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Pieces in the terror
puzzle
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - It may not be right to talk
about the London blasts and an aborted attack at
Ayodhya in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in
the same breath, given the differing scales of
violence, but the fact remains that the two
incidents are manifestations of the same problem -
terror.
The London blasts killed more than
50 people and injured many more, unlike at Ayodhya
where five terrorists were shot dead by security
forces and only one bystander died, while several
police personnel were injured. But it could have
been worse, given the symbolic intent of the
attack at Ayodhya. The makeshift temple of Ram
stands at the spot where the Babri Masjid (mosque)
once stood. The mosque was destroyed by Hindu
extremists in December 1992.
Had the
terrorists managed to damage the shrine at the Ram
Janambhoomi (birthplace of Lord Ram, one of the
most revered Gods), there was the possibility of
communal riots across the country, leading to many
more killed or maimed. This would have been a
tragedy, as repeated intelligence inputs have
revealed that the masses of Indian Muslims do not
support and have never been part of terrorist
activities, which are invariably orchestrated by
foreign operatives.
Investigations into
the Ayodhya attack, which took place a couple of
days prior to the London blasts, have revealed the
international nature of the planning that goes
into such brazen terrorist activity. One critical
clue is a cell phone recovered from the spot,
which police sources say reveals calls made to
different parts of India, including Delhi, as well
as abroad. The terrorists had destroyed the SIM
card used, which harks back to lessons learnt when
investigators traced cell phone calls made by
terrorists who tried to storm the Indian
parliament in December 2001. At that time, police
were able to trace calls made to Pakistan and the
United Arab Emirates prior to the attack.
However, despite the absence of SIM cards
at Ayodhya, police have been able to trace the
calls using the code of the handset that has been
recovered. A senior police officer speaking to
Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity said
that intelligence agencies were studying the
printouts of the calls made, and there was
sufficient evidence to suggest international calls
up to a few hours before the attack. This clearly
hints at a mastermind at work.
A prime
suspect being interrogated is the driver who
ferried the terrorists to the scene of the attack.
Although he claims that he was kidnapped by the
terrorists, his behavior as well as recent travels
raises suspicions. Initial investigations have
revealed that he had been to Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain several times, not a crime, but cause for
further investigation. The driver was caught as he
tried to escape with live AK-47 cartridges.
British authorities are yet to make public
any definitive clues about the attacks on the
London transport system. Some London newspapers
have speculated that one suspect is Mustafa
Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian suspected of being
al-Qaeda's operations chief in Europe and the
alleged mastermind of last year's bombings in
Madrid. A former London police chief, meanwhile,
said the bombers were "almost certainly" British
subjects. The attacks are widely believed to have
been motivated by Britain's involvement in Iraq
and an attempt to force it to withdraw its troops.
Finger-pointing in India
Immediate suspicion in India is that the
Ayodhya attack was orchestrated by cadres of the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or the Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM) from Pakistan. The LeT has a history of
executing attacks in India, and its cadres are
well trained and networked internationally.
The attackers at Ayodhya were armed with
rocket launchers, grenades, RDX explosive and
AK-47 rifles. Like al-Qaeda, LeT cadres are
generally not mercenaries out to make a fast buck
riding the cash-laden terror industry, but
indoctrinated youths driven by the desire to kill
in the name of their jihad. The LeT draws most of
its cadres from Pakistan, while what mercenaries
there are are generally renegade mujahideen from
Afghanistan.
Of late, Indian security
agencies have linked attacks in India to sectarian
violence and suicide attacks on places of worship
of Shi'ites in Pakistan. A string of bold bomb
attacks have rocked Indian-administered Kashmir in
the past couple of months, with militants
increasingly going for soft targets that include
schools. Huge caches of arms and explosives have
been seized in Delhi.
It is to the credit
of the Indian and Pakistani governments that both
now view themselves as targets and victims of
terrorism that has to be combated with a firm
hand. Extremists in Pakistan have attempted to
assassinate Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf, partly due to his support of the peace
process with India, and partly for his support in
the US's "war on terror".
At the same
time, India feels quite strongly that Pakistan is
not doing enough to eliminate the terrorist
infrastructure that exists due to the support of
the authorities in the past. According to the
Brussels-based think-tank, International Crisis
Group, Pakistan's sectarian terrorists are
thriving because Musharraf uses and panders to
religious groups to counter civilian opposition.
Reacting to the Ayodhya attack, Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated in his
subtle but firm manner: "The terror attack in the
makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya was a major
incident and there is no doubt that the
infrastructure for terrorism [in Pakistan] is by
and large intact. Both President Musharraf and I
have committed ourselves in a joint statement to
make the peace process irreversible. I sincerely
hope the commitment is honored. The major element
in this is that terrorism should be under
control," Singh said.
He repeated similar
words in Scotland at the Group of Eight summit
following the London blasts.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
(Copyright
2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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