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| India must attack Pak-based terror groups | | |
N K Pant |
President Pervez Musharraf has expressed his annoyance at BJP president Rajnath Singh's remarks that India attack Pakistan-based jehadi bases being used to spread terror in India. Prior to this, his government stooped to the lowest level of apprehending and torturing Deepak Kaul, an Indian diplomat on fabricated charges of espionage, which was followed by his expulsion. In accordance with diplomatic practices, New Delhi had no alternative but to pay back in the same coin by declaring a Pakistani diplomat posted in the Indian capital persona non grata.
Earlier, the President-cum-army chief was visibly angry with India for pointing accusing finger at his country for July 11 bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed more than 200 innocent citizens whereas his Foreign Minister was quick to sermonise that acts of terror would keep on taking place in India until Kashmir problem was finally resolved in accordance with Pakistan's wishes. Having been cornered, Musharraf had no alternative but to outwardly show his willingness to cooperate with New Delhi to tackle terrorism in the Indian sub-continent.
For many years, a series of reliable reports from Western media sources have cited his country as breeding as well as training ground for terrorist groups. The recent plot unearthed in Britain to blow up airliners over the Atlantic and resultant arrests of 24 persons, mostly migrants having strong ethnic links in Pakistan, have finally nailed the lies Islamabad has been spreading the world over on the non-existence of terror camps within Pakistan.
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Islamabad might have arrested a few suspects involved in the deadly plot at the behest of the British intelligence, the fact should not go unnoticed that Pakistan outwardly displays its stance against terrorist acts, but its covert sympathy with Islamic jehadis using its soil for spreading terror not only in India as well as the world can not be disputed.
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The General's repeated outburst of anger against India had a solid reason. He perhaps had a hunch that a proactive India in the wake of the latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai was likely to follow the route of hot pursuit to destroy terrorist raining camps functioning in the PoK. In fact, the Indian public opinion is for sending military into the PoK for the purpose of obliteration of the jehadi infrastructure once for all. Naturally, a panicky Musharraf, in order to assuage the Islamic hardliners, had no alternative but to warn New Delhi of retaliation if such military operations are carried out.
"Nobody should think that Pakistan will bear any kind of adventure inside its territory. There is no one who can take any punitive action against Pakistan...its defence is in strong hands," he was quoted as saying. Such a bold language attributed to him was obviously addressed to his home constituency to enable him to retain twin chairs of the President as well as the army chief of Pakistan.
Why did Musharraf want proof of his country's involvement in terror acts while India possesses ample evidence to suggest how terrorism was controlled from Pakistan? New Delhi is ready to furnish proof about its western neighbour's linkage to terrorism not only in India but also in other countries. According to National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Pakistan-based LeT, believed to be involved in Mumbai's 7/11 mayhem, is not only an integral part of Al-Qaeda but also has much bigger penetration because of its contacts.
Reports suggest that India has told Pakistan to control the LeT which apparently is the creation of the ISI. Now there is a distinct possibility that Mumbai's 7/11 bomb blasts and the subsequent plot to blow up passenger planes unearthed in London may let the terror's sinister cat out of Musharraf's bag. The belief was further bolstered by Washington's most recent demand on Pakistan that it handover 21 of its nationals implicated in terror acts against the US. It is clear that Pakistan has successfully camouflaged its status as a state sponsor of terrorism under its membership of the US-led anti-terrorism alliance.
Reports suggest that dozens of terrorist training camps located in the PoK and elsewhere in Pakistan are still churning out terrorists by thousands. New Delhi has even pin-pointed locations of terrorist camps to Pakistanis but the wily rulers in Islamabad issue parrot-like statements denying the camps' existence. The latest evidence comes from the US where the Defence Intelligence Agency's expert Eric Benn has said there was a 70 per cent probability that the satellite images available with the DIA pointed to a militant training camp near Balakot in the northeast Pakistan. The place happens to be in the vicinity of the Indian borders that facilitate easy infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.
Indeed, several reports have implicated Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence directly in terrorist activities as well as the international drug trade. That lasting peace can not be ushered in our region unless Pakistan reins in terror spawning grounds from within its territory is clear from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Independence Day speech. Musharraf's anger reflects the intense hate India syndrome in this peculiar ‘state within the state’ that will not permit dismantling of the robust jehadi machine operating in that country.
The US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, after initial hesitation, was later officially convinced that some terrorist groups having designs on India were based in Pakistan. What should New Delhi do if Islamabad is not willing to dismantle well-oiled jehadi terror machines openly functioning within its jurisdiction?
New Delhi is left out with two alternatives either allow India bleed indefinitely at the hands of Pakistan-based terror groups or seriously weigh options as suggested by Rajnath Singh for some bold military offensive to destroy ISI-backed terrorist breeding and launching pads across our western border.
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