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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 26, December 29, 2014
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
Assam:
Cyclical Butchery
K.P.S.
Gill
Publisher: SAIR;
President, Institute for Conflict Management
Every few
months, one or other community in Assam is put in danger.
Bloody slaughters are inflicted again and again, and Governments
quickly trot out their usual alibis for failure, announce
a range of knee jerk responses - principally the injection
of more Central Forces and escalation of 'counterinsurgency
operations' - and return as quickly to their default setting
of indifference and ineptitude once the media storm and
the brunt of public ire has waned. The fundamental issues
that create spaces for this recurrent violence have stubbornly
been ignored for decades and have, in fact, been exacerbated
by a range of state policies.
In the
latest bloodbath on December 23, 2014, militants of the
I. K. Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front
of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS),
gunned downed 69 Adivasis (tribal communities originally
drawn from outside the State, principally as labour for
tea plantations, also referred to as 'tea tribals') in
near-simultaneous multiple attacks in Chirang, Sonitpur
and Kokrajhar Districts. 40 Santhals were killed in Sonitpur,
25 in Kokrajhar and four in Chirang.
On December
24, eight Bodos were killed by Santhal mobs, in retaliation
to the December 23 killings, including two in Chirang
and three in Kokrajhar District. The location of the remaining
three fatalities is unclear - either in Sonitpur or in
Kokrajhar.
Again,
on December 24, another three Santhals were killed in
Police firing, after thousands of Adivasis, took out a
procession and engaged in violence, defying the indefinite
curfew at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur District.
At the
time of writing, a total of 81 people have died in these
incidents out of which 72 are Adivasis and eight are Bodos.
The identity of one victim has not yet been confirmed.
NDFB-IKS
is a splinter group of the Ranjan Daimary-led NDFB, and
is led by its ‘chairman’ and ‘commander-in-chief ‘ Songbijit
Ingti Kathar aka I. K. Songbijit aka Sarsingh
Ingti aka Sangbijoy, a Karbi tribal. NDFB-IKS claims
to be fighting for a ‘sovereign Bodoland’.
It is significant
that the same group was responsible for the slaughter
of 46 Muslim settlers between May 1 and 3, 2014. On May
1, NDFB-IKS militants entered a house and shot dead three
members of a family, including two women, and injured
an infant, near the Ananda Bazar area in Baksa District.
On May 2, another eight people were killed in Balapara-I
village of Kokrajhar District, followed by the recovery
of 12 bullet-riddled bodies, including those of five women
and a child, the same night, at Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri
villages in Baksa District, where nearly 100 houses and
a wooden bridge had also been set ablaze by the militants.
Another nine bodies were recovered from a village in Baksa
District in the morning of May 3, taking the toll to 32.
Dead bodies continued to be recovered till May 12, and
the final count stood at 46.
Before
this, clashes occurred between the Bodos and Muslims in
July
2012. On July 19, an unidentified
gunman shot at and injured suspended Police constable
Mohibur Islam alias Ratul and All Assam Minority
Students Union (AAMSU) leader Siddique Ali. On July 20,
2012, bodies of four Bodo tribes-people [ex-Bodo Liberation
Tigers (BLT) cadres] were recovered in the Joypur Namapara
locality in Kokrajhar District. The final death toll as
a result of subsequent and widespread violence was 109.
A trickle
of militancy-linked fatalities in the Bodoland Territorial
Area Districts (BTAD) has also been continuous. 14 fatalities
were recorded in BTAD areas during 2013 as compared to
24 in 2014, prior to the violence commencing on December
23. Since December 23, another 29 killings have been recorded
in the BTAD areas. BTAD is governed by the Bodoland Territorial
Council (BTC), an autonomous administrative unit constituted
under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, covering
an area of 8,795 square kilometres, and including the
four contiguous districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri
and Chirang.
The latest
round of violence is said to have been in retaliation
to the sustained losses suffered by the NDFB-IKS in ongoing
counter-insurgency (CI) operations, and there were ample
warnings that such a strike was imminent - though, as
is obviously to be expected, the exact timing and location
of the attacks was not advertised by the militants. Significantly,
NDFB-IKS has suffered major setbacks in CI operations
launched this year, with 43 NDFB-IKS cadres killed in
26 separate incidents in 2014 [data till December 28,
2014].
Significantly,
on December 22, NDFB-IKS had warned the Government of
retaliatory attacks if the Security Forces (SFs) did not
stop operations against its cadres. These warnings were
brushed aside by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who declared,
on December 23, “I don't care for such warnings. The situation
in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) is not
conducive and corrective measures have to be taken."
The attacks commenced just hours after the Chief Minister's
statement.
