SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 28, January 16, 2012

INDIA

Print

Jharkhand: Operational Stasis
Deepak Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

Eleven persons – 10 Policemen and an eight years old boy – were killed when Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres triggered a landmine blast, targeting the convoy of Member of Parliament (MP) Inder Singh Namdhari, at Ladu More in the Latehar District of Jharkhand on December 3, 2011. The incident occurred just hours before the two-day Bharat bandh (all India shut down strike) called by the Maoists on December 4-5, to protest the killing of Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji in West Bengal on November 24, 2011. Though Namdhari escaped unhurt, the Maoists decamped with 10 weapons, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and one wireless set.

Indeed, Jharkhand witnessed the highest level of retaliatory violence in the wake of Kishanji’s killing among Maoist-affected States, both during the Jharkhand bandh of November 28 and Bharat bandh of December 4-5.  In these three days, in addition to the attack on Namdhari, Maoists blew up two (mobile) telecom towers, one Block Development Office, one school building, railway tracks at two places and one tractor carrying rations for troops, across the State. They also attacked two Police Stations, which were, however, successfully defended, with no loss of life. Further, the transportation of minerals was heavily affected.

Retaliatory violence in other affected States during the same period included: the abduction of two persons and setting ablaze of three vehicles in Andhra Pradesh; the killing of a sarpanch (head of panchayat, village level local-self Government institution), an encounter between the Police and Maoists, and the burning of a cell phone tower and a three-wheeler in Bihar; the burning down of five gram panchayat offices in Maharashtra; and the destruction of three cell phone towers, a truck and a school building in Odisha; no retaliatory violence was reported from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal on these days.

As 2011 came to an end, Jharkhand earned the dubious distinction of recording the highest civilian fatalities among all Maoist-affected States, with 79 civilian, 30 Security Force (SF), and 48 Left-Wing Extremists (LWE) killed, as against 71 civilian, 27 SF and 49 LWE fatalities in 2010. As total fatalities rose to 157 in 2011 against 147 in 2010, Jharkhand was one of just two States – the other being Maharashtra – which bucked the overall trend of declining Maoist violence across India in 2011. 

Fatalities in LWE/ CPI-Maoist Violence in Jharkhand: 2005 - 2012

In 2011, incidents of killing were reported from 16 Districts in the State – Latehar (44), Gumla (23), Khunti (21), Lohardaga, Palamu and West Singhbhum (11 each), Chatra (eight), Hazaribagh (six), Bokaro and Ranchi (five each), Saraikela-Kharsawan (four), East Singhbhum (three), Giridih (two), Dumka, Pakur, and Simdega (one each) – out of a total of 24 Districts in the State. In 2010 fatalities had been recorded in 18 Districts – West Singhbhum (29), Gumla (23), East Singhbhum (16), Latehar (13), Khunti (11), Simdega (10), Palamu (eight), Giridih (seven), Chatra and Ranchi (six) each,   Garwah (five), Bokaro and Saraikela-Kharsawan (three) each, Dumka and Godda (two) each, Hazaribagh, Jamtara and Ramgarh (one) each.

According to SATP data, Jharkhand also recorded 14 incidents of ‘swarming attacks’ (involving more than 50 cadres and militia) in 2011, as against five in 2010. 22 incidents of explosions [landmines and Improvised Explosive Device (IED)] occurred in 2011, as against 20 in 2010. 22 incidents of arson were reported in 2011, as against 15 in 2010. Further, 21 incidents of abduction were reported in 2011 as against 18 in 2010. Maoist’s attacks on economic assets rose from 23 in 2010, to 34 in 2011.

Jharkhand recorded 14 major incidents (resulting in three or more fatalities) in 2011, as against seven in 2010. In a notable civilian killing, though not a major incident, the Maoists killed a nun, Sister Valsa John, in Pakur District, on November 15, 2011. Around 45 people, including 30 Maoists, were present at the time of the nun's murder. Sister Valsa John was working for the development of tribals in the area, and had earlier led a campaign against Panem Coal Mines Ltd., ensuring a fair compensation package for tribals. She was killed during her campaign to ensure the arrest of a rape accused. Police later arrested seven persons, including Ranjan Marandi, a person with known Maoist links.

In January 2012, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was reported to have written to Jharkhand Chief Minister (CM) Arjun Munda, expressing concern over the increased Maoist activity in the State. On January 14, 2012, however, CM Munda dismissed these concerns, claiming that the number of Naxal (Left Wing Extremist)-related incidents had actually declined, and that his Government was doing its best to curb the menace.

An analysis by SATP of Maoist violence, as well as of overground and underground activities, through 2011, indicates that 16 Districts in the State – Bokaro, Chatra, Dumka, East Singhbhum, Giridih, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Latehar, Lohardaga, Pakur, Palamu, Ranchi, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Simdega and West Singhbhum – remain in the ‘highly affected’ category. Another four Districts – Garhwa, Ramgarh, Dhanbad, and Jamtara – fall in the ‘moderately affected’ range. Pakur which was not among the 20 affected Districts in 2010, joined the 2011 list, while Godda dropped off. Garhwa, Jamtara and Ramgarh moved from ‘highly affected’ to the ‘moderately affected’ category. Lohardaga moved from the ‘moderately affected’ to the ‘highly affected’ category in 2011.

Another disturbing phenomenon was the fratricidal wars between various LWE groups in the State. These groups included the Swatantra Jan Sangharsh India Morcha (SJSIM), Sangharsh Janmukti Morcha (SJMM), Jharkhand Sangharsh Janmukti Morcha (JSJM), People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) and Jharkhand Janmukti Parishad (JJP), in addition to the CPI-Maoist. A 50-member splinter group broke away from the CPI-Maoist, to form the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) on February 4, 2011. Police sources disclosed that the new outfit had organised an arms training camp for its members in the jungles bordering Latehar and Lohardaga Districts.

Intelligence reports indicate that the Maoists in Jharkhand have provided cadres with training in manufacturing as well as handling of rocket launchers, mortars and grenades. At least 19 Maoists were provided such training under the guidance of seven experts, led by Prakash alias Gaganna from Andhra Pradesh (AP). During the training, they allegedly manufactured 110 rocket-launchers, 120 mortars and 200 grenades, which are now in their possession. The necessary raw-materials had been procured from Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. Maoists had been providing such training since 2006, for which mobile-camps were established at various locations, including Saranda, Baliwa, Tirilposhi and Saryu in Jharkhand. Over the past five years, the Jharkhand Police has also received intelligence on these activities, and arrested at least one Maoist cadre, Nalla Bhikshapathi, in Chaibasa on October 9, 2010, in this connection.

DGP Rath, on June 26, 2011, also disclosed details of opium cultivation in the State under the patronage of Maoists. The Organized Crime Cell of Jharkhand Police has made efforts to dismantle the opium cultivation in different Districts. Based on satellite imagery provided by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Jharkhand Police launched a crackdown and destroyed opium cultivation on about 208 acres in the State. The NCB teams also carried out raids in Latehar, Hazaribagh, Chatra, Khunti, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Palamu, Ranchi and Lohardaga Districts, and destroyed opium plantations, NCB Joint Director (Bihar/Jharkhand), P.K. Ghosh, stated on June 26, 2011.

In the face of increasing Maoist activity, the State Police have taken some steps to increase the pressure on the Maoists. ‘Operation Monsoon’– the month long anti-Maoist campaign executed in the Saranda Forest by joint Forces from Jharkhand, Odisha and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), between August 1 and August 31, resulted in the arrest of 33 Maoists, and the recovery of 179 landmines, three pistols, and some ammunition, in addition to INR 433,000 in cash. Documents seized during the operation confirmed that the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), the political wing of the Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was supporting the training and technical upgrade programme of the Maoists in the Saranda Forest. With the claimed establishment of ‘civil administration’ in the area, the Saranda Forest operation is being projected as a test case of the ‘clear, hold and develop’ strategy. Three battalions of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) have been stationed in Saranda, and another two battalions are to join them in February 2012. A ‘Saranda Action Plan’ for development has been drafted and is being implemented in the area. 

During ‘Operation Monsoon’, the Police also launched ‘Operation Hills’ in the Ganeshur and Saryu forest areas in Latehar District. Police recovered a ‘large number’ of ‘cane bombs’, connected with codex wire (34), semi-prepared pressure cane bomb, quantities of codex wire, cartridges and detonators.

A three-day ‘Operation Thunder' in Garhwa District by Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh Security Forces (SF’s) was executed over October 16-18, 2011. A four-day ‘Operation Up Hills’ in Lohardaga and Gumla Districts was launched between September 13 - 16, 2011. Further, following the killing of Kishanji in West Bengal, more than 500 Police and CRPF personnel, along with the District Police, launched an anti-Maoist operation from November 25, with the aim of flushing out rebels hiding in Gomia, Jhumra, Nawadih, Parasnath, Madhuban and Vishnugarh areas of the State. Each of these campaigns met with, at best, limited success.

The SFs did manage to inflict some losses on the LWE leadership in the State, including the killing of one ‘Zonal Commander’, four ‘sub-zonal commanders’ and three ‘area commanders’. In addition, nine ‘Zonal Commanders’, six ‘sub-zonal Commanders’ and three ‘area commanders’ were arrested; and another ‘Zonal Commander’ and one ‘sub-zonal commander’ surrendered in 2011. DGP Rath, however, lamented that, had the West Bengal Government not wavered in its anti-Maoist operations, the number and quality of arrests in Jharkhand could have been better. However, as Maoists took refuge in West Bengal during the ‘ceasefire’ period, the Jharkhand operations met with lesser success. In total, the SFs in Jharkhand arrested 248 LWE cadres in 2011, as against 189 in 2010, while 15 LWEs surrendered in the State, as against 18 in the previous year.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Jharkhand has raised its Police-Population ratio to 151, as on December 31, 2010, as against an all-India average of 133. On April 17, Chief Minister Arjun Munda stated, "to tackle the Maoist menace, the manpower in all the 118 Police Stations of the Naxalite-affected areas has been doubled." He added, further, that 13,000 additional personnel had been appointed in the Police Stations. Nevertheless, Rath asserted, on January 3, 2012, that the Jharkhand Police continued to face an acute manpower shortage, and roughly 16,000 additional personnel, from constable to Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, were still required. He promised to see that all vacancies were filled up and personnel were properly trained by end of the current year. The vacancies include 35 IPS officers, 4,000 Assistant Sub-inspectors, 2,000 Sub-inspectors and Deputy Superintendents of Police and about 10,000 constables. The DGP conceded that they were yet to raise the sixth battalion of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB): “We have so far raised five IRB battalions, three of them are functional. One of the remaining two has completed training, while the fifth will end its classes at the Police Training College in Hazaribagh by the end of this month.” Further, the Special Task Force (STF) of Jharkhand Police, the ‘Jharkhand Jaguars’ (JJ), had a sanctioned strength of 40 Assault Groups (AGs), so far, only 22 AGs were functional. As on April 18, 2011, the CRPF had 13 battalions and two units of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) in the State.

Despite SF efforts to contain the Maoists in Jharkhand, the rebels appear to have held, and even extended, their influence in the State.

PAKISTAN

Print

Punjab: Fundamentalist Asphyxiation
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

At least 18 Shias were killed and 30 others wounded when a bomb exploded near a procession marking the Arbain or the Chehlum (40^th day of Hazrat Imam Hussain's martyrdom), in Khanpur city of Rahim Yar Khan District on January 15, 2012. However, no militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) data, a total of 137 persons, including 110 civilians, 19 Security Force (SF) personnel and eight militants were killed, in total 20 separate incidents in 2011, as compared to 316 persons killed in 2010, and 422 killed in 2009, reflecting a significant attenuation in fatalities. While the Province registered a 56.64 per cent decline in overall fatalities in 2011, the possibility of escalation of violence cannot be ruled out as a result of the considerable and increasing presence of religious zealots, actively pursuing their mission of radicalizing the population on religious lines and recruiting them into armed “Allah’s squads”. Partial data compiled by SATP recorded three suicide attacks in Punjab, which claimed a total of 63 lives, in 2011. 2010 had witnessed six such incidents, with 264 people killed. In addition to the suicide attacks were at least 13 bomb blasts in the Province, which claimed 94 lives and left 281 injured. In 2010, the number of bomb blasts stood at 20 with 275 fatalities.

The Province registered eight major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) in 2011, as compared to 12 such incidents in 2010. Prominent among the major incidents in 2011 were:

April 3: At least 41 persons were killed and more than were 100 injured, when two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the shrine of Sufi saint Ahmed Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar, in Dera Ghazi Khan District.

March 8: At least 32 people were killed and were 125 injured in a car bomb explosion at a gas station in Faisalabad District, adjacent to an office of the Inter Service Intelligence Agency (ISI).

January 25: A suicide bomber struck at the Ghora Chowk in the Urdu Bazaar area of Lahore District, killing at least 10 people, including a woman and three Policemen, and injuring at least another 85.

An overwhelming structure of religious fundamentalist formations, with their anti-India and anti-West agendas, and the circulation of anti-minorities and sectarian hate literature, remained a commonplace in Punjab through 2011. ‘Public gatherings’ led by religious ideologues in Punjab have become the major source of potential militant recruits. Extremist organizations recruit cadre, including potential suicide cadre, at such rallies. In one significant incident, on November 29, 2011, the Jama’at-ud-Dawa (JuD), on a false pretext of a ‘science exhibition’, mobilized young students, aged between 10-15 years, from the Jhumra Sandal Islamic School in Faisalabad District, and the Tameer-i-Seerat Model School Sharaqpur in Sheikhupura District, for a rally at Lahore, where JuD leaders vowed to convert Pakistan into a ‘Taliban State’ and to train young people to wage jihad (holy war) against America and India. Addressing the rally at the Press Club, JuD leader Maulana Ameer Hamza declared that the Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani should know that he had the full support of JuD, which would turn its followers into skilled fighters. One student from Sandal Islamic School gave a copy of the form, titled ‘Field Trip Permission’, duly ‘signed’ by his mother, to a correspondent of the Express Tribune. The form read:

2011 began with the assassination of the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer in Islamabad on January 4, 2011, by his own bodyguard Malik Mumtaz Qadri, a member of the Punjab Elite Force. Qadri had shared his intentions with other members of the security detail, but the latter failed both, to prevent him from carrying out the assassination or to react during the incident. Qadri was reportedly incensed by the Governor’s denunciation of the controversial blasphemy law and his advocacy for Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death on November 7, 2010, for alleged blasphemy. Currently, Aasia Bibi’s husband, Aashiq Masih, who is guilty of no crime, is on the run with his five children, while Bibi remains on a death row, with her mercy petition pending with President Asif Ali Zardari. Islamic clerics, meanwhile, have offered a bounty of about USD 8,000 to anyone who would kill her. When Qadri was taken to court on January 5, 2011, lawyers showered him with rose petals, and there has been significant expression of support for the assassin from a number of religious leaders and groups. A gathering of at least a thousand people at Data Darbar in Lahore expressed support for Qadri on January 4, 2012, and called for his release. Supporters of various religious parties that form the Tahaffuz Namoos-i-Rasalat Mahaz (TNSM) also staged protests at the Lahore Press Club at Minar-e-Pakistan. Participants in the rally, mostly Barelvi Muslims, held up portraits of Qadri and chanted slogans in his honor. A resolution was adopted at the end of the rally asking President Asif Ali Zardari to declare clemency for Mumtaz Qadri and punishment for Asia Bibi.  

On October 1, 2011, however, a Special Anti-terrorist Court pronounced a death sentence against Qadri. The magistrate, Pervez Ali Shah, who pronounced the sentence fled the country under extremist threat on October 24, 2011. On August 26, 2011, Taseer’s son, Shahbaz Taseer, was abducted from Lahore District and his whereabouts remain unknown. Analysts suggest that the abduction is intended to serve as a bargaining chip against Qadri’s execution.

Even before the dust could settle on Taseer’s assassination, Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, was killed in broad daylight in Islamabad on March 2, 2011, for his open opposition to the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. Pamphlets from two self-styled Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) factions, Fidayeen-e-Muhammad and al Qaeda Punjab Chapter, were found from the incident site. The pamphlets declared, "Anyone who criticizes the blasphemy law has no right to live". Bhatti had earlier disclosed that he had received threats from the TTP and al Qaeda, but would not stop "speaking for the oppressed and marginalized Christians and other minorities".

According to official reports 131 people have been arrested across Punjab on blasphemy charges. 11 of them have been sentenced to death. 35 people, including Taseer and Bhatti, have been killed between 1990 and 2011, for either ‘committing’ blasphemy or defending those charged with blasphemy. Taseer’s and Bhatti’s assassinations are only a dramatic instance of the fanatical violence that has come to afflict Punjab. Worse, the ever-feuding Deobandi and Barelvi sects appear to have joined forces in the Province, further amplifying the threat to minorities and sects regarded as ‘deviant’ by these Sunni formations. Religious hardliners based in Punjab also appear to have moved towards greater radicalization, and have strengthened their mutual ties. In a January 12, 2012, US Embassy report, it was revealed that the US had given financial aid to the Sunni Ittehada Council (SIC), a Pakistani Barelvi Muslim religious group formed in 2009, which had initially organized anti-TTP rallies. The SIC received USD 36,607 from Washington in 2009. The SIC subsequently demonstrated support for Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. The SIC’s turnaround highlights Washington’s difficulties in identifying partners to support religious moderation in Pakistan.

On February 3, 2011, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sherry Rehman dropped her proposed amendment to the blasphemy law, accusing her party of pressuring her in order to appease the militants. She made her decision after the Government ruled out changing the law. Protesting her party’s decision, Rehman declared, "Appeasement of extremism is a policy that will have its blow-back." Regrettably, on March 11, 2011, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, “If someone insulted Prophet Muhammad, I, too, would shoot him.” However, he subsequently claimed, “I was misinterpreted in that particular statement. I said the ‘bullet of law’ should be utilized for such actions.”

The media has also faced the brunt of extreme violence in Punjab. The brutal murder of Asia Times Online Pakistan Bureau Chief, Syed Saleem Shahzad, on June 1, 2011, in the Mandi Bahauddin District brought the media’s plight sharply into focus. Shahzad was widely suspected to have been abducted, tortured and killed by the ISI after exposing linkages between Islamist terrorist formations and serving Navy officers and personnel. A Commission of Inquiry has, however, now declared that there was no evidence of an ISI role in Shahzad’s killing, though it has failed to shed any further light on the identity of his assassins. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on January 9, 2012, voiced concern over reports of a number of journalists facing threats, and asked the authorities to ensure that such threats end. A statement issued in Lahore District by HRCP said, “A Government committed to media freedom must neither remain a spectator in the circumstances nor wait to be implored into action.”  

Amidst these developments, the JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, during a rally in Lahore District on January 1, 2012 boasted that Pakistan was ‘unmatched’ in the freedom it allows for the pursuit of jihad and for the spread of Islam, and that this was a ‘great blessing from Allah’. Non-Muslims, he claimed, were conspiring against Pakistan, both internally and externally, and could only be defeated by “acting upon the methodology of the state of Medina.” United States (US) allies, India and Israel, he said, feared Pakistan because “they know very well” that when Muslims are ready to sacrifice themselves for their cause, no power in the world could stand in their way. US, India and Israel had “evil and sinister” designs all over the world, “But all those traps and nets are breaking down as a result of the sacrifices of Muslims.

In addition to JuD, several militant outfits with headquarters in Punjab work in close collaboration with TTP and al Qaeda. These include prominent sectarian and terrorist groupings, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Harkat-ul Jihad-ul-Islami (HuJI). Adding to this extremist landscape is the anti-Ahmadi formation, the All Pakistan Students Khatm-e-Nubuwat (End of Prophethood) Federation, with its lethal pamphleteering and hate propaganda.

Amidst rapid radicalization, the Pakistan Government imposed bans on radical formations in Punjab, but, these bans have been far from effective. Banned Deobandi anti-Shia outfits like the SSP and the LeJ have a stronghold in the southern part of the province. On occasion, these groups have sought to circumvent these bans by operating openly under a new banner. For instance, the banned SSP resurfaced as Ahl-e- Sunnah wal Jamaah (ASWJ), while LeT continues to work openly under the banner of JuD and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation. 

Limited legal action against terrorists has been far from effective. On July 14, 2011, the Supreme Court ordered the release of Malik Ishaq – the former operational chief of LeJ, who was involved in 44 cases involving the killing of at least 70 people, mostly belonging to the Shia sect – on bail from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat prison because of insufficient evidence produced by the prosecution. According to an internal document, prepared by the Law Enforcement Department, titled, ‘Highly objectionable activities of Malik Ishaq’, Malik resumed his subversive activities soon after his release, preaching hatred and violence in the name of Islam. The “independent” judiciary is haunted by the constant fear of retaliatory action by the militants. A US report in August 2011 noted that most terror suspects in Pakistan escaped conviction due to ineffective laws and prosecution. A report prepared by the Punjab Government, noting that at least 65 extremists were released in 2011, stated that most of the released extremists were back to their old ways, engaging in sectarian violence and terrorist activities again.

Islamabad has evidently failed to devise a unified strategy against the mounting intimidation and violence of terrorist groups in Punjab, and no alternative voice can, today, find expression in the Province. The terrorists in Punjab have demonstrated, in the past year, that no high office is beyond the sweep of their lethal reprisals, and even the smallest voices of dissent against their extremist creed will be stifled with exemplary brutality.

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

INDIA

Manipur

Left-wing Extremism

Chhattisgarh

Jharkhand

Maharashtra

Odisha

Total (INDIA)

PAKISTAN

Balochistan

FATA

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Punjab

Sindh

Total (PAKISTAN)