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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 16, October 25, 2010
 
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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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Maoists:
Women in the Camp
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
In a
gruesome attack on the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR)
camp at Shilda in West Midnapore District of West Bengal
on February 15, 2010, the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
killed 24 personnel of this State paramilitary formation.
Significantly woman Maoist cadres played a major role
in the attack, which was led by Jagori Baske, a woman
‘commander’. Baske usually operates along the borders
with Jharkhand and Orissa, under the supervision of
Koteswar Rao alias Kishan, Maoist
Politburo and Central Military Commission member.
Three woman cadres had made the final recee of the site
in the guise of tribal dancers a few hours before the
attack. Shobha Mandi alias Uma (23), the Jhargram
(West Midnapore District of West Bengal) ‘area commander’,
who later surrendered on August 27, 2010, also played
an active role in the attack.
Earlier,
the attack on the Sankrail Police Station in the same
District on October 20, 2009, in which two Police personnel
were killed and the officer-in-charge abducted, was
also led by a woman cadre, Suchitra Mahato.
Another
high profile attack, in which 18 Policemen were killed
in the Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra on October
8, 2009, was also led by a woman cadre Tarakka (42),
a member of the South Gadchiroli Divisional Committee,
which is also headed by a woman, Narmada (52), from
Andhra Pradesh. Police believe, about 40 per cent of
dalam (armed squad) cadres in Gadchiroli and
adjacent areas are women. Apart from Tarakka, other
women ‘commanders’ in Gadchiroli include Jyoti (in Tipagadh),
Raneeta (Chatgaon), Sujita (Deori) and Ranjita (Surjagarh).
Saroja, who was ‘commander’ of the Jimalgatta dalam,
was arrested in 2009. Her husband, Lanka Papi Reddy
aka Lachanna, who was a Central Committee member,
later surrendered before Warangal Police in Andhra Pradesh.
Radhakka, a senior Maoist cadre working in Bastar in
Chhattisgarh for many years, hails from Rajaram Khanla
village in south Gadchiroli.
Women
cadres have long had a significant role in Maoist attacks.
In 2004, several woman cadres were spotted in the gang
that looted the armoury at Koraput in Orissa. In 2008,
woman cadres again prominently featured in the killing
of Policemen during the looting of the armoury at Nayagarh
(Orissa). An unnamed senior leader of the CPI-Maoist,
questioned by a reporter about the position of women
in their ranks, declared, "We treat women on par even
in our military struggle. Our women cadres are provided
training just like their men counterparts. There is
no discrimination in their diet or exercises."
It is mandatory for all new recruits to the outfit to
take a nine-point oath that declares, inter alia,
that he or she would not discriminate on the basis of
religion, caste, gender, race, or ethnicity.
While
women have played a crucial role in Maoist operations
and organisation, however, the reality is far from the
declared ideal of equality and equity. The story of
Shobha Mandi alias Uma (23), the Jhargram ‘area
commander’, illustrates a reality that is far off from
the ‘solemn pledges’ of gender justice taken by the
Maoists. After being sexually exploited by some senior
leaders of the outfit, Shobha, who commanded a squad
of 25 to 30 armed Maoists, eventually mustered courage
and deserted her command post on the plea of seeing
a doctor. She remained a fugitive for nearly four months
and then surrendered before the Superintendent of Police
(West Midnapore District) Manoj Kumar Verma in Midnapore
town on August 27. Shobha is a native of Bankura District.
Shobha joined the Communist Party of India – Marxist-Leninist
– People's War (also know as the People’s War Group,
PWG) in 2003 [the PWG later merged with Maoist Communist
Centre (MCC) on October 14, 2004, to constitute the
CPI-Maoist]. Shobha disclosed that it was Bikash
(now, head of the West Bengal State Military Commission)
who raped her when she was just 17-years-old. Describing
her ordeal, she said, "I reported the matter to
Akash (West Bengal State Committee Member and a confidant
of Koteswar Rao alias Kishan). He did nothing
other than giving me an assurance to look into the matter.
In fact, Akash's wife, Anu, lives with Kishanji."
She also revealed that stories of sexual exploitation
of women cadres by senior Maoists are not uncommon.
