| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 1, July 10, 2012
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
Justice
in Jeopardy
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Since it
took charge on January 6, 2009, the Awami League (AL)
led coalition Government in Bangladesh, under the leadership
of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, has embarked on
the arduous and grueling road of War Crime Trials (WCT)
for atrocities committed during the Liberation War of
March 25-December 16, 1971, as promised in its “Charter
for Change” in its 2008 Election Manifesto. The WCT process
has now reached a crucial juncture, with the indictment,
on June 21, 2012, of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) leader Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, the latest among the “erroneous
eight” – the most prominent offenders – on charges of
war crime.
The International
Crimes Tribunal (ICT), established on March 25, 2010,
has so far indicted eight high-profile political figures,
including six JeI leaders – Nayeb-e-Ameer (Deputy
Chief) Delawar Hossain Sayeedi (on October 3, 2011); former
JeI chief Golam Azam (on May 13, 2012); present JeI chief
Motiur Rahman Nizami (on May 28, 2012); JeI General Secretary
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed (on June 21, 2012); JeI assistant
secretaries Mohammed Quamaruzzaman (on June 4, 2012);
and Quader Mollah (on May 28, 2012); as well as two Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) political figures and lawmakers
– Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (on April 4, 2012) and Abdul
Alim (on June 11, 2012).
20 charges
including genocide and crime against humanity, have been
framed against Delawar Hossain Sayeedi. According to one
charge, on May 4, 1971, Sayeedi, as a member of a group
of individuals as well as a member of a ‘Peace Committee’,
gave secret information to the Pakistan Army about the
gathering of some people behind the Madhya Masimpur bus-stand
under Pirojpur Sadar Police Station in Pirojpur District.
After the arrival of Pakistani Army troops, he took them
to the back of the Madhya Masimpur bus stand and, in a
planned way, killed 20 unnamed civilians by firing. He
was also charged for the capture of 14 Hindus in the Hindu
Para area of Parerhat Bazar under Pirozpur Sadar Police
Station and handing them over to the Pakistani Army, who
later killed them.
Salauddin
Quader Chowdhury, the second to be indicted, faces 23
charges of killing. In one case, Chowdhury and his accomplices,
on April 13, 1971, led a group of Pakistani soldiers to
Unsatter Para under the Rowjan Police Station in Chittagong
District, where they brought the local Hindu people to
the bank of a pond behind the house of Khitish Mohajan,
after which 70 persons were killed in indiscriminate firing
in Chowdhury’s presence. 50 of the victims were identified.
Similarly, on April 20, 1971, the Pakistani Army and the
Razakars on the direction of Salauddin and his
father Fazlul Qader Chowdhury, jointly attacked Sakhpura
village under Boalkhali Police Station in Chittagong District,
firing indiscriminately and using bayonets to kill people
who had political and religious difference with them.
As the villagers took shelter in the nearby forest and
paddy field, they were chased and killed. An unspecified
number of persons were killed, of which 76 were identified.
On June 7, 1971, one Omar Faruk was kidnapped from Jamal
Khan Road by Salauddin, his father and Razakar
Maksudur Rahman, with the help of Pakistan Army personnel,
and was taken to the Goods Hill torture centre, which
was under the control of Salauddin and his father. Omar
was tortured and subsequently killed on Salauddin’s order.
Golam
Azam has been indicted on five charges (murder and torture
of unarmed people, conspiracy, planning, incitement and
complicity to commit genocide). According to the prosecution,
Ghulam Azam, who was the then Ameer (chief) of
JeI (East Pakistan) and a central leader of the ‘Peace
Committee’, in an ‘official letter’ ordered the killing
of a Police officer Siru Miah and his son, as they were
freedom fighters. The charge sheet stated that, under
Azam’s direct instruction, Siru Miah, Anwar Kamal, Nazrul
Islam, and Abul Kashem were killed, along with another
34 persons, in Pourotola area of Brahmanbaria District.
Anwar Kamal was tortured before his execution.
Motiur
Rahman Nizami was indicted on 16 charges including murder
and torture of unarmed people. In one case, on April 16,
1971, with Nizami’s help, Nizami’s associates and Pakistan
Army personnel attacked Arpara and Vutergari villages
under the Ishwardi Police Station in Pabna District and
killed 21 unarmed civilians. Again, on November 27, 1971,
Nizami, along with Razakars and Pakistan Army troopers,
raided the house of Dr. Abdul Awal and other adjacent
houses in the Dhulaura Village (Pabna District) on the
pretext of searching out freedom-fighters. Along with
his accomplices, Nizami got hold of a number of men, women
and children, and brought them to the Dhulaura School
field, where 30 people were shot dead. After departure
of Pakistani Army forces, Nizami and his Razakars
caught another 22 unarmed persons, took them to the bank
of river Isamoti, and had them bayoneted to death.