CI operations
had been launched against the backdrop of the increasing
threat from NDFB-IKS. Out of 189 insurgency
linked fatalities in the State among civilians and SFs
through 2014 (184 civilians and five SF personnel), 137
(136 civilians and one SF trooper) were attributed to
the NDFB-IKS. NDFB-IKS has been involved in at least seven
major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities)
out of 15 major incidents recorded in the State in 2014.
On January 19, 2014, the Assam Government had announced
that it was intensifying action against the NDFB-IKS in
BTAD by carrying out Joint Army-Police CI operations in
the aftermath of a sudden spree of killings in the Bodo
belt.
Nevertheless,
the State Government was found completely unprepared for
the December 2014 incidents. As
in the past, a smoke and mirrors effort
to misdirect the public and media commenced immediately.
While the earlier hoax of 'intelligence failure' and efforts
to blame the Centre were not employed on this occasion,
the State Police sought to claim that the NDFB-IKS was
taking advantage of the 'porous border' and was sheltering
in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. The Union Ministry
of Home Affairs (UMHA), however, quickly dismissed this
deception, clarifying that the architect of the current
carnage, Bidai, was known to be operating from western
Assam, and it was the Assam Polices' own failures that
were to blame for this new cycle butchery.
The deficiencies
of the Assam Police and administration have repeatedly
been examined elsewhere
and do not bear repetition here, beyond the broadest contours
of these deficiencies. Specifically, Assam has a Police-population
ratio of 173 to 100,000 [NCRB data for end-2013], well
above the Indian average of 141, though still significantly
below the levels required for law and order management
in a State riddled by a decades-long insurgency and a
long history of ethnic strife and political mismanagement.
Further, there are critical deficits at all levels of
the State's Force. State Environment and Forest Minister
Rockybul Hussain, speaking on the behalf of Chief Minister
Gogoi who also holds the Home portfolio, on August 4,
2014, indicated that 14,356 posts were vacant out of the
75,559 sanctioned posts in the Police. Of these vacancies,
four at the level of Inspector General of Police (IGP)
could not be filled as "there is no eligible officer
completing 18 years of service in the Indian Police Service
(IPS) cadre for promotion to the rank of Inspector General
of Police (IGP)." Further, the current vacancy for
SP/Commandant, Assistant Superintendent of Police and
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) ranks was at 14,
11, and 163 respectively. The force has 2,499 posts of
constables, 300 posts of head constables, 138 posts of
Assistant Sub-Inspectors, and 420 posts of Sub-Inspectors,
lying vacant. In the Special Branch, 407 posts were vacant
out of a total strength of 3,538 personnel. Qualitative
and capacity elements, in terms of technical, technological
and infrastructural backup also remain abysmally inadequate.
Unsurprisingly,
the UMHA has emphasised an augmented role for the Army
in the immediate response to the NDFB-IKS challenge, and
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Army Chief General
Dalbir Singh Suhag that the Army's presence should be
increased in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, where
NDFB militants were operating. This, however, can be no
solution in the long run. In the wake of the Sukma incident
in Chhattisgarh on December 2, 2014, where 14 Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed by Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres, UMHA is reported to have told Chhattisgarh "that
the experience of previous counter-insurgency campaigns
in India in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, shows
that State Police should take the lead in the campaign
with support from central forces." Police led responses
have been the necessary template of successful CI campaigns
in India, and this must be the guiding strategy of response.
While an escalation of the Army's role may be a transient
expedient, the reality is that too much Central 'assistance'
gives the States an alibi for abdication of their own
responsibility, and leaves the Police Force progressively
emasculated.
The containment
or neutralization of particular insurgent formations,
however, do not promise an enduring solution to the multiple
conflicts of Assam. The most enduring basis of these conflicts
is the attritional confrontation between low consumption
and relatively unresponsive tribal societies and cultures,
and the aggressive, market driven economy of illegal migrants.
It is clear that tribal communities have been at the losing
end of this unrelenting and unequal competition over the
decades. Land has been a crucial element of this competition,
with large swathes of private, tribal and public land
being cornered by illegal migrants, through a range of
devices, including outright purchase, simple squatting
or forcible possession. Established political parties
in Assam have overwhelmingly sought the creeping ‘regularization’
of the status of the vast illegal migrant population in
order to herd them into, and hold them as, captive vote
banks.
This incendiary
mix has been compounded further by a very assertive, even
aggressive, Islamist politics, with political formations
purportedly representing ‘Muslim interests’ seeking to
mobilize the principal illegal migrant community in Assam,
the Bangladeshi Muslim. This mobilization raises the very
real possibility of an attempt by communal formations,
allied to unfriendly regimes and countries in India’s
neighbourhood, acting to provoke the destabilization and
even possible disintegration, of the territory of Assam.
It has become impossible for any political party in Assam
to form a Government without the support of communal Islamist
parties. Consequently, corrective action from the political
leaderships in the State is unlikely in the foreseeable
future.
A long
process of policy reversal, as well as legal and legislative
action will be required to stem the harm that is even
now being done. However, immediate measures are necessary
to halt the accelerating processes of the alienation of
tribal lands and marginalization of indigenous populations
in Assam. These must include and an immediate freeze on
all land transactions and ownership in the State; an immediate
and comprehensive Survey of land and the creation of detailed
land records - vast tracts of land across the State remain
un-surveyed and are not reflected in the Government’s
land and revenue records, and these are the prime targets
of creeping illegal occupation; such a survey must identify
all incidence of occupation of lands by illegal migrants
– all such occupation is illegal, as their very presence
on Indian soil is illegal; strong legislation to prevent
illegal occupation, and to reverse illegal possession,
of currently un-surveyed and public lands, must also be
drafted and urgently brought onto the statute books;
and finally, constitutional and legislative protection
of all tribal lands is necessary against acquisition or
permanent occupation by outsiders.
In the
absence of these necessary initiatives, while some insurgent
formations may be neutralized and others may succumb to
exhaustion, the conflict potential in the State cannot
diminish and will find expression in new disorders and
movements. Purely knee-jerk responses have been initiated
in the past, and in the present case, and these are very
easy - the routine injection of more Central Forces and
escalation of CI Operations. Unless there is a comprehensive
look at the twin issues of the transformation of land
ownership and demographic destabilization in Assam, however,
there can be no enduring cure for this festering wound.
|
J&K:
Dangers Lurk behind Democratic Triumph
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
For the
third consecutive time, the electorate in Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) has thrown up a hung Assembly. The People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), with 28 seats in an 87 seat Assembly,
has emerged as the single largest party, followed by the
Bharatiya Janata Party, with 25 seats; the National Conference
with 15; the Indian National Congress, with 12 seats;
the Jammu & Kashmir People's Conference with two;
and the Jammu And Kashmir People Democratic Front (Secular)
and Communist Party of India (Marxist), 1 seat each; three
seats went to Independents. Unsurprisingly, hectic parley
and consultations, between the major political formations
and independent candidates on the issue of Government
formation are underway at the time of writing. Results
for the 2014 State Assembly Elections were declared on
December 23, 2014.
Despite
the ambivalence of the outcome, there was a clear message
of the people’s growing faith in democracy, with approximately
65.2 per cent of the State's registered voters exercising
their franchise. The elections, conducted in five phases
between November 25 and December 20, saw the highest turnout
of 76 per cent during the last phase (on December 20),
while the lowest turnout of 49 per cent was recorded in
the fourth phase (on December 14). Voter turnout during
first (November 25), second (December 2), and third (December
9) phase, stood at 71.28, 72.1, and 58 per cent, respectively.
In terms of number, a total of approximately 4,733,059
voters out of 7,259,293 registered voters cast their vote.
Significantly, 831 candidates, 803 men and 28 women, were
in the fray for the 87 Assembly seats spread across the
State's 22 Districts.
Voting
percentage varied considerably. Significantly,
17 constituencies recorded 80 per cent or more polling;
another 46 constituencies recorded 60 per cent or more
polling; voting percentage in seven constituencies stood
over and above 50 per cent. 17 constituencies recorded
less than 50 per cent turnout – seven of them registering
less than 30 per cent polls.
J&K
is administratively divided into three parts – Jammu Division,
Kashmir Division (also known as the Valley) and Ladakh
Division. Out of 46 constituencies in the Kashmir Division,
where the separatist and terrorist constituency remains
relatively strong, 29 registered more than 50 per cent
voting, including two that recorded more than 80 per cent
- Charar-i-Sharif (82 per cent) and Sonawari (80.10).
Another 21 of these constituencies recorded polling of
60 per cent or more. All the Assembly constituencies of
the Jammu and Ladkah Divisions recorded turnouts of over
60 per cent, with the exception of Kargil, which recorded
59.82 per cent. Several of the constituencies in Jammu
Division had, in the past, also recorded a strong presence
of terrorists and separatists.
All the
seven constituencies which recorded less than 30 per cent
turnout fell under the Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency,
which had suffered the most during the devastating September
2014 floods, reaffirming the fact that the State Government
had failed to reach the people in the aftermath of the
deluge, and the voters had chosen to punish their politicians.
Voting
percentage during the 2008 State Assembly elections stood
at 61.16 per cent, as against 43.70 per cent in 2002,
and 53.92 in 1996, demonstrating a steady consolidation
of the democratic constituency.
Crucially,
moreover, despite sustained provocation from across the
border, the 2014 elections remained almost violence-free.
None of the 87 constituencies which went to polls recorded
a fatality on Election Day, and just one fatality was
recorded in a constituency other than that were being
polled on one of these five days, December 20, when terrorists
killed a sarpanch (head of a village Panchayat,
village-level local self-government institution), identified
as Ghulam Ahmed Bhat (65), in Sopore town of Baramulla
District. Sopore had gone to polls during the third phase,
on December 9. Indeed, Vinod Zutshi, one of the Deputy
Election Commissioners of India, observed, "It has
been the highest turn-out in the last 25 years. This has
been a historic turn-out in the current elections... unprecedented
and totally peaceful."
This was
despite Islamabad’s desperate
campaign to escalate terrorist violence,
following the high voter turnout during the first phase
of elections, to disrupt the poll process. According to
partial data, compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), between November 25 and December 20,
2014 [voting days], a total of 46 persons, including 11
civilians, 16 Security Force (SF) personnel, and 19 terrorists
lost their lives in terrorism-related incidents across
the State. This period also witnessed four major incidents
(each involving three or more fatalities), including two
suicide attacks.
On November
27, 2014, terrorists who had reportedly been infiltrated
across the border under covering fire by Pakistani Rangers,
in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), carried
out a suicide attack targeting an Army Base Camp in the
Arnia sector of Jammu District, killing five civilians
and three SF personnel. The four attackers were also killed.
Again,
on December 5, a group of heavily armed terrorists who
had been infiltrated from across the border, carried out
a suicide attack targeting the Army’s 31 Field Regiment
Ordnance Camp located at Mohra, near the Line Control
(LoC), in the Uri sector of Baramulla District. In the
ensuing gunfight, which lasted over six hours, 11 SF personnel,
including Lieutenant Colonel Sankalp Kumar, and six terrorists,
were killed. December 5, in fact, recorded four coordinated
attacks by terrorists, which resulted in at least 21 fatalities,
including 11 SF personnel, eight terrorists and two civilians.
It was the highest fatality figure for a single day since
May 23, 2004, when at least 30 persons, including 19 Border
Security Force (BSF) personnel, six women and five children,
were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device blast at
Lower Munda, near Qazigund, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Further,
Islamabad-backed J&K separatist formations working
directly under the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),
Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, had again called
for a boycott of the polls, and these calls were backed
by threats from terrorists groups operating out of Pakistan.
The nexus
between the separatists and terrorists was visible, for
instance, in a statement by Mohammad Yusuf Shah aka
Syed Salahuddin, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)
chief and chairman of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)-based
Muttahida Jehad Council (MJC],
United Jehad Council), who released a statement on November
14, 2014, declaring, "People who will vote in the
coming elections will be considered as traitors who sell
the blood of martyrs." He had urged the separatists,
mainly the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC),
to launch a door-to-door poll-boycott campaign, which
they did, though some have questioned their enthusiasm
thereafter. With widespread participation of voters during
first phase of the elections, Yusuf Shah found his own
constituency wandering away, and stated, "The militant
leadership believes participation in the polls is betrayal
with the sacrifices (sic). But whatever decision
is taken by the Hurriyat over the issue, we will abide
by it."
Earlier,
the State had also participated in the five-phase General
Election for India's Parliament, between April 10 and
May 7. The voting percentage during these polls was 49.72,
a significant improvement over 2009 General Elections,
at 39.70 per cent, and the 2004 Election, at 35.20 per
cent. As with the Assembly polls of November-December
2014, the April-May 2014 General Elections were also almost
peaceful. According to SATP data, between April 10 and
May 7 (voting days), the total terrorism-related fatalities
were 13, including four civilians, three SF personnel
and six terrorists. Out of six parliamentary constituencies,
only Anantnag recorded a killing on Election Day on April
24, when a polling official was killed and another five
persons were injured when unidentified gunmen attacked
them at Nagabal in Shopian District, within the constituency.
The saga
of democratic consolidation was reinforced when, after
33 long years, the State conducted village Panchayat
elections in a peaceful environment
between April 13 and June 27, 2011. A staggering 79 per
cent of the electorate exercised their right to vote in
those elections, demonstrating a dramatic
deepening of democracy in the State,
as a result of the improved security scenario, as compared
to era of terrorist ascendancy in the State. At the peak
of the Pakistan-backed terrorist campaign, J&K had
recorded a total of 4,507 fatalities in terrorism related
incidents in a single catastrophic year, 2001.
However,
lingering
irritants continue to throw up new
challenges. Terrorism related fatalities, which had declined
continuously, year on year, since 2002, to record a low
of 117 in 2012, have seen an increase since, with 181
killed in 2013, and 193 fatalities already recorded in
2014 (till December 28). Significantly, fatalities among
civilians increased by 60 per cent, from 20 such fatalities
in 2013, to 32 in 2014. Nevertheless, other parameters
of violence, including major incidents, suicide attacks
and explosions have remained more or less at the same
level in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, the number of major incidents
stood at 21, resulting in 107 deaths, as compared to 22
such incidents, resulting in 108 deaths, in 2013. Similarly,
2013 recorded three suicide attacks resulting in 20 deaths,
while 2014 recorded two such attacks, resulting in 29
fatalities. The number of explosions increased from 12
in 2013 to 14 in 2014, with corresponding fatalities at
four and six respectively. On a comparative, 2012 had
recorded just 10 major incidents resulting in 45 deaths,
and the last of suicide attacks in the State, prior to
2013, were in 2010. The year witnessed a single suicide
attack resulting in four deaths, including one civilian,
a Policeman and the two suicide attackers (who were killed
by the Police).
Even the
number of Districts from where killings were reported
remained almost the same between 2013 and 2014 – 14 and
13, respectively. In 2014, the maximum number of fatalities
were reported from Kupwara District (61), followed by
Pulwama (36), and Baramulla (31). In 2013 too, Kupwara
had recorded the highest fatalities (67). Significantly,
however, no civilian fatalities were inflicted in Kupwara
during these two years. In terms of civilian fatalities
in 2014, Jammu and Pulwama Districts recorded the highest,
at eight each, followed by five in Baramulla and three
in Samba. The highest SF fatalities was recorded in Baramulla
(14), followed by Kupwara (10) and Pulwama (9).
Among the
most visible of irritants, exposing the sustained deceit
and hostility of the Pakistani state, is the continuous
turbulence along the International
Border and Line of Control (LoC). According to the Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), at least 130 infiltration
attempts were made from the Pakistani side in 2014, till
October, and of these, 45 occurred in the preceding three
months alone. Similarly, a total of 545 incidents of violation
of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA, 2003) occurred along
the LoC and International Border were reported in 2014,
till November 25. Of these, 424 were reported between
August and November 2014 (till November 17), alone. According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP), at least six infiltration attempts have been reported
since November 1, 2014, and there have been eight CFA
violations after November 25, 2014, (data till December
28, 2014). The number of infiltration attempts and CFA
violations in 2013 stood at 277 and 347, respectively.
Meanwhile,
the drawdown of International Forces from Afghanistan
has been completed, and there are apprehensions that India’s
border with Pakistan may experience increasing volatility
in the proximate future. More effective measures to the
border and LoC will be necessary if the dramatic gains
of the past years are to be reinforced and advanced further.
Several
steps have been taken in this direction,
and these have significantly reduced the number of successful
infiltration attempts from the Pakistani side. As against
100 terrorists estimated to have infiltrated through 2013,
60 are believed to have got through in the current year,
according to an August 31, 2014, report.
The reversal,
albeit relatively small in comparison to the peak phase
of terrorism in J&K, of trends in fatalities in the
State is a warning that there is no room for complacence,
and that the price for political and administrative mismanagement
can be unacceptable, as it has been in the past. The Assembly
Elections have created new opportunities and aroused great
hope in the State, even as they have eroded the credibility
and support base of the separatist constituency. India's
and particularly J&K's tragedy in the past has often
been that great hope has been followed by great disappointment
and consequent anger, feeding the cycle of militancy,
and whetting the appetite of terrorist groups and their
state handlers in Pakistan for greater violence. It remains
to be seen whether the fractured mandate of 2014 will
yield a greater stability in this troubled province, and
whether the parties will, in fact, deliver on the promise
of 'good governance' that lay at the heart of election
campaigns this time around.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
December 22-28,
2014
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
69
|
0
|
0
|
69
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
70
|
1
|
0
|
71
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
1
|
10
|
11
|
FATA
|
9
|
0
|
49
|
58
|
KP
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
Punjab
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
0
|
2
|
19
|
21
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Indian
Government
has
decided
to
send
back
Noor
Hossain
to
Bangladesh
soon,
says
Bangladesh
Home
Secretary
Mozammel
Haque
Khan:
Bangladesh
Home
Secretary
Mozammel
Haque
Khan
on
December
22
said
that
the
Indian
Government
has
decided
to
send
back
Noor
Hossain,
the
prime
accused
of
the
sensational
seven
murders
in
Narayanganj
Dsitrict,
to
Bangladesh
soon.
He
said
the
Ministry
of
External
Affairs
of
India,
in
a
letter
said
that
they
have
asked
Police
to
take
all
necessary
measures
to
extradite
Noor
Hossain.
In
the
letter,
they
also
wanted
to
know
the
time
and
place
of
his
extradition,
he
added.
New
Nation,
December
29,
2014.
INDIA
81
persons
killed
in
Assam
violence:
The
death
toll
in
the
ongoing
violence
in
Assam
reached
81.
The
violence
started
on
December
23
when
about
80
IK
Songbijit
faction
of
National
Democratic
Front
of
Bodoland
(NDFB-IKS)
militants
shot
dead
67
Adivasis
at
five
different
places
in
Sonitpur
and
Kokrajhar
Districts.
Times
of
India,
December
29,
2014.
