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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 4, August 2, 2010
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
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Balochistan:
Behind an Iron Curtain
Guest Writer: Vikram Sood
Former Secretary, R&AW; Vice President, Observer
Research Foundation
"Awake
my Punjab, Pakistan is ebbing away", Baloch
poet, philosopher and Left Wing activist lawyer, Habib
Jalib wrote, "Our Dreams have faded now, Pakistan
is ebbing away, / Sindh, Baluchistan, have been weeping
for ages. / The people of Punjab are still lost, asleep."
On July
14, 2010, Jalib was shot dead outside his brother’s
shop on Sariab Road in Quetta. Ironically, barely twenty
persons showed up to condole the poet-politician’s death
in faraway Islamabad, a city rendered remote by its
own siege and indifference. Was Punjab really losing
interest in the rest of the country, troubled as it
was with its terrorists?
Jalib,
the Secretary General of the Baloch Nationalist Party
(BNP), who often fought legal battles pro bono,
and who meant so much more to so many, had been imprisoned,
at various times, by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Generals
Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf. Yet Habib would not
bend.
Habib’s
murder was not an incident in isolation, nor was he
killed by mistake. His compatriot and colleague, Mir
Maula Baksh Dashti, from the National Party also a former
Chairman of the Baloch Students Organisation, had been
gunned down only four days earlier, on July 10. Commentator
Amir Mateen noted, in a report published on July 25,
2010, that there are, on average, two targeted killings
in Balochistan every day; while official figures put
this figure at 370 in the last ten months, others say
the number would be closer to 600. Sardar Akhtar Mengal,
president of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and
a former Chief Minister of the Balochistan, on July
31, also accused the Government and its functionaries
of carrying out targeted killings, adding, "The
State and its agents have deliberately created panic
in Balochistan, but the BNP is not scared of anything,
as the party has already scarified the lives of many
of its leaders and workers."
Baloch
nationalists like Malik Siraj Akbar Khan compare the
killings of Habib and Dashti to the assassinations of
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and Balach
Marri. Yet, while the latter had
united the Baloch, the unfortunate reality today is
that the Baloch remain divided. There is a leadership
vacuum in Balochistan, with most surviving iconic leaders
no longer living in Quetta. Mir Khair Baksh Marri is
in Karachi; Sardar Atuallah Khan Mengal is in Wadh (Khuzdar
district), while his son, Akhtar, is in Dubai; Mir Hasil
Bizenjo, Member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, operates
from Karachi. Even an important secular Pashtun nationalist
like Mahmood Khan Achakzai, leader of the Pakhtoonkhwa
Milli Awami Party, is believed to be away, possibly
in the United Kingdom.
An acute
provincial xenophobia now targets the non-Baloch in
the Province. Mateen says one-quarter of Quetta is a
no-go area; half the city goes to sleep at sun down;
and areas like Sariab Road and Arbab Karan Road are
out of bounds for the non-Baloch even during daytime.
Barring the Quetta Cantonment, which is heavily protected,
all other areas, including pickets of the paramilitary
Frontier Corps, are subject to attacks; local Police
enter areas like Spiny Road and Samungli Road at their
own peril. Mateen observes,
...
the ordinary citizenry has been left to the butchery
of a lethal mix of extremist nationalists, political
separatists, religious fanatics, smugglers, drug
dealers and the land mafia hand in glove with
criminals, not to forget international terrorists
and foreign intelligence agencies."
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The Pushtun
of Quetta have moved to safer areas of Nawankhali and
Sraghurdhi, while Punjabi settlers, many of whom have
lived in Quetta for generations, have been forced to
leave for other Provinces. Doctors and surgeons have
been intimidated and prevented from attending their
clinics, so that they are not able to report incidents
and casualties. About 1,600 Government officials have
sought transfers out of Balochistan.
In the
current cycle of violence, according to former Senator
Sanaullah Baloch, between 2003 and December 2005, about
2,600 to 3,200 innocent people were killed in military
operations, particularly in the Marri and Bugti areas.
Islamabad frequently used air raids to subdue the Baloch
tribals. About 80 to 85 per cent of those killed were
women and children. During this phase, according to
the United Nations’ December 2006 estimates, there were
84,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Balochistan
without any relief or shelter; there was a total blockade
of the Marri and Bugti areas; an estimated 8000 to 10,000
died in the exodus which caused malnourishment, disease
and lack of shelter.
Violence
in Balochistan has since been continuous. Nawab Akbar
Khan Bugti was assassinated on August 26, 2006, and
Mir Balach Marri, on November 21, 2007. The Baloch cannot
forget the campaigns launched by General Musharraf against
the Bugtis from 2005, when he rolled in tanks and brought
in the Air Force to eventually kill the Nawab. Both
these killings were accompanied by numerous others.
There were only six reported incidents in 2005; the
number rose to 44 the next year, accounting for 391
deaths, including 124 Security Force (SF) personnel.
In 2007 there were 22 major incidents, with 199 fatalities.
Since 2005, there have been 1,448 deaths, more than
half of which were described as civilians; 404 were
security personnel and 247 ‘terrorists’. In 2010, 97
civilians have been killed, as against 8 terrorists
and 32 security personnel, thus far. While there have
been a few sectarian killings, many targets have been
the middle class – the educated and the professionals.
To put
this into perspective, Balochistan has a population
of 7.8 million, and there have been 1,448 fatalities.
Pro rata, in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, with a
population of more than 85 million, this would be equivalent
to nearly 15,000 fatalities. Worse, UN reports claim
that 8,000 Baloch have been missing since 2005; translated
into Punjab equivalents, this would mean as many as
80,000. The truth is that there is no accurate figure
of how many Baloch have died behind Pakistan’s Iron
Curtain. The enormity of the casualties has been lost
in the remoteness of the Province, and the seemingly
‘low’ absolute number of casualties spread over five
years.
There
are two versions about the ownership of these killings.
Representatives of the Jamhoori Watan Party insist that
the middle class was being targeted by the separatists,
since the former believed in an unified Pakistan even
as they struggled for a better deal for the Baloch.
Others feel that the separatist movement draws its inspiration
from Sardar Khair Bux Marri, who is believed to have
said that violence was the only way to attain Baloch
goals. Many, however, believe that this targeted killing
of the political middle class is the handiwork of the
‘Agencies’ who wish to "knock out our political
brains", according to Senator Manzoor Gichki. The
Baloch also suspect that the so-called Baloch Massala
Daffah Army (BDMA), which has claimed responsibility
for the recent assassinations, is a front for the Agencies.
The plan looks reasonable from the Agencies’ point of
view. Having either killed or driven away the traditional
leadership of the Baloch, it would be best to decimate
the middle class leadership, which could be the source
and inspiration for the other dissenting Baloch. Although
there are many who believe that violence is the only
way to attain Baloch rights, some nationalist leaders
still believe that dialogue may yield results, which
could include provincial autonomy and a greater say
in the national affairs under the original terms of
accession. This, however, is unlikely to be granted,
though Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, on August
1, reiterated the old formula that the Government was
ready for a dialogue with the Baloch leaders, whether
they were in or out of the country, and that the Government
wanted to bring Baloch leaders into mainstream politics.
The picture
that emerges from Balochistan is of total lawlessness,
with no one seemingly in control. A situation where
various kinds of mafia – drugs, weapons, land and smuggling,
anything, take control, and even the government of the
day seems part of that mafia. With Chief Minister Aslam
Raisani taking shelter in Dubai for half the month,
nobody is really in charge. Local dissidents and objectors
are routinely described as ‘terrorists’ and treated
as such. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), for
instance, has been seen to be increasingly anti-Punjabi
in recent years. Its cadres consist of the educated
class too, which includes doctors, engineers and lawyers,
and this obviously means that this class too feels that
their basic rights would not be available to them except
through a violent struggle. Age-old grievances have
not been addressed and new ones like the presence of
the Chinese in Gwadar have been added.
The Baloch
resent the fact that theirs has become a garrison province;
that lucrative projects like the Saindak Copper Project
and the Gwadar Port are being handled by the Chinese;
that projects like the Sui Gas and Reko Dik Copper-Gold
undertakings are exploited by Pakistan Petroleum Limited,
and the Baloch get no share of the revenue. In November
2009, former Senator Sanaullah Baloch gave a detailed
account of the extent of discrimination and deprivation
that the Baloch face, speaking of "The centre’s
endless desire to control the province’s natural wealth
and its continued suppression of the people through
ethnically-structured military and paramilitary forces..."
There
is further resentment on issues such as the fact that
Civil Armed Forces in the Province (numbering 50,000
personnel). The World Bank released the Balochistan
Economic report 2009, which recounts a dismal story.
During the period 1972-73 to 2005-06, Balochistan’s
economy expanded 2.7 times compared to 3.6 in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly the North West Frontier Province)
and four times in Punjab. The report also pointed out
that Balochistan had the worst social indicators for
education, literacy, health, water and sanitation for
2006-07. The Human Development Index rate the resource-rich
Dera Bugti as the worst District in Pakistan, at 0.285,
compared to the best in the land of the powerful Jhelum
District at 0.703. While rural poverty in Punjab decreased
by four per cent, it increased by 15 per cent in Balochistan
during the same period (other provinces, Sindh and KP,
also grew poorer). Gas from Balochistan has been used
primarily in the Punjab since 1964; Quetta got gas only
in 1986. The Chaghai nuclear tests were carried out
without the knowledge of the Baloch Government and,
although many in the Province have suffered from the
after effects of these tests, there has been no compensation.
Yet other
grim statistics are
-
92
percent of Balochistan’s districts are classified
as ‘high deprivation’ areas, compared to 50 per
cent in Sindh and 29 per cent in Punjab.
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Balochistan
has the highest infant and maternal mortality rate
in South Asia, caused mainly by malnutrition among
34 per cent of pregnant women.
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Infant
mortality rates in Balochistan stand at 130 per
thousand, against Pakistan’s national average of
70.
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Balochistan
has only one vocational institute for women. Punjab
has 111.
-
23
per cent of girls in rural Balochistan have access
to primary schools. The figure for Punjab is 46
per cent.
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Punjab
has 486 polytechnic, computer science and women’s
vocational institutes, as well as commercial and
law colleges, while Baloch have just nine.
-
The
Social Policy Development Centre report of 2005
stated that the percentage of population living
in a high degree of deprivation was 88 per cent
in Balochistan, compared to 25 per cent in Punjab.
Such
statistics are endless, but all confirm the acute discrimination
and deprivation that Balochistan faces. Deprived of
political, economic and social rights, the Baloch have
no faith that the Federal Government will ever deliver
on the various promises it has made in the past. This
is the sentiment that underpins their struggle for self-determination.
Islamabad, on the other hand, feels it has an inalienable
right to exploit the resources of Balochistan, and feels
no necessity to assuage the feelings of the rebellious
Baloch.
Comparisons
between the present situation in Balochistan and East
Pakistan in 1971 are not just tempting, they are, in
many ways, accurate. The Bengalis had suffered decades
of neglect and discrimination, which the Punjabi rulers
in Islamabad/Rawalpindi fobbed off as ‘external intervention’,
sustaining the argument that nothing needed to be done
to alleviate the local grievances. When the Bengalis
reacted by launching a movement for separation, the
response was brutal, indeed, genocidal, use of force.
In Balochistan, four previous uprisings have been suppressed
through brute force, and nothing has been done to remove
the sense of injustice, alienation and deprivation.
In a recent interview to a Sindhi newspaper, Khair Bux
Marri declared, "The British only laid the foundation
of our slavery but the Punjabis bathed us in blood and
kept us slaves. What would we do in such circumstances?
Obviously, we would retaliate."
There
are other complications in Balochistan. The foremost
is the presence of the Quetta Shura of Mullah Omar,
and divergent US and Pakistani interests in the future
of this Shura, as well as the Pushtun response to this
in Balochistan. US involvement in the intricate and
seemingly hopeless war in Afghanistan against the Taliban
and al Qaeda with the dubious assistance of Pakistan
and its surrogates in Balochistan, will inevitably bring
the Province on to the front page. The activities of
the Jundullah, a Sunni Wahhabi organization,
from bases in Balochistan, have already attracted Iranian
ire and the suspicion in Tehran that the movement is
meant to detach the predominantly Sunni Sistan-Balochistan.
Already feeling surrounded by Sunni regimes, fearing
a Talibanised Afghanistan on its northern borders and
the Centcom Forces in the area that have indulged in
periodic sabre-rattling, the Iranian leaders have reason
to be paranoid.
Further,
the concept of reconfiguring the region has been doing
the rounds for some time. Among these, Ralph Peters,
in his article "Blood Borders – How a better Middle
East would look", argued that, since there have
been arbitrary and distorted borders in Africa and the
Middle East, it was necessary to mend this. His redrawn
map leaves a reconfigured Iran, Afghanistan and a much
reduced Pakistan. Peters does not say how this would
be achieved and his argument remains no more than a
hypothesis.
In July
2010, former US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill
and geopolitical journalist Michael Hughes, explored
the idea of re-configuration of the region again. Blackwill’s
essay "A de facto partition of Afghanistan"
is more about how the US could exit Afghanistan and
stay there as well: "De facto partition
is clearly not the best outcome one can imagine for
the United States in Afghanistan. But it is now the
best outcome that Washington can achieve consistent
with vital national interests and US domestic politics."
Though he refers more to the Pushtun belt in Afghanistan,
it is unlikely that the Pushtun belt in KP and Balochistan
would remain unaffected by this plan. A domino effect
is quite likely.
Hughes’
essay, "Balkanising Pakistan: A collective national
Security Strategy – Breaking Pakistan to Fix It"
argues that,
…as
a result of flawed boundaries combined with the
nexus between military rule and Islamic extremism,
Pakistan now finds itself in rapid descent toward
certain collapse and the country’s leaders stubbornly
refuse to do things required to change course.
But before allowing Pakistan to commit state suicide,
self-disintegrate and further destabilise the
region, the international community can beat them
to the punch and deconstruct the country less
violently.
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Hughes
admits that Balkanisation did seem to be an extreme
step, but adds, "after considering Pakistan’s historic
and current relationship with al Qaeda – it becomes
easy to justify." More than just strategic justification,
one can discern a serious undertone of exasperation
and disillusionment with Pakistan in the emerging western
discourse, which the Wikileaks exposures will
only exacerbate.
It is
only natural that all Pakistanis would find this kind
of discourse about their country extremely abhorrent.
But they must also realise that the biggest existential
threat to them comes from the policies followed by their
political and military leaders these past sixty years,
with little hope that this will change. The implications
of all this go beyond Balochistan, even beyond Pakistan,
and the region and the world cannot be passive spectators.
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Deadlock
Anshuman Behera
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Nepal
plunged into deeper crisis, with political parties failing
to elect the Prime Minister (PM) in two rounds of Prime
Ministerial elections held on July 21 and July 23, 2010.
Earlier, on July 13, the Constitutional Assembly (CA)
had decided to conduct Prime Ministerial Elections so
that the peace process and the Constitution drafting process
could be taken to their intended conclusion.
Notably,
PM Madhav Kumar Nepal had submitted his resignation to
the President, Ram Baran Yadav, on July 1 [he continues
as caretaker PM till date]. Significantly, the main Opposition
party in Singh Durbar (Parliament), the Unified
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M), was determined to topple the Government led
by Madhav Kumar Nepal’s Communist Party of Nepal –Unified
Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). The official rationale of
the Maoist drive against the CPN-UML led Government was
its failure to draft a Constitution for the land by the
May 28 deadline. Repeated strikes and shut downs by the
UCPN-M ultimately forced the PM to resign.
In the
first round of the election on July, 21, UCPN-M chairman
Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, Nepali Congress
(NC) leader Rama Chandra Poudel and CPN-UML General Secretary
Jhala Nath Khanal filed their nominations. The election,
however, ended in a deadlock, as neither of the final
two candidates – Prachanda and Poudel – could get the
magic number of 401 out of a total strength of 599 in
the House. Significantly, the CA conducted voting on the
nominations of the UCPN-M and the NC, since the CPN-UML
withdrew its candidature just minutes before the scheduled
time of election. The caretaker PM explained the decision
to withdraw, stating, "The UML withdrew the candidature
as it could not receive a written commitment of support
from at least 401 members of Parliament which makes a
two third majority."
Of the
592 members voting, Prachanda secured the support of 242,
while 114 voted against and 236 members remained neutral.
In Poudel’s case, out of the 587 votes cast, 124 members
voted in his favour , 235 members voted against, and 228
remained neutral. The UCPN-M has a total strength of 238
members in the Parliament while the NC has 114.
With no
decision possible on this outcome, the Chairman of the
CA, Subash Nembang, declared that a run-off election would
be held on the July 23.
On July
23, even as the process of the run-off elections was to
start, Prachanda and Subash Nembang held a flurry of meetings
with fringe parties in a bid to secure support for the
Maoist candidate. Ironically, Prachanda also held a separate
meeting with the leaders of the pro-monarchy Rastriya
Prajatantra Party (RPP), seeking their support. He was
also scheduled to meet the Madhesh-based parties, but
the meeting failed to materialise, as the Madheshi leaders
remained busy working out their common strategy. Four
Madheshi parties, under the umbrella of the United Democratic
Madhesi Front (UDMF), decided to list their conditions
for support to either candidate. These included an assurance
that the new Constitution would be drafted, that peace
would be established, and Madheshi concerns would be addressed.
The results
of the run-off elections, however, were almost a repetition
of the earlier round. Of the 572 votes cast for the UCPN-M,
241 voted in favour, 113 against, and 218 remained neutral.
Of the 578 members participating in the election process
of the NC, 123 voted in favour, 241 against, and 214 remained
neutral. Meanwhile, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC)
of the Legislature-Parliament on July 23 itself decided
to hold a second run-off election on August 2.
Given the
prevailing political situation, any possibilities of a
positive outcome in the next run-off are remote, even
as each political party continues to contribute to the
deadlock in Nepal. The CPN-UML remains determined not
to take part in the elections as long as it is not assured
of a clear outcome. On July 23, CPN-UML leader Bharat
Mohan Adhikari announced that his party would not take
part in the election until there is confirmation that
it would ensure "a national consensus Government".
The UML, moreover, is also not particularly keen on an
alliance with the Nepali Congress (NC), with whose support
it remained in office for little more than a year. During
its year in office, the CPN-UML failed to garner the confidence
and support of its 22 coalition partners. The chances
of forming a national consensus Government – what the
UML is looking for – are consequently bleak at the present
juncture.
The NC
has its own problems, and there has been crisis of leadership
since the death of Girija Prasad Koirala. While some of
its members support the CPN-UML, others insist on an ‘independent’
line. In an effort to break the deadlock, Sujata Koirala,
Deputy Prime Minister in the caretaker Government and
NC leader, said, on July 22, that the parties should trust
the Maoists and that she had no problem with a Maoist-led
Government. On July 30, she went on to say that the NC
was ready to withdraw its candidate from the race for
the Prime Minister’s post.
However,
the prospects of the NC and UCPN-M reaching the magic
number are also bleak, as it is near impossible for them
to get the support of the Madhesh based parties, who have
83 members in the Constituent Assembly, and have become
even more demanding on a special status to the Madhesh
region. Notably, the UDMF has asked for a written commitment
from both NC and UCPN-M on the issue. Though the UCPN-M,
on July 29, agreed to give a written commitment to the
UDMF, it does not support the core demand of "ek
Madhesh ek Pradesh" (One Madhesh, one Provincial
State).
Compounding
issues further, is the question of integration of Maoist
armed cadres with the Nepal Army. Even as electoral uncertainties
mounted, the Vice Chairman of the UCPN-M Baburam Bhattarai
declared, on July 29, that his party was ‘ready to finish
the important task’ of integration and rehabilitation
of Maoist combatants, by separating those among them who
want to be integrated into the State Security Forces and
those who do not. He also said that this would be done
by bringing the Maoist combatants under the Army Integration
Special Committee. It is, however, clearly understood
that this statement was only intended to secure the support
of the other political parties for the August 2 elections.
The Maoists have demonstrated an increasing obsession
with the being in power and, while they speak of the formation
of a "national Government" or "unity Government",
they have failed to evolve a basic and mutual understanding
with the NC and CPN-UML on the writing of the Constitution.
It is significant that, when they decided to support the
CPN-UML candidate Jhala Nath Khanal in the First run-off
election on July 23, they chose to keep their own candidature
unchanged at the same time.
There is
no chance of a new candidate emerging to strike a balance
among the political parties, since the Parliament Rules
of Procedures, 2008, bar the entry of new candidates in
run-off elections, even where contestants from previous
rounds fail to secure a majority.
In the
five years since the peace process was initiated in 2006,
Nepal has had two different Governments under two different
political parties. The UCPN-M led Government, headed by
Pushpa Kamal Dahal as Prime Minister remained in the office
from August 18, 2008, to May 4, 2009, while the CPN-UML
led Government under Prime Ministership Madhav Kumar Nepal
presided between May 23, 2009, and June 30, 2010.
The continuing
uncertainty over elections, the deadlock in the Constitution-drafting
process, the absence of progress on critical outstanding
issues, including the integration of Maoist armed cadres,
the simmering difficulties in the Madhesh, and the intensifying
cycles of disruptive strikes and street demonstrations,
are all combined in a deeply unsettling scenario in Nepal.
The country has learnt to live in a state of permanent
crisis, but unless some political breakthrough is devised,
there is a rising danger that things may worsen dramatically,
as one or the other player finds brinkmanship more seductive
than the wearing tasks of building a consensus between
myopic, fractious and irreconcilable political parties.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
July 26-August 1,
2010
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
9
|
0
|
9
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Manipur
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
Orissa
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
West Bengal
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
8
|
9
|
4
|
21
|
NEPAL
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
10
|
Gilgit-Baltistan
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
FATA
|
12
|
7
|
75
|
94
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
14
|
3
|
3
|
20
|
Punjab
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Sindh
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
33
|
17
|
78
|
128
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
14 protesters
killed in Kashmir Valley since July 30: At
least eight people, including a woman, were killed in
two separate incidents in the Pulwama District on August
1. While four people were killed in Police firing in Pampore,
four more died when an ammunition store exploded in the
Khrew Police Station after it was attacked by a mob.
On July
31, one youth was killed as Security Forces opened fire
on an enraged mob at Naid Khai in Sumbal area of Bandipora
District while another youth was killed during protests
in Baramulla town.
Four youths
were killed in Sopore and Pattan towns of Baramulla District
on July 30.
Acknowledging
that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir "is not yet normal"
due to repeated calls for bandh (shut down), the
Centre, on July 30, made it clear that it was committed
to holding a ‘quiet' dialogue with all shades of opinion
in the State.
On July
28 the Centre had said it was aware that anti-India elements,
who are based in Pakistan, were provoking the people of
Jammu and Kashmir with the support of certain sections
of secessionist groups in the State. Union Minister of
State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken informed the Rajya
Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) that these anti-India
elements were inciting people on various pretexts to arouse
public sentiments. "The statements of All Party Hurriyat
Conference (Abbas) and All Party Hurriyat Conference (Geelani)
in the media and LeT [Lashkar-e-Toiba] across the border
in this regard are documented," he said. Daily
Excelsior; The
Hindu ;
Times
of india, July 29-Augsut 2, 2010.
740
militants tried to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir since
2009, says Defence Minster A. K. Antony: Infiltration
attempts across the Line of Control (LoC) show no signs
of abating. In fact, they have registered a jump. As many
as 740 militants tried to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) over the last 18 months. "In 2009, 485 terrorists
had attempted to infiltrate into J&K. This year, from
January to June, a total of 255 terrorists have attempted
to infiltrate,'' Defence Minister A. K. Antony told the
Lok Sabha (Upper House of Parliament). The Security Forces,
on their part, killed 114 terrorists -- 59 of them while
infiltrating -- and arrested 60 others in J&K in the
first six months of 2010.
Times
of india, July 28, 2010.
NSCN-K
leader in Nagaland admits China links: A
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
leader, Kughalu Mulatonu, said the Chinese found their
way to militant camps in Sagaing Division of Myanmar via
New Delhi. On links to the Chinese, Mulatonu said "Chinese
people" often come and visit NSCN (K) camps in Myanmar
to hold meetings with their leaders. "They (Chinese people)
openly come to India via Delhi carrying passport and meet
Mr. Khaplang," Mulatonu said. The NSCN-K refers to the
Sagaing Division of Myanmar as Eastern Nagaland.
Hindustan
Times, July 27, 2010.
US investigating
possible ISI role in 26/11: In
the wake of India's assertion that Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) was involved in 26/11, the US administration has
said that it was investigating the matter to find out
whether Pakistan's ISI played a role in 26/11.
Indian
Express, July 28, 2010.
Nagpur
emerging as new Maoist hub, indicates report: Nagpur
appears to be emerging as a new hub for the Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) with security agencies
suspecting that it is being used for transit, treatment
and regrouping. With its proximity to Naxalite [Left Wing
Extremists] hotbeds like Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh and Jharkhand, sources also indicated that Nagpur
was being used not just as a transit point but also for
medical treatment.
Times
of india, July 27, 2010.
Militancy
related violence declines in Northeast: Union
Ministry of Home Affairs sources said that militancy-related
violence in the North-eastern region has come down during
the first six months of 2010, as compared to the same
period in 2009. Of the Northeastern States, Assam and
Manipur continue to remain trouble-torn, although the
incidence of violence has come down during the past six
months. Mizoram remains the most peaceful State.
Assam
Tribune, July 31, 2010.
Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram hopes for change of heart
among Maoists: A
day after expressing confidence that the Communist Party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) menace could be contained
in the next three years, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram,
on July 30, said that was the goal and hoped there would
be a change of heart among the CPI-Maoist cadres who believe
in armed liberation. Asked if his statement on July 29,
that the problem of Naxalism [Left Wing Extremism] would
be overcome in the next three years, was not overambitious,
Chidambaram said, with action being taken by the Government,
both in developing and securing Naxal-affected areas,
the menace would come down substantially in about three
years. "But ultimately, there has to be a change of heart
among the Extreme Leftists who believe in armed liberation
struggle. They have to give up that ideology. That ideology
has no place in a parliamentary democracy," he said.
Times
of india, July 31, 2010.
Many
Maoists want to surrender, says West Bengal Chief Minister:
Quite
a few Maoists have surrendered and many more want to,
said West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
on July 29, a day after the State Government issued a
notification on its surrender policy for Naxal [Left Wing
Extremists].
The
Hindu, July 30, 2010.
Union
Government hands over Samjhauta Express blast probe to
NIA: The Union Government handed over the Samjhauta
Express blast case probe to the National Investigation
Agency (NIA). The case will be the third one to be probed
by NIA after Goa's Margao town and Gujarat's Modasa bomb
blast cases in which Hindu extremist groups are suspected
to be involved.
Times
of india, July 30, 2010.
Union
Minister for Road Transport and Highways seeks two more
Districts of Madhya Pradesh under Naxal-hit areas:
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways
Kamal Nath has urged Union Minister for Home Affairs (MHA)
P. Chidambaram to include two more Districts of Madhya
Pradesh in the list of those hit by Naxals [Left Wing
Extremism]. The list of such Districts is the basis of
a programme run by the Road Ministry to provide road connectivity.
Financial
Express, July 29, 2010.
27,261
Bru refugees in Tripura:
There are a total of 27,261 Bru refugees from Mizoram
in six relief camps in North District in Tripura as per
a head count completed on July 28. The head count exercise
was undertaken on the instruction of the Mizoram Government.
This is regarded as the first step in the effort to repatriate
all Bru refugees in 2010, following a directive from Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram that the process be completed
by October end.
PTI News, July 29, 2010.
PAKISTAN
75
militants and 12 civilians among 94 persons killed during
the week in FATA: At
least 15 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were
killed and 10 were injured when the Security Forces (SFs)
backed by fighter jets pounded militant hideouts in Orakzai
Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on
August 1.
At least
10 persons were killed and their houses set ablaze in
sectarian violence in Kurram Agency on July 29.
12 militants
were killed and 11 were injured in a clash with SFs in
the Kurram Agency on July 29.
Three SF
personnel were killed and 10 were injured when militants
attacked a convoy in the Pash Ziarat area of South Waziristan
Agency on July 28.
24 dead
bodies, believed to be those of militants, were recovered
in Akakhel area of Khyber Agency on July 26.
14 TTP
militants, including a ‘commander’, were killed when jet
fighters bombed two vehicles in Dogar area in Upper tehsil
(revenue unit) of Orakzai Agency. Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, July 19-26, 2010.
Destroy
militant hideouts in Pakistan, urges Afghanistan President
Hamid Karzai: Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai, on July 29, urged his Western
allies to destroy Islamist militant sanctuaries in neighbouring
Pakistan after thousands of secret US files were leaked.
"The time has come for our international allies to know
that the war against terrorism is not in Afghanistan’s
homes and villages," Karzai said, adding, "But rather
this war is in the sanctuaries, funding centres and training
places of terrorism which are outside Afghanistan. Whether
we are able to destroy these sanctuaries or not is another
question. Our international allies have this ability,
but the question is why they are not doing it."
The
News, July 30, 2010.
Sanctuaries
of militants in urban areas to be eliminated: Corps
Commander Peshawar, Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, on July
28 said that after suffering defeat in Swat and South
Waziristan, the militants have now started arriving in
major cities to terrorise the people, but the Security
Forces (SFs) would soon eliminate their new sanctuaries
in urban areas.
The
News, July 29, 2010.
Pakistan
secretly helping Afghan Taliban, US leaked intelligence
report indicates: Pakistan
was actively collaborating with the Taliban in Afghanistan,
while accepting US aid, leaked US military reports showed
on July 22. Under the heading "Afghan War Diary",
the revelations were released by online organisation WikiLeaks.
The leaked reports, covering a period from January 2004
to December 2009, suggest that current and former officials
from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have met directly
with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organise
terrorist networks fighting US soldiers.
Daily Times, July 27, 2010.
Interior
Minister Rehman Malik confirms New York bomb suspect met
TTP chief: Pakistan
Interior Minister Rehman Malik on July 26 said that the
Pakistani-American, Faisal Shehzad, who pleaded guilty
to a New York bomb plot, met the country’s Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) ‘chief’ Hakeemullah Mehsud, just days after
footage emerged of them hugging. "He visited Pakistan
seven times and he met Hakeemullah Mehsud and also met
other people, those so-called leaders of the TTP,"
Malik added..
Daily Times, July 27, 2010.
3,000
terrorists for India battle, claims TTP: Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) claims it has organised 3,000 terrorists
for its declared battle against India. The TTP spokesperson
Tahir Ali declared in Islamabad on July 26 that it is
providing training to terrorists to launch an attack on
India. Another TTP spokesperson Azam Tariq in a telephone
interview said that the TTP has vowed to capture "Hindustan".
Rediff, July 27, 2010.
US lawmakers
reject motion for pulling US troops out of Pakistan: US
lawmakers on July 27 challenged the President Barack Obama’s
war strategy, defeating a resolution calling for the removal
of US forces from Pakistan by a crushing 38-372 margin.
Daily Times, July 29, 2010.
No plan
to send combat troops to Pakistan, says US: The
United States (US), on July 30, brushed aside an Afghanistan
demand to strike at Afghani Taliban safe havens across
the border, saying it has no plan to send combat troops
to Pakistan. "We have no plans to send US combat
forces to Pakistan," State Department Spokesman Philip
Crowley said.
Daily Times, July 31, 2010.
People
less concerned about Taliban and al Qaida as compared
to Indian threat and US enmity, indicates report: A
majority of Pakistanis still consider India as a major
threat, view America as an enemy and are far less concerned
about Taliban and al Qaida, a Pew Research Centre opinion
poll reported on July 30. "When asked which is the greatest
threat to their country – India, the Taliban or al-Qaida
– slightly more than half of Pakistanis (53 per cent)
choose India, compared with 23 per cent for Taliban and
just 3 per cent for al-Qaida," it said. However, most
Pakistanis want better ties with India.
Times
of india, July 31, 2010.
SRI LANKA
Higher
Security Zones cannot be removed completely in North,
says Government: Government
on July 29 said that the Higher Security Zones (HSZs)
extended during the war cannot be removed completely overnight,
although some HSZs have already been narrowed, as the
Government has to ensure safety of all citizens in the
country. Addressing a group of journalists from the North
and East, who visited Colombo, Director General of the
Media Centre for National Security Lakshman Hulugalle
said the Government will never compromise on national
security despite the war is being over.
Colombo
Page, July 31, 2010.
Government
rehabilitates and releases 3,000 ex-LTTE cadres: Sri
Lanka Rehabilitation Commissioner Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe
says that 3,000 surrendered cadres of the defeated Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been released so far.
The Rehabilitation Commissioner said that 11,698 LTTE
cadres were identified for rehabilitation. Among the 3,000
released ex-LTTE cadres, there were university students,
children, ill and disabled cadres, pregnant women, mothers
with children, minor offenders and those who were acquitted
by courts, Brigadier Ranasinghe said..
Colombo
Page, July 31, 2010.
85 percent
war-displaced resettled, says Government spokesman Keheliya
Rambukwella: The
Sri Lankan Government has re-settled 85 per cent of the
nearly 300,000 war displaced Tamil civilians in the Northern
Province, according to Government spokesman and Media
and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.
The
Hindu, July 30, 2010.
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.
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