Is Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) taking over the role of global jehad from Al-Qaeda, with ISI blessings?

US looking for Osama in Hindu Kush mountain range, Pakistan.

The fight for the control of the mindless fighters – the Taliban will begin shortly.

Al – Qaeda (AQ) had money and ideological base, which the ISI used in its favour to learn and perfect the art of global jehad, by playing second fiddle to it. With the US baying for the blood of top tier AQ leadership, the Pakistan Army has come to the understanding that cutting off AQ might not be a bad idea at all. The US will be happy, and probably get off its back, and if Pakistan does ultimately manage to sell the idea of “Good Taliban” to the Obama administration, it will be the proverbial icing on the cake.

Pakistan is under attack for its role in the 26/11 attacks as well as instigating the BDR mutiny in Bangladesh. Given its penchant to forget immediate important issues when a new toy is dangled in front of USA - and Pakistan has seen this happen many times with USA - Pakistan feels that this is the right time to distract both US & Saudi Arabia and give them what they both want - top heads of Al Qaeda. And Pakistan feels, probably rightly, that heat of 26/11, collusion with LeT will be overlooked if it delivers on Al-Qaeda.

The pincer attack on Pakistan to root out Al Qaeda actually comes not from the US but from its trusted ally - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The effort is being led by Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi intelligence chief and he has visited Islamabad, Delhi and Kabul in January 2009. Osama bin Laden has become the mortal enemy of the Royal family of Saudi Arabia and they are putting the proverbial cock-screw into Pakistan to flush out the top heads of Al-Qaeda, preferably dead.

PRINCE MUQRIN BIN ABDUL AZIZ

Keep in the back of the mind that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have had a deep strategic military relationship for decades and today have an unacknowledged NUCLEAR partnership to provide the kingdom with a NUCLEAR DETERRENT on SHORT NOTICE if ever needed. This is a Brookings Institute report.

However, current President Zardari has put a spoke in the seamless relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan by his various acts. In a very high-handed manner, Zardari withdrew the hunting privileges of two Saudi princes located in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab. To add salt to the wound, the facility was given to a rival sheikh from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The action was taken at a time when Pakistan badly needed Saudi oil on deferred terms due to soaring prices, and the UAE was in no position to fill the gap. Islamabad now enjoys very good relations with the UAE - which is unable to help Pakistan - due to the family friendship between the Bhutto family and the UAE's rulers. But Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia and its two major allies - Qatar and Bahrain - are at an all-time low because of the insult to the Saudi royal family. (The issue of Zardari's Shi'ite background is a secondary factor.)

However, Richard Holbrooke is busy patching up the differences between KSA and Pakistan, with the blessings of Pakistan Army. And the biggest breakthrough has been to get Mullah Omar on board for talks with US. Meetings are due in Dubai later this month and in Saudi Arabia next month. This development can never be good for India's interests in the region.

SAUDI ARABIA & AL-QAEDA - Where are they today?

Forget the earlier connections and connivance between Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden, the CIA, the ISI. That was for a different war (Afghan jehad to oust Soviets) in a different era. Today, the stakes are different, to say the least. Today, Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda are literally mortal enemies.

In March 2008, the top Saudi cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, cautioned Saudis against giving money to charities or organizations that finance “evil groups” who are known for harming Islam and its followers — a clear reference to al Qaeda and other jihadist organizations.

One of the greatest threats the Saudis pose to al Qaeda is the threat to its ideological base. There are two different battlespaces in the war against jihadism — the PHYSICAL and the IDEOLOGICAL. For an ideological organization such as al Qaeda that preaches persecution and martyrdom, losses on the physical battlefield are expected and glorified. The biggest threat to the jihadists, therefore, is not a Hellfire missile being dropped on their heads, but an ideological broadside that undercuts their legitimacy and ideological appeal.

Many Saudi clerics have condemned jihadism as a “deviance from Islam.” Even prominent Saudi clerics who have criticized the Saudi government, such as Salman al-Awdah, have sent open letters to bin Laden condemning violence against innocents and claiming that al Qaeda was hurting Muslim charities through its purported ties to them.

The sting of the ideological attacks is being felt. In a May 2008 speech, al-Libi addressed the ideological assault when he said, “and because they knew that the key to their success in this plan of theirs is to turn the people away from jihad and mujahidin and to eliminate them militarily and intellectually.” Al-Libi recognized that without new recruits and funding, the jihad will wither on the vine.

In addition to financial and ideological threats against the organization, the Saudi assault has also gone after al Qaeda where it lives — in Pakistan.

A weak and threatened Pakistani state means that before working with the Pakistanis on the Afghan Taliban, Riyadh has to help Pakistan combat its own Taliban problem, which the Saudis currently are attempting. The Saudis obviously have much to offer the Pakistanis, in terms of both cash and experience. They also have the religious cachet that other Pakistan allies, such as the Americans and the British, lack, giving them the ability to broach ideological subjects.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
However, as is the case with the Afghan Taliban, the Saudis will have to get the Pakistani Taliban to part ways with al Qaeda and are working hard to drive a wedge between Pakistani militants and their foreign guests.

(Note: Precisely where Mullah Omar comes in as the Afghan Taliban and lo and behold - these are ISI assets. India should fine tune its approach and stop being mute and incapacitated spectator.)

As stated before, Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, et al., are well aware of these Saudi moves, which they see as a threat to their very existence. When asked in a November 2008 interview what he thought of the Saudi efforts to mediate between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban, al-Zawahiri responded that the Saudi efforts pointed out “the historical role of saboteur played by the House of Saud in ruining the causes of the Muslim ummah, and how they represent the agents whom the Crusader West uses to disperse the ummah’s energy.” Al Qaeda has already launched a sustained stream of ideological attacks in an attempt to undercut the Islamic credentials of the Saudi monarch and the Saudi clerical establishment.

Hence, there is a clear and present danger to Saudi interests being attacked in Pakistan sooner than later.

Al Qaeda has faced several reverses across the globe and its ability to wage global jehad has been greatly degraded. It is no longer flush with billions and the narco trade has moved over from AQ assets to Taliban and Dawood Ibrahim – both ISI assets, with the rest of the narco trade being controlled by Karzai’s younger brother and British / US assets to fund black ops and propping their defunct banks and economy with real money.



In case some of you are still sceptic about the role of contraband drugs - read this "smokey" article "Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?"

The rift of the Taliban base is not yet apparent and even today there is a close co-ordination between Al-Qaeda, ISI and Taliban. It is the last tango, before one of the two major controllers – ISI & AQ – fight it out to gain supreme control of the Taliban.

For Al Qaeda – it is an existential threat. Pakistan, FATA is its home base, and should it be ousted – it has nowhere else to go home to. Hence it has only one hope – to take over the Pakistan State, take over the nuclear bombs – which it views essentially as a Sunni bomb and not a bomb for the Muslim ummah (causing heartburn to Iranians who need to have the Shia bomb to counter this Sunni bomb).

What will serve AQ’s purpose is to cause enough internal disequilibrium in Pakistan that it implodes from within. Two of the recent spectacular acts of Al Qaeda has been – Marriott bombing (which could actually have finished off the top level of Pakistan’s civilian leadership as well as the military) and the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers. It is well known that Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ) operatives are subservient to Al-Qaeda masters.

For ISI – it is an existential threat too. If it does not root out Al Qaeda, it may be declared as a “terrorist spewing entity” and have its activities curbed by designs and circumstances beyond its controls. It’s most potent ally – the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT), has been caught red-handed for executing the Mumbai attacks. ISI cannot eradicate the LeT, it will then cede to AQ elements – and lose Pakistan to a more radicalized version of Islam that will lend itself difficult to control. ISI wants these Islamist elements permanently focused on both Kashmir and Afghanistan, so that they do not target Pakistan.

However, this cannot be the case. These mindless warriors of Allah – have been indoctrinated to fight and fight without question. Anyone with Koran and cash – can influence the different Talibans – to fight their wars, to blow themselves up for pretty much any reason, anywhere.

Here comes the problem. The US has pretty much read the riot act to Pakistan military regarding its double game on supporting Taliban and wants actionable results. If Pakistan Army goes along with this war on terror and fights the Taliban in FATA, it pretty much plays into the hands of Al Qaeda. AQ has always stated to its fighters that this Pakistan Army has been fighting the infidel’s (USA’s) war and it is the duty of every Islamist to defeat this treacherous army. Osama Bin Laden did speak as much (if they are authentic tapes) about the right of every sovereign Pakistani to overthrow Musharraf as we went about attacking Lal Masjid and camps of Tehrik e Taliban. Incidentally, Pakistan Army had to retreat twice as Baitullah Mehsud’s men scored spectacular victories over the Pakistan Army.

AQ has put all Taliban under its control under one umbrella for better co-ordination. On February 23, 2009, “under instructions” from Mullah Umar and “sheikh” Osama bin Laden, the three feuding warlords of Waziristan — Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur — announced reconciliation and merger under the rubric of Shura Ittehad Mujahideen (SIM). They also issued a pamphlet that vowed the targeting of Al Qaeda’s three enemies: “Obama, Zardari and Karzai”. (Note: Kashmir, India is missing, as it mostly has been for Al Qaeda)



Putting it simply: The Taliban assets aligned with Pakistan Army and ISI are called the GOOD TALIBAN and the Taliban assets aligned with Al-Qaeda only are called the BAD TALIBAN. In reality, there is no such black & white divisions as recent attacks have shown the joint operations synergies between ISI assets and Al Qaeda assets.

However, if the US buys into the Good Taliban theory of the ISI, Pakistan Army will surely go in for the kill and take over the Al Qaeda leadership bases in NWFP and FATA. At least it will have enough incentives to do so – but easier said than done.

It is not beyond AQ’s scope to stage even more dramatic explosions / disruptions in Pakistan or even in India, to cause conflict to break out between India and Pakistan. Things are very fluid and it is ultimately the battle of Al-Qaeda to survive and thrive in Pakistan.

Hence one can ask – why do joint operations if the ultimate aim for ISI is to take over from Al – Qaeda?

First, ISI cannot just walk in and take over from Al-Qaeda. Most probably it will be Lashkar – e –Taiba (LeT) that will be given the task of taking over the mantle from Al-Qaeda, thus ISI becomes the de-facto owner of the global jehad franchise.

Second, there are deep and good relations between ISI and AQ. And ISI is not being able to understand the contours of staying power of the US Army in Afghanistan. ISI will calibrate its policy of supporting AQ and Taliban accordingly. Whatever happens, ISI will never sever its relationship with Taliban.

It is interesting to note that global jehad has not only been Al-Qaeda’s philosophy but Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) too. Before the Markaz-da'wa wal-irshad, the Lashkar's religio-political wing, was banned, its website regularly carried the view of its founder. Saeed's view of LeT's mission was quite unambiguous. He argued that Kashmir was the "gateway" to India, much of which comprised "lost Muslim lands". He saw jihad in Kashmir as a religious duty and fully identified himself with the 9/11 mayhem that Osama bin Laden wreaked.

Aligned with the Ahl-e-Hadees sect, Lashkar was founded in 1987 by Saeed, who incidentally was also trained as an engineer like Osama and many other prominent jihadis, and who drew his inspiration from the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood — an organisation that saw Palestine as an Islamic cause way back in the 1930's. In collaboration with ISI, Lashkar built up an impressive Kashmir portfolio with recruits chiefly drawn from Pakistani Punjabis, Pashtoons, Bangladeshis, Arabs and south-east Asians.

But its vision has NEVER been Kashmir-centric as it bids to re-establish Muslim rule from Morocco to Indonesia and also eyes north Australia as part of its likely domain.

Not much different from Al-Qaeda’s philosophy. And this suits ISI very well.

MAKING THE CASE WHY PAKISTAN ARMY WILL NOT CUT OFF TIES WITH TALIBAN:

It took the US a long time, a very long time indeed, to understand that “ISI in in complete co-ordination with the Taliban.” That was CIA written report – dated “Summer of 2008.”

J. Michael McConnell, the Director of US National Intelligence was stunned into silence as a 2 star Pakistani general gave vent to his frustrations and stated “WE MUST SUPPORT THE TALIBAN.” Mc Connell was left wondering what happened to the $11 billion in aid to Pakistan that his country gave to fight the Taliban – it was answered by Obama when he famously said – Pakistan has used all that money to prepare to fight India and not the Taliban.

So, what did the 2 star Pakistan General say to McConnell?

The General started making the case that the real problem in the tribal areas and in Afghanistan was not Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, or even the militants who were trying to topple the Pakistani government. The real problem was India, which he said, was secretly manipulating events in an effort to crush Pakistan. “We have to watch them at every moment.” With alarm the 2 star General talked about how the Indians were opening consulates around the country and building roads. What the rest of the world saw as desperately needed nation-building program in Afghanistan, the Pakistanis saw a threat. The General continued, “The Indians will surround us and annihilate us. And the Indians, in their surrounding strategy, have gone to Afghanistan.” Those newly built roads, he seemed to suggest, were future Indian invasion routes. The Indian consulates were a den of spies. The real purpose of Indian humanitarian aid to Afghanistan was to run “operations out of Afghanistan to target Pakistan.”

He continued, “In the long run, American will not have the stomach to bear the burden of staying in Afghanistan. And when American pulls out, India will reign. Therefore Pakistan will have to sustain contact with Taliban, as it’s a friendly government to Pakistan.”

“Therefore,” the General concluded with a flourish, “we must support the Taliban.”

Note: This was not an off the cuff statement by a marginalized General, it dawned upon McConnell that this was the stock staple of the entire Pakistan security establishment. They are not at all serious about the Taliban threat emanating from the NWFP, and are in-fact fuelling the Taliban insurgency to gain Afghanistan as Pakistan’s 5th province and Kashmir as the 6th province.

Late June 2008, NSA intercepted messages that ISI officers were helping the Taliban plan a big bombing in Afghanistan. US made the decision to send deputy director of CIA Stephen R Kappes to Pakistan with the evidence and demand a cessation of the connections to Taliban. Kappes made the trip but arrived too late. On July 7th 2008, the Indian embassy in Kabul was bombed, killing 54 people including India’s defense attaché to Afghanistan. For Americans, this was the “aha” moment – there was a sense that there was finally direct proof. New York Times carried the article: “Pakistan aided attacks in Kabul, US officials say.” One could not get more blunt than that. Incidentally, Pak Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani is on tape referring to Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani’s Taliban as a “strategic asset.”

US then concentrated on this Pakistan-Taliban collusion and came to startling complicity (Pak-Taliban) and treachery (Pak-US). Musharraf who promised to close the worst of the terrorist spewing madrassas, “never took the slightest steps to do so.” – Well, they should have known that Musharraf remains a die-hard Deobandi (see previous article).

NSA started picking up intercepts that Pakistani raid parties were giving advance warning to the Talibans of their arrival. “It was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to hit your place in a few days, so if anyone important is there, you might want to tell them to scram.’” But, leave a few weapons around, Haqqani’s operatives were told, so that it would not look as if the Pakistani Army had come up with nothing. They needed a few trophies to bring back. “Oh, and they warned them that there would be a lot of smoke bombs and stuff, but they shouldn’t worry too much.”

What India knew all along, the US came to know too, but it was way too late in the day for getting a crash course on “Dummies guide to collusion of Pakistan Army, ISI and Taliban.”

Interim conclusion 1: There is absolutely no way Pakistan Army and ISI will let go of their strategic assets – the Taliban. There is also absolutely no way Al Qaeda will let go of their strategic assets in the tribal areas. The ISI continues this wink-wink relationship with Al-Qaeda – but for how long? The US may at some level tolerate Pakistan-Taliban complicity but will abhor Pakistan-Al Qaeda complicity. And then there is considerable pressure from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Pakistan to root out Al-Qaeda from its safe zones. Hence this Pak-AQ relationship will be and is actually under CONSIDERABLE STRAIN.

Question is : Why did the Kashmir centric LeT, that ISI had formed ostensibly to wage jehad only in Kashmir, turn its focus from only Kashmir to global jehad? Did the ISI foresee that it may well have to give up Al-Qaeda heads to US and save its precious assets (Taliban, LeT etc) and also the global jehad space for itself?

The answer lies in the taste LeT & ISI received by conducting global jehad under the Al Qaeda banner, which has been dealt with in details in two of my earlier articles: ARTICLE 1 (ISI & AL-QAEDA) & ARTICLE 2:

SHORT DETOUR TO HISTORY:

Pakistan wanted to conduct business with the oil and gas rich Central Asian regions. However 30 trucks from Pakistan on their way from Quetta that carried symbolical merchandise to Turkmenistan were hijacked by local Afghan Mujahideen. Pakistan Army, ISI and transportation mafia got in touch with Mullah Omar and utilized his “services” in rescuing the Pakistani convoy. That started off the Pakistan Army – ISI – Mullah Omar and the Taliban saga.

CHECHEN JIHAD

Shamil Basayev, the then “young” Chechen field commander (year = 1994) caught the attention of the Pakistani intelligence stationed in the neighboring oil rich Azerbaijan, where about 1500 Afghan mujahideen under the command of Pakistani officers were fighting Armenians to reclaim for Azeris the rebel Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh. In April 1994, ISI arranged for Basayev and his trusted lieutenants to undergo intensive Islamic indoctrination and training in guerrilla warfare in the Khowst province of Afghanistan at Amir Muawia camp, run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. In July 1994, Basayev was transferred to LASHKAR e TAIBA (LeT) camp in Muridke to undergo training in advanced guerrilla tactics. In Pakistan, Basayev met the highest ranking Pakistani military and intelligence officers: Minister of Defense Gen. Aftab Shahban Mirani, Minister of Interior Gen. Maseerullah Babbar, and head of ISI branch in charge of supporting Islamic causes, Gen. Javed Ashraf (now all retired).

That same summer, Pak backed Taliban offensive against the government of Iran backed President of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, threatened to cut the Chenchen drug trade. After personal intervention of Gen Babbar and the ISI, Taliban and government forces allowed shipments of Chechen drugs through their lines while they were slitting each other’s throats. (Keep this in mind to the current situation).

One of the most prominent Pakistani nationals Abu Abdulla Jafa, along with Basayev and Jordanian born Afghan veteran Khattab organized a terrorist academy in Chechnya. The ISI also deputed 9 trainers of the rank of Captain and subedars (NCO) to train the Chechen guerrillas in urban and mountain warfare.

Abu Abdulla Jafa was a career officer of Pakistan’s elite Northern Light Infantry Brigade and the tactical mastermind behind Basayev’s invasions into Dagestan. (NON-STATE ACTORS ???)

Fighters from an ISI battalion of Afghan mujahedeen stationed in Peshawar were also dispatched to Chechnya in late 1994 to bolster the Pakistani-Chechnya detachments. In 1997, several hundreds of Chechens were trained in ISI sponsored camps. These training programs continued till 2001. Islamabad continues to support the Chechen rebels.

Basayev formed common cause with ISI and Al-Qaeda – establishing independent Islamic regimes in Muslim majority states of Russian Caucus. Pakistan’s overall strategic goal in Central Asia is intricately linked with the oil / gas resources in the Caspian Sea zone.

And CIA is not averse to the idea. Remember how US tried to broker oil deals through Unocal and Taliban – well, the idea continues in the different context today. Today, it is perhaps the turn of the “Good Taliban” who will grant the US access to the rich Yolotan-Osman gas reserves and beyond and Pakistan the warm water ports.

Other than Chechnya, we have over these articles, seen that ISI has sent terrorists from the cadre base of LeT, LeJ and HuM to the following countries – sometimes taking the lead role, in other instances playing second fiddle to Al Qaeda:

- Kosovo
- Bosnia
- Bangladesh
- India
- Bali / Indonesia
- Russia
- Europe
- Philippines
- Burma
- Somalia
- Malaysia etc etc.

Interim conclusion 2 : ISI has played an important role in global jehad especially by sending operatives from LeT. It is also noted that most of the bigger terrorists have learnt their craft in LeT training centre in Muridke. Hence, LeT is the most potent jehadi force under the wings of ISI. LeT is both subservient and compliant . Hence, ISI will not at all crack down whole heartedly on LeT, even after its role on 26/11 becomes clear.

The above is borne out from the recent changes on the leadership of LeT – more Kashmiri veterans are being inducted as LeT tries to show the world that is a Kashmir centric force and not a global one. But we know better !

The dream of Pakistan to turn LeT into a global clone of Al Qaeda is not without perils. Complexity arrives in the form of Iran and India – both of whom are averse to Taliban / LeT and such Sunni forces. Then there are the Baluch nationalists who can also offer warm water port through Gwadar, if they manage to become an independent nation. And Iran and India joint venture at Chabahar is just a few kilometers away from Gwadar.

Bottom Line: There is no way Pakistan is going to fight the Taliban or crack down on LeT.

If we now logically look at the evolving scenario in the future -ISI might as well serve AQ heads up as fodder food to the US predators and special forces. Curiously enough there are articles on Osama bin Laden doing the rounds. New York Daily news asks: Where is Osama bin Laden? US zeroes in on Chitral, Pakistan.




What does Chitral newspaper have to say on this?

One comment from Chitral: "Chitral is a land of barren mountains with 400000 population. Any stranger in this area is traced within 24 hours.In case CIA and Pentagon have kept Osama alive despite his kidney failure in 2001, he will never, never take refuge in barren rocks amongst peaceful people."

The commentator above refers to "in case CIA & Pentagon have kept alive ...." finds a curious mention in French newspaper Le Figaro. The French version can be read by CLICKING HERE.

Some of the important translated points from the above article: "Gravely ill, enemy number one stayed in an American hospital in the [United Arab] Emirates at the beginning of the summer. Suffering from a kidney disorder, Osama Bin Laden stayed at the American hospital in Dubai, from July 4-14,2001, where he reportedly met an official of the CIA, according to a witness, a professional partner of the administrative management of the hospital. Coming from the airport in Quetta, Pakistan, the man who since the Sept. 11 attacks has become public enemy number one, was immediately transferred on arrival at the Dubai airport. He was accompanied by his personal physician and loyal lieutenant, who could be the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahari, four bodyguards, as well as an Algerian nurse, bin Laden was admitted to the American hospital, a glass and marble building situated between the Al-Garhoud Bridge and the Al-Maktoum Bridge. Each floor has two VIP suites and about 15 rooms. The Saudi billionaire was admitted to the very famous urology department of Dr. Terry Calloway, specialist in kidney stones and male infertility. Reached by telephone, several times, Dr. Calloway did not want to answer our questions. According to authorized sources, Bin Laden had a mobile dialysis machine delivered to his hideout in Kandahar in the first half of 2000."

For India – Pakistan / ISI / LeT / Taliban aligned to ISI present a clear danger to India. Their designs and actions have stated as such and their actions will continue to get bolder. Already, the investigations of 26/11 is starting to fade away into the icy windy trails of Chitral.

Al-Qaeda/ Taliban aligned to Al-Qaeda are more a clear danger to the Western world, especially to US / UK. They are not interested in Kashmir or India.

And India knows that US and its allies are presently cutting deals with Pakistan so that Al-Qaeda, the most potent threat to it is wiped out from their bases in Pakistan. However, that will hardly help India as US has shown time and again, it was willing to wink at LeT’s Kashmir role as long as it did not pain the Americans.

It is therefore time to think what is good for India – to do things out of the box, away from executive glare, and help forces that are threatening Pakistan and not India.

Even for a moment assume that due to “external” help, Al-Qaeda and Taliban aligned to A-Qaeda are in a position to take over Pakistan – it might actually serve India well.

How ?

For starters, such a scenario will be the ultimate nightmare scenario for the US / western allies. It will mean that Al-Qaeda will be taking over a country with nuclear warheads that will surely threaten the US / European mainland.

And what do you think US / UK / NATO do under the circumstances?

They will take the “tabletop exercises” of securing Pakistani nukes to the next logical step and take over the nuclear assets of Pakistan, so that it does not fall into the hands of Al-Qaeda.

For India, Pakistan is denuded of its nuclear arsenal.

And that, for India, one major Indian military objective achieved !!

MUMBAI & LAHORE - A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Lashkar e Taiba & Lashkar e Jhangvi - children of Pakistan Army

LAHORE ATTACK ON SRI LANKA CRICKET TEAM

As the din gets louder that Sunni extremists linked to Al Qaeda – the Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ) perpetrated the Lahore massacre on Sri Lankan cricketers, let not the main fact get lost in translation. One has to look at the attacks on Mumbai and Lahore not merely as stand alone incidents, but part of a larger game plan, some of which have already played out before, some are ongoing and certainly more to come in future.

The alleged mastermind of Lahore attacks has been identified and he is Mohammad Aqeel and all that is known is that he belongs to one of the banned outfits - Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ). He has not been caught but his accomplice TALAT has been apprehended.

LeJ: The late Zia-ul-Haq's perceived partiality towards the Deobandi sect of the majority Sunni community of Pakistan led to the formation on April 12-13,1979, of the Tehrik Nifaz Fiquah Jaffria (TNFJ) by the Shias. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with the blessings of the USA, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, encouraged a group of Deobandi Muslim migrants (Mohajirs) to counter the activities of the TNFJ. Thus came into being the Ajuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (since re-named as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan--SSP) on September 6,1984, under the leadership of Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, a semi-educated Khateeb who had his religious education in Darul Uloom, Kabirwala, and the Khairul madrasa of Multan in Pakistani Punjab. The well-motivated and trained cadres of the SSP offered themselves as mercenaries not only to the ISI for its operations against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan and against the Shias in Pakistan itself, but also to the intelligence agencies of Saudi Arabia and Iraq for their operations against the Islamic regime in Iran. In 1996, the SSP underwent an ostensible split with a group led by Riaz Basra forming a separate anti-Shia organisation called the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Though the two have since been operating separately, Pakistani analysts call the split an eye-wash and describe the LeJ as nothing but the militant wing of the SSP, to enable the latter to concentrate more on overground political activities.

Cricket & LeJ - Have attacked cricketers before:

In May 2002, a New Zealand cricket team abandoned its tour of Pakistan after an LeJ suicide bomber attacked them in front of their hotel in Karachi.

Hence, if LeJ was behind the Lahore attacks targeting Sri Lankan cricketers, this would be their second attack on cricketers.

Al – Qaeda - Oddities of timing to own up to Marriott bombing:



On the day the attack on the cricket team in Lahore occurred, the newspapers carried news that Al Qaeda had owned up the Marriott Hotel blast of September 2008 in a message sent to the Saudi embassy in Islamabad. On December 22, 2008, the adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, Mr Rehman Malik, had told the National Assembly that the Marriott blast was carried out by Lashkar-e Jhangvi.

Al-Qaeda & IIF – where LeT and LeJ meet up.

The International Islamic Front (IIF), which is a coalition of likeminded jihadi organisations of different countries formed by Laden in 1998. Members from Pakistan include, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), the Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

And the connection to ISI.

The connection of Pakistani jihadi organizations in IIF and their connections to ISI. All these organizations were formed by ISI and are organizations where ISI officers find employment after retirement. Why is it that only ISI controlled jihadi organizations find themselves part of Al-Qaeda’s elite group of IIF?

Before going back, the current situation:

On February 23, 2009, “under instructions” from Mullah Umar and “sheikh” Osama bin Laden, the three feuding warlords of Waziristan — Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur — announced reconciliation and merger under the rubric of Shura Ittehad Mujahideen (SIM). They also issued a pamphlet that vowed the targeting of Al Qaeda’s three enemies: “Obama, Zardari and Karzai”. Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) subsequently announced that it would no longer fight the Pakistan army. But the announcement of “Zardari” as a target while letting the Pakistan army off the hook is a menacing signal for Pakistani politics.


LAL MASJID

BuA: Hence, Al-Qaeda is trying to bring feuding to an end to help the Pakistan Army, while targeting the civilian set up in Pakistan. After the attack on Lal Masjid, (at the goading of the Chinese and in essence to please its all weather ally) , the Pakistan Army went on the wrong side of the Islamists. The US "war on terror" landed the Paksitan Army once again on the wrong side of the Islamists and Taliban - hence there was a backlash from them. The peace deals at SWAT and the formation of SIM (Shura Ittehad Mujahideen) are a step to heal the wounds and get the Islamists back into the fold of Pakistan Army.

Benazir Bhutto & LeJ :

Ms Benazir Bhutto had revealed in an interview that the attack on her procession in Karachi in October 2007 was carried out by the gang of “Abdul Rehman Sindhi, an Al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) militant from the Dadu district of Sindh”. After her assassination in December 2008, an Al Qaeda spokesman claimed having killed “an American asset”. In the late 1990s, whenever the government of Pakistan demanded the handover of LeJ killers, the Taliban government, backed by Al Qaeda, steadily refused the demand.



The revelations in the book “The Way of the World”, by Pulitzer Prize winning US journalist Ron Suskind : the conversations between Musharraf and Benazir, including Musharraf’s quote - “You should understand something, your security is based on the state of our relationship”.

Looks like the state of the relationship was not good.

A look at Musharraf: After all, he may well become the next President of Pakistan ousting Zardari !



We all see a moderate face, but we also know he plotted the Kargil. So who is the real Musharraf ?. (I will tie in LeJ, Mushrraf, Al Qaeda shortly, hence the digress).

Gen Musharraf was 'picked up' by the then military dictator of Pakistan, Gen Zia-ul-Haq, as a young Brigadier in 1987 on strong recommendations from the Jamaat-e-Islami, in part of the Zia gameplan to 'Islamise' the Pakistani Army. Gen Musharraf was perceived as a 'devout Deobandi', who could be trusted to mobilise and train 'jihadis' for the Afghan campaigns against the Soviet Union.

NOTE 1 on MUSHARRAF: Gen Zia, a known Islamist, was not going to love any “secularist”. And Musharraf a ‘devout Deobandi’ was recommended by Jamaat e Islami.

Brigadier Musharraf, SSP, Al Qaeda:

In 1988, as a Brigadier charged with suppressing a Shia revolt in Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, Gen Musharraf used Islamist 'irregulars' from the North West Frontier Province, under the command of OSAMA BIN LADEN, to execute a campaign of pillage, arson, rape and slaughter, in which hundreds of Shia were killed. These Islamist irregulars were Sunni hardliners – the ISI formed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) – from where LeJ was later formed.

Thereafter, Gen Musharraf was intrinsic to the 'demographic re-engineering' of the illegally occupied region, through which large numbers of Pashtun and Punjabi 'outsiders' were forcibly settled there, to alter the existing demographic balance that overwhelmingly favoured the Shias. After decades of this policy, while Shias continue to maintain a slim - though diminishing - majority, the proportions have been altered from 1:4 in their favour, to 3:4.

NOTE 2 on MUSHARRAF: Musharraf was no stranger to genocide, and ethnic cleansing and tried to use it to good use in Kashmir. The friends of Musharraf, and Pakistan Army, were the ISI created terror organizations and LeJ was at the forefront, along with LeT. And yes, Musharraf worked together with Osama bin Laden in GILGIT.

Gen Musharraf and Kashmir:

Musharraf wanted to plant the Pakistani flag on the Srinagar Assembly building and he has not shied away from these comments. In 1999, with Mr Pervez Musharraf as its chief, the Pakistan army invaded the Kargil sector of the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir with military formations - particularly the Gilgit Scouts - posing as 'irregulars' or 'mujahideen'.

It is a well established fact that every Pakistani Army and Deobandi jehadi organizations (it is an irony that Deoband is based in UP and its seminaries are spewing these terrorists) – have only one agenda: Make Afghanistan the 5th province of Pakistan and Kashmir its 6th province.

An interview Benazir gave on May 20, 2000, reveals Pakistan’s Kashmir policy: She said: Three crucial changes took place in the Kashmir policy:

i) The leadership of All Party Hurriyat Conference was effectively replaced by HuM & LeT
ii) The arena of conflict was expanded beyond the disputed area
iii) Non-military targets i.e. civilians, were also included as targets

When we reflect back on 26/11, the above three points should be remembered.

The plan for KASHMIR:

Pakistan’s idea is simple. Make the Hindus flee the state. Pakistan wants to make Jammu, Rajouri, Udhampur & Poonch Muslim majority areas and then press for DIXON formula type solution with the backing of USA & its allies in Afghan & Iraq wars. (Pakistan is still the frontline ally of US for the Afghan war).

The Indians, however did not get trapped into the plans, despite attacks on its Parliament in 2001, or the audacious attack in Mumbai on 26/11 by going to war – which would have acted as a catalyst for all the various feuding jehadi organizations to become one and fight with the Pakistan Army, while the real plan was to infiltrate Kashmir with more than 2000 of highly trained terrorists to take over the state gradually.

Had Pakistan succeeded, they would have gone the whole hog and press USA & UN for implementation of their new DIXON formula.

DIXON FORMULA:

Sir Owen Dixon, the U.N. Representative came to the subcontinent pursuant to the Security Council's 1950 resolution on the Kashmir dispute.

That was "The Dixon Plan". It assigned Ladakh to India, the Northern Areas and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) to Pakistan, split Jammu between the two, and envisaged a plebiscite in the Kashmir Valley. Pakistan demurred at first, but agreed. It fell through because Nehru did not accept the conditions under which the plebiscite could be held; precisely the issue on which the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) and Graham failed. They, because of their ineptness; Dixon because he lost patience.



My reading of Musharraf: He is NOT TO BE TRUSTED at all. It was his then ISI chief Mahmood Ahmed, whose hands were caught in the till for financing the 9/11. Musharraf is a Deobandi die-hard, and is committed to the cause of breaking India up through a 1000 cuts. His overtures of peace are just a show. As an Indian Brigadier pointed out – Pakistan cannot fight on three fronts – hostile western borders, deteriorating internal security and a hostile eastern border. Pakistan army’s peace overtures is to keep “peace” in eastern borders till it “deals” with the other two issues – which are mostly its own creations anyway to seize power from the civilian leadership.

Yes, while Pakistan is in control of the major terrorist organizations through ISI in Pakistan, it is not in control of all and there are, I am sure, foreign powers, hostile to Pakistan, who are making use of these terror organizations to their advantage too.

The striking similarities between ISI covert ops team and the commado jehadists that struck Mumbai & Lahore:

The typical ISI covert ops team contains a Major, a JCO, an NCO and about 10 soldiers who merge with the Mujahideen and serve under direct operational command of the ISI. They attack in a buddies formation.

In both Mumbai & Lahore,10 – 12 commando - terrorists attacked in pairs. But what gave it a signature covert ops was the GPS (Mumbai attacks) & conversation trail. In Mumbai’s case : One of IP addresses that was accessed by Zarrar Shah to talk to the Mumbai attackers, 118.107.140.138, belongs to Col R Sadatullah whose official address is SCO, Qasim Rd, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The link to Pakistan Army is clearly established and it seems there are a couple more to be named in the future.

Interim conclusion: Whether it was LeT in Mumbai, or LeJ in Lahore, the hands of ISI & Pakistan Army are clear. And movements like Al Qaeda dominated Shura Ittehad Mujahideen, which targets the civilian government and eases Pakistan military leads credence to the theory.

HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS between Al Qaeda, ISI, LeT, LeJ – a few examples. It is stunning how well co-ordinated ISI, Al Qaeda and LeT / LeJ were, and therefore continue to be:



1. LeT / ISI / Al Qaeda / KMM

Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia (KMM) was formed by a Pakistan trained Afghan jehad veteran ZAINON ISMAIL. 50 of his cadres were trained by LeT in Muridke. They were flown to Kuwait and by sea to Alor Satar in north western Malaysia. Zainon flew to Kuwait and visited Pakistan on the basis of a PAKISTANI PASSPORT provided by the Pakistan Mission in Kuwait. He and his organization received liberal monetary help from ISI, and training facilities by LeT at Muridke, co-ordinated by ISI.

2. LeT / ISI / Jemaah Islamiya (JI) / Al Qaeda and BALI BOMBINGS:



Hambai was JI’s operational chief. He was sponsored to visit Pakistan as a mujahid. After initial training in a Peshawar camp of ISI & LeT camp in Muridke, Hambali was deputed to the training camp of ABDUL RAUF SAYYAF, leader of Ittehad-i-Islami in Afghanistan. Here he was contacted by Al-Qaeda. Under ISI & Al Qaeda guidance and JI support, two important Pakistanis – WALI KHAN AMIN SHAH and KHALID SHIEKH and HAMBALI planned spectacular terrorist actions in South East Asia. One of Hambali’s important collaborators was ABDUL AZIZ alias IMAM SAMUDRA, who too was trained in Pakistan at LeT camp in Muridke and was the mastermind of the BALI bombings in Oct’02. While in Pakistan, Imam Samudra, was taken to Binori mosque where bulk of Taliban cadets were trained. Imam Samudra’s main training was at LeT’s camp in Muridke.

Hence, the blood stains of Bali Bombings, can be traced straight back to Lashkar e Taiba’s training camp in Muridke, facilitated as usual by the ISI.

3. ISI / LeT / HuM/ Al Qaeda and KOSOVO

The ISI linked HuM & LeT volunteers numbering 50 left for Albania (1994) through Turkey, under the noses of NATO forces. They were lodged in Kosovo by Kosovar muslims to fight against Serbian army & militia. The ISI backed Pakistanis were grouped under the AL-QAEDA BANNER (wow !!!). Two more groups of Pakistani mujahideen belonging to Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) were deputed to Kosovo in a flight chartered by ISI (look at the very close co-ordination between ISI & LeT for global jehad). This flight took them to Turkey and then smuggled into Kosovo. Their leader was Mullah Saraf-ud-Din. These Islamic fighters created havoc and later on many of them settled on in Kosovo. These fighters married locally and are now propagating their hardline views through mosques and madrassas – and they remain a very dangerous force in future aligned against Europe. Similar assimilation of Pakistani fighters with local women have taken place in Bosnia creating similar danger for Europe.

