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| India-Pakistan |
| Secret Indo-Pak deal led to killing of Hizb commanders? |
| 2004-01-18 |
| The operation in which two senior Hizbul Mujahideen commanders were killed in Held Kashmir soon after the Indo-Pakistan talks is being speculated in Srinagar as part of a âsecret agreementâ with Islamabad. Calling it a major success, Indian officials claim that they have almost wiped out the Hizbul Mujahideenâs entire top brass by killing its Deputy Supreme Commander Ghazi Nasiruddin besides Financial and Publicity Chief Fayyaz Ahmed and Deputy Commander Mohammad Abbas Malik within the past 48 hours. Thatâs quite a big hit for the Hezb, which is the only important Jihadi outfit in Kashmir whose members are actually Kashmiris. Many in Srinagar are trying to link the Indo-Pakistan peace process to the commandersâ killing. âThe militancy in Indian Punjab was buried following former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhuttoâs sharing of intelligence with former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Perhaps history is repeating itself,â Kashmiri Sociologist Dr Khursheed told Daily Times. Pointing out to various recommendations forwarded by some US think tanks, he believed both countries had taken their (think tanks) advice and shared intelligence in this regard. But there isnât any proof for this, it could just be that the Indians got lucky by capturing one important fearless leader, and got him to spill his guts figurativly, before making him do it literally. Itâs also interesting that itâs not the Lashkar or the Jaishâs leadership that is being killed off. Calling the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Vajpayeeâs security advisor, Brijesh Mishra, and Pakistanâs Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief âvery vitalâ, observers here said there was every likelihood that the Pakistan government had decided to share intelligence with its Indian counterpart regarding militants operating in Held Kashmir. And then we hear that the ISI is holding a meeting of all sorts of anti-Indian terrorists and rebels in Bangladesh. Who knows whatâs really going on? Interestingly, ruling Peopleâs Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti had recently said India might also start negotiating with the Hizbul Mujahideen leadership. Kashmiri experts here had longed for talks with militants rather than their political leadership to enforce a ceasefire. They viewed talks with the moderate leadership futile, as they had no control over the militants. But the most likely explanation for what happened is in the next paragraph... An influential group here also believes that information about Ghaziâs whereabouts had come from within the Hizbul Mujahideen, as there was a feud within the organisation following the 2002 assassination of pro-dialogue commander Abdul Majid Dar. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #2 It's possible, but the thing with the ISI is that they are simply a branch of the Pakistani army. ISI officers are actually army officers who generally do 3 year tours of duty in the ISI before being rotated back to the army. Similarily, their senior staff are all serving Army Generals. So if there really is a problem with rogue ISI officers, which there probably is, why do they only go rogue for a few years, before going back to the Army where they prove most loyal to their senior officers? |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-1-18 7:16:08 PM |
| #1 I know it's cliche, but is it possible that all of that talk about there being a "rogue" ISI wasn't just plausible deniability and that agency pretty much operates on its own depending on the time of day and/or color of the moon? From what I gather from my Pakistani friend, they're basically accountable to no one, which is how they got the nickname "the Invisible Government" to begin with. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-1-18 12:54:40 PM |