The next
to be indicted was Quader Mollah with six charges of murder
and mass killing, including the incident of March 27,
1971, when he and his aides murdered the pro-liberation
poet Meherun Nesa, her mother and two brothers, at their
house at Mirpur-6, Mirpur District. Again, on November
25, 1971, he and his gang killed ‘hundreds’ of unarmed
people of Khanbari and Ghotan Char villages, of which,
24 persons have been identified. Earlier, on April 24,
1971, he led members of Pakistan Army to the Alubdi village
of Mirpur, where 344 unarmed persons were then killed.
Mohammed
Quamaruzzaman has been indicted on seven charges of genocide.
In one case, on July 25, 1971, Qamaruzzaman and his accomplices
killed 120 men and raped 170 women at Sohagpur, a village
in Nalitabari in Sherpur District. The village later became
known as the “Widows’ Village”. Quamaruzzaman also faces
the charge of torturing and killing Golam Mostafa Talukder,
a freedom fighter from Sherpur. On return from India,
where he was trained to fight for the independence of
Bangladesh, Talukder was abducted from Sherpur College
Intersection, on August 23, 1971. Later, he was taken
to the house of Surendra Mohan Saha, which was used as
an Al-Badr Camp, where he was brutally tortured and shot
to death. Quamaruzzaman was also indicted for forcing
Sherpur College teacher Syed Abdul Hannan to walk almost
naked on the roads of Sherpur town.
Abdul
Alim, has been charged in 17 cases of genocide, murder
and burying people alive. On April 26, 1971, Alim, the
then local ‘Peace Committee’ chairman, accompanied by
other members of the committee and Pakistani Army personnel,
launched a surprise attack on Hindus in Korai and Kadipur
localities of Joypurhat District, resulting in damage
to property, looting and arson, thereby created havoc.
Subsequently, Alim and his accomplices brought the Hindu
civilians out of their homes, lined them up and shot dead
370 of them. In May, 1971, Abdul Alim accompanied by Pakistan
Army Major Afzal and other accomplices arranged a meeting
at Uttarhat Shahor under Khetlal and delivered a provocative
speech that triggered the looting of assets of the Hindus.
After Alim’s incitement, members of the ‘Peace Committee’,
the Razakars and Pakistani Army personnel attacked
the Hindu-dominated neighbourhoods of Uttarhat Shahor,
Harunjahat and surrounding areas, and apprehended 10 Hindus,
who were later killed on Alim's orders. Alim, along with
‘Peace Committee’ members, Pakistani troops, Razakarss
and Major Afzal, posed for a photograph at an open site
on the west of Joypurhat Railway Station, with 26 detainees,
suspected to be freedom-fighter. The photo shows arms
laid out in front of them. Thereafter, Alim consulted
with Major Afzal, following which the 26 detainees were
taken to Joypurhat College and killed.
The ICT
indicted Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed on 32 charges of
abduction, killing of intellectuals, murder, arson attacks,
torture, persecution and abetment. Mojaheed, along with
his associates and Pakistan Army personnel, attacked three
villages – Majhidangi, Baidyadangi and Balidangi – under
the Charbhadrason Police Station, in his home District
Faridpur in May in 1971, killed 50 to 60 Hindus, and set
ablaze 300 to 350 houses. Mojaheed was also the mastermind
behind the systematic extermination of Bengali intellectuals,
including noted journalist Sirajuddin Hossian, the then
executive editor of the Daily Ittefaq, who was
abducted by Mohaheed’s accomplices from his rented house
at Chamelibagh in Dhaka city, and later believed to have
been murdered (his body was never recovered). Music composer
Altaf Mahmud was also abducted from Outer Circular Road
in the capital and later on murdered at the Old MP Hostel
in Nakhalpara area of Dhaka City.
If proved
guilty the accused could be sentenced to death under the
law. All the accused have pleaded “not guilty”.
In order
to hasten the trial process so that it is completed within
the present tenure of the AL Government, a second bench,
ICT-2, was constituted on March 22, 2012. Daily Star,
on March 26, 2012, observed, “Since the beginning
of the trial of war crimes in 2010, many political parties
and organisations had been demanding speeding up of the
trial of war criminals”.
However,
though the legal processes continue, those who opposed
Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, and now oppose the
WCT process, are gaining confidence that the trials will
come to a halt with a change in the regime after the General
Elections of 2013. Both BNP and JeI have dismissed the
ICT as a “show trial”. Accordingly, in a tactical response
to the ongoing trials, BNP is trying to gather support
against the AL Government, so that the remaining 14 months
before the Elections are handed over to a Caretaker Government.
On June 25, 2012, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul
Islam Alamgir stated, "BNP in no way will accept
the next national election except under a caretaker government….The
ruling party is hatching conspiracy to hold the next polls
under the grand alliance Government so that it can stay
in power by manipulating the polls.” He asserted, further,
“BNP and the people of the country will not allow the
next polls under any party government."
Unsurprisingly,
a panic-stricken JeI, with its top leaders chargesheeted
and jailed, has joined forces with the BNP, expressing
vociferous support for the WCT accused. The JeI has also
appealed to its Islamist ideological base, with Golam
Parwar, JeI’s Assistant Secretary General, claiming, on
June 1, 2012, that the Government was using the WCT to
suppress Jamaat supporters, having failed to face the
largest Islamic political party ideologically. He cautioned
that the Government’s efforts would prove abortive.
The BNP-JeI
combine have also sought to draw international attention
to the WCTs, and have mobilized international human rights
groups, who have called on the Bangladesh Government to
ensure that the tribunal is ‘free and impartial’. New
York based Human Rights Watch has asked for changes
to the Tribunal and its processes, including provisions
allowing the accused to question its impartiality, which
current law prohibits. The trial proceedings, so far,
have maintained an ample measure of transparency, though
questions have been raised about the credibility of some
witnesses produced by the prosecution.
Amnesty
International has also raised the issue of the right
to challenge the jurisdiction of the tribunal. Amnesty’s
Annual Report of 2011 noted, "Its (ICT) amended Rules
of Procedure provided for bail, presumption of innocence
before guilt is proven, and measures to ensure the protection
of witnesses and victims. However, a constitutional ban
on the right to challenge the jurisdiction of the Tribunal
remained in force”.
In Bangladesh’s
polarized politics, the entire subject of war crimes has
morphed from a question of long-delayed justice, into
a partisan political confrontation between the two principal
and warring parties – AL and BNP. As a result, the intensity
and vigor of public support has been lacking. Indeed,
decades of truncating Bangladeshi history in the country’s
school curricula, to exclude all reference to War Crimes
during the struggle of Independence, have created a new
generation that has no more than a vague and incoherent
idea of the events of 1971, and the enormous brutality,
not only of the Pakistan Army, but also of collaborators,
which resulted in the slaughter of an estimated three
million people and the rape of some 200,000 women. Some
10 million people from then East Pakistan were forced
across the international border, and took refuge in India.
However, the distortion and abuse of history by the military
regimes of General Ziaur Rahman and General Hussain Muhammad
Ershad, deepened further during the tenures of the BNP-led
Governments, has done much to wipe out the enormity of
the crimes committed during the Liberation War of 1971.
The UN
Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) Report (1981), published
on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, noted that
the genocide committed in Bangladesh in 1971 was the worst
in history, as stated in the “Report on the Findings of
the People’s Inquiry Commission on the Atrocities of the
War Criminals and the Collaborators”, of March 26, 1994.
The UNHRC report observed that, even if a lower estimate
of 1.5 million deaths was accepted, killings took place
at a rate between 6 and 12 thousand per day, through 267
days of carnage.
There
is a concerted effort, today, to stall or delay the WCT
proceedings, and a rising apprehension that, if these
do not lead to a conclusion before the next general election,
the entire process will prove to have been a waste, as
a focused and desperate JeI-BNP does everything in its
power to undermine, delay, and eventually disband and
destroy the Tribunals, restoring a criminal combine, many
of whose members participated and collaborated in the
genocide and atrocities of 1971, to power in Bangladesh.
Such an eventuality would potentially eliminate all future
hope of bringing the guilty to justice.
Note: In the opening paragraph
of the article, the Year of the Liberation War was incorrectly
mentioned as 1975. The mistake is rectified on July 31,
2012.
|
Deepening
Imbroglio
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
With the
signing of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the
Government of Myanmar (GoM) and the Nationalist Socialist
Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
for the first time on April 9, 2012, and the extension
of the CFA between the outfit and the Government of India
(GoI), on May 3, 2012 (the CFA with GoI has been in existence
since 2001), the outfit became the only outfit in the
North east region to have entered into a CFA with two
countries-India and Myanmar.
Under
the Myanmar CFA, from May 14, 2012, the NSCN- K was granted
‘autonomy’ in three Districts of the Sagaing administrative
region in the northwest of the country, bordering Nagaland
and Manipur to its north. Y. Wangtin Naga, an NSCN-K leader
from India who was one of the six signatories of the April
9 CFA, stated, "Nagas have autonomy in Lahe, Layse
and Nanyang in Sagaing region and we are looking for self-administration
in more Naga populated districts in Kachin." He asserted,
further, that there were no Burma Nagas or India Nagas,
but "Nagas are one and one nation struggling for
one cause". NSCN-K cadres are now free to move unarmed
anywhere in Myanmar. The GoM reportedly has proposed a
3-stage formula for the Nagas of Myanmar, including Ceasefire,
Political negotiations and Economic development.
Significantly,
the NSCN-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM),
under the leadership of chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general
secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, which has been in talks
with the GoI since 1997, has expressed some anxiety over
the developments in Myanmar. The NSCN-IM Joint Council,
on April 27, 2012, declared that the Naga people were
"concerned" on the proposed talks between NSCN-K
and the Myanmar military junta. According to the
NSCN-IM leaders, it was under their legitimate leadership
that a "unilateral ceasefire" had been reached
with the GoM years ago.
The breakaway
NSCN-Khole-Kitovi, led by "general" Khole Konyak
and Kitovi Zhimomi, (which signed a CFA with GoI on April
27, 2012) has, however, no issue with the Myanmar CFA.
On April 17, 2012, the group issued a statement declaring,
"the political destiny of Nagas of Myanmar should
be left to his Excellency the president S.S Khaplang,
NSCN (K)". Earlier, though, the NSCN-Khole-Kitovi
had described S.S. Khaplang as a ‘Burmese national’ and
asked him not to interfere in ‘Naga affairs’.
Significantly,
on June 15, 2012, the NSCN-K listed reasons for
split in the outfit on June 7, 2011 which led to the formation
of NSCN-Khole-Kitovi faction. Wangtin Naga, ‘minister
for information and publicity’ of the NSCN-K, asserted
that the split was because of differences in political
ideologies regarding talks with the Centre. He claimed
that Kitovi Zhimomi, ‘general secretary’, NSCN-Khole-Kitovi,
wanted to enter into dialogue with the GoI without S.S.
Khaplang, as New Delhi did not want to talk to the latter,
who is from Myanmar. He noted that Kitovi also wanted
to settle the issue of Nagas in Nagaland alone, which
was opposed by other leaders. The NSCN-K also claimed
that the Khole-Kitovi faction wanted to settle for an
economic package, compromising the ‘sovereignty of Nagaland’,
which has been ‘pending’ for over 60 years. It also reportedly
wanted the Centre to increase the number of Assembly and
parliamentary seats in Nagaland (the present number of
assembly seats being 60 and parliamentary seat 1). Wangtin
Naga observed that NSCN-K would not compromise on the
sovereignty of Nagaland though Khaplang was not against
any group or faction who wants to settle for financial
or economic packages or an autonomous council. He cautioned
GoI that talks with one or two groups would not permanently
solve the Naga problem. Earlier, NSCN-Khole-Kitovi had
claimed that S.S. Khaplang was ‘expelled’ from the outfit
for his alleged ‘dictatorial leadership’.
Meanwhile,
news reports on May 11, 2012, suggested that GoI, in a
move to bring about a ‘final settlement’ to the protracted
Naga problem, had proposed engagement with all three Naga
underground (UG) groups — NSCN-IM, NSCN-K and NSCN-Khole-Kitovi
– for peace talks. Joint Secretary (North East) Ministry
of Home Affairs, Shambu Singh, thus noted, “eventually
all three factions of the NSCN would be invited for peace
talks before any final settlement is reached.”
Unfortunately,
this proposal appears to have deepened the Naga imbroglio,
with the NSCN-IM warning New Delhi against ‘toying’ with
the ongoing dialogue with this group. A statement issued
by the NSCN-IM strongly opposed the Centre’s decision
to begin talks with rival groups Khole-Kitovi and NSCN-K.
Isak and Muivah had told the Centre that they would back
out of the talks if a dialogue was initiated with their
rivals. The NSCN-IM claimed that then Prime Minister P.V.
Narasimha Rao had assured Swu and Muivah that the other
outfits were ‘already with’ GoI and outstanding issues
were only with the NSCN-IM, which was why the Centre wanted
to talk with the group. “Accordingly, dialogue started
between the Centre and the NSCN and is running in the
15th year,” the statement added.
Sources
disclosed that, according to the GoI, the best option
was to work out a solution with the NSCN-IM, with which
over 80 rounds of talks have been held since 1997, and
then bring other groups in the loop. Consequently, a senior
government official noted, on May 21, 2012, “We are likely
to have a solution with the NSCN-IM in the near future
and other groups will be asked to respond to it. R.S.
Pandey (GoI’s interlocutor is talking to NSCN-IM) leaders”.
The Government's stand that the solution would be within
the framework of the Indian Constitution, however, remained
unchanged.
Worryingly,
NSCN-IM did not attend the Naga reconciliation meeting
initiated by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) held
on May 26, 2012 in Chiang Mai (Thailand), due to the ‘unwanted’
development observing that the ‘clarification’ given by
NSCN-Khole-Kitovi on the word ‘Nagaland’ as encompassing
"all Naga lands" irrespective of national or
international boundary demarcations "contradict"
the statement made by 'general secretary' Kitovi Zhimomi
after his group signed the ceasefire with GoI. The NSCN-IM,
on May 14, termed the move by the Khole-Kitovi group,
reportedly to seek a solution within the boundary of Nagaland,
as "calculated-deliberate step to sabotage the hard-earned
14 years negotiations being held at the highest level
of the GoI and the NSCN."
