Author:
Publication: Gaurav Ghosh
Date: September 2000
Thus the ISI was Born
The ISI was conceived as far as
1984 under a British officer who chose to serve Pakistan as it's deputy
army chief and was instrumental in sending the raiders into Kashmir to
occupy it in 1984 itself. When they occupied only a part of it and
not entirely, the ISI started covert means to do so.
The state of Hyderabad was fairly
large and comprised Marathwada region of Maharashtra, north Karnataka and
the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. The partition of 1947 saw
endless violence and tragedy. The transition of Sikhs and Hindus
to Hindustan was not easy and it was after facing he opposition of Muslims
they made it to Hindustan in 1947. It was in this period of insecurity,
vengeance and anger that till a year later in 1984 Hyderabad State was
still independent. But one of the greatest leaders of post independence
history Sardar Vallabhai Patel who was the Deputy Prime Minster saw to
it that this was merged with India after police action. The Nizam
in Vein tried to merge with Pakistan. At this juncture the Muslims
from the Hyderabad State could not have made it to Pakistan given the mood
of Hindus and Sikhs and passing through Maharashtra and Gujarat and Rajasthan
would not have been possible being as land locked. Hence most of
them of sought protection in the new Hindustan. The Muslim population
of Hyderabad is thus more identifiable with the Rajakars who suppressed
Hindus in the freedom struggle and tried to keep Hyderabad State autonomous.
Till this date with lots of Muslims in Hyderabad the frustrations and anger
have been passed on down the generations. It is a point to note that
under the congress leadership for several decades. Hyderabad was
chosen to host a series of research and defence establishments and quite
a few of them in the old city itself. It was this blindness on the
part of the congress government not acting is now the main target of ISI
after the political and commercial capitals of India.
The MIM (Majlis Ithehadul Muslimeen)
party was the first to fight for an autonomous Hyderabad. Today it
is contesting elections in India and this speaks about the accountability
of the congress governments. Top police officers have stated in press
reports that some of their functionaries have had ISI links.
Hyderabad is dangerous for the time
to come because even Osama bin laden has visited this city twice, speaks
about the callousness with which successive governments have acted in the
center. Added to this the state governments barring the exception
of Late. N.T.Rama Rao, have turned a blind eye to these activities.
An officer of intelligence department
has sighted examples of how political opportunism has further worsened
the scenario for India and strengthens the ISI base as follows.
During the communal violence, which
broke out during 1998 which was in fact insighted by MIM functionaries,
there had been adequate warning by the police, but the state government
had ignored the warning. This was because the Chief Minster of AP
Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu had deputed the most senior intelligence officials
to collect information about the CEO of Microsoft (an American software
company) Mr. Bill gates from institutions like the Indian institute
of Science, Indian institute of technology, as a visit of Mr. Bill
gates to Hyderabad was in the offing.
Hence local support and political
opportunists have contributed to the growth of ISI in Hyderabad and Andhra
Pradesh. The ISI had built up networks in the districts of Adilabad,
Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Cuddapah and in
Coastal Andhra.
Another major factor for the support
of ISI is the PWG (Peoples war group) a banned naxalite outfit who are
working at the behest of ISI, for making money for its own activities as
well as arms and ammunition. Also the PWG is already established
and well versed with the local logistical and geographical factors.
The ISI is indulging in barbarous
activities to further its cause. Some of these are of heinous nature
They are using young Muslim boys to lure Hindu girls and many them to increase
the conversion from Hindus to Muslims. With no proper laws to tackle
this problem even the police are helpless, knowing fully well the intentions
of such Muslims. It would be wise to educate people on issues such
as these.
There have been reports of Muslim
youth trying to harass the womenfolk of defence officials who live in the
quarters of defence establishments located in the old city of Hyderabad.
On the face of it, this may seem as simple case of eve teaching but behind
this lies the sinister face of the ISI.
Such activities cannot be tolerated
yet action can not be taken by the police, as one cannot approach the police
for a reason that cannot be seen or is hidden.
The ISI gained most in trying to
create communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. Many times it succeeded
as Hyderabad was and is a dormant area for such activities. One such
occasion was a riot triggered by the functionaries of MIM, which had taken
a heavy toll on Hindus in the old city.
But slowly as world pressure grew
on Pakistan to curb its activities and also the marginalisation of Pakistan
after the American President Bill Clintons visit to India, its strategies
changed. Being cold-shouldered by America meant Pakistan had to adopt
new methods to fulfill two needs. Firstly to bring demerit to India
before America and secondly increase its credibility once again before
America. As a result of this Christian missionaries and Christians
in general were victims of covert violence, recently in Andhra Pradesh.
As usual every body around with no credibility or truth started pointing
fingers towards the RSS, VHP, BAJARANG DAL and BJP to discredit the BJP
led government at the centre.
From America's point of view President
Clinton having gone back fully satisfied about the secular credentials
of India, this would be a little discomforting, it does not take-any action
even if they are aware that the Indians are not responsible for it, they
can not point fingers at Pakistan, as both have been allies. One
such instance was the brutal killing of 35 Sikhs in Kashmir during President
Clinton's visit to India. So the ISI found a perfect cushion in designing
and implementing it's plans of bringing the Christians and Hindus to conflict
through their agents.
In addition to this is the media
coverage on such issues which are pumped up by vested interests that not
only the Americans but even the Pope John Paul II at Vatican city, recently
raised the topic when the Prime Minister of Bharat Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
had a brief meeting with him.
Coastal Andhra where such activities
were virtually non-existent has suddenly become a hub of such activities.
What was thought of as an odd event
when 5 members of the banned Al Umma activities were arrested from their
hideout in Rajamundry in East Godavari district of AP, is no longer the
same.
More and more ISI activities are
on the rise in the coastal districts with the emphasis on Hindu and Christian
disturbances as also Hindu-Muslim riots.
One of the major planning must have
taken place when recently in June 2000 a bomb was supposedly hurled at
a mosque in Guntur. Guntur has a fair number of Muslim population.
Within 10 minutes a mob of about 150 gathered and attacked everything in
their way for a distance of about 2 km and culminated at the state bus
stand where several buses where burnt down.
On a detailed analysis one would
note that the difference between the bomb being hurled and the mob gathering
was only 15 minutes. Now this would indicate that it was preplanned
and a mob had already gathered and present even before the bomb was hurled.
This is so, because no mob can gather in about 10 minutes lime no matter
how serious or intense the situation is.