4. ISI / HuM / LeT /LeJ /BOSNIA

Not 50 this time, but 500 jehadists were recruited by ISI belonging to HuM, LeT and LeJ to be deputed to Bosnia. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried weapons for Bosnian rebels. The then Lt Gen of ISI Javed Nasir claimed that despite the UN ban, he successfully air-lifted sophisticated anti-tank missiles which were used by LeT / HuM terrorists and turned the tide of war in favour of the Bosnian Muslims and forced the Christian Serbs to lift siege. The US was extremely peeved and the then President of USA – Bill Clinton was on the verge of declaring Pakistan as a terrorist state, when Nawaz Sharif (then PM of Paksitan) placated Clinton by sacking Javed Nasir from top post of ISI.

The conclusion one can easily draw from here – the ISI openly used the terrorist organizations for global jehad and it sided with Al Qaeda with impunity.



For an excellent analysis of ISI connections with terrorist organizations and global jehad, I recommend this book - "FULCRUM of EVIL" by Moloy Krishna Dhar (former Indian Intelligence Bureau [IB] Chief). The book can be purchased by clicking here.

The current US intelligence outlook:



John Michael "Mike" McConnell served as the United States Director of National Intelligence from 20 February 2007 to 27 January 2009 during the Bush and seven days of the Obama administration, stated: “The Taliban are making huge inroads into Afghanistan and other militants saw an opportunity over the next two years to attempt the first violent overthrow of a nuclear armed state – Pakistan. The country was ripe for the picking. It’s weak and corrupt government faced national bankruptcy, an insurgency raged at the doorsteps of the capital and the Pakistan government had no comprehensive strategy to confront either conflict. Nor did it seem to want to.

BuA : We can intelligently now know why Pakistan did not want to confront the militancy.

McConnell also came to the conclusion that Pakistan’s aid to Taliban was no act of rogue intelligence, but instead was a government policy.

Such enlightenment came through telephone intercepts of Army Gen Kiyani where he is said to have stated that the Taliban were strategic assets of Pakistan Army (quoted from David Sanger’s new book – The Inheritance).

HENCE: What is confronting India today?

A Taliban which has tacit Pak Army approval. Al Qaeda linked terror organizations like LeJ, LeT and HuM enjoying benevolence of ISI in its terror activities inside India as well as in Pakistan. A concerted effort by Pakistan Army to use these jehadi organization to weaken the civilian leadership of Pakistan to take control of Pakistan again – maybe in a different guise, but in control nonetheless. The twin attacks were intended to fast forward the Taliban/Al Qaeda/military takeover of Pakistan.

BuA: Yes I am saying, there is no difference between Pakistan Army, ISI, Taliban, LeT, LeJ and Al Qaeda. They are all connected to each other for various activities and Pakistan Army is the controller. In fact, if Al Qaeda were to be eliminated, Pakistan Army takes control of global jehad through LeT, LeJ.

Here is the question therefore? People are saying that Al Qaeda wants to take control of Pakistani nukes and Taliban inroads in Pakistan is a worrying sign for Pakistan. My question to them – what is the role of Pakistan Army and ISI in all this, given the close history and military objectives of these said organizations (Pak Army & ISI) in supporting not only Taliban, but Al-Qaeda backed jehadi organizations like LeJ, LeT etc. What is the ultimate game plan here?

Other than military objectives like the 5th & 6th province (Afghanistan and Kashmir) there is also a theological story residing in GHAZWATUL HIND, KHORASAN and the final battle (this for a later article). While cold military logic will make the Pakistan Army & ISI act on the choices it has, this will have no succor for the militants bred on wahabbi / deobandi madrassas. It is for these militants that the theological story is essential as it gives them the fodder, the rationale for acting out and be part of a history.

Hence, given the adulterous relationship ISI has with Al-Qaeda & Taliban while professing undying love for USA, one would imagine the political leadership of USA will be as clear on the role of Pakistan Army as Mc Connell was. However, that is not so, as Obama goes on to find the good Taliban – anyone here can please tell me from historical perspective what was a good Nazi?

In the grand scheme of things, the two incidents of Mumbai & Lahore are just that – means to the end that the Pakistan Army has thought out for itself. And as Musharraf stated recently in Delhi – if India does not solve the Kashmir issue, there will be many more Kargils.

A look at what India has to contend with from the enlightened US political establishment:



David Sanger, in his book, The Inheritance, writes in the introduction: The grand ambition of Bush presidency post 9/11 was to create a “RIP IN TIME”, to re-order the Middle East and the wider world so that America would never face a day like that – or a far worse one – for generations. Bush’s theory was that the combined effect of America’s military power and the newly declared intolerance for accepting risks to American security or to its interests around the world – particularly nuclear threats – it would convince the other nations to SURRENDER their weapons of mass destruction. The pre-emption doctrine would put nations on warning. The US successes in Afghanistan and in Iraq, the administration argued, would sow the seeds for DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONS. Repressed people would find the confidence to rise up against self interested mullahs and oil soaked dictators (except, of course allies like SAUDI ARABIA). Some of these events would happen right away. Others, like democracy’s rise, would become what Condoleeza Rice called, “ a generational project.”

BuA: In hindsight, we can evaluate / guage / assess whether any of the above policy objectives were met as Bush went away and Obama came in. As Obama sifts the sands looking for the elusive good Taliban, to rescue him from the Afghan quagmire, India has to think through its options. India has to come to one simple conclusion really – that the US will act for its sake only and not for any other country. In that case, the mess in our western borders and the conniving Pakistan military’s last acts have not ended with the attacks on Mumbai and Lahore.

MILITARY COUP IN THE OFFING ?

And as I write this, the ominous signs of a military takeover in Pakistan (in some form) are taking shape. General Kiyani, former head of ISI, is learnt to have told president Zardari to set things right before the March 16 protest called by lawyers and supporters of Sharif to demand reinstatement of Supreme Court judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf. Kiyani, just back from the USA, has been told by the Americans to clean up the NWFP - which he has assured he can, if Army were in control. Looks like the USA has bought the line.

There are two choices facing the Pakistan Army :

1. Go after the Taliban and other obscurantist forces and make Pakistan a freer society. The price to pay for this will be severe backlash from these organizations that are embedded in every aspect of Pakistani society, including in the Army & ISI. This will also mean giving up on these "strategic assets".

2. Try to obfuscate the issue into good Taliban and bad Taliban and carry on business as usual. Increase attacks in Afghanistan and Kashmir to bring parties to a negotiating table that will be to Islamabad's advantage.

Incidentally, the debate of good and bad Taliban has been handled excellently in this article A futile search for 'moderate' Taliban written by Walid Phares.

The readers are free to choose the path that the Pakistan Army will take. I am sure the tone of my article reflects my choice / preference / view.

What next for INDIA? Another hijack to free Kasav? Or something more ominous !

BDR MUTINY IN BANGLADESH – AN ATTEMPT BY PAKISTAN TO ERASE THE 1971 GENOCIDE

MASS GRAVE IN DHAKA CAUSED BY BDR MUTINY, 2009.

1971 – Role of Pakistan Army’s genocide in Bangladesh

To understand the context for the present crisis, we need to look back at the bloody birth of Bangladesh. In 1970, Bangladesh was part of united Pakistan. During the 1970 general elections, the Bengalis of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) won an overwhelming majority, electing Sheikh Mujib to Prime Minister of Pakistan. Alarmed at the thought of being ruled by their racial inferiors from East Pakistan(EVEN TODAY PAKISTANIS VIEW THE SHORT STATURED DARKER BANGLADESHIS AS RACIALLY INFERIOR), the Pakistan army cancelled the results of the election and launched a brutal crackdown. In the mass genocide that followed, 3 Million Bengalis were killed and 10 Million became refugees in India.


PAKISTAN ARMY SURRENDER

The war that followed - Pakistan was soundly defeated in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh, the retreat of Pakistan was marred by charges of genocide and brutality that were so horrifying and cruel that Pakistan itself chose to bury the findings of report of this massacre.

HAMOOD-UR-RAHMAN REPORT



In December 1971, within a week of replacing General Yahya as the President, Bhutto formed a commission headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Hamood-ur-Rahman. The Commission's responsibility was to ascertain the facts of the 1971 debacle.

Originally there were 12 copies of the Report. These were all destroyed; expect the one that was handed over to Z. A. Bhutto. Though the Report remained classified, till its contents were made public in 2002.

The Hamood-ur-Rahman Report's findings accuse the Pakistan Army of carrying out senseless and wanton arson, killings in the countryside, killing of intellectuals and professionals and burying them in mass graves, killing of Bengali Officers and soldiers on the pretence of quelling their rebellion, killing East Pakistani civilian officers, businessmen and industrialists, raping a large number of East Pakistani women as a deliberate act of revenge, retaliation and torture, and deliberate killing of members of the Hindu minority.

NIGHTS & DAYS OF PAKISTANI BUTCHERS – ABUL KASEM (BANGLADESH)

I beseech every reader to read his real life accounts of by clicking here.

On the last para Abul writes: “As I write this re-count, I learnt that 100 new 'killing fields' have been discovered all around Bangladesh. Was I surprised? No, not at all! However, what surprised me the most was why did it take so long?

Why did we have to wait almost 30 years to know that innocent folks were butchered just as cattle? Rest assured that many more killing fields will be found. The killing fields of Cambodia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, etc., will be nothing when compared to the killing fields in Bangladesh. Let us not forget these killing fields. Let us not forget the sacrifice of 3 million people who shed enough blood to change the verdure of monsoon drenched land of Bengal. They certainly gave their lives so that we can enjoy the fruits of freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of Punjabi masters and Pakistani Oligarchy. I would ask every Bangalees not to forget the butchers of those nights and days when we remember the fallen angels of our land. The crime should never go unpunished.”

Seeing his writing, one Major Kashif from Pakistan Army wrote to Abul: (excerpts)-

From: kashif khan <kashifkhan29@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, 7 August 2005 1:43:11 AM
To: abul88@hotmail.com
Subject: friendship

“d. Why we always spread hatred now, even u have got ur free country.
e. I normally go through all the papers concerning East Pakistan crises and i always found a hatred towards Pakistan Army from u my bengali brothers. Why.
f. i m from the same Pakistan Army, i have done nothing to u. Granted my forefathers must have done something, well i seek apologies on their behalf because i cannot do any thing at this time except for seeking apologies.
g. why cant we forget those follies which were committed by my forefathers as well as ur forefathers.”

REPLY FROM ABUL KASEM:

To get an idea of how your favourite army killed uncountable innocents and burnt thousands of our villages, may I request you to go through page 91 of the famous document "Witness to Surrender" by Pakistani Brig. Siddque Salik?

Now, please tell me:

How can we ever forgive and forget an army whose soldiers indiscriminately killed our young children and old people? I can tell you for certainty that there is probably not a single family in BD (Bangladesh) who has not lost at least one close or distant relation in the gratuitous murder committed by the Jawans of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

How can we forgive and forget those soldiers who raped our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters? They perpetrated this Islamic rape (to use their terminology) to around 400,000 of our women. The Islamic army of Pakistan regarded our women as captives (ganimatter maal), and, as per Islamic law, they were entitled to have sex with them. Please tell me how could we tolerate and forget such calumnious, debauched rectitude of Pakistani Jawans and Officers?

How can we forgive an army who treated us like they were treating animals and cattle? They believed, Allah had permitted them to kill all the unbelievers living in BD. This, of course, included almost the entire Bengali race, who, according to general Yahya Khan, were not true Muslims and, so, were fair game for the genocide. I have written an elaborate essay on this.

And, how can we forgive a nation that has not, as yet, given to us what rightfully belonged to us?

Please answer me: If you had gone through what we Bengalis had suffered for nine months, would you have forgiven the perpetrators of rape, loot and arson? Do you think that by forgiving your great Muslim army, we would be able to forget the atrocities they committed when we were helpless and unarmed?

Are you trying to absolve your nation of the assets it owes to us by seeking our forgiveness?

Let the Pak-Govt pay us back, as was on 26 March 1971 (A) half of the State-Bank reserve (B) Half of PIA, (C) Half of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and all other national resources. Don't you think this is just fair, Islamically speaking? - as you claim to be a very good Muslim?

Only when these are settled, could we talk of peace and reconciliation. Our hearts and minds will burn for ever, for what Pakistan army did to us in the name of Islam and the so-called Islamic brotherhood, which were just the tools of exploitation and oppression for the simple-minded and gullible Bengali people. We shall never ever let this happen to us again.

To the Pakistan army, India is the eternal enemy. This is not true for us. We can, and we are, living quite amicably with India. We never forget the help Indian government and the its common people accorded us generously when Pakistan army was killing us. Please know that India is not our enemy, it can never be. We shall, for ever, remain grateful to India and its citizens to let us survive when your Islamic brothers were slaughtering us.”

BuA: In my numerous trips to Dhaka, the above sentiment is nearly all pervasive and being a Bengali myself, I speak the same language as Bangladeshis. And during my work, I wanted to meet the person I will vilify shortly, Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury – however he just refused to meet me after he came to know I was from India.

In that fight for freedom there were elements in Bangladesh that sided with the Paskistan Army – they were Jamaat e Islami, Al Badr & Razakars amongst others.



The Razakars were officially created by the Pakistani military and trained and paid by the government of Pakistan should not be forgotten - and will become an important element in any future genocide trial.

The history of 1971 and the Bangladesh Genocide is under attack from revisionists and genocide deniers. The victims of this attack will be the younger generation of Bangladeshis unless there is an attempt to preserve that history.

Razakars: (1970) They are paid Rs. 3 a day (25 pence at the official rate) and receive seven days’ training which appears to consist entirely of learning how to shoot a police Lee-Enfield rifle. Their work consists of “security checks” - guiding the West Pakistan troops to the homes of supporters of the Awami League. They are supposed to be under the orders of local `peace committees” which are selected by the military authorities on a similar basis of “loyalty to Pakistan”. These people are, in fact, representatives of the political parties - were routed at the last elections, with an admixture of men with criminal records and bigoted Muslims who have been persuaded that strong arm methods are needed to protect their religion.



ASSASINATION OF SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN:



NOVEMBER 8, 1998 could well be a turning point in Bangladesh's history. On that day, Kazi Gulam Rasul, a District and Sessions Court judge of Dhaka, sentenced to death by firing squad in public 15 former Army officers, the "self-confessed killers" of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 23 years after the country's founding father was assassinated in a military coup that overthrew Bangladesh's first Government. Mujibur Rahman was brutally murdered along with 26 others, including his wife, three sons (one of them was just 10 years old), two daughters-in-law, brother, close relatives, political associates and security men in a pre-dawn attack on August 15, 1975.

The historic verdict, which was delivered after 17 months of hearings, came at the end of an agonising trial. The "Bangabandhu murder case" - as it is called - was filed in October 1996, more than 21 years after the assassination took place and four months after the Awami League Government led by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujibur Rahman's two surviving daughters, assumed office.

The shame that accompanied the killings was deepened by the proclamation in 1975 of the Indemnity Ordinance by the military government of Khandaker Mostaque Ahmed, who appointed himself President of the country following Mujibur Rahman's assassination. The infamous Ordinance was incorporated in the Constitution by President Gen. Ziaur Rahman. The Ordinance granted indemnity from prosecution to those who plotted for and participated in the bloody political changeover.

