The ghastly killer earthquake that hit Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Jammu & Kashmir in early October was expected to silence terrorist guns. Since Muzaffarabad was the epicentre of the quake, along with countless civilians, the mujahideen were also said to have suffered tremendous losses. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba openly admitted extensive damages to its infrastructure, as well as death of at least 70 of its cadres and an unspecified number of its POK-based office-bearers in the quake. It has not ruled out the possibility that many more of its cadres might have died in the POK. Adding this to the unreported losses in North West Frontier Province, this frontline terrorist organisation was expected to lie low, nursing the wounds.
Here is what India got as a response to wishful thinking: On 9th October, a day after the earthquake, jihadis carried out attacks in Rajouri district, killing ten Hindus and a Muslim, slitting throats with impunity. No organisation claimed responsibility for the massacre, but suspicion was on Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pir Panjal Regiment (HMPPR) and the LeT. The Indian army foiled an attempt by a group of terrorists to infiltrate into the Indian side of Kashmir on 12 October 2005, killing all the eight near the Line of Control in Kupwara sector. A woman suicide bomber blew herself up on the Srinagar - Jammu national highway at Awantipora on 13 October 2005. The blast occurred at 11:30 am, but no casualties were reported. Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed that the woman was a suicide bomber of its women's wing - Banati Ayesha (daughter of Ayesha). Considering that suicide terror has not been a prominent mode of action in the valley, this has bad omens.
In a major terrorist attack on the security forces, two Territorial Army jawans were killed and seven others were injured when LeT attacked the battalion headquarters of the 158 Territorial Army at Kalibari in Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir on 16 October 2005. The soldiers were returning to their barracks after their morning training. In another incident of terrorist attack, a prominent CPI (M) leader, Ghulam Nabi Ganai, was shot dead by militants in Anantnag district on 17 October 2005. He was shot outside a local mosque near his house at Seer-Hamdan village of Mattan. Two militant groups Al Mansoorian and Islamic Jihad Front, in separate telephone statements claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The incidents of terrorist attacks have ironically gone up after the earthquake in the valley. This can be attributed to the fact that banned outfits undertook rescue and relief work in earthquake-affected areas of PoK. Analysts say that the relief work undertaken by these outfits could translate into greater popular support for their jihad in Kashmir. After all, combining humanitarian work with militarism is an age-old practice of jihad, dating back all the way to the time of Prophet Muhammad. The humanitarianism is, of course, limited only to co-religionists of the ummah and not to non-believers. Shia in Gilgit and the Northern Areas continued to be persecuted and killed in scores after the earthquake, with the much-hated Pakistan rangers and ISI doing much of the damage against agitating students.
The apogee of terrorist upsurge after the quake was felt in New Delhi on October 29th, when serial bomb blasts planted by the dastardly LeT killed more than 60 innocent Diwali-shoppers and injured 210 of them. The Indian capital was reminded that jihad knows no limits and will not be cowed down by nature’s fury. No earthquake can stem its violent crusade. This was proved throughout the month of November in several attacks in the heart of Srinagar, which spilt more innocent blood.
How is one to analyse the paradoxical increase in Pakistan-sponsored terrorism after a severe humanitarian crisis was triggered by the earthquake? Since international attention was riveted on the quake and its aftermath, it was easy to order new attacks in India and not suffer the usual condemnations and backdoor reprimands. Another advantage in instant offensives after the quake was in sending a political message to Pakistan sympathisers in the valley that their master was not going to let things lying down, no matter how big the natural disaster was. Pakistan-sponsored terror depends a great deal on motivation and religious zeal- both of which could have fallen after an earthquake of this magnitude. To keep the jihad spirit alive, attacking was imperative.
What is the role of international donors who are pouring millions into quake-relief in Pakistan and of the US, which is supplying helicopters for grinding its own anti-Al Qaeda axe? What is the payoff between allowing American actions in Balochistan and FATA areas of NWFP and having a free hand to massacre in J&K? How much of the reconstruction aid is being lopped off for jihad? How has General Musharraf capitalised on the humanitarian sympathy wave and yet managed to keep the jihad enterprise going? These are questions which need urgent analysis.
Jihadi time bombs are ticking away even as India has opened borders to assist in the humanitarian relief effort in PoK. Those who believed that like in Sri Lanka, where the LTTE and the army suffered severe losses during last year’s tsunami and lowered the intensity of conflict, Kashmir will have an unexpected windfall of peace after the earthquake, have been badly belied by Pakistan’s determination to keep stoking hatred and religious fanaticism.
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