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Startling radio
intercepts in J&K From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Dec 24: Pakistan-sponsored ultras in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India have received fresh ....more SPECIAL
REPORT From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Dec 24: India and Pakistan have provoked serious discussions almost across the world, with further .....more Deadline
for ULFA to GUWAHATI, Dec 24: The deadline for ULFA to close down its camps inside Bhutan expires in a week even as the Army braces...more Tourist
state observes PANAJI, Dec 24: A stable Government, an unstable tourist season and a cricket-related scam were among .....more |
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Group insurance NEW DELHI, Dec 24: In a major step to ensure social security for over 300 million agricultural workers, a new group insurance scheme was launched by the Labour Ministry, which also took a number..more PIL
challenges Govt MUMBAI, Dec 24: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in Mumbai High Court challenging the decision of the Union Government and the ....more India
not managed NEW DELHI, Dec 24: India is not managed well and corruption comes in the way of good governance, according to Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal......more Ranil meets PM, NEW DELHI, Dec 24: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today held talks with President K R Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and is understood to have sought India’s support to his Government’s peace initiative to find......more |
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Startling
radio intercepts in J&K
From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Dec 24: Pakistan-sponsored ultras in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India have received fresh orders from across the border to "continue attacks on vital installations" and on Indian military camps and convoys as well as airports and telephone exchanges. Broad contours of Pakistani ISI’s restructured ‘India Chapter’ have become evident with the interception of wireless messages on the two consecutive days in Jammu and Kashmir towards the end of last week. These messages for the cadres of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Umar were startling, considering the specific information they had vis-a-vis the shape of events to come in J&K and some parts in India, including Delhi, Maharashtra, UP and Andhra Pradesh. If one message revealed "a massive increase in cash payments to new recruits for jihadi organisations", the signal emanating from another message was ominous: "A large number of jihadis have arrived in different places in Indian held Kashmir along with consignments of sophisticated arms and ammunition. We have also alerted our men in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and directed them to trigger more surprises for Hindu fundamentalists in India". Third radio intercept indicated that the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi will be "willing" to issue visas to "new, dedicated recruits" without any delay for their passage to Pakistan for training. By the time the messages were intercepted, the Government of india had received reports pointing out that a ‘secret’ drive had been launched in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, UP, Maharashtra and Gujarat to lure an increasing number of Muslim young men into terrorism either to fight a holy jihad or for the lure of employment and dollars. The Government is learnt to have directed intelligence agencies to monitor activities of bands of supporters of the outlawed SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) across the country. This follows the receipt of information by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about the ‘subtle’ contact certain elements loyal to SIMI have maintained with the Pak High Commission in New Delhi. According to unconfirmed reports, these elements are in touch with the Pak chancery for a variety of reasons, mainly to ensure that "new Muslim recruits from different areas of India" are given the visas without any delay for their journey to Pakistan. Another set of reports doing the rounds in Delhi said that the Vajpayee Government was willing to have a joint cell, to be coordinated by the CIA of America and India’s RAW and MI (Military Intelligence). If these reports were to be believed, the cell would coordinate anti-terrorist activities and will draw a roadmap to minitor activities of terrorist organisations in South Asia, keeping a close watch on such hate names like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed. If the joint cell was finally permitted to be set up, it would then ensure, for the first time, that CIA operators can freely and officially live and work in India with the knowledge of the powers-that-be in New Delhi. This apart, the CIA, in that situation, will also be in close touch with the RAW and the MI on sensitive matters. Was the proposal in support of the joint cell endorsed during CIA chief, Mr George Tenet’s Delhi visit early this month? Previous Governments in New Delhi has zealously guarded Indian intelligence and declined such arrangements. But in the present scenario, the best way to prevent September 11 or December 13 incidents is through cooperation between New Delhi and Washington, some observers insist. |
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SPECIAL REPORT From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Dec 24: India and Pakistan have provoked serious discussions almost across the world, with further deterioration in their relations in recent days. While world leaders have begun efforts to prevent outbreak of war in the Indian subcontient, the talk of proposed attack by India on the terrorist camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been intensified, partly as a result of media reports and partly due to various and variegated hints from official circles in New Delhi and Islamabad. There was a bit of sensation in the Indian capital on Sunday morning, after a media report divulged that the Army had, in the course of an informal briefing before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS),expressed its preparedness to strike and pointed out that a ‘limited action’ in PoK could not lead to a large-scale conflagration. The media report, in fact, suggested that the Army leadership had conveyed to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who chaired the CCS meeting, that Pakistan’s political situation will not permit its Army to undertake a full-fledged war. The Indian Army leadership may have weighed different military options in connection with terrorist camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. But does it know the excat locations of these camps? Yet another relevant question: Will Indian intelligence agencies be able to provide the exact locations of these camps and keep it updated even when they are being shifted at the instance of the Pakistani ISI rather frequently? It is not unknown that the top brass of the Indian Army had blamed the country’s intelligence community for ‘failure’ to give timely information on the incursion of Pakistan Army regulars in Kargil 1999. The Government has just received a paper authored by Mr PC Dogra, former Director-General of Punjab Police, calling for a close look on the working of India’s intelligence machinery both at the Centre and in the States. The paper has lamented: "Politicians are much more interested in political intelligence. It is a question of survival sof the political boss". Mr Dogra cannot be faulted for his assessment: "Inteligence bosses are also more interested in feeding their political masters with political intelligence as it brings them closer to the powers that, to further enhance their career prospects". Mr Dogra has also sought to highlight yet another aspect of the situation: "Unfortunately, intelligence agenciews quite often pass on unverified reports and sometimes reports based on the heresay to show that they were performing". Mr G Parthasarathy, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, has, on the other hand, has thrown up aloaded questions: If General Musharraf is not going to put an end to his policy to ‘bleed India’, should India not consider measures to deprive Pakistanis of the water they need to quench their thirst and grow their crops? Should New Delhi not seriously consider whehter it is necessary for India to adhere to the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty of 1958? Mr parathasarathy’s pronouncement: Extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary responses. The United States and China differ with each other on several issues, but they seem united on one thing—that is, to continue to prevent the two estranged neighbours in South Asia, namely, India and Pakistan from getting involved in a military confrontation. Britain, too, has urged restraint on New Delhi and Islamabad. Analysts in America, Britain, China and France, for instance, haven’t hesitated to acknowledge India’s frustration over the international community’s indifference to its protestations before and after the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament House. A set of media reports from these countries in the past few days did indicate the willingness of various circles to justify India’s anger. At the same time, there is also a measure of sympathy for Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Parvez Musharraf. Reason: He is seen to be hemmed in from all sides. American and British leaders are perturbed by the spread of terrorism. And they are not happy with Islamabad’s failure to crack down on jihadis. But Washington and London as well as Beijing have conveyed, though in different forms, that it would be ‘unfair’ to heap sole blame for this building crisis on ‘hapless’ President of Pakistan. The Vajpayee Government cannot be faulted for its unwillingness to subscribe to the argument from sections of the West that it would be politically risky for Gen. Musharraf to drack down on the terrorist groups operating in Kashmir. The British newspaper, The Times, argued that New Delhi’s decision to recall its High Commissioner in Islamabad suggested that it appeared set on "retaliation for the suicide attack on its Parliament. The newspaper warned: "In the tense atmosphere in and around Pakistan, such a move is bound to provoke a belligerent response". There is also a feeling within and outside Pakistan that for Gen. Musharraf to give into New Delhi’s demands would be seen bowing to Indian pressure and betraying the single cause that unites all Pakistan, namely, Kashmir. What, however, merits the attention of the international community, particularly the US, is the question: Does the Pakistan Army possess the strength and resources to discipline any segment of Pakistani society, including the jihadis? A crackdown on the Pakistan-based jihadis and militant outfits, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, observers point out, does not involve any fundemental shift in Islamabad’s position on ther dispute with India over Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Deadline for ULFA to close
camps in Bhutan GUWAHATI, Dec 24: The deadline for ULFA to close down its camps inside Bhutan expires in a week even as the Army braces itself for a series of confrontation as the ULFA cadres have started moving down to Assam. In the past week itself, more than a dozen militants were killed. All of them were in three-member groups. Militants have been moving in smaller groups to evade the Army dragnet, official source said. Meanwhile, the Army has alerted the Assam Government to the possibility of hordes of ULFA rebels sneaking into the state from Bhutan, which has asked the militant organization to quit its bases in the Himalayan Kingdom by December 31. India is also helping Bhutan in its proposed military action against insurgents of the north east who have set up camps in its territory. With the December 31 deadline for the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) fast approaching, the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) and the country’s militia units have moved into combat mode. India has, over the past few months, has strengthened its India Military Training Team (IMTRAT) in Bhutan. Sophisticated weapons including Kalashnikov series rifles, light machine guns, carbines, grenade launchers and equipment like shoulder-launched missile systems and night vision gadgets have been supplied to Bhutan, official source said. A considerable number of soldiers and officers of Bhutan’s elite Royal Body Guards (RBG) have been trained recently at the College of Combat in Mhow and at the counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school at Vairangte in Mizoram. Mr Lyonpo Lago Tshering, Bhutan’s Ambassador in India, commenting in a section of the media recently, said he was confident his country would not have to extend the December 31 deadline for the ulfa to dismantle four of its camps in Bhutan. According to Mr Tshering, the ULFA would have to abide by the understanding it reached with the Bhutan Government in June. The Government had held a few rounds of talks with the insurgent groups and had set a deadline of December 31 to the ULFA and NDFB to dismantle its camps in South- East Bhutan. The Assam Government has been keeping its finger crossed, in view of the panchyat poll in nine years to be held in two phases on December 27 and 31. However, there had been no incidents so far and electioneering remained peaceful. In the last week itself, the Army shot down at least nine ULFA cadres and six other NDFB militants besides busting three camps in the border areas. The busting of three NDFB camps in Ripu and Chirag reserve forest in quick succession has put both the ULFA and the NDFB on the defensive, the setbacks suffered by the NDFB has put both the outfits under tremendous pressure. The ULFA has more than nine fortified camps inside Bhutan set up during 1994-95. After long persuation followed by sustained pressure by the Royal Bhutan Government, the ULFA had eventually agreed to move out. The security forces suspect that the ULFA might move into Bangladesh, where it had camps prior to their Bhutan base. The Ministry of External Affairs has maintained sustained pressure both in Bhutan and Bangladesh so that ULFA do not get regain a foothold. (UNI) |
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India not managed well: Vittal NEW DELHI, Dec 24: India is not managed well and corruption comes in the way of good governance, according to Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal. "There is a need for transparency and thus, in turn, accountability without which India had been a witness to many scams starting from Mudra to Parekh," Vittal said here today inaugurating a seminar organised by Institute of Directors. Referring to the recent "coffin scam" in which Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had taken exception to the purchase of aluminium coffins during the time of Kargil conflict, the CVC asked, "who will be held responsible for it". The Caparo Group Chairman Lord Swaraj Paul, pointing out the mounting Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in banks, expressed doubts on restructuring of banks without changing the management. Citing his own experience with one of the largest term lending institutions for the 1.5 million tonne capacity steel project, which had to be dropped lre were instances of funding to many other similar projects without a realistic cost projection and could not even start production. He said ethical values, social responsibilities and corporate governance were going to make life better in the days to come. Asked about the outlook for India, he told PTI that the investment climate had changed to better than it was in the past. He paid tributes to those who fought unto death in aborting the terrorists’ attack on Parliament on December 13. Speaking on the same forum, Punjab National Bank chief S S Kohli said in the banking system the internal reforms had not kept pace with the external reforms. (PTI) |
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Ranil meets PM, Jaswant others NEW DELHI, Dec 24: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today held talks with President K R Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and is understood to have sought India’s support to his Government’s peace initiative to find a political solution to the 18-year old ethnic problem of the war-ravaged island nation. Mr Wickremesinghe, who assumed office after his party was voted to power in the December five elections, also held discussions with opposition leader Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Home Minister L K Advani today. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s meeting with the Indian leaders comes at a time when a ceasefire between his Government and the LTTE comes into effect from midnight tonight. The Sri Lankan Government has responded to the LTTE’s announcement of a month-long truce and Mr Wickremesinghe has already announced that the economic embargo on the Wanni, which is the LTTE-held area, will be lifted in the second week of next month. India has alrady welcomed the gesture of Sri Lanka to start the peace process. During talks, Mr Wickremesinghe apprised the Indian leadership of the initiative undertaken by his Government to resume the Norwegian-backed peace talks with the LTTE. India had backed the peace process and wanted an early end to the Tamil problem. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister is accompanied by Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando and Economic Affairs, Science and Technology Minister Milinda Moragoda. Yesterday, Mr Wickremesinghe had talks with former Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and I K Gujral. He also met Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj. The Indo-Lanka Trade agreement was the main issue during his talks with Mr Maran. India’s relation with Sri Lanka reached a tricky point in 1987 after the signing of Indo-Lanka accord and involvement of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The LTTE later reneged on the pact and turned against the Indian forces, killing more than 1000 men. After three years of fighting, the Indian Army was booted out from the island. Also, the LTTE was blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. (UNI) |
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