However, the Shiekh Hasina Government, after it assumed office in June 1996, sought the opinion of a panel of judges and legal experts and cleared the hurdles in the way of prosecution of the plotters. In October 1996, cases were filed against 19 persons in connection with the assassination. All but one of the accused were former military personnel.

WHAT IS THE PRESENT SITUATION?

Sheikh Hasina, one of the two surviving daughters of the assassinated Mujibur Rahman is the Prime Minister of Bangladesh today, having secured over 2/3 majority in the Parliament. She wanted to put on trial the 1971 collaborators.
If one looks at the collaborators – they were Bangladeshis who sided with Pakistan Army.

Hence, Pakistan has told Bangladesh that the “time is not ripe” for Dhaka’s conducting the trial of ‘war criminals’ who committed atrocities on civilians during the 1971 freedom movement.

Islamabad is very uneasy at the prospect of the war criminals trials in Bangaldesh and does not want the true story of genocide to come out in public, specially now since it is already in the eyes of the world as a “terrorist” spewing entity and home to Al-Qaeda and Taliban.

MERE COINCIDENCE OF TIMING OF MUTINY - I THINK NOT !


MATIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI

Just a few days prior to the BDR mutiny, trials had begun against the JI chief, Matiur Rahman Nizami, and nine others for "carrying out a massacre during the war of independence in 1971".

MAIN PERPETRATORS OF THE BDR MUTINY - YOU TUBE:



SALAUDDIN QADER CHOWDHURY:



The Bangladesh Liberation War Documents and a report by the people's commission appointed by the Committee for Elimination of the Killers and Collaborators of 1971 describe in horrifying details some of the brutalities Salauddin had gratuitously committed against freedom fighters in Chittagong district. These include the gruesome killing of 71-year-old principal Nutan Chandra Singha, and assassination of Farooq, a student leader and Dayalhari Biswas, another college student.

Soon after the liberation of Bangladesh, Salauddin and his father were arrested when they were about to flee to Pakistan with a maund of gold. Following a brief detention, they were let off under the general amnesty declared by the Sheikh Mujib government. Salauddin has thrived ever since on numerous heinous crimes. Killing and maiming of political opponents are his favourite pastimes.

In Khaleda Zia’s government, he was an MP. Salauddin Qader Chaudhury lets go no pretext to spit venom against India to arouse communal passions against religious minorities. He is invariably involved in every act of Hindu-cleansing in Raujan upazilla and Chittagong metropolitan areas.

It's an open secret that Salauddin has made a huge fortune through his close links with the criminal underworld and smuggling networks operating in the Chittagong port and coastal belt. Despite his pathological hatred for India, in 1991, he made a frantic bid for the GSA of the Indian Airlines and Air India. His failure to clinch that lucrative deal only sharpened his enmity towards India.

Originally a diehard Muslim Leaguer, Salauddin served as a Cabinet minister in the late Eighties in the Cabinet of Gen. Ershad. He joined the BNP just before the parliamentary election in 2001. His machinations ensured the defeat of the BNP candidate and freedom fighter Col. (Retd.) Oli Ahmed to the unofficial Jamaat candidate Shajahan Chaudhury. Despite this treachery, Begum Zia appointed him her adviser on parliamentary affairs solely for the purpose of using his unending mischief potential against the Awami League. Salauddin has been doing this task most effectively, making it impossible for the opposition Awami League to function in the Parliament.

Despite this un-edifying profile of the man, the BNP-Jamaat government has nominated Salauddin as its candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Countries. This has triggered an avalanche of protests throughout the country. For his part, Salauddin has launched a fierce counter-offensive against his detractors. He has filed two defamation cases against the editors of two respected dailies of Dhaka for publishing criticisms of his nomination.

The Bangladesh intelligentsia has no doubt at all that the Khaleda government has nominated this war criminal for the OIC assignment at the instance of Islamabad in the hope that, should he scrape through, it would enormously increase the leverage of the Pakistan-Bangladesh axis in the Islamic world that can be used, among other things, to discomfit and disturb India.

He had the temerity to call the then opposition leader and now Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina as “bua” = housemaid.

He is the mafia owner of the port of Chittagong and runs a racket on illegal arms through his transport company. The last "ENORMOUS" haul of illegal shipment of arms in Chittagong port was pinpointed to him. The Hindu newspaper reports: The cache included 690 7.62 mm T-56-I sub-machine guns (SMGs); 600 7.62 mm T-56-2 SMGs; 150 40 mm T-69 rocket launchers; 840 40 mm rockets; 400 9 mm semi-automatic spot rifles; 100 `Tommy Guns'; 150 rocket launchers; 2,000 launching grenades; 25,020 hand grenades; 6,392 magazines of SMG and other arms; 700,000 rounds of SMG cartridges; 739,680 rounds of 7.62 mm calibre; and 400,000 cartridges of other weapons. Most of the arms and ammunition were reportedly of Korean, Italian, Chinese and American make. (And this was only part of the huge cache that were caught, the rest suspected to have reached its destination).

Independent media investigations also revealed that a labour leader linked to Jamaat-e-Islami, a major constituent of the ruling coalition, had employed workers at the jetty of the state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) to offload the arms from two fishing trawlers and a local Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader supervised the clandestine operation. BuA: This was none other than Salauddin Qader Choudhury.

Interestingly the Chittagong City Mayor and Awami League leader A.B.M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury alleged that Indian insurgent groups ran "at least 50 to 60 camps" in Bangladesh to train militants. Addressing a media conference on April 10, the Mayor claimed that the weapons were sent by the U.S. and Pakistan "to arm Indian rebels camped in Chittagong Hill Tracts" (US & PAKISTAN ???)

Amerian Chronicle reporting on the arms haul points out : "...former advisor to the Prime Minister, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury might have been involved in the arms hauls. But, none of these figures could ever be interrogated by the members of the investigations authorities, as they all are extremely influential politically in the country."

It was his fleet of trucks that were caught ferrying arms to ULFA and other terror groups in India’s north eastern corridor. No wonder, he was ISI’s favorite man in Dhaka.

He was also a “collaborator” in the 1971 and Sheikh Hasina surely would have targeted Salauddin first (the comment of bua would have instigated her no doubt).

BDR



The defense of border falls to BDR and in pay terms they draw a far lesser salary than Bangladesh Army. During Khaleda Zia’s regime, the BDR was infiltrated with fundamentalists owing allegiance to Jamaat e Islami, AL BADR, HUJI-B and other terror organizations – and overseen by Salauddin.

Seeing the trials of “war criminals” as an end of the road, both Pakistan Army (whose image will be tarnished) and Salauddin (who will get hanged, if found guilty) found common ground to stir up trouble in Bangladesh using lower level BDR recruits owing allegiance to it and using the discontent on the pay disparity as an excuse (valid, as it was).

Both Pakistan and BNP and Jamaat from time to time tried to kill of Sheikh Hasina and this was one more attempt. That Army Chief Moeen Ahmed may himself have been a target in this mutiny - for being "SECULAR" - is not ruled out either.. However this failed in the final objective and full scale of Pakistan’s links with the “mutiny” is yet to come out.

Anup Chetia, the jailed ULFA leader in Dhaka, is set to be handed over to India. Surely this could be bad news to Paksitan, as Chetia will be made to showcase the close relation ISI had with ULFA and other terror groups.

What is yet to come out is the dubious role the Bangladesh intelligence agency the DGFI played in the BDR revolt. The DGFI has sold itself lock, stock and barrel to ISI. Efforts are on to cleanse the rot, though. Read this excellent blog : DGFI & ISI plan to capture Bengal (West Bengal, INDIA) through vote machinery.

For an excellent perspective from Bangladesh - do go to these "important" blog - Shada Kalo (White & Black) & SUCHINTA (Good Thoughts).

SO THAT WE DO NOT FORGET: