Coconutty
02-10-2004, 09:42 AM
Friday, 08 February 2008South India on terror radarBangalore: South India, by all indications, is the next terrorist destination. Intelligence agencies have sounded the warning that terror cells established by some terrorist outfits in South India are waiting for the right time to strike.Starting from the serial bomb blasts in Coimbatore in 1998, there were several terrorist strikes in major South Indian centres, including the twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad, bomb attack on Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and the attack on the IISc campus in Bangalore.Besides political and religious reasons, there is evidently an economic angle to the attacks on IT hubs in South India. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, in the calculation of the terrorists and their sponsors in Pakistan, are attractive targets for economic terrorism. Being an important source of India's foreign exchange earnings, such attacks are designed to keep foreign IT companies away from India and weaken India's stock market, which attracts considerable overseas funds. The recent unearthing of terror training camps in the forests bordering North Karnataka following the arrests of three terror suspects--Mohammed Ghouse, Asadullah Abubaker and Mohammed Asif--is nothing but the tip of the proverbial iceberg.Two Pakistani national arrested in Mysore on Ocotber 2, 2007, had revealed their plans to attack the Karnataka Secretariat, Vidhana Soudha, and its annexe, Vikas Soudha, in Bangalore and the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore.The attack on IISc campus in Bangalore on December 28, 2005, in which M C Puri of IIT Delhi was killed and four fellow scientists were injured, was not apparently a targeted attempt to kill any particular scientist. South India, in general, and Bangalore, in particular, have a large concentration of not only IT experts, but also famous scientists.The sleeper cells of pro-al-Qaeda jihadi terrorist organisations of Pakistan and Bangladesh operating in South India have come to the notice of the police. The most active among them in South India is the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) followed by the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI).Occasionally, there have also been reports of the presence and activities of other Pakistan-based organisations such as the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The sleeper cells of LeT in South India operate either as LeT or under other names such as the Muslim Defence Force in Tamil Nadu. They aim at "liberating" local Muslims from Indian control as a first step in their plan to "liberate" the Muslims of North and South India and incorporate their "homelands" in the so-called Islamic Caliphate advocated by Osama bin Laden.After the neutralisation of a LeT sleeper cell in Delhi in March last, the Delhi Police had repeatedly been sounding wake-up calls about the plans of the jihadi terrorists to target IT companies in Bangalore. Media reports have also been speaking of a number of hoax threats addressed to IT companies in Bangalore since March.The recent hoax message of an attempt by the al-Qaeda to blow up Parliament had also reportedly originated from Tirunelveli, a hotbed of the activities of the al-Ummah, which had organised a number of serial blasts at Coimbatore in February 1998. All these were not hoax calls from pranksters trying to create a sensation. These were probably hoax messages of suspected jihadi terrorists, apparently trying to test the reflexes of the security authorities and create in their mind a hoax fatigue.Intelligence sources feel that Kerala, which is turning into a potential hotbed of radical Islam, may provide a congenial ground for these terrorist organisations to establish hideouts and cells to operate in South India.What startles the intelligence sleuths is that highly educated youths are joining the terrorist ranks in a big way. K A Adhoni who was arrested by by Dharwad police for his suspected links with the banned SIMI, is an assistant executive engineer of a government department.But the sad fact is that the police and intelligence agencies are neither trained nor equipped to deal with the rising terrorist activities. Even after a lapse of two years, the police are totally clueless about the perpetrators of the attack on IISc.The Karnataka police plan to strengthen its anti-terrorist cell. Since the ground level intelligence gathering holds the key to fighting terrorism, a helpline would be set up so that the public could tip off the police about any suspicious activity. The number of police informants would also be increased.According to P K H Tharakan, Adviser to Karnataka Governor, a disaster management authority will be set up soon that will also develop strategies to tackle terrorism.Knee-jerk reactions apart, no state has yet evolved a proper mechanism to deal with terror. Lack of political will and weak policing help terror outfits to expand their base.MAJOR TERROR STRIKES IN SOUTH INDIA2007 Aug 25: 42 killed in twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad2007 May 18: 13 killed in bomb blast in Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, during Friday prayers2005 Dec 28 : M C Puri, Professor Emeritus at IIT Delhi, was killed and four other scientists injured in attack on IISc campus in Bangalore1998 Feb 14 : 81 killed in serial bomb blasts in CoimbatoreSource: P Venugopal India SyndicateAlso Read:Pak has realised terror danger: USSIMI ban to continue: GovtContributeShould terrorism be resolved politically or through guns?