Geelani - recipient of illegal munificence
Men, Matters and Memories

By M L Kotru

Am I shocked by reports that Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the "principal plenipotentiary" of Pakistan in our part of Jammu and Kashmir and leader of the Kashmir Jamaat-e-Islami and Hurriyat Conference, has after all been the recipient of illegal munificence from sources inimical to Kashmir and New Delhi. Of course, it will be for the courts to arbitrate on the allegations but I am not one whit surprised by what has already appeared in print, even as I, like any other law abiding citizen, would like to wait for a judicial pronouncement.

That Pakistan, or those whose sympathies lie with Islamabad, should have provided financial support to secessionists, terrorists and their above-ground political mentors of Hurriyat, is hardly a surprise. Haven't we seen aggrieved and poor Kashmiri Muslim families, who lost a son or a brother-lured by the call of jihad - in clashes with security forces protesting that the Hurriyat leaders had not paid them the promised help in cases involving such tragedies. Haven't we heard of almost every Hurriyat leader building himself a mansion during the 12 years of the insurgency in Kashmir. Some have even built more than one, complete with servants quarters, guest rooms, attached baths and what have you.

And why should one grudge poor, old Geelani a couple of houses in Srinagar. Sopore or New Delhi, for that matter. After all he has not exactly been penurious throughout his long life. Why, he even today continues to draw his pensions as a former member of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature. Does it matter that the money comes from the consolidated fund of India. And the good man that he is, he has continued to accept it even after he lost faith in the election process in the State. How can one forget his exalted status, acquired in his post-MLA years, as the self-appointed Pakistani plenipotentiary. And so dedicated has he been that Islamabad felt impelled to own him as one of its own.

A succession of High Commissioners from Pakistan have been so very fond of the man. Not only because he was very committed to their cause but also because he looked as distinguished in that 'Karakuli' cap and always spoke with rare elegance and with a conviction that was firmer than the oath of the loyalty to the Indian Constitution he took each time he became as MLA. The Pakistani is were so pleased with him that they also got him elected to the Saudi-based Islamic Council, a rare honour for a man of humble origins on who had made good thanks to the politics of manipulation he mastered in later years.

For some time now he has even been calling himself a pioneer of the Kashmir liberation, predating his activities to an era before Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah appeared on the scene. Geelani, for all I know, must have been a child when Sheikh Abdullah spearheaded his first agitation against the Maharaja in 1931 and he could possible have been in school when the Sheikh broke away from Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah to form the secular National Conference. But then, when you are on an ego trip, as Geelani has been these past few years, facts lose relevance. Like, when he did that quick about-turn on his relations with Abdul Ghani Lone, after Lone was slain by pro-Pakistanis in Srinagar some weeks ago. Geelani had accused Lone and Mirwaiz Farooq of being softliners who probably even thought of participating in the forthcoming elections to the State Assembly. The about-turn became a necessity after agitated Lone supporters at the murdered Hurriyat leader's house accused Pakistan and Geelani of having got Lone killed. It took Geelani and his cohort, the Hurriyat chief Abdul Ghani Bhat the whole night to persuade Lone's son Sajjad to withdraw the allegation; they offered places to Sajjad and his elder brother Bilal in Hurriyat.

Let's leave Geelani's machinations within the Hurriyat alone for the present. Dr Ayub Thakur, a UK-based Kashmiri expatriate, masquerading as president of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement, who is named as one for the sources of funds made available to Geelani, is an old hand at such transactions. Ayub in fact figured in the first major hawala case in 1988 in which he was linked to three other Dubai - based operators. Like Dr Fai, another Kashmiri ex-pat in the US, Ayub Thakur has been a very convenient conduit for funding the Hurriyat and the Hizbul Mujahideen. In fact Ayub has been in cahoots with the ISI which also made use of this channel for sending funds to the Kashmiri jihadis.

It was not for nothing that L K Advani talked to the British Minister Jack Straw during his visit to New Delhi a fortnight ago about the Ayub menace and indeed asked for his extradition to India. Advani pointedly spoke of Ayub's role in diverting funds to the separatist outfits. He couldn't possibly have dwelt much on the 1988 affair since some senior politicians in New Delhi were also involved in one related hawala episode, arising from the Jain diaries.

Ayub had initially been able to canvass support from among the British liberal political establishment including Lord Avebury who at one time was very committed to the cause of Kashmiri secession. Averbury subsequently visited Kashmir and met separatist leaders there. He was visibly disappointed with what he saw of the separatists. But that didn't deter Thakur from keeping Avebury's interest in the fate of the separatist movement alive. Sadly for Ayub Thakur, soon after the three-week-old poll conducted by Mori's among Kashmiris reported that most of those polled wished to further Kashmir's links with India, Avebury went public dissociating himself from the separatist path of terror.

Interestingly, Geelani's latest brush with law came about following the disclosures made by Srinagar-based Imtiaz Bazaz, a self-styled detective, journalist and would-be TV producer, during his interrogation. Bazaz who allegedly spilled the beans saying that Geelani and Asiya Andrabi, head of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, were used as conduits to send funds to militant groups by Ayub Thakur. He even helped identify the respective bank accounts. At the time of writing, Asiya had escaped the police net but her husband was arrested the same day as Geelani.

Interestingly, Geelani's latest brush with law came about following the disclosures made by Srinagar-based Imtiaz Bazaz, a self-styled detective, journalist and would-be TV producer, during his interrogation. Bazaz who allegedly spilled the beans saying that Geelani and Asiya Andrabi, head of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, were used as conduits to send funds to militant groups by Ayub Thakur. He even helped identify the respective bank accounts. At the time of writing, Asiya had escaped the police net but her husband was arrested the same day as Geelani.

The arrest of Geelani and the allegations levelled against him are bound to lead to even more starting revelations. The truth is that most of the separatist leaders have made themselves very comfortable, material evidence of which is available in the huge mansions they have built for themselves. Most of the constructions are benami. I remember the unseemly competition among separatists for buying Kashmiri Pandit properties in some of the exclusive areas like Baghat-e-Barzulla or Airport Road in Srinagar. Many have built houses in Rawalpura - and this when most of those for whose welfare the money was received never came to get it.

The Geelani exposure has come at a most embarrassing time for the separatists. Islamabad has proposed to put an end to further terrorist incursions in the Valley which would substantially hamper the functioning of the so-called indigenous terrorist group, Hizbul Mujahideen. With sources of money drying up the Hizb will find it difficult to carry on its activities even as its above-ground mentor, the Hurriyat, is hard put to cover up its financial wheeling dealing.

Hopefully all this will not distract New Delhi from initiating a political process in Jammu and Kashmir that will significantly alter the overall situation in the State Assembly. Mind you, the eyes of the international community will be focused the upcoming elections. It's for New Delhi to make sure that the poll process is conducted in a transparent manner. Kashmir must be allowed to elect a truly representative Government of its own. It would be useful in this context for the BJP - led coalition to assure the State that its demand for greater autonomy will be taken up at the earliest. Of help would be the BJP's assurance that it has withdrawn its objection to the retention of Article 370 of the Constitution.

MEN AND MATTERS
Drug money sustains Pak nuclear plan

From B L Kak

Drug money plays- and, indeed, has played- a vital role for Pakistan's nuclear programme. Doubts, if any in this regard, have been set at rest by the Paris-based non-Governmental organisation, called OGD (Observatoire Geopolitique de Drogues). Its none-too-old report has revealed that Pakistani intelligence officials had admitted that their country's nuclear programme was financed by drug money.

Crores of rupees generated by narcotics trade in Pakistan have also been pumped into the manufacture of missiles of different kinds in that country- of course, with the help and guidance from North Korea and China. These missiles, if used can cause widespread destruction.

While Haft-I missile has a range of 75 to 100 Km, Haft-II has a reach of around 250 km if tipped with the 500 kg warhead. The range can be extended to 450 km by reducing the load of the warhead to 300 kg. Short-term missiles were recently moved closer to the International Border in Jammu sector and across the Punjab border.

Why did Mr Rafiq Tarar, former President of Pakistan, congratulate Mr Seth Haffi Amin and his brother, Mr Seth Abid Asharaf? These two financiers have been alleged to be responsible for the secret financial networks of Mr Tarar's family, in particular laundering networks operating in Britain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong and Singapore. After the OGD report, many strategic analysts are wondering whether the Chinese have transferred nuclear and missile technology as part of narcotic money laundering.

Quite a few started suspecting that eve the Chinese love for the Myanmar military junta from 1989 onwards is part of the narcotic money laundering opportunities China offers. Some observers even believe that militancy in Punjab in the past and in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989 are financed by money earned through the narcotic trade. The expansion of activities to such a magnitude by the narcotic trade is largely attributed to enable itself to operate freely all around the world.

The Pak Government of Mr Nawaz Sharif, the high officials in the federal administration and the provincial administration include numerous members from the Khattak, Saifullah, Afridi and Arab tribes and are, as pointed out by the OGD report, deeply involved in the production, transformation and trafficking of narcotics. Mr Zia Bakht Butt, brother-in-law of Mr Nawaz Sharif and a wanted man by the US Drug Enforcement Agency, is alleged to have influenced a lot of appointments for arms and drug trafficking to India.

The various agencies, particularly the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), continue to use drug money to finance the work of at least 10 fundmantalist organisations operating in Kashmir as well as groups in Tajikistan and even Chechnya. The ISI also uses its ill-gotten funds to support Muslim fundamentalist movements like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. If the OGD report were to be believed, as many as 140 Pakistani Air Force officers are involved, directly or indirectly, in narcotic trafficking. No wonder, Indian intelligence specialists reasonably presume that a substantial number of the Pakistani Army and navy officers are also involved in narcotic trade.

In the post-sanctions period, the Pakistani economy sustained itself on money from the narcotic trade. In the mid-1990s, the United Nations Drug Enforcement Agency had estimated that around 5 per cent of Pakistan's GNP (Gross National Product) was generated through narcotic trade. Another exhaustive report of America's CIA listed how the narcotic money was being used for gun running and political violence in Pakistan's neighbourhood. There is no denying that 70 to 80 per cent of the illegal narcotic production comes from the three regions of the world-from parts of the Myanmar-Thailand route known as the Golden Triangle, and from Pakistan-Afghanistan route known as the Golden Crescent, and from Latin America.

Another finding in the OGD report : Afghan-Pakistani narcotic networks operating in Nepal since 1985 with linkages of the ISI decided to make Nepal the centre of their activities. The aim, apparently, is to destabilize India, by providing assistance to minorities fighting for 'independence' and terrorist groups. Certain agencies suspect now that these Pak-Afghan narcotic traffickers have shifted their operations to Sri Lanka.

Recently, an American visitor in New Delhi, after his tour of some areas in Pakistan, had an interesting story about the gun-making industry town of Darra Adam Khel in Pakistan: Rebel armies, from Africa, Latin America, Asia, have all sent their middlemen to buy in Darra Adam Khel. The town, populated by nearly 3 lakh people of the Afridi tribe, is isolated, but world politics have determined its fortunes.

The boom years began in 1979, after the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Afghans took up arms and went to war with backing from the United States. There were few better places to buy their weapons than Darra Adam Khel. Anti-aircraft guns, even Stinger missiles, could be had. The number of manufacturers grew from a few hundred to at least 8,000. Back then, the demand was so great that a Kalashnikov cost at least 1,000 dollars. Today, a buyer can walk away with one for 75 dollars.

The American visitor has confirmed that foreigners are distinctly not welcome in Darra Adam Khel. More than 3,000 father-and-son operations, manufacturing, trading and selling weapons from their box-like open-front shops, stand one after another along the main drag and the arcades off it. The American visitor informed this correspondent that he has recorded that there are pistols and hunting rifles, sniper rifles, Kalashnikovs and M-16s, new, used and modified.

More chilling, perhaps, are the pen pistols-unscrew the body, insert a bullet, pull the top, as if taking it off to get an eraser, to cock it, then fire by pushing on the clip that hangs the 'pen' on the pocket. It seems such a weapon would slip past airport security. Price : Rs 400 for 'a good one''. The gunsmithing, passed down from generation to generation, goes back at least a century. Gen. Parvez Musharraf, too, does not deny the fact: Bring a gun, of any kind, and some one in the town of Darra Adam Khel will make a copy, quickly, just as good, a lot cheaper.