Till the Mumbai blasts took place on 11/7, one would have perhaps rejected out of hand, the view that terror in India is home grown. That is because New Delhi has sufficient reason to believe that Pakistan is behind our terror trouble. On many occasions it has come out with ‘proof’ too to establish this. If Pakistan refuses to acknowledge, that is Pakistan’s outlook.
But that in no way means that everything is all right at home. It may be unrealistic to believe that but for Pakistan, things would have been absolutely normal in India!
Blasts in Mumbai have made all the difference in the perception of functioning of terror machine in India. The precision with which these were executed reveals the hand of a well-organized group. Intelligence agencies identify the hand as that of the Lashkar-e- Toiba (LeT) and the Pakistan’s ISI. Soon after the blasts, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, in unambiguous words, that without the support from across the border the blasts could not have executed so meticulously. That none of the seven bombs planted failed and that they were placed at strategic positions to cause maximum damage points to the precision with which the whole thing was planned. Except one unclaimed body in the hospital, there is no evidence of the perpetrators of the barbaric violence having suffered any damage so far.
The matter does not end here. The role of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is being suspected in a big way. True, its activists may have been only a conduit in carrying out the task assigned to them but it’s apparent involvement at such a large scale is, no doubt, a serious matter. A number of them have been arrested and the process continues, notwithstanding the fact that SIMI’s basic charter has been above board and that it has done some good work. Now how deep the SIMI is into terrorism is a matter of conjecture till sleuths come up with full picture.
SIMI was banned in 2001 after its involvement in some cases of terrorist attacks was established. It was proved that SIMI was responsible for 14 cases of terrorist violence in Delhi and in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where it is not banned by Mulayam Government.These include the alleged burning of Holy Quran in Delhi in 2001. The protests that followed in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra were engineered by its state units. Since then it has been operating under different names like the Tahaffuz-e Shaaaire-Islam.
In 1991, SIMI held a conference in Mumbai which was attended by Secretary of the Jamaat-e Islami of Pakistan Amirul Azeem, who used the outfit for forging an alliance between the Militants of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite the ban, the organization has spread its tentacles to other parts of India. One of these places is Beed in Marathwada. But for a recent police crackdown, no one could have even suspected that a quiet place like Beed could be harbouring dreaded terrorists. Though two top terrorists and masterminds of the Mumbai blasts hailing from Beed, Zahibuddin Ansari and Fayaz Kagzi are still at large, eight arrests made from the district have given revealing information.
While Kagzi is a computer ace, Zahibuddin is a master electrician. Both played a prominent role in the Aurangabad Arms haul.
And far away in Agartala in the Marxist ruled Tripura, eleven youth from Maharashtra have been preaching Islam - that is what they claim. They were noticed at a mosque at Molaya village bordering Bangladesh. They are suspected to have cross border links.
If Indians are involved in Mumbai blasts as pointed out by the intelligence agencies, the logical questions to ask would be who are they? What is their motivation?
For a long time Pakistan has been inspiring, instigating and actively participating in terrorist activities in India. This has been established by the arrest of a number of Pakistani nationals in different parts of the country. It is also a fact that a large number of Indians are involved in ISI activities. Abu Hamza, a man from Hyderabad and now in Saudi Arabia and Mufti Sufian Patanga from Gujarat now in Pakistan are only a few among those wanted in India.
Add to this list, the picking up of two soldiers and two policemen in Kashmir for their possible links with LeT, the picture becomes clearer. A tailor arrested in Pune for his links with SIMI and a petty tea vendor arrested in Jammu for carrying money to top militants in Kot Bhalwal Jail for the last three years tell their own story.
It is time to reflect on why the global terror network is finding ready recruits in India. Is it because of religious motivation, lure for quick money or something is amiss within the country. Not finding the cause and addressing it in time could be disastrous.
Till now, India has been proudly claiming that not a single Muslim of the country is involved in terrorist activities. But that image is slowly disappearing. There can be nothing more tragic than this since India has a long history of a pluralistic society, which has been its main strength as a nation. Any damage to it would be striking at its very foundations. Let not the terrorists be allowed to succeed in this mission whatever it may take.
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