug trade. Add to that the lax security along the Pak Straits means that India is unwittingly becoming a part of this drug mafia.



Arabinda Rajkhowa (C with spectacles), chief of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), is taken to court in Guwahati. The top rebel leader from Assam surrendered, police said.

Bangladesh

The recent arrest of Arabinda Rajkhowa, the outlawed ULFA chief and deputy commander Raju Baruah in Bangladesh shows what an India-friendly regime can do in our neighboring countries. Premier Sheikh Hasina not only accepted the ULFA leader's presence in her country but also went one step ahead by nabbing and handing him over to India. Rajkhowa, who had operated from Bangladesh for several years, and masterminded terror strikes, is indeed a prize catch for India.

In fact, the Awami League that came to power in 2008 has been out to wipe away the fundamentalist tag that their country got painted with over the past decade. The country executed five ex-army officers convicted of the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. One of the officers Lt. Col Syed Faruque Rahman had returned to form the Islamic Freedom Party, which reportedly has links with the Harkat-ul-Jihad and even the ISI.



Bodies of suspected separatist militants and confiscated weapons are displayed after a gun battle at Loktak Lake in Manipur.

Myanmar

India has had an up-and-down relationship with Myanmar, often seen as an easy border for militants and smugglers in the northeastern region. The two countries are trying to forge economic links where Indian energy companies are keen to invest in Myanmar, but it is the 1,643-km shared border that is a cause for worry in New Delhi.

Towards this end, India recently initiated talks to start joint operations for eliminating insurgent camps across the border. Although China ended its assistance to the northeast militant groups nearly three decades ago, by 2005 there were still reported to be at least 27 full-time camps in western Myanmar. Despite this large number of armed insurgents on its western border, Myanmar's military has paid much less attention to this area compared to its eastern and northern borders with Thailand and China.

Source: India Syndicate



23 February 2010 22:31:59
There is only one way to buy peace (for India)----- Bomb out and annihilate Pakistan... don't bother about Human rights and all those farce.

In case our Govt. lacks the guts to do so another alternative I can suggest that hire Mossad and get those B*****ds like Hafiz sayeed, Mullah Omar, dawood ibrahim, Salauddin, lakhvi, Massod azhar and rest of the notorious agents of terrorism as in the list killed. By doing so, we can buy peace atleast for couple of years .... may be 5 yrs.





Even in case Indian Govt fails to do so, then they must send Shah Rukh Khan to the "beautiful neighbor called Pakistan" ( as per SRK) to do the negotiation with the lawless Pak Govt and the terror outfits in that country.



Rest ... waste of time....



Jai Hind!!!!

23 February 2010 21:30:09

I fully agree with BCV Raju.Corruption is the biggest bane in our Country.Terrorists can sneak in by bribing our security.The Coffins of martyrs are also not spared of bribery and corruption.Eggs for Military personell working at higher altitudes are also not spared and substandard products are provided.This is done by the higher ranks and the people in power.Getting thru into or out of Indian borders is easy.The most corrupt politicos are at the highest position and abusing it for more money and power.Things are worsening day by day.God save our country.

Gaurang Mody#3

23 February 2010 17:33:24

The day is not far when our country will disintegrate by both internal and external forces. Internal meaning - corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and police.

External meaning - Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal



GOD WILL ALSO NOT HELP US

ITS BETTER WE ARE RULED BY AMERICA, BRITISH OR EVEN CHINESE AS OUR LEADERS ARE NO GOOD!


bcvraju#4

23 February 2010 17:23:01

Naxalism or terrorism are the fruits of paralised juditiary and un profesional home.The feudalistic administrative augmented common man to take up arms.The criminalisation and corruption in politics has brought undisciplined society with in.The communist clout bringing economic slow down , the BJp on ther hand bringing fundmentalists to utter dismay has this country to utter shambles.The day when politicians do not take bribes, the day when administration serve the needy, the day when juditiary see rich and poor equally, the day when the home understands profesionalism ,the day when the quality education is given to all irrespective of poor or rich , things will be normal.The unfortuante is yet to come , the tolrant society often keeps silant a draw back to this nation andthe results will be utter disintigration in the days ahead.