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archive: Jaswant dubs Kargil conflict as a threat from fundamentalists

Jaswant dubs Kargil conflict as a threat from fundamentalists

Seema Guha
The Times of India
July 2, 1999


    Title: Jaswant dubs Kargil conflict as a threat from fundamentalists
    Author: Seema Guha
    Publication: The Times of India
    Date: July 2, 1999
    
    NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Jaswant Singh has brought a new
    dimension to the Kargil conflict by dubbing it as a threat from
    fundamentalist forces and calling it a part of the Afghanistan
    syndrome.  By bringing into focus the threat from Islamists, was India
    in danger of offending the Muslim countries and governments in the
    Gulf region with which New Delhi has solid economic and trade ties?
    
    No, say officials in South Block.  In fact, the minister has touched
    not a raw nerve but a deep-seated concern of Islamic governments.  The
    fear of fundamentalism is most apparent among Islamic governments,
    many of whom face a real threat from these forces.  Whether it is in
    moderate Islamic countries like Egypt, Turkey, Algeria or in a rigid
    Muslim country like Saudi Arabia, the forces of fundamentalism are a
    threat to established regimes.
    
    Pakistan's military establishment, which spawned the Taliban in
    Afghanistan is itself a prey to fundamentalist threats.  Nawaz Sharif
    himself began his political career as a protege of military dictator
    General Zia-ul Haq, who was trying to gain legitimacy by encouraging
    Islamists.
    
    However, once his Pakistan Muslim League gathered momentum, Mr Sharif
    gradually disassociated his party from more virulent groups who once
    was part of his outfit.
    
    Today, Mr Sharif faces a threat from fundamentalists who do not agree
    with his wish for restoring ties with India.  Luckily for the ruling
    party, the religious groups have no representation in Pakistan's
    National Assembly.  However, thanks to General Zia, the lower echelons
    of the defence forces are filled with hardline religious types many of
    whom believe in a "jehad" to "liberate" fellow Muslims in Jammu and
    Kashmir.
    
    In the most rigorous of Islamic states, the fear of terrorism is as
    much as in places like Algeria, where when orthodox Islamic parties
    won round one of the national elections, they were prevented from
    getting to the next phase.  Instead, those polls were scrapped to keep
    the secular forces in Algeria.  In Turkey the army has ensured that
    Islamists do not gain control.
    
    Saudi Arabia is a state ruled with an iron hand by a monarchy which
    tries to follow the strict tenements of the faith.  However, even this
    royal house is threatened by those who want an even more strict and
    purer form of Islam to be practised.  The aim of this group is to
    bring in what they regard as a "purer form of Islam."  The attack on a
    U.S. army base here is suspected to be the work of ultra-orthodox
    Islamic terrorists.
    
    The recurrent theme in statements of the Saudi leadership has been a
    strong criticism of extremism, violence and terrorism.  Crown Prince
    Abdullah, at the OIC Summit in Teheran in December 1997, had severely
    criticised Islamic militants: "Many questions arise in Muslim
    countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, about the heinous
    crimes being committed in the name of Islam and under the pretext of
    creating an Islamic form of government.  Are these killers to be
    trusted?  Are they qualified to create an Islamic State?  Why do Arab
    and Muslim worlds keep silent with regard to what is going on?"
    
    Islamic fundamentalism is a growing worry for the international
    community.  The bombing of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya
    had led to U.S. attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan.  Osama Bin Laden,
    the bearded millionaire with a AK-47 and a spartan life style is the
    new face of Islamic terrorism.
    
    Mr Jaswant Singh was merely echoing the concern of the entire
    international community when he pinpointed Islamic fundamentalism as a
    threat to India.  Many of the intruders in Kargil are from the stables
    of the Taliban religious school, the extremist group which now
    controls Afghanistan.
    



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