Dawood
Ibrahim
tracked
in
Karachi
and
is
expanding
real-estate
empire,
says
report:
Mail
Today
accessed
a
series
of
never-heard-before
tapes
from
a
website
Newsmobile.in
giving
an
insight
into
the
life
of
Dawood
Ibrahim.
Dawood
has
been
tracked
in
Karachi
(Sindh)
and
is
heard
expanding
his
real
estate
empire.
In
the
tapes,
Dawood
is
having
conversation
with
key
associates
Javed-who
manages
his
business
interests
in
Dubai
and
Yasir,
son
of
an
influential
Pakistani-who
is
his
financial
analyst
based
out
of
Dubai.
The
tapes
indicate
that
he
is
fearless
and
ruthless
and
is
on
a
real
estate-buying
spree
in
Dubai.
Mail
Today,
December
27,
2014.
IS
emerged
as
threat
factor
in
Indian
security
radar
in
2014,
says
report:
Terror
outfit
Islamic
State
(IS)
appeared
to
have
emerged
as
a
threat
factor
in
the
Indian
security
radar
during
2014.
The
arrest
of
a
Bangalore-based
executive,
Mehdi
Masroor
Biswas,
who
was
operating
a
pro-IS
Twitter
handle
to
propagate
the
ideology
of
the
Middle-East
terrorist
group,
climaxed
some
disquieting
events
earlier
in
the
year.
Times
of
India,
December
25,
2014.
Four
Indian
Armed
Forces
personnel
spying
for
Pakistan
caught
in
last
two
years,
states
Defence
Minister
Manohar
Parrikar:
Four
Armed
Forces
personnel
have
been
arrested
in
last
two
years
for
spying
for
Pakistan,
Defence
Minister
Manohar
Parrikar
informed
Rajya
Sabha
(Upper
House
of
Indian
Parliament)
on
December
23.
One
of
the
accused
was
dismissed
from
service
later.
Manohar
Parrikar
told
that
three
personnel
were
arrested
in
2014
while
one
was
arrested
in
2012.
Times
of
India,
December
24,
2014.
Six
Pakistani
espionage
modules
neutralised
in
2014,
states
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Haribhai
Parathibhai
Chaudhary:
Minister
of
State
for
Home,
Haribhai
Parathibhai
Chaudhary
informed
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Indian
Parliament),
"During
the
current
year-2014
(till
December
17),
six
Pakistani
espionage
modules
have
been
neutralized
in
the
country
resulting
in
the
arrest
of
six
persons
along
with
information
and
documents
relating
to
various
establishments
in
the
country.
Out
of
these
six
accused,
five
are
Indian
and
one
is
a
Sri
Lankan
national".
Times
of
India,
December
24,
2014.
NGOs
involved
in
global
jihad
recruitment,
says
report:
As
the
National
Investigating
Agency
(NIA)
investigates
case
of
Areef
Majeed
the
youth
from
Kalyan
who
returned
to
India
after
joining
Islamic
State
(IS),
they
have
stumbled
upon
various
Non-Governmental
Organisation's
(NGO)
which
help
such
a
cause.
There
were
a
large
number
of
Wahabi
scholars
who
had
visited
India
in
the
past
couple
of
years
and
according
to
an
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
report
the
number
was
around
25000.
One
India,
December
23,
2014.
NEPAL
Nepal
can't
afford
even
7
Pradeshes,
says
PM
Sushil
Koirala:
On
December
26,
Prime
Minister
(PM)
Sushil
Koirala
said
even
seven
Pradeshes
will
be
more
than
necessary
for
a
small
country
like
Nepal.
Inaugurating
the
41st
general
convention
of
Nepal
Jaycees
in
Banepa
of
Kavre,
Koirala
said
Nepal
cannot
afford
as
many
as
seven
Pradeshes
once
it
adopts
the
federal
structure.
"Top
political
leaders
are
holding
a
discussion
to
reduce
the
number
of
Pradeshes,"
Koirala
said.
Himalayan
Times,
December
27,
2014
PAKISTAN
49
militants
and
nine
civilians
among
58
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
At
least
12
militants
were
killed
and
five
Security
Forces
(SFs)
were
injured
when
SFs
repulsed
attacks
on
two
check
posts
in
Shindara
and
Khazana
Kandao
area
of
Orakzai
Agency
in
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
on
December
27.
At
least
23
militants
were
killed
during
airstrikes
conducted
by
military
fighter
jets
targeting
militant
hideouts
in
Madakhel,
Lataka
and
Basikel
areas
of
Dattakhel
in
North
Waziristan
Agency
(NWA)
of
on
December
26.
Seven
terrorists
were
killed
and
five
others
sustained
injuries
in
two
United
States
(US)
drone
attacks
targeting
two
compounds
of
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan-Punjab
Chapter
militants
(also
known
as
Punjabi
Taliban)
in
the
Shawal
area
on
December
26.
