Al Qaeda And India

In the periodic messages generally attributed to Osama bin Laden and his No.2 Ayman al-Zawahiri and their organisation Al Qaeda, they generally give an indication of their likely future targets. Such targets have included the US, other Western countries collaborating with the US in Afghanistan and Iraq and Muslim countries perceived by them as collaborating with the US.

In the past, these messages were free of critical references to India and the so-called Kashmir issue. The Al Qaeda had once criticised the US for allegedly supporting India on the so-called Kashmir issue, but had refrained from criticising India's policies in Kashmir directly.

The Taliban and its leaders too had generally refrained from criticising India. However, Gulbuddin Heckmatyar's Hizbe Islami (HEI), which is collaborating with the Al Qaeda and the Taliban in their present offensive against the American and Afghan troops, has always been virulently critical of India and supportive of anti-India terrorist groups operating in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The HEI, which is close to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) of Pakistan led by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, had before 9/11 trained many cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen headed by Syed Salahuddin in its training camps in Afghan territory.

Before 9/11, the Taliban, which was then in power in Afghanistan , and the HEI were at daggers drawn with each other. The Taliban had forced the HEI and the Hizbul Mujahideen to close down their training camps in Afghan territory. Heckmatyar and his cadres were forced to cross over into Iran and take shelter there.

After 9/11, under pressure exercised by the US, the Government of Iran ordered Heckmatyar and his cadres to leave Iran. They moved over into the Balochistan area of Pakistan where they were given sanctuary by the the JEI, with the complicity of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Heckmatyar and Mulla Mohammad Omar, the Amir of the Taliban, who is also presently based in Balochistan, decided to forget their past differences and fight unitedly against the US and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.

They have stepped up their offensive since the end of the last winter. Arab remnants of the Al Qaeda as well as some students of the Pakistani madrasas belonging to West Europe South-East Asia and Australia have also joined them. In a statement recently, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the leader of Pakistan's Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI) , who was in the past perceived as the mentor of Mulla Omar and a strong supporter of bin Laden, has alleged that the Pakistani Army has been helping these elements in their current offensive in Afghanistan to disrupt the forthcoming parliamentary elections in September.

bin Laden's past statements had been critical of Pakistan without any personal criticism of its President Gen.Pervez Musharraf. However, two messages ofSeptember, 2003, attributed to al-Zawahiri were virulently critical of Musharraf. It was in those messages that one found the first reference to India and the Hindus since 9/11.

The messages, which were disseminated on the Al Arabiya TV station of Dubai and the Al Jazeera TV channel of Qatar, had said: 

"Muslims in Pakistan must unite and cooperate to topple this traitor and install a sincere leadership that would defend Islam and Muslims.It is Musharraf who enabled America to topple the (Taliban's) Islamic emirate in Afghanistan. Had it not been for his tremendous help, America would not have been able to do this, nor would it have been able to kill thousands of innocents in Afghanistan. It is Musharraf who is seeking to recognize Israel in a bid to gain full American approval ... It is Musharraf who is seeking to send Pakistani forces to Iraq so that they, rather than American soldiers, are killed and so that they kill Muslims in Iraq and enable America to control Muslim lands." 

The messages also warned Pakistani army officers and soldiers that Musharraf would "hand you over to the Hindus and flee to enjoy his secret (bank) accounts" if India attacked their country. Nor would Washington reward Musharraf for his services.

These messages were followed by two attempts to assassinate Musharraf mounted by the jihadi terrorist elements with the complicity of some Pakistani Army and Air Force officers belonging to the Hizbut Tehrir at Rawalpindi in December,2003.

Since then, there has been no other attempt directed at him and the Al Qaeda's messages too have been free of any criticism of Pakistan in general and Musharraf in particular. Reports fromwell-informed sources in Balochistan say that Musharraf has made a deal with the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the HEI, under which he has promised not to interfere with their activities from their sanctuaries in Pakistani territory in return for their refraining from any terrorist attacks against him or in Pakistani territory. For the last about 10 months, there has been no major terrorist attack, barring the periodic anti-Shia strikes, in Pakistani territory attributable to theseorganisations.

The first references to India in the messages of the Al Qaeda and its leaders started appearing after the visit of Prime Minister Aeriel Sharon of Israel to India in 2003, but these messages did not refer to the so-called Kashmir issue. Against this background, it is significant that a recent message attributed to the Al Qaeda and its associates in Afghanistan refers to Kashmir.

On August 9, 2005, the Al Arabiya TV channel showed a video recording of what was described as the recent successful operations of the Al Qaeda and the Taliban against the US troops in Afghanistan. A report on the video circulated by the Associated Press says as follows:

"A purported al-Qaida-made video shows militants in Afghanistan--including Europeans, Arabs and others--preparing to attack U.S. troops and showing off what they said was a U.S. military laptop. The video features interviews with a masked man yelling "As you bomb us, you will be bombed!" and shows a group of men packing explosives into bombs. The program includes interviews with bearded fighters claiming they are avenging the killing of Muslims by the U.S., Britain, Israel and India. "If this is terrorism and fundamentalism, then OK, we are terrorists and fundamentalists," a Pakistani man who identifies himself as Bilal says in Urdu. The tapes feature a diatribe by aBritish or Australian-accented man wearing a black robe, AK-47 and military-style vest, who warns Westerners of "the lies of Blair and Bush." Yet another scene pans across a cache of captured U.S. gear, including a laptop, an M-16, military radios, a global positioning satellite display and the Department of Defense ID card of slain Navy SEAL Danny Phillip Dietz Jr. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo., was killed June 28 after his four-man reconnaissance team came under attack in Kunar province. The Chinook helicopter was downed and the 16 troops killed as the craft was on its way to aid Dietz, killing all aboard. An insurgent is shown going through the laptop's hard drive, zooming in on a U.S. military document marked "For Official Use Only" and a map of Kabul marked with the locations of the U.S. and British embassies. The film is subtitled in Arabic, but carries interviews in English, French, Pashto and Urdu, as well as Arabic spoken with Yemeni, Saudi and Iraqi accents."

Other news agencies have quoted the British or Australian accented man appearing in the video as saying: "We will not let you kill our families in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Balkans, Indonesia , the Caucusus and elsewhere."

While the authenticity of this video has not yet been established by the Western and Australian intelligence agencies, it does not appear to be a doctored one. It is not clear whether this video was recorded before the recent visit of our Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to the US or after the visit. The two countries' determination to co-operate against terrorism was highlighted during the visit.

In the past, there had been no confirmed instance of Indian Muslims from outside J&K clandestinely going to Pakistan for studying in the madrasas there. After the recent decision of Musharraf to expel foreign students studying in the Pakistani madrasas, which is yet to be implemented, there has been a number of reports in the Pakistani media about the foreign students in the Pakistani madrasas. These reports indicate the presence of at least one Indian Muslim from outside J&K studying in a Karachi madrasa. He is reportedly from Mumbai and had gone to Karachi from Kathmandu. There have also been reports of the presence of some Nepali Muslims (number not known) in the Pakistanimadrasas.

B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Research Fpundation, Chennai Chapter.