Meanwhile,
on May 22, 2012, the NSCN-K also criticized contradictory
statements by NSCN-Khole-Kitovi, declaring that these
needed to be "viewed seriously as they are trying
to confuse the Nagas and take them for a ride." NSCN-K
stated that, during many meetings of the three groups
– NSCN-IM, NSCN-Khole-Kitovi and Naga National Council
(NNC) – Kitovi had "categorically stated time and
again" that his group stood for the Nagas of Nagaland
alone.
It is
apparent that NSCN-Khole-Kitovi is unhappy with the ‘nature’
of the talks between NSCN-IM and GoI. Alezo Venuh of the
NSCN-Khole-Kitovi pointed out that, since the formation
of the FNR in 2008, NSCN-Khole-Kitovi had been "very
vocal" that a meaningful reconciliation among Nagas
would not be forthcoming as long as the NSCN-IM leadership
"believed in having reconciliation process and political
negotiations running parallel to each other." Asserting
that the reconciliation process included all sections
of Nagas, Venuh asserted that the same was not the case
with negotiations between GoI and NSCN-IM "because
Nagas are still in the dark about the core demands and
the progress or lack of it." Stating that ambiguity
and inconsistent politics had failed the Nagas for many
years, the Khole-Kitovi faction declared that the "Indo-Naga
political struggle” had entered a more practical zone,
with NSCN-Khole-Kitovi making necessary preparations to
consult all strata of Naga society to pursue a "realistic
political solution" that was acceptable to the Naga
people. They also made it clear that S.S. Khaplang, who
was "impeached and expelled from NSCN on June 7,
2011", and who was in touch with the junta backed
GoM to secure some sort of autonomy, "has lost all
legitimacy" in the ‘Western Naga’ (India) homeland.
Interestingly,
according to a June 6, 2012, report, Nagaland Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio, in an interview on the peace process between
New Delhi and the NSCN-IM observed that the under ground
(UG) groups were fighting for sovereignty but had realized
and reconciled with the reality that the situation was
such that “we have to live in the Indian Union. That is
why this is the closest moment for the Nagas and the Indian
Government… this is the time for a solution.” However,
he noted, further, that a piecemeal settlement would not
work. Earlier on May 3, 2012, the Chief Minister advocated
two separate solutions to the Naga problem, one with New
Delhi and another with Myanmar, since the Nagas were divided
between the two countries by the erstwhile colonial rulers.
NSCN-Khole–Kitovi
seeks a settlement within the existing boundaries of Nagaland.
The NSCN-K demands ‘sovereignty’ for Naga areas comprehending
Naga dominated territories within India and contiguous
areas in Myanmar. Reiterating its stand on sovereignty
on April 24, 2012, NSCN-K declared that NSCN-Khole-Kitovi's
"espousal" of Eastern (Myanmar) and Western
Nagaland (India) was another ideology for further partitioning
Naga areas, rather than "dismantling" arbitrarily
imposed "artificial boundaries". It stated that
NSCN-K would pursue the cherished goal of the Nagas without
any "biasness (sic), preferences or territorial
limitations". NSCN-K also stated, on April 22, 2012,
that there could be no "reconciliation" at the
expense of sovereignty stating that it (sovereignty) was
not a "mere traditional concept". The NSCN-IM
visualizes the integration of all Naga inhabited areas
of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam within India,
and the Naga-inhabited regions in neighboring Myanmar
under a single administration. Talks with the NSCN-IM
have stalled on the contentious issue of the incorporation
of Naga inhabited areas in the States neighbouring Nagaland.
Meanwhile,
factional clash continues amongst the Naga militant factions.
Twenty eight incidents of fratricidal clashes have
already been reported in 2012 within and outside Nagaland,
resulting in 37 fatalities (till July 9, 2012). The number
of injured was 18. The largest proportion of fratricidal
violence has been registered between the NSCN-K and the
NSCN-Khole-Kitovi in Nagaland (22 incidents out of a total
of 28). Earlier, a sharp spike in Naga factional violence
had been registered in 2011, with 49 killed and 13 injured.
With fundamental ideological contradictions between the
principal UG Naga factions and unabated fratricidal violence,
the Naga imbroglio continues to evade a durable settlement.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
July 3- 9,
2012
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
8
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Odisha
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
Total (INDIA)
|
3
|
4
|
7
|
14
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
42
|
3
|
6
|
51
|
FATA
|
8
|
5
|
30
|
43
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
Sindh
|
29
|
2
|
4
|
35
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
80
|
12
|
40
|
132
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
No
better
ties until
terrorism
in Pakistan,
says Indian
External
Affairs
Minister
S.M. Krishna:
Indian
External
Affairs
Minister
S.M. Krishna,
at his
30-minute
meeting
with Pakistani's
Foreign
Minister
Hina Rabbani
Khar on
July 8,
in Tokyo
(Japan)
underlined
the importance
of swift
action
to bring
the perpetrators
of November
26, 2008
(26/11)
to justice,
saying
New Delhi
has given
more concrete
evidence
against
those
involved.
Mr Krishna,
who met
Ms Khar
on the
sidelines
of a conference
on Afghanistan,
also raised
the issue
of Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
founder
Hafiz
Saeed's
continued
anti-India
propaganda,
official
sources
said.
Asiang
Age,
July 9,
2012.
LeT
militants
massacred
Sikhs
in 2000,
reveals
Abu Jundal:
The November
26, 2008
(26/11)
handler
Abu Jundal
has told
interrogators
that it
was Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
'operation
head'
Muzammil
Butt,
then operating
in Kashmir,
who along
with dozen
terrorists
in Army
fatigues
went to
Chhittisinghpora
village
in Jammu
and Kashmir's
Anantnag
District
on March
25, 2000
and killed
35 Sikhs.
The aim
was to
create
communal
tension
in the
Valley
on the
eve of
then US
President
Bill Clinton's
visit
to India
and also
malign
the Indian
Army.
Times
of India,
July 9,
2012.
1,791
cyber
crime
cases
registered
in India
in 2011,
according
to NCRB
report:
The recent
report
by the
National
Crime
Records
Bureau
(NCRB)
"Crime
in India
2011"
has thrown
light
on how
the nation
has fared,
as far
as cyber
crimes
go, as
reported
on July
5. According
to the
report,
the numbers
of cases
that were
registered
under
the nation's
IT act
in 2011
were 1,791
- a considerable
rise of
85.4 per
cent from
the 966
cases
registered
in 2010.
The report
states
that the
highest
number
of cases
were registered
in Andhra
Pradesh
(349),
Maharashtra
came second
with 306
registered
cases,
followed
by Kerala
(227 cases),
Karnataka
(155 cases)
and Rajasthan
(122 cases).
Tech2,
July 7,
2012.
ISI
officer
provided
ammunition
and marine
training
to 26/11
terrorists,
reveals
Abu Jundal:
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
operative
Abu Jundal,
who is
under
the custody
of the
Delhi
Police,
has claimed
that the
cartridges
used by
the November
26, 2008
(26/11)
attackers
was given
to them
by an
ISI officer,
named
Major
Samir
Ali, as
reported
on July
6. Jundal
revealed
Major
Ali came
to Pakistan
occupied
Kashmir
(PoK)
to hand
over two
cartons
of AK-47
bullets
to the
terrorists
who were
to carry
out the
26/11
attacks.
Major
Samir
Ali came
to the
Beit-ul-Mujahideen
camp in
Muzaffarabad.
Zee
News,
July 7,
2012.
'Deeply
sorry
if innocents
were killed
in Chhattisgarh',
says Union
Home Minister
P. Chidambaram:
Union
Home Minister
P. Chidambaram
on July
4 defended
the role
of Central
Reserve
Police
Force
(CRPF)
in last
week's
(June
28) anti-Communist
Party
of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
operation
in Chhattisgarh
in which
19 people
were killed,
but said
he was
"deeply
sorry"
if any
innocent
villagers
were among
the victims.
Speaking
to reporters
after
a cabinet
meeting,
Chidambaram
said he
was "deeply
sorry
if any
girl,
or boy
or man
or woman
not involved
with the
Maoists
at all
has been
killed".
Indian
Express,
July 5,
2012.
21,000
militants
killed
during
two decades
of turmoil,
says J&K
Government:
The Jammu
and Kashmir
(J&K)
Government
has said
that more
than 21,000
militants
were killed
in the
two-decades
of turmoil
in the
state
and over
3,600
civilians
died at
the hands
of law
enforcing
agencies
while
maintaining
law and
order.
Responding
to a notice
from the
State
Human
Rights
Commission
(SHRC),
the Home
Department
has said
that 21,449
militants
were killed
in the
state
since
1990 till
May 2012.
Times
of India,
July 5,
2012.
NEPAL
Baidya
describes
his party
as 'third
force':
Chairman
of the
newly
formed
Communist
Party
of Nepal-Maoist,
Mohan
Baidya
(CPN-Maoist,
Mohan
Baidya)
has described
his party
as the
"third
force",
claiming
that it
was capable
of leading
the nation.
Speaking
during
a book
launch
in the
capital
on July
7, Baidya
said his
party
emerged
as the
third
force
in order
to give
an outlet
to the
political
deadlock.
He, however,
did not
explain
on what
basis
his party
could
claim
third
position.
Nepal
News,
July 9,
2012.
Nepal
Army starts
integration
of former
Maoist
combatants:
Nepal
Army (NA)
started
integration
process
of former
Maoist
combatants
from July
4 as per
the decision
of Army
Integration
Special
Committee
(AISC)
and direction
of the
Government.
According
to NA
spokesperson
Ramindra
Chhetri,
a NA team
reached
all seven
Army monitored
People's
Liberation
Army (PLA)
cantonments
accompanied
by representative
of Public
Service
Commission
to start
the process.
