Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
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Kashmir<br />
flared up again. A terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on 13<br />
December renewed the threat of war.<br />
India quickly blamed two <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i-based <strong>Islam</strong>ic militant groups,<br />
JeM and LeT, for the attack.This audacious raid on the symbol of Indian<br />
power brought the two newly nuclear-powered nations once again to<br />
the brink of war. India retaliated by severing diplomatic relations and<br />
cut rail and air communications and put <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> on notice to rein<br />
in the militant groups or face the consequences of war. <strong>The</strong> gravity<br />
of the terrorist attack and the post-9/11 global security environment<br />
provided India the excuse to consider military action, to stop what<br />
it described, as cross-border terrorism. 12 Meanwhile, India demanded<br />
that <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> hand over 20 ‘most wanted terrorists’, including Masood<br />
Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and five other men involved in the<br />
December 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. <strong>The</strong> new Bush<br />
doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against the source of terrorism and the<br />
changes in the international rules of engagement afforded India the<br />
chance to engage <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> in brinkmanship.<br />
In the third week of December, India launched ‘Operation<br />
Parakaram’ (Valour), which constituted the heaviest Indian troop<br />
mobilization since the 1971 war. It was a deliberate move by New<br />
Delhi, amidst the war on terror, to threaten <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> with military<br />
strikes if <strong>Islam</strong>abad did not stop sponsoring cross-border terrorism.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was every indication that India would not shy away from going<br />
to war. <strong>With</strong> <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>’s counter-mobilization, nearly one million troops<br />
sat eyeball to eyeball across the India-<strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> border. Both countries<br />
moved ballistic missiles and troops close to their shared border. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
was a considerable risk of nuclear escalation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> threat of war, coupled with US pressure, forced <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> to<br />
take action against the <strong>Islam</strong>ic militant groups. On 12 January 2002,<br />
Musharraf banned LeT and JeM, which were blamed by India for the<br />
13 December attack. He promised not to let <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i territory be used<br />
for cross-border terrorism. 13 Some two thousand activists of banned<br />
extremist groups were detained in a nationwide crackdown.<br />
Musharraf, however, made it very clear that the measures against<br />
the <strong>Islam</strong>ic extremist groups did not change his position on Kashmir.<br />
‘Kashmir runs in our blood. No <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i can afford to severe links<br />
with Kashmir. We will continue to give all diplomatic, political and<br />
moral support to the Kashmiris,’ he declared. 14<br />
India reacted positively to Musharraf’s 12 January speech and subsequent<br />
moves to curb the militants. Nevertheless, it kept its military on<br />
10