Seema (then a recruit) told Shobha that Akash had raped
her as well. Rahul alias Ranjit Pal, a key weapons’
trainer, raped Belpahari ‘squad commander’ Madan Mahato's
wife Jaba. In this case, the party ‘punished’ Rahul,
by removing him from the regional committee for three
months. West Bengal State Committee Secretary Sudip
Chongdar alias Goutam was also ‘punished’ for
similar acts, with a transfer to Jharkhand's West Singhbhum
District. Significantly, the slain Maoist leader Sakhamuri
Appa Rao, who was a State Committee member and was believed
to be in charge of the Andhra Pradesh State Military
Commission, was demoted several ranks for misbehaviour
with women cadres before his rise through the ranks.
Shobha
soon recognized an unpleasant reality – a woman cadre
is protected against sexual exploitation only if she
is ‘with’ a senior leader. So, when Kamal Maity, a Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa
regional committee member, proposed a relationship with
her at a meeting attended by Kishan and other top Maoists,
she could not refuse. The leaders also agreed to this
relationship. That was a turning point in her ‘career’
and, in what is a recurrent pattern, she rose steadily
through the Maoist ranks.
Unsurprisingly,
some woman ‘commanders’ who have led recent major Maoist
attacks are wives or ‘partners’ of senior leaders of
the outfit. Notably, Tarakka (42) who led the October
8, 2009, attack in Gadchiroli, is the wife of Central
Committee member Mallojula Venugopal alias Bhupathi.
Narmada (52), under whom Tarakka worked, is the wife
of CPI-Maoist ideologue Sudhakar aka Kiran. The
attack on Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) personnel at
Gidhni in West Midnapore District on November 8, 2009,
in which four EFR personnel were killed, was led by
two women – one of them believed to be Tara, a Lalgarh
native and Maoist leader Bikash's partner. Likewise,
Suchitra Mahato, who led the October 20, 2009, attack
on the Sankrail Police Station, is the wife of Sasadhar
Mahato, the prime accused in the Salboni landmine attack
on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on November
2, 2008.
Sonu
Gawde (24), another woman cadre who surrendered in 2008,
claims, "Sex is demanded at gunpoint (in the Maoist
camps). It is so rampant that often it is difficult
to say who is sleeping with whom in the jungles."
Sabita Munda (20), an ‘area commander’ who surrendered
with a young male cadre, Rahul Juang, in Orissa on February
11, 2010, claimed that Maoist woman cadres who raise
their voice against sexual exploitation were instructed
by senior leaders to remain silent. Two woman Maoist
cadres, Geeta Murmu and Anju Murmu, who were arrested
on February 12, 2010, in the Banka District of Bihar,
claimed they were also sexually exploited in the Maoist
camps. Geeta gave details of how a group of 200 woman
Maoists was exploited in the dense forest areas of Belhar,
a Maoist ‘stronghold’.
Disgusted
by the sexual exploitation and camp life, many woman
cadres have preferred to surrender. According to the
partial data complied by the South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP), at least 74 woman Maoist cadres have
surrendered before the SFs since 2005. After two married
Maoist couples surrendered in Rayagada District of Orissa
[Ghumusur ‘divisional commander’ Akash alias
Dora alias Ghasiram Majhi and his wife Jharana
on June 8, 2009, and Surendra Vekwara (19) and his wife
Ruby (18) on July 22, 2009], the Maoists in south Orissa
started using force to marry off their women cadres
to cadres from Chhattisgarh deputed to Orissa. This
was part of an effort not to let the disillusioned women
cadres get away from the outfit. The apprehension was
that, if both partners were from Orissa, they may choose
to surrender. Significantly, woman Maoist, Laxmi Pidkaka
alias Sunita (18), surrendered before Police
in Rayagada District on December 30, 2009, to escape
from a forced marriage to a cadre from Chhattisgarh.
A senior
Maoist leader Narsimha Reddy, conceded that only those
young girls belonging to Dalit, extremely backward class,
and tribal communities, were recruited and then left
to fend for themselves within the organisation. These
women were mainly engaged in cooking, serving as couriers
and nursing the injured cadres. Pongi Sillo alias
Lalita alias Chinnari, a Maoist militia member
who surrendered on July 7, 2010, in Andhra Pradesh,
disclosed that girls were forced to cook food, carry
luggage and do menial jobs, apart from carrying kit
bags and luggage of wives of top Maoist leaders. According
to media reports published on October 13, eight tribal
women hailing from the Naxal-affected areas of Kaimur
range [which includes Robertsganj, Mirzapur, Sonebhadra
and Chandauli of Uttar Pradesh (UP)], sought UP Chief
Minister Mayawati's intervention to help in their rehabilitation.
These women had joined the Naxalite outfit between 2000-2005.
They were sexually exploited and the Naxalites abandoned
them when they got pregnant. Woman cadres who become
pregnant ‘naturally’ end up as liability to the Maoist
‘people’s war’. Gender equality has a utility only to
the extent that woman cadres help in the ‘struggle’
by various means, including ‘entertaining’ fighting
cadres.
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JeI: Desperate
Manoeuvres
Anshuman Behera
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The acting
Secretary General of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), A.T.M.
Azharul Islam, on October 18, 2010, admitted that it was
a crime to give immunity to those who had killed three
million people during the Liberation War in 1971. He noted,
"Crimes were committed during the Liberation war
in 1971 and crimes are obvious if a war takes place… why
should there be a question of admitting or rejecting it."
The statement was in stark contrast to the JeI’s earlier
stance. On October 25, 2007, for instance, the JeI Secretary
General, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, had declared that
there were no War Criminals (WC) in the country and no
anti-liberation forces had ever existed in Bangladesh.
Crucially,
the JeI is now trying to position itself as a responsible
mainstream opposition party. Azharul Islam, in his statement
on October 18, also announced a 13-day protest programme
on various issues, including the hike in prices of essential
commodities, deterioration of law and order, the gas water
and electricity crisis, and ‘anti-state’ deals with India.
Such protest plans are themselves not new. The JeI has
been planning protests and general strikes ever since
the Sheikh Hasina Government initiated measures against
Islamic extremist and militant organizations and, more
significantly, after the arrest of JeI cadres and three
top leaders – Ameer (chief) Motiur Rahman Nizami,
Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and Nayeb-e-Ameer
(Deputy Chief) Delwar Hossain Sayedee – on June 29, 2010,
and the formation of the WC Tribunal on March 25, 2010.
In the past, however, the protests have focused principally
on bringing pressure on the Government to stall or reverse
action against the JeI under the WC Tribunal. The major
protests planned by the JeI in 2010 include:
July 11:
The acting Secretary General of the JeI announced a series
of general strikes across the country, demanding the release
of its arrested leaders.
July 3:
The JeI announced a five-day programme, including a general
strike across the country, from July 4, demanding the
release of its arrested leaders.
July 2:
The Dhaka Unit of the JeI warned of a ‘tough movement’
to oust the Government if the arrested leaders, especially
the top three mentioned earlier not released.
The exposure
of JeI links with terrorist activities across the country
is now worrying the organisation’s leadership, as it helps
the Government in pursuing its agenda against JeI without
provoking any resentment or reaction among people at large,
both within and outside the country. Crucially, JeI links
with the Rajshahi University (RU) murder case in February
9, 2010, in which a Bangladesh Chhatra League activist
Faruk Hossain was killed by Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS)
cadres, and with militant Islamist groups have substantially
been established. One of the leaders of the banned ICS,
the student and militant wing of the JeI, in RU, Ekram
Hossain, convicted in the February 9 murder case, admitted
that the top leadership of the JeI was also involved in
the incident. Similarly, Rajshahi JeI leader Gias Uddin,
in his confessional note before the Rajshahi Court, stated,
on March 14, 2010, that all tiers of the JeI helped ICS
in the February 9 violence at RU, following an organizational
decision. In another confession, the chief of the Jama'atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Saidur Rahman, on July 13,
2010, exposed the links between JeI and JMB. Similarly,
the arrested leader of the Huzib-ut-Tahirr, Syed Golam
Maola, on July 12, 2010, confessed to links between JeI
and JMB. According to an October 6 report, moreover, the
arrested Ameer of JeI, Motiur Rahman Nizami, was
charged in an Arms haul case, in which 10 trucks of arms
and ammunitions were seized on April 2, 2004. He has also
been charged with sedition along with the two other top
leaders mentioned.