Meanwhile,
leaders
of 22
opposition
political
parties
jointly
met President
Ram Baran
Yadav
at Shital
Niwas,
requesting
him to
not to
approve
the budget
to be
presented
by the
Maoist-Madheshi
Government.
Nepal
News,
July 5,
2012.
PAKISTAN
42
civilians
and six
militant
among
51 persons
killed
during
the week
in Balochistan:
At least
14 persons
were killed
while
seven
others
injured
in a landmine
blast
in the
Tooba
Achakzai
area near
the Pak-Afghan
border
in the
border
town of
Chaman
in Balochistan
on July
8.
Separately,
at least
six militants
were killed
and four
others
arrested
in an
exchange
of fire
and a
raid in
Mastung
and Quetta.
Eighteen
Punjabi-speaking
persons,
who were
travelling
to Iran,
were shot
dead and
two others
injured
when Baloch
Liberation
Tigers
(BLT)
militants
attacked
their
vehicles
in the
Basoli
area of
Turbat
District
in the
night
of July
6.
At
least
three
persons,
including
a local
government
assistant
director,
were shot
dead in
a sectarian
attack
on July
4 in Kuchlak,
some 25
kilometres
from Quetta.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
July
3-9, 2012.
30
militants
and eight
civilians
among
43 persons
killed
during
the week
in FATA:
Militants
on July
7 attacked
a convoy
of Security
Forces
(SFs)
and killed
four personnel,
which
was passing
through
Tiarza
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
of Serwakai
sub-division
of South
Waziristan
Agency
in Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA).
Twenty
four persons
were killed
and 10
others
were injured
in United
States
(US) drone
strikes
in the
Gorwaik
village
of Dattakhel
area in
North
Waziristan
Agency
on July
6.
At
least
four women
were killed
and four
others
injured,
including
women
and children,
in a grenade
attack
at a home
in Malik
Din Khel
area of
Khyber
Agency
on July
3.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer
,
July 3-9,
2012.
29
civilians
and four
militant
among
35 persons
killed
during
the week
in Sindh:
Five persons,
including
a Muttahida
Qaumi
Movement
(MQM)
activist
and a
Pakistan
People's
Party
(PPP)
worker,
were killed
in separate
acts of
target
killing
in the
provincial
metropolis
of Sindh,
Karachi
on July
8.
Nine
people
including
an Intelligence
Bureau
(IB) officer
and three
militants
of the
banned
Sipah-e-Sahaba
Pakistan
(SSP)
were killed
on July
7, in
Karachi.
.
Three
persons,
including
a child,
were killed
in separate
incidents
of target
killing
in Karachi
on July
6.
Eight
persons,
including
a MQM-H
cadre,
were killed
in separate
incidents
of target
killing
in Karachi
on July
5.
At
least
five persons
including
two workers
of the
PPP and
a Policeman
were shot
dead in
a spate
of target
killings
in different
parts
of Karachi
on July
3.
Four
people,
including
an employee
of Karachi
Electricity
Supply
Company
(KESC)
and a
sympathiser
of MQM,
were killed
in separate
acts of
violence
in Karachi
on July
2.Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News ;
Tribune;
Central
Asia Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
July 3-9,
2012
Put
pressure
on Haqqani
network,
US tells
Pakistan:
The United
States
on July
8 pressed
Pakistan
to pressure
into talks
the Haqqani
network,
which
it blames
for attacks
on US
targets
in Afghanistan.
During
their
one-hour
meeting,
US Secretary
of State
Hillary
Clinton
urged
Foreign
Minister
Hina Rabbani
Khar to
put pressure
on the
Haqqani
network,
said a
senior
US official,
who acknowledged
that it
was unclear
whether
Pakistan
would
step up
its counter-terrorism
efforts.
"In terms
of counterterrorism,
my answer
is we'll
see,"
the official
told reporters
on condition
of anonymity.
Daily
Times,
July 9,
2012.
22
journalists
killed
in four
years
in Balochistan,
says report:
A workshop
on 'Media
and Civil
Society
in Balochistan'
was informed
on July
8 that
the media
in Balochistan
was not
free and
journalists
on professional
duty often
faced
harassment
at the
hands
of influential
elements
and different
pressure
groups
active
in the
province.
According
to figures
presented
at the
workshop,
at least
22 journalists
have been
killed
in the
province
during
the past
four years.
The Centre
for Research
and Security
Studies
(CRSS)
had organised
the workshop
in collaboration
with the
Association
for Integrated
Development.
Dawn,
July 9,
2012.
Karachi
violence
claimed
1,257
lives
in six
months,
says HRCP:
Despite
tall claims
of Government
and Police,
there
is no
respite
in the
targeted
killings
in Karachi,
as according
to the
data of
HRCP,
targeted
killings
and other
crimes
have claimed
at least
1,257
lives
in Karachi
during
last six
months.
According
to statistics
compiled
by the
HRCP Karachi
chapter,
a total
of 1,257
people
were killed
in the
city during
first
six months
of 2012,
with 972
fall prey
to targeted
killings,
which
is 77
percent
of the
total
killings,
on different
grounds,
including
sectarian,
personal
enmities,
bomb blasts,
Lyari
gang war
and abduction.
While
during
first
six months
of 2011,
the figure
was 1,138.
Daily
Times,
July 9,
2012.
'Will
give moral,
political
and diplomatic
support
to Kashmir',
says Prime
Minister
Raja Pervez
Ashraf:
Prime
Minister
Raja Pervez
Ashraf
on July
5 said
his Government
will continue
its "moral,
political
and diplomatic
support"
to Kashmiris
till the
issue
is resolved
in accordance
with their
aspirations
and UN
resolutions.
Ashraf
made the
remarks
during
a meeting
with Chaudhry
Abdul
Majeed,
the "Prime
Minister"
of Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir,
an official
statement
said.
DNA,
July 6,
2012,
2012.
Pakistan
reopens
NATO supply
route
after
US Secretary
of State
Hillary
Clinton's
apology:
Pakistan
on July
3 agreed
to reopen
its border
to NATO
supply
convoys
into Afghanistan
after
the United
States
(US) Secretary
of State
Hillary
Clinton
said that
Washington
was sorry
for the
loss of
life in
NATO arial
attack
on Salala
border
check-post
on November
26, 2011.
The announcement,
following
months
of negotiations,
will come
as a relief
to the
United
States
and its
NATO allies
which
need the
routes
for a
planned
withdrawal
of combat
forces
from Afghanistan
through
2014.
Daily
Times,
July 4,
2012.
Stability
and prosperity
in Balochistan
top priority,
says Prime
Minister
Raja Pervez
Ashraf:
Proclaiming
Balochistan
was top
on his
list of
priorities,
Prime
Minister
Raja Pervez
Ashraf
on July
2 said
bringing
stability
and prosperity
in the
Province
would
be the
top priority
of his
Government.
Chairing
his first
meeting
on Balochistan
crisis
as Prime
Minister,
Raja said
the self-styled
independence
of federal
agencies
is being
checked
by ensuring
that they
do not
act independently
in connection
with law
and order.
He said
the Federal
Agencies
were meant
to provide
assistance
to the
Provincial
Government
as and
when required.
Daily
Times,
July 3,
2012.
Civilian
deaths
from US
drones
'lowest
since
2008',
say Bureau
of Investigative
Journalism:
Fewer
civilians
have died
in US
drone
strikes
in Pakistan
so far
this year
than at
any other
time in
the last
four years,
a report
Bureau
of Investigative
Journalism
said.
Three
to 24
civilians
were reported
killed
by American
CIA drones
in Pakistan
from January
to June,
according
to the
London-based
Bureau
of Investigative
Journalism.
Reported
civilian
casualty
rates
have not
been so
low since
the first
half of
2008,
when 12-21
civilians
reportedly
died under
former
US president
George
W Bush,
it said.
Dawn,
July 3,
2012.
SRI
LANKA
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
calls
on diplomats
to counter
threats
from pro-LTTE
Diaspora:
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
on July
7 said
that despite
the country
having
a concise
foreign
policy
the threat
of the
pro-Liberation
Tigers
of Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
Diaspora
in the
West remains
to be
a massive
challenge
and asked
the country's
diplomatic
envoys
to counter
them.
The President
said the
Sri Lankan
diplomats
in overseas
missions,
especially
in countries
where,
the pro-LTTE
Diaspora
is active,
to be
aware
of the
relentless
campaign
carried
out by
them to
discredit
Sri Lanka.
ColomboPage,
July 9,
2012.
International
LTTE network
behind
Vavuniya
Prison
unrest,
says Prison
Minister
Chandrasiri
Gajadeera:
The recent
unrest
in the
Vavuniya
Prison
in Northern
Sri Lanka
is a well-planned
conspiracy
of the
Liberation
Tigers
of Tamil
Eelam's
(LTTE)
international
network,
Prisons
and Rehabilitation
Minister,
Chandrasiri
Gajadeera
said on
July 3.
He noted
that the
LTTE suspects
at the
prison
have had
in their
possession
satellite
mobile
phones
and various
communication
equipment
and added
that some
of the
suspects
transferred
to Colombo
following
the incident
were prepared
to confess
to that
effect.
ColomboPage,
July 5,
2012.
The
South
Asia Intelligence
Review
(SAIR)
is a weekly
service
that brings
you regular
data,
assessments
and news
briefs
on terrorism,
insurgencies
and sub-conventional
warfare,
on counter-terrorism
responses
and policies,
as well
as on
related
economic,
political,
and social
issues,
in the
South
Asian
region.
SAIR
is a project
of the
Institute
for Conflict
Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism
Portal.
|
|
|