THE September 11, attacks on the USA by Osama Laden led Al Qaida marked the beginning of the era of Islamic terrorism, of which India has been a victim for more than a decade. Pakistan-sponsored terrorists butuchered more than 40,000 innocent lives.
General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s then President, gave a vicious twist to religious edicts and promoted the idea of fundamentalist terrorism from 1989 onwards. Whether it was Gen.Zia, Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif, who ruled over Pakistan, the impact of terrorism on Kashmir and the whole of India to some extent remained the same. Even when General, Pervez Musharraf came to Agra for peace talks, he had the audacity to say that the splitting up of Pakistan in 1971 at the instance of India could not be forgotten by Pakistan.
With the arrival of Osama in Afghanistan and his Al Qaida terrorist network with its camps for training Muslim youth from West Asia and South-East Asia, the problem assume more alr\arming dimentions threatening trhe peace of the whole world. After the Pakistan-backed Taliban captured power in Afghnistan in 1996, the terrorst attacks in Kashmir showed a significant upward trend and a qualitative change.
In many respects, the Islamic culture differs from other world cultures. Islam alone has repeatedly produced significant radical movements that reject most western policies and principles. Muslims interested in a more liberal form of Islam must stop blaming the West for painting the religion with too dark and broad a brush and move forward to isolate and delegitimise the extremists among them.
The various factors which promoted this trend were the resurgence of Islamic consciousness, a compelling sense of grievance and resentment, envy and hostility towards the West and its wealth, power and culture divisions within the Muslims, and the high birth-rate in most Muslim societies resulting in unemployed youth being attracted to terrorism.
A multi-faceted improvement in Muslim countries is indeed the most important change which is called for, particularly in the West Asian monarchies and autocracies like Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Algeria and Egypt. In none of these countries there is real democracy. With oil wealth flowing since mid-1970s, members of the royal House of Saudi Arabia have fattened themselves at the cost of the common man. The unfettered oil flow from West Asia was the prime concern of the USA which chose to ignore the highly negative aspects of the Saudi administration and other such autocracies in West Asia. One of the factors that obliged Osama bin Laden to leave Saudi Arabia was his opposition to the Saudi royal family and its blind support to America.
However, Musharraf may try to avoid facing the realities and the developments after September 11 and December 13. There is no space for going ahead with his earlier policy of promoting terrorism in India. It is now difficult to believe that he went away in a huff from Agra only because India insisted that the need to curb cross-border terrorism must be inserted in the joint statement. He had all along tried to project that Pakistani jehadis were not terrorists but freedom-fighters for the cause of Kashmir. The steps he has taken against Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad and other Muslim fundamentalists are at best cosmetic and for misleading the USA. George Bush had said that he has urged General Musharraf to do everything he could to crack down on terrorists. Pervez Musharraf has reportedly instructed the ISI not to support Pakistani terrorists operating in Kashmir but its assistance to Kashmir-based militants may apparently continue. It is ridiculous that we relate his January 12 speech—an example of double standards—to Kashmir because the General never said there is terrorism in Kashmir or that it was sponsored by Pakistan. Instead he attacked India by saying that GoI should stop state terrorism in Kashmir.
Needless to say that the entire exercise is an eye-wash. India has done its best to give all evidences by handing over the material against the most wanted criminals based in Pakistan. The western countries, particularly USA and UK are alarmed over the prospects of a nuclear war, especially since there has been considerable mobilization of forces by both India and Pakistan along the international border. There is, however, no possibility of a war unless something very serious like December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament happens again.
ISLAMIC REVOLUTION SET TO RISE
A prominent Pakistani Muslim cleric, on January 14, 2001 said President Pervez Musharraf’s sweeping crackdown on religious extremism was sowing the seeds of an Islamic revolution.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, Imam of Islamabad’s main Red Mosque in an interview to Reuters at his house next to the Red Mosque, said while there had been no immediate backlash to Musharraf’s crackdown, announced on January 12, a reaction was brewing. “This government is paving the way for Islamic revolution by creating hurdles for the Islamic parties; we are just watching the situation but the silence will not last for long,” he said adding, he believed Musharraf launched his crackdown because of US presence.
Musharraf also imposed restrictions on Islamic schools, or madrassas, which have long been seen as a breeding ground for militancy. New madrassas cannot be built without permission and all of them have to register and be brought into the mainstream education system.
Aziz, who opposed Musharaf’s decision to abandon support for Afghanistan’s former Taliban rulers and support the US-led was on terrorism, dismissed the government justification. “If they ere terrorist groups, then why were they allowed to operate for such a long time”, he asked, adding the move would weaken the separatist movement in Kashmir.
On banning of the two Kashmiri militant groups, blamed for the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, he said, “We have lost Afghanistan and it seems we are now losing Kashmir”. bin
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