Six
militants
were
killed
in
a
clash
during
a
search
operation
in
Halki
Gandhab
area
of
Mohmand
Agency
on
December
23.
Security
personnel
recovered
six
bullet-riddled
bodies
from
the
Yakagund
area
of
Mohmand
Agency
on
December
23.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
December
23-29,
2014.
1,990
missing
persons
traced
this
year
in
KP
and
FATA,
says
Peshawar
High
Court
record:
The
missing
person's
cases
and
decisions
of
provincial
and
national
importance
remained
the
focus
of
the
Peshawar
High
Court
(PHC)
during
2014
as
1,990
people
were
traced
out
and
12
of
them
got
released
through
political
administration
and
Police.
As
per
record
of
the
PHC,
the
law
enforcing
agencies
submitted
a
list
of
934
missing
persons
in
the
court
in
October,
who
had
been
traced
and
shifted
to
various
internment
centres
being
run
under
the
Home
Department
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
and
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
Additional
Chief
Secretary
under
the
special
law
called
Action
(in
Aid
of
Civil
Power)
Regulations
2011,
for
FATA
and
Provincially
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(PATA).
The
News,
December
29,
2014
Ministry
of
Finance
and
SBP
directed
to
investigate
accounts
in
order
to
stop
terror
funding:
In
order
to
stop
the
flow
of
funds
to
terror
outfits,
Prime
Minister
(PM)
Nawaz
Sharif
on
December
26
constituted
a
Special
Committee
for
the
implementation
of
the
National
Action
Plan
on
counter-terrorism,
the
specifications
of
which
would
be
finalised
in
a
follow-up
meeting
scheduled
for
December
27,
2014
at
the
Prime
Minister's
House
in
Islamabad,
while
the
State
Bank
of
Pakistan
(SBP)
and
Ministry
of
Finance
have
been
directed
to
stop
terror
funding.
Daily
Times,
December
27,
2014.
28
political
workers,
militants
among
458
convicts
on
death
row
in
Sindh:
According
to
statistics
revealed
on
December
25
at
least
28
activists
of
political
parties,
banned
religious
organisations
and
sectarian
outfits
are
among
the
458
convicts
on
death
row
in
Sindh
Province.
Of
these,
the
mercy
appeals
of
eight
convicts
are
pending
before
the
President
and
one
before
the
Army
General
Headquarters.
Consolidated
statistics
show
that
the
major
prisons
in
Karachi,
Larkana,
Hyderabad
and
Sukkur
Districts
house
458
such
prisoners,
who
were
awarded
death
sentences
by
the
Sessions
Courts
and
the
Special
Anti-Terrorism
Courts
(ATC)
over
the
years.
Tribune,
December
26,
2014.
Military
courts
imperative
to
punish
terrorists,
says
Federal
Minister
for
Railways
Khawaja
Saad
Rafique:
Federal
Minister
for
Railways
Khawaja
Saad
Rafique
on
December
15
said
that
there
was
a
difference
between
martial
law
and
establishment
of
military
courts
in
the
prevailing
circumstances.
He
said
that
military
courts
were
imperative
to
punish
terrorists
and
they
were
not
aimed
at
singling
out
political
opponents.
He
said
that
the
decision
to
setup
military
courts
was
taken
by
the
political
leadership
for
the
betterment
of
Pakistan.
The
News,
December
26,
2014.
No
armed
group
will
be
allowed
to
dictate
its
agenda,
says
Federal
Minister
for
Information
and
Broadcasting
Pervaiz
Rashid:
Federal
Minister
for
Information
and
Broadcasting
Pervaiz
Rashid
while
addressing
a
candlelight
vigil
at
National
Broadcasting
House
in
Islamabad
on
December
25
in
memory
of
the
victims
of
December
16,
2014,
terrorist
attack
on
Army
Public
School
in
Peshawar
said
that
no
armed
group
would
be
allowed
to
dictate
its
agenda
and
disturb
the
peace
of
the
country.
Rashid
said
the
country
has
resolved
that
it
would
not
allow
the
formation
of
armed
groups
to
dictate
to
the
nation
about
its
way
of
life
and
relations
with
neighbours.
Dawn,
December
26,
2014.
Terrorism,
extremism
to
be
rooted
out,
says
CoAS
General
Raheel
Sharif:
The
Chief
of
the
Army
Staff
(COAS)
General
Raheel
Sharif
on
December
25
expressed
the
resolve
that
terrorism
and
extremism
would
be
rooted
out
from
the
country.
He
paid
rich
tributes
to
the
political
leadership
of
the
country
for
their
spirit
and
unwavering
resolve
to
rid
Pakistan
of
the
menace
of
terrorism
through
reforms
and
administrative
measures,
says
an
ISPR
press
release.
He
expressed
these
views
while
chairing
a
high-level
security
meeting.
General
Sharif
reiterated
his
resolve
in
unequivocal
terms
to
root
out
the
menace
of
extremism
and
terrorism
from
the
country.
The
News,
December
26,
2014.
NACTA
asks
Provinces
to
conduct
social
audit
of
all
banned
organisations
to
find
out
if
they
are
working
under
new
names:
The
National
Counter-Terrorism
Authority
(NACTA)
on
December
25
asked
all
the
Provinces
to
conduct
a
social
audit
of
all
the
60
banned
organisations
to
find
out
which
of
them
are
working
under
new
names
so
that
the
law
and
the
latest
decisions
announced
by
the
Prime
Minister
after
parliamentary
parties
meeting
can
be
implemented.
"Not
only
all
the
63
organisations
(three
were
placed
under
observation
in
2012)
mentioned
in
the
NACTA
list
of
proscribed
organisations
as
available
on
its
official
website
are
banned,
their
affiliates
cannot
work
with
any
other
organisation
or
with
a
new
organisation
using
different
names.
The
News,
December
26,
2014.
Senate
demands
banning
of
foreign
funding
to
madrassas
involved
in
militant
activities:
Accusing
the
Government
of
failing
to
take
quick
action
after
the
December
16,
2014,
Peshawar
school
terrorist
attack,
legislators
in
the
Upper
House
of
Parliament
on
December
23
demanded
the
Government
ban
foreign
funding
to
those
madrassas
(religious
seminaries)
who
were
involved
in
any
type
of
militant
training.
They
said
that
after
the
Peshawar
incident,
it
was
right
time
for
the
Government
to
"clean"
those
madrassas
who
were
involved
in
preparation
of
jihad
(holy
war)
in
neighbouring
countries,
especially
India
and
Afghanistan.
Daily
Times,
December
24,
2014.
Enemies
hiding
in
cities
to
also
face
Zarb-e-Azb,
says
Prime
Minister
Nawaz
Sharif:
Pakistan,
Prime
Minister
(PM)
Nawaz
Sharif
said
on
December
22
that
the
second
round
of
operation
Zarb-e-Azb
would
target
terrorists
hiding
in
cities
and
villages
as
part
of
renewed
strategy
on
security
for
the
elimination
of
terrorism
and
maintenance
of
law
and
order
in
the
country.
He
expressed
these
views
while
chairing
a
meeting
to
review
the
anti-terrorism
strategy
during
which
he
emphasised
that
decisive
action
would
be
taken
against
terrorists.
Daily
Times,
December
23,
2014.
5,419
terrorists
detained
in
Punjab
jails,
informs
Punjab
Government
to
the
Provincial
Assembly:
The
Punjab
Government
on
December
22
confirmed
in
Punjab
Assembly
that
the
process
of
capital
punishment
in
the
Province
has
been
started
and
as
many
as
5,419
terrorists
are
detained
in
different
jails
of
the
Province,
and
about
57
appeals
of
mercy
of
terrorists
have
been
rejected.
Parliamentary
Secretary
Nazar
Gondal
further
told
the
House
that
the
government
had
withdrawn
the
initial
notification
regarding
ban
on
capital
punishment
to
the
accused
persons
in
jails
so
now
the
process
to
give
death
penalty
to
the
terrorists
have
been
restored.
Daily
Times,
December
23,
2014.
Conviction
rate
highest
in
Balochistan,
zero
in
Islamabad,
reveals
official
statistics:
The
Anti-Terrorism
Courts
(ATCs)
in
the
Federal
Capital
have
not
convicted
even
a
single
terror
suspect
whereas
the
conviction
rate
remained
the
highest
in
Balochistan
from
2008
to
2014
followed
by
Sindh,
the
Punjab
and
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
(KP),
an
analysis
of
official
statistics
of
terrorism
cases
revealed.
As
far
as
the
number
of
under-trial
cases
is
concerned,
Sindh
stands
at
the
top,
and
the
Punjab,
KP,
Balochistan
and
the
Federal
Capital
follow.
The
News,
December
23,
2014.
SRI
LANKA
Ban
Ki-moon
wants
Sri
Lanka
to
back
human
rights
probe:
United
Nations
(UN)
Secretary
General
Ban
Ki-moon
still
wants
Sri
Lanka
to
cooperate
with
the
ongoing
human
rights
investigation
on
Sri
Lanka
mandated
by
the
UN
Human
Rights
Council
despite
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
saying
he
will
not
back
the
investigation.
The
President
has
said
he
will
let
local
laws
to
deal
with
any
human
rights
violators
and
not
agree
to
a
UN
probe.
Colombo
Page,
December
24,
2014.
.
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on
terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
related economic, political, and social issues, in the South
Asian region.
SAIR is a project
of the Institute
for Conflict Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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