And Now, Osama Targets India

I hadmentioned in my past articles that while Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden'sNo. 2, had criticised India and the Hindus, bin Laden himself had refrained fromany direct criticism of India and the Hindus.

In the latest audio message attributed to bin Laden, which was broadcast bythe Al Jazeera TV channel on April 23, 2006 (please see the link below) he has for the first time madedirect references to India and the Kashmir issue and spoken of  an allegedCrusader-Zionist-Hindu conspiracy against the Muslims. He makes the firstreference to "a Crusader-Zionist-Hindu war against the Muslims" whiletalking  of the alleged Western conspiracy to deprive Indonesia of EastTimor. 

It is not clear why he refers to India in connection with the separationof East Timor from Indonesia. He then says: "Meanwhile,a UN resolution passed more than half a century ago gave Muslim Kashmir theliberty of choosing independence from India. George Bush, the leader of theCrusaders' campaign, announced a few days ago that he will order his convertedagent [Pakistan President Pervez] Musharraf to shut down the Kashmir mujahidincamps, thus affirming that it is a Zionist-Hindu war against Muslims."

His reference is apparently to the remarks made by President Bush during hisvisit to Afghanistan, India and Pakistan from March 1 to 4, 2006. Mr. Bush hadstated at Delhi that he would be taking up with President Pervez Musharraf ofPakistan India's complaints that the jihadist terrorist infrastructure inPakistani territory directed against India remains intact. 

bin Laden furtheradds: "It is the duty for the Umma with all its categories, men, women andyouths, to give away themselves, their money, experiences and all types ofmaterial support, enough to establish jihad  particularly in Iraq,Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kashmir and Chechnya. Jihad today is animperative for every Muslim. The Umma will commit a sin if it did not provideadequate material support for jihad."

He also refers to the current fighting in the Waziristan area of Pakistanbetween the Pakistani Army and the local inhabitants in the following words:" With respect to Pakistan, some Muslims have done a good job by assistingtheir fellow Muslims, God bless them, but the Pashtun tribes must be aided afterthe Pakistan army devastated their homes in Waziristan in order to satisfy theUS."

This is the second audio message by bin Laden since he broke his13-month-long silence on January 19, 2006,with a message which was essentiallydirected to the American people in the context of the war in Iraq andAfghanistan. That message was triggered off by reports of growing opposition to the war in Iraq from large sections of the American public. It sought to takeadvantage of this opposition by offering a truce to the American people if theAmerican forces were withdrawn from the two countries. It carried an impliedwarning that if his offer was rejected, another terrorist strike in the UShomeland would follow for which, he claimed,  preparations were alreadyunder way.

The latest message, which is addressed to the Islamic world and not to the USand other Western countries, does not repeat his earlier warning of plans foranother terrorist strike in the US. The message of April 23 seems to have beentriggered off by a concern over the lack of any significant anger in the Islamicworld over the suspension of Western assistance to the Hamas-led Government inthe area under the control of the Palestinian Authority and over thedevelopments in the Darfur region of the Sudan and the plans to send aninternational peace-keeping force there. He projects these developments asevidence of the continuing conspiracy by the Crusaders and the Zionists againstthe Muslims.

His reference to the American opposition to the Hamas is casual rhetoric,without any indication of any action to be taken by the Muslims in thisconnection. However, his references to the alleged American designs in the Sudanand to the need to counter the Crusaders' in southern and Western Sudan are moredetailed and call for specific action such as storage of weapons for waging ajihad before the rains start hindering transport in the interior. 

He says: 

"I am inviting the mujahidin and their supporters in the Sudan and othercountries around, including the Arabian peninsula in particular, to prepare allthat is needed for a long-term war against the Crusaders and thieves in westernSudan. Our objective is obvious, that is defending Islam, the people and theland but not Khartoum government since our differences with them are soenormous, mostly when it backtracked in implementing the Sharia law andabandoned south Sudan. I urge the mujahidin to get acquainted with Darfur statetribes and land and its surroundings, keeping in mind that the region is aboutto face the rainy season that hampers means of transport. This is one of thereasons why the occupation was adjourned for six months. So it is imperative tospeed up action and benefit from the time factor by stocking a large amount oflandmines and anti-armour grenades such as RPGs [rocket propelledgrenades]."

The message, which lacks focus, refers to the so-called conspiracies againstthe Muslims all over the world, but interestingly does not refer to theopposition of the West to Iran's nuclear programme as another indicator of theCrusaders' conspiracy against Islam. It is silent on this subject.

B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd),Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai.