Current Affairs

News
Creating scare during Games latest Pak tactic

NEW DELHI: A new wave of scare-mongering and terror rumours emanating out of Pakistan is intended to raise the fear factor in India during the Commonwealth Games. Last week, a Pakistani journalist known for his links to the Pakistan intelligence complex met an Indian diplomat in Islamabad to say that he had spoken to Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of Al Qaida's 313 Brigade, who threatened an attack in India during the Games. A terror attack on the Games facilities remains the enduring nightmare for the Indian government. Indian and other foreign security agencies went into overdrive to assess the threat. But officials maintained that there was none of the signs that were evident in the run-up to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. On Thursday, the government officially warned Delhi Police and other security agencies about this new "information". It also apprised security officials accompanying every country's team about it. Home secretary G K Pillai called in Pakistani high commissioner Shahid Malik on Thursday and gave a sharp message -- that any terror attack in India during the Commonwealth Games traced back to Pakistan will essentially be treated as a hostile act. Malik was reminded of the threat by Ilyas Kashmiri earlier this year that athletes coming for the Commonwealth Games would be targeted by his terror group. Kashmiri had also threatened to attack the IPL and the World Cup hockey tournament in Delhi. Both events went off smoothly. The Indian warning to Pakistan has been repeated and emphasised by key western countries, including the UK and Australia. Even if the terror threat is not "credible", Indian agencies believe this could be another tactic by Pakistan-based terror groups to spread fear, even if it is in the absence of an attack. Such "intelligence" raises terror threat warnings by all countries and generally puts a pall of fear over an event. This too is a kind of terror, said sources. According to sources, while Games venues and stadia have a huge security presence, the same cannot be said for open areas like markets etc. Which explains why terror threat advisories by most countries focus on open areas like markets and shopping places. It's also possible that some of Lashkar-e-Toiba's sleeper cells in India may get activated during the Games. By training attention on Al Qaida and Ilyas Kashmiri, Pakistan may be trying to buy itself some deniability. The ISI-Lashkar's `Karachi Project', under which the Mumbai attacks took place, has the larger goal of puncturing the India story, by making it impossible for India to be a secure place for investment, business, tourism or sport. Kashmiri had told a Pakistani interviewer earlier that the Mumbai attack was his brainchild, but was hijacked by ISI-LeT. David Headley, the LeT planner arrested in Chicago, had also revealed that Kashmiri was part of the 26/11 planning process. According to Indian security sources, one of the 26/11 handlers, Abu Jundal, referred to Kashmiri's 313 Brigade during one of his instructions to terrorist Imran Babar.

                                                                                                               
Back
Created by SaasVaap Techies pvt ltd