One More Black Friday

Fifteen persons were killed in seven well-synchronised explosions near courtpremises in three cities of  Uttar Pradesh--Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad--onthe afternoon of  November 23, 2007.

The explosions took place within about five minutes of each other. Theimprovised explosive devices (IEDs), attached to bicycles, do not appear to havebeen of a sophisticated kind. Initial reports indicated the possible use ofammonium nitrate, which has been increasingly used in different terroristincidents in many parts of the world since the explosion in the New York WorldTrade Centre in February 1993. But the synchronisation of the blasts in threedifferent cities around the same time indicate a certain sophistication inplanning and execution. 

We have had well-synchronised multiple explosions in Mumbai in March 1993 bythe mafia gang of Dawood Ibrahim  and in July, 2006, allegedly by theLashkar-e-Toiba (LET), and in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu in February,1998 by AlUmmah. We have not had well-synchronised multiple blasts in different citiessince 1993, when the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) carried outsynchronised explosions in different trains. But its synchronisation was not ofa high order. The Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM) of Bangladesh carried out nearly400 synchronised blasts all over Bangladesh in August, 2005.

Though 15 persons, mostly lawyers, were killed, causing mass casualties doesnot appear to have been the objective. As in the case of the 400 blasts ofBangladesh, which caused not more than 10 fatalities, the purpose seems to havebeen to intimidate and demonstrate the reach and capability of the perpetrators. Theexplosions were synchronised to take place after the Friday prayers. Jihaditerrorist organisations prefer to organised their terrorist strikes on Fridays.

The explosions have come in the wake of the judgements delivered recently inrespect of the Mumbai serial blasts of March 1993 and the Coimbatore serialblasts of February,1998. In both the cases, a number of jihadi terrorists havebeen found guilty and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. They have alsocome after the arrest of three suspected members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM)in UP, who were alleged to have planned to kidnap a dignitary in order to securethe release of Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death for his role in theattack on the Indian Parliament in December,2001. His mercy petition is underexamination by the Government of India. The arrested JEM terrorists were allegedto have been beaten up by some lawyers when they were brought to court. Thelocal lawyers have also reportedly refused to defend terrorists in future. Fromthese circumstances, it is likely that the explosions were meant to intimidatethe criminal justice community, particularly the lawyers.

It has been reported that an E-mail message purported to be from "indianMujahideen" received by some TV channels before the explosions indicatedthat these explosions were about to take place. However, it referred toexplosions in two and not three cities. "Indian Mujahideen" does notrefer to any organisation, but it  refers to Indian Muslims in general andsays that the Indian Muslims have decided to take the offensive and wage ajihad. In justification of this decision, it refers to the severe penaltiesawarded to the accused in the Mumbai blasts of March,1993, and the lack ofaction against Hindu police officers, who committed atrocities on Muslims. Italso refers to the Gujrat riots of 2002 and the recent assault on arrested JEMsuspects by some lawyers. The message is not only a warning of their intentionto act, but also an explanation of why Indian Muslims have decided to act. Themain point, which the sender of the message has sought to convey, is that thecriminal justice system treats the Muslims severely, but is lenient to theHindus. The language used is typically Indian, the context and arguments usedare typically of Indian Muslims and the issues raised are those which have beenagitating the minds of sections of Indian Muslims such as the demolition of theBabri Masjid in December,1992, lack of action against the Hindu police officersof Mumbai who were found guilty of excesses by the Sri Krishna EnquiryCommission, the severe penalties awarded to Muslims who had retaliated inMarch,1993, and the Gujrat riots.

It admits that the  Muslims were responsible for the explosions inVaranasi, Delhi, Mumbai and in a restaurant and park in Hyderabad, but says theywere not responsible  for the blasts in Malegaon in September,2006, in theSamjauta Express and the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad this year. It is silent onthe recent blast in the Ajmer Sharif, a Muslim holy place famous for itstolerant Sufi tradition..

It says tha the Indian Muslims have decided to wage a jihad for Islamic ruleand talks of a "war for civilisation." It warns that their nexttargets will be police officers. Keeping in view that the 15th anniversary ofthe demolition of the Babri Masjid is just a fortnight away, we should be alertto the possibility of more explosions in the days to come, possibly directedagainst the police.

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