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| India-Pakistan |
| Mush in damage-control mode |
| 2007-09-10 |
| In what appears to be a part of Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's post-Lal Masjid survival strategy rather than any actual change of heart, a "clampdown" on jehadi groups operating in India has been detected in recent weeks. Apart from a greater monitoring of jehadi groups in PoK, terrorists in the Kashmir Valley are finding it more difficult to ex-filtrate. The pressure being exerted on terror tanzims after the bloody storming of the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid in Islamabad in the early hours of July 7 by Pakistan army has been linked to the "war" that jehadi groups have declared on the Musharraf regime for its pro-US policies. With these groups regarding Musharraf nothing short of a heretic and a turncoat, Pakistan army and ISI have no choice but to act against their one-time allies. The break in the accord between jehadis and the Musharraf establishment is quite complete as the September 4 suicide bombings in Rawalpindi and the rocket attack on Musharraf's plane on July 6 have shown. With his estranged partners delivering a deadly "you are not safe even in your fort" message, the Pakistani leader has had to act against groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. An earlier roadside bomb attack on Musharraf, again in the Rawalpindi area, was seen to be a Jaish plot. Well-placed sources said that the "chatter" being picked up in Kashmir and Pakistan showed that the jehadi outfits were facing some heat. There were also indications that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen elements were being discouraged from ex-filtrating across the border into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This is being seen as part of measures to keep a check on Islamic militants and a bid to ensure that there are no additions to their already considerable numbers in Pakistan. Periodic action against jehadis in Pakistan has been no indicator of the Pakistan army or ISI changing its jehadi mindset or being a sign of confidence building measures between New Delhi and Islamabad and the peace process making progress. These actions are rooted in immediate exigencies that the Pakistani establishment has to deal with, such as pressure from US or differences with some terror groups. Such action is also not foolproof and is no guarantee against jehadi groups attacking targets in India. As is his wont, Musharraf is seen to be quite adept in turning the terror tap on or off in accordance to his tactical needs. The intercepts being picked up by security agencies are indicating that though there is considerable dissatisfaction in the jehadi ranks, it is not entirely clear whether action has been taken against the training camps in PoK. There could be a certain slowdown in jehadi activities, but as long as the camps are in place, the infrastructure to revive terrorism remains. There also seem to be clear indications that units of the Pakistan army involved in action against Taliban-Al Qaida in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Waziristan are not too keen on the operations. There seems to be resistance to taking action against the terrorist groups as the operations are being seen as risky and some sections of the Pakistan army are not comfortable with carrying out the "US agenda". Also, the Pashtun elements of the Pakistan army are not pleased with having to take on their fellow tribesmen.The situation has been serious enough for some army units being moved from the eastern border with India to the counter-terrorism operations. These developments have occurred even as there seems to be some decrease in the enthusiasm for stoking insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian embassy in Islamabad receiving hundreds of applications from Kashmiris who crossed over seeking to return to India. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Fear not, if there is one country whose continued existence is most in doubt, it is Pakistan. Iran is a close runner-up but Pakistan is the source of so much global misery that there is no way they will be around 20 years from now. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-10 21:53 |
| #2 Zen, You are assuming Pakiland is heading into the future, I assume they head into the past. And there's much ground to |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-09-10 21:35 |
| #1 There seems to be resistance to taking action against the terrorist groups as the operations are being seen as risky and some sections of the Pakistan army are not comfortable with carrying out the "US agenda". I can only wonder what it will take for Pakistan and other Iskamic nations to comprehend that defeating terrorism is not an exclusively American "agenda". The entire modern world's security and progress hinge completely upon wiping out Islam. That Muslims choose to blithely ignore this simple fact reveals a fatal degree of hubris and over-confidence. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-10 21:29 |