The JeI’s
most urgent concern also relates to the mounting evidence
against its cadres and leaders involvement in the war
crimes of 1971. On March 19, 2010, the Law Minister Rezaul
Karim Hira stated in Parliament that the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party (BNP)-JeI Government issued 66,000 fake certificates
as Freedom Fighters to people who engaged in WCs, in order
to help them avoid WC trials. He also warned true Freedom
Fighters to remain alert against the JeI conspiracy in
support of anti-Liberation War forces. Significantly,
the arrested JeI leaders admitted that they had fomented
a three-month long campaign across the country to block
moves to try the war criminals of 1971.
On May
1, 2010, the Election Commissioner of Bangladesh, had
sent a letter to the JeI, asking the party to change some
provisions in its charter which were not in conformity
with the country’s Constitution, and to submit the corrected
charter by May 31, 2010. In this regard, the Assistant
Secretary General of the JeI Muhammad Kamaruzzamn in a
May 2 interview to Daily Star, stated that
the JeI would talk to the EC and reply to the letter later.
There has, however, been no further report on compliance
or further action by the Election Commission (EC). According
to the EC, JeI’s call for establishing Islamic rule in
the country through organized efforts is in conflict with
the basic structure of the country’s Constitution, and
JeI needs to amend its aim and objectives, as well as
some other provisions in its charter, in order to retain
the party’s registration with the EC.
Earlier,
on March 28, 2010, JeI Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad
Mojahid had warned the Government of an ‘explosive situation’
if party leaders and the workers were roped in on ‘imaginary
charges’. This came immediately after the formation of
the WC Tribunals on March 25, 2010. On, February 23, 2010,
JeI Ameer (Chief) Matiur Rahman Nizami had also
warned the Government of dire consequences if it initiated
any move to ban religion-based parties from the country’s
democratic politics. "With a bit of a warning I want
to say that undemocratic doors will be open if the lawful
and democratic doors are closed, and that will not be
good for anyone", Nizami declared.
Meanwhile,
the Sheikh Hasina Government seems committed to punish
the WCs, in which the JeI played a major role, violently
opposing the bifurcation Pakistan to create Bangladesh.
Dhaka is also looking for a blanket ban on Islamist religious
parties in the country. These moves, if and when they
crystallize, certainly endanger the existence of JeI,
and would require basic transformations within the organization,
if it is to survive. As a part of a strategy of response,
the JeI has, consequently, being pursuing a dual tactics,
constantly threatening the Government, on the one hand,
and taking a step back from its more radical positions,
in order to push for political consolidation.
Despite
all this, however, the JeI is currently under siege. The
Daily Star, on March 25, 2010, quoted a senior
JeI leader, who requested anonymity, as saying that the
Government’s move to try top JeI leaders with alleged
links to the WCs had forced them to desperately search
for ways to evade prosecution and protect their political
future. Further, JeI high-ups have agreed to replace top-ranking
leaders after the arrests in connection with alleged involvement
with WCs. With the likes of Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and Delwar Hossain Sayedee behind
bars, the leadership vacuum in the party has become acute.
The JeI’s final gamble remains its hope for a more sympathetic
dispensation under the main opposition party, the Begum
Khaleda Zia led Bangladesh National Party, which had earlier
helped cover up the JeI role in the WCs, as well as given
its alliance partner a prominent role in the country’s
politics and administration. Such a dispensation, however,
remains unlikely in the foreseeable future and, if the
WC trials proceed at a reasonable pace, may well come
far too late to save the JeI leaders from a long-deserved
fate.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
October 18-24, 2010
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Civilians
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Security
Force Personnel
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Terrorists/Insurgents
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Total
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BANGLADESH
|
|
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Left-wing
Extremism
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0
|
0
|
3
|
3
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INDIA
|
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
11
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Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
6
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
Jharkhand
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
|
West Bengal
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
7
|
8
|
14
|
29
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PAKISTAN
|
|
|
FATA
|
1
|
12
|
75
|
88
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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
6
|
2
|
15
|
23
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Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
7
|
14
|
90
|
111
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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BANGLADESH
War
crimes were
committed during
1971 liberation
war, admits
JeI:
The
acting Secretary
General of Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI) A.T.M.
