| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 8, August 25, 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
|
Asphyxiating
Minorities
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Pakistan
is increasingly failing to protect its minorities
for two broad reasons: principally, rising religious
intolerance and the space ceded to violent ideologies.
-Sherry
Rehman, former Ambassador to the US, 2011
|
Little
noticed amidst the ongoing pitched battle led by Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT),
against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led Federal
Government, a group of protesters from minority communities
held a rally in Badin District of Sindh on August 16,
2014, against the current Government's failure to protect
minorities from communal atrocities, including kidnapping-for-ransom,
killings on religious grounds and abduction of girls for
forced conversion.
Religious
violence is endemic in Pakistan and the security situation
of intra and inter-religious minorities is precarious.
The National Assembly (NA) while observing the National
Minorities Day on August 11, 2014, acknowledged the catastrophic
proportions of the problem and unanimously adopted a resolution
to condemn the "brutal killings" of religious
minorities and rejecting all forms of discrimination against
them in the country. The resolution, tabled by Religious
Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf, urged the Government to
take concrete steps to establish and maintain interfaith
harmony in order to safeguard fundamental rights of minority
communities as enshrined in the Constitution.
The resolution
came in the wake of a recent targeted attack on a Sikh
trader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province. On August
6, 2014, unidentified masked terrorists shot dead a Sikh
shopkeeper, identified as Jagmohan Singh, at Khushal Bazaar
in the Hashtnagri area of Peshawar, the provincial capital.
Lamenting the pervasive sense of insecurity, the chief
of the Karachi-based Pakistan Sikh Council (PSC), Sardar
Ramesh Singh, noted, "This is not the first time
our community was attacked in KP. The Sikh community in
the Province is under constant threat... many Sikh families
have left the area over lack of security." Recalling
the acts of violence against the besieged Sikh community,
Member of Provincial Assembly and PTI leader, Soran Singh,
observed, “In the last one year, at least three members
of the Sikh community have been killed in the settled
Districts.”
Incidents
of violence against the Sikhs in Pakistan have a long
history. In 2010, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
terrorists exhibited their barbarism by beheading two
Sikh men in the Khyber and Orakzai Agencies of the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and sent their heads
to the Bhai Joga Singh Gurudwara (Sikhs
place of worship) in Peshawar. The victims were identified
as Jaspal Singh and Mahal Singh. Two of their companions,
identified as Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh, were held
captive by the terrorists. This spine chilling incident
came after repeated threats to the community to convert
to Islam.
The seeds
of violence against the Sikh community were sown in 2009.
On April 30, 2009, the TTP Orakzai Chapter banished 50
Sikh families from the Agency for non-payment of jizya
- a tax levied by the early Muslim rulers on their non-Muslim
subjects. According to media sources, TTP had occupied
the houses and shops of Sikhs and auctioned their valuables
for PKR 0.8 million in the Qasim Khel and Feroz Khel areas
of the Agency. The terrorists had demanded PKR 12 million
as jizya but had only received PKR 6.7 million.
This demand was a follow-up of an earlier precedent. On
April 15, 2009, the Sikhs had conceded to TTP demands
and had paid PKR 20 million as 'protection' money as a
result of which the terrorists vacated occupied Sikh and
also released an abducted Sikh leader, Sardar Saiwang
Singh. The Sikhs were guaranteed protection, but the terrorist
reneged on their promise. The latest August 6, 2014, incident
exhibits the pattern of violence that has evolved over
years against the unprotected minorities in the country.
As temperatures
of intolerance soar in Pakistan, its largest religious
minority, the Hindus, representing 1.6 per cent of the
then total of 132 million according to the 1998 Census,
continue to face the fury of frenzied mobs over false
or unverified allegations of blasphemy, and are also subjected
to forced conversions. There are repeated incidents of
burning of their religious books and places of worship.
On March 15, 2014, for instance, an angry mob burnt a
temple and a Dharamsala (rest house for pilgrims)
in the Larkana District of Sindh over unproved allegations
of a Hindu boy desecrating the holy Qur'an. A week later,
on March 28, 2014, three armed assailants entered a temple
and desecrated it in the Latifabad area of Hyderabad District.
Later, on May 14, 2014, PML-N lawmaker Ramesh Kumar Wankwani
told the NA that around 5,000 Hindus migrate from Pakistan
to India and other countries every year due to religious
persecution. The Hindus in Sindh have long been subjected
to incessant intimidation and vandalism.
Next in
the line of fire is the second largest minority group,
the Christians, who represent 1.59 per cent of the country's
population (1998 Census). This helpless community has
faced the wrath and terror of the Islamist extremists,
on the one hand, and politically motivated judicial discrimination,
on the other. The abuse of the blasphemy law - which imposes
a mandatory death penalty for any act under its purview
- has led to the relentless persecution of the Christian
community, resulting in large numbers among them seeking
asylum abroad, particularly in Australia and Canada. Apart
from Taliban violence, the asylum seekers are the ones
who have been attacked for committing the 'crime' of blasphemy.
According to the President of Pakistan Christian Congress
(PCC), at least 90 per cent of Pakistani Christians favour
Refugee Status from United Nations (UN) after rising violence.
In the
deadliest of attacks on Christians
in the country, at least 79 worshippers, including 34
women and seven children, were killed, and another 130
were injured when two suicide bombers attacked a Christian
congregation at the historic All Saints Church in the
Kohati Gate area of Peshawar on September 22, 2013. TTP's
Jandullah faction claimed responsibility for the attack,
declaring, in a statement to the media, "Until and
unless drone strikes are stopped, we will continue our
attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land. They are the
enemies of Islam, therefore we target them."
There has
also been a phenomenal increase in the number of blasphemy
cases, another index of violence. Among the most notorious
of these involves a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was
arrested and sentenced to death by hanging on November
9, 2010 for committing blasphemy after an argument with
fellow female workers at the farm where she worked. Asia
is still languishing in jail and the case has sparked
international reactions. It was this internationally recognised
case that led to two high profile murders over the blasphemy
issue. On January 4, 2011, the Punjab Province Governor
Salman
Taseer, was murdered by one of his
bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, for his public
denunciation of the blasphemy law and advocacy for Asia
Bibi. This was followed by the March 2, 2011, assassination
of Federal Minister for Minority Affairs and leader of
the Christian community, Shahbaz
Bhatti, for openly speaking out against
the controversial law. Blasphemy cases are overwhelmingly
registered on flimsy evidence, often the testimony of
a single Muslim witness with a personal animus against
the victim. Worse, when acquittal results after years
of incarceration, the victims have, in many cases, simply
been murdered by terrorist formations on their release.
There has
been an increase in the number of blasphemy cases in Pakistan
since 2001. A report by Center for Research and Security
Studies, 2013, enumerated a single case in 2001, rising
to 80 complaints in 2011. The Human Rights Watch (HRW)
World Report 2013, notes that at least 16 people remained
on death row