[Assam] Spreading tentacles

[Nava Thakuria]

http://saharatime.com/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=3525


Spreading tentacles

Nava Thakuria

The people of the north-east may not be strangers to the banned armed groups and their destructive activities, as more than 30 indigenous armed groups are waging a war against New Delhi for demands ranging from sovereignty to self-rule, but a recent development has woken up the residents of the restive region to a greater threat from religious fundamentalist groups, which are patronized by the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan.
Media reports quoting various government and non-government sources, in the recent past, had claimed that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was in touch with Islamic militants. But what is more alarming is that not less than 20 other native militia groups have come closer to the ISI. This came to light during the interrogation of an ISI operative, who was arrested by the Asom police in Guwahati on December 14. 
The arrested ISI operative is identified as SM Alam alias Mujibullah Alam alias Asfi Alam. Hailing from Ajampur village under the Uttara police station in Dhaka of Bangladesh, Alam, 35, has been recognized as an important functionary of the ISI in charge of Asom and the north-east. The police said that Alam was a member of the Jamat-e-Islami and Chatra Shibir (of Bangladesh) and joined the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1993. The hardcore Bangladeshi national underwent training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) also. Later he joined Jamat-ul-Mujahideen in 2005 and afterwards he was recruited by the ISI. Soon he shifted his base to the restive north-east in 2006. What was startling in the confession of Alam was that 24 militant outfits of the region had maintained communications with the ISI networks.
Created as an independent unit in 1948, the ISI officially handles external intelligence gathering for the Pakistan government. Headquartered at Islamabad, the ISI is known as a disciplined army unit with around 10,000 employees. It, however, faces allegations of meddling in the internal affairs of its neighboring countries. The Indian security agencies have repeatedly claimed that the ISI was involved in many disruptive activities in the country. The ISI is also blamed for masterminding explosions in different cities of the country including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Nagar, Malegaon, Varanasi, Guwahati etc. Moreover, the Pakistani agency is allegedly responsible for abetting terrorism in many parts of India including the Kashmir valley and the north-east. It supplies sophisticated arms and provides guerrilla training to the militant groups. 
The ISI has already made a base in Bangladesh and continues its activities in the north-east. A Bangladeshi journalist told Sahara Time: "The Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) has been actively operating in Bangladesh under cover. In the recent months, large numbers of ex-army officials from Pakistan have come to Bangladesh to work with different business groups. Most of the top figures in these companies are either former military personnel or well-connected to the Pakistan army. Those Pakistani army officials might be important officials of the ISI. A huge amount of profit of those companies goes to the hidden activities of the agency. I suspect the ISI has a significant amount of shares in those companies (including one mobile phone service provider) working in Bangladesh." 
Recent intelligence inputs disclosed fundamentalists had planned major strikes in various important locations like the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati - one of the major Shakti Peethas and very sacred for the Hindus. The government has issued a red alert. 
JP Rajkhowa, a bureaucrat-turned media columnist, while quoting intelligence reports, stated that over 20 jehadi groups including the Muslim Tiger Force of Assam, Muslim United Liberation Force of Assam, Muslim United Liberation Army, United Muslim Front of Assam, United Islamic Reformation Movement of India, Muslim Security Force, United Liberation Militia of Assam, Muslim Security Council of Assam, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami, People's United Liberation Front, Revolutionary Muslim Commandoes, Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Students' Islamic Movement of India, Laskar-e-Taiba etc are active in the region. "All these groups want to carve out an Islamic state of Assam," he commented.
Asom chief minister Tarun Gogoi maintained his views that the ULFA was under the grip of the ISI and that is why they cannot come for talks. Attending a meeting on internal security affairs, which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 20 in New Delhi, Gogoi expressed his serious concern that the ISI had been trying its best to make the north-east a hub of terrorism. Earlier the issue of the north-eastern militants' link with the ISI was discussed in Parliament. 
"Available inputs indicate that some Indian insurgent groups active in the north-eastern region have been using the territory of Bangladesh, and have links with Pakistan's ISI," Shriprakash Jaiswal, minister of state for home, informed the Rajya Sabha on December 5. The minister also added that New Delhi had taken up the issue with Islamabad.