Azharul Islam
on October 18
admitted that
war crimes were
committed in
the country
during the 1971
liberation war.
Daily
Star,
October 19,
2010.
INDIA
80
militants poised
to sneak into Jammu
and Kashmir ahead
of American President
Barack Obama’s visit:
Nearly
80 trained militants,
armed with sophisticated
weapons, are waiting
to sneak into Jammu
and Kashmir from
across the border
along the Line of
Control (LoC), to
create trouble in
the State in the
run-up to American
President Barack
Obama's visit to
India in early November.
Times of India,
October 23, 2010.
Visa
denial saved Delhi
from major LeT strike
in 2009: Delhi
could have escaped
a major terror attack
in 2009, when one
of the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s
(LeT) terrorists
from Rawalpindi
in Pakistan, who
tried to come in
through the legal
channel, was denied
an Indian visa.
Times of India,
October 20, 2010.
797
State Policemen
and CPMF personnel
died in operations
or attacks on them
in one year: A
total of 797 personnel
from State Police
and Central Para
Military Forces
(CPMFs) like Border
Security Force (BSF),
Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF)
and National Security
Guard (NSG) were
killed during a
period from September
1, 2009 and August
31, 2010 in
operations or attacks
on them.
Times of India,
October 22, 2010.
Hearing
in 26/11 case begins
in Bombay High Court:
The
Maharashtra Government
opened arguments
in the Bombay High
Court on October
18 on confirmation
of death sentence
to Ajmal Kasab,
the lone surviving
Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) terrorist
involved in the
November 26, 2008,
Mumbai attacks (also
known as 26/11).
PTI
News,
October 19, 2010.
NEPAL
UNMIN
raises alarm over
lack of progress
in peace process:
Chief
of the United Nations
Mission in Nepal
(UNMIN) Karin Landgren
met Unified Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M) chairman
Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda
on October 21 and
expressed worry
over the lack of
progress in the
peace process.
Nepal
News,
October 22, 2010.
Maoist-led
Government unacceptable
to NC until peace
and statute ensured,
says Minister Minendra
Rijal: Minister
for Federal Affairs,
Culture and Parliamentary
Affairs Minendra
Rijal said on October
22 that a Unified
Communist Party
of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M) led Government
will be completely
unacceptable to
his party [Nepali
Congress (NC)] until
the time the peace
process reaches
a logical conclusion.
Meanwhile,
the UCPN-M reiterated
that it won't allow
the caretaker Government
to present the full-fledged
budget in the legislature-parliament.
Nepal
News,
October 20-23, 2010.
PAKISTAN
75
militants and 12
SFs among 88 persons
killed during the
week in FATA: At
least 13 militants
were killed and
seven others injured
when Pakistan Army
helicopter gunships
shelled their hideouts
in Torkani and Yakh
Kandao areas of
the Upper tehsil
(revenue unit) in
Orakzai Agency of
Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA)
on October 24.
23
militants were killed
and another 19 injured
when Security Forces
(SFs) stepped up
action against militants
in Orakzai Agency
and the adjacent
Kurram Agency on
October 23.
At
least 10 militants
were killed and
seven others injured
when helicopter
gunships targeted
militant hideouts
in Dumbaki and Nowwandi
areas of Kurram
Agency on October
22. In addition,
a lieutenant colonel
of the Pakistan
Army and five other
soldiers were killed
when a roadside
time bomb exploded
in the Yakh Kandao
area of Orakzai
Agency.
Six
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) militants,
including a ‘commander’,
were killed and
several others injured
in a landmine blast
along a road in
the Marandi area
of Kurram Agency
on October 21.
At
least eight militants
were killed in an
aerial attack on
militant hideouts
in the Hangu area
of the Orakzai Agency
on October 20.
Six
militants, including
an Afghanistan national,
were killed and
another was injured
in an encounter
with SFs in the
Aleengar area of
Safi tehsil
in Mohmand Agency
in the night of
October 19. Separately,
three SF personnel
were killed and
three others received
serious injuries
in a remote control
bomb attack on a
military convoy
at the Soor Ghar
area in Bara tehsil
of Khyber Agency.
Three soldiers were
also killed and
two others injured
when unidentified
militants attacked
a military convoy
in the Kalundar
Keley area, about
60 kilometres from
South Waziristan
Agency’s main town
Wana.
A
US drone strike
killed seven militants
in the Dattakhel
region of North
Waziristan Agency
on October 18. Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
19-25, 2010.
23
militants enter
Islamabad and Lahore
to attack Police
officers, bureaucrats
and important buildings,
reveal intelligence
reports: Intelligence
reports on October
23 revealed that
as many as 23 terrorists
have entered Islamabad
and Lahore to attack
senior Police officers,
bureaucrats and
important buildings.
The report also
said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) has
planned attacks
on religious leaders
and activists of
two particular sects,
the Barelvi and
Shia, and their
business interests.
Daily
Times,
October 24, 2010.
TTP
financed failed
Time Square’s attack,
says Islamabad Police:
The
Islamabad Police
on October 18 said
that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
militants had extended
financial support
to Faisal Shahzad in
planning the terrorist
attack in New
York’s Times Square.
Faisal Shahzad pleaded
guilty on June 21,
2010, to trying
to explode a car
bomb in Times Square
on May 1, and to
receiving terror
training from the
TTP, and warned
that further attacks
on the U.S. were
coming.
Dawn,
October 19, 2010.
Osama
bin Laden is in
northwest Pakistan
under ISI protection,
says CNN report:
The
al Qaeda chief Osama
bin Laden and his
deputy Ayman al
Zawahiri may
be hiding close
to each other in
houses in northwest
Pakistan, protected
by some members
of the Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI),
a CNN report
said.
Times of India,
October 20, 2010.
Al
Qaeda in Pakistan
hit hard in US drone
attacks, says CIA:
The
Central Intelligence
Agency's (CIA) expanding
operations in Pakistan
have taken "a
serious toll"
on the al Qaeda
network, CIA Director,
Leon Panetta said
on October 20.
Dawn,
October 21, 2010.
US
want its USD two
billion aid to be
used only against
terror: The
Barrack Obama administration
is believed to be
including a clause
in a new security
aid package of over
USD two billion
to Pakistan that
the equipment bought
under it would be
used only for the
purpose it is meant
for – the fight
against terrorism.
Meanwhile,
the US asked Pakistani
leaders participating
in the strategic
dialogue on October
20 to accelerate
the pace and take
strong action against
terrorist safe havens
there. Indian
Express,
October 21, 2010.
National
interests cannot
be sacrificed for
war on terror, says
Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi:
Pakistan
will preserve its
national interests
as it partners with
the United States
(US) in fighting
the terrorist threat,
Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
said on October
19.
Daily
Times,
October 20, 2010.
No
military operation
in Balochistan,
says Chief Minister
Nawab Aslam Raisani:
Balochistan
Chief Minister (CM)
Nawab Aslam Raisani
on October 19 strongly
refuted reports
about military operations
in any part of the
province. Raisani,
however, confirmed
that some action
was being taken
against anti-social
elements.
Daily
Times,
October 20, 2010.
SRI LANKA
Government
to indict 1,000
ex-LTTE cadres on
charges of terrorism:
The
Government will
indict about 1,000
former Liberation
Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) cadres,
who are in custody,
on charges of involvement
in terrorism. D.E.W.
Gunasekara, Rehabilitation
and Prison Reforms
Minister, said the
Government has also
decided to release
23 former women
LTTE cadres on October
25 (today). Gunasekara
said the Government
has so far rehabilitated
and released some
4,460 former LTTE
cadres, including
304 females. The
Government continues
to screen refugees
in military-run
camps for LTTE militants.
PTI
News,
October 25 2010.
Colombo
plans radical electoral
reforms: The
Government is planning
major changes to
the proportional
representation system
in elected bodies,
beginning with local
Government bodies.
Under the provisions
of the proposed
legislation, known
as the Local Government
Electoral Reforms
Bill, 30 per cent
of members in local
bodies will be elected
under the proportional
representation system
and the rest under
the first-past-the-post
system.
The
Hindu,
October 21, 2010.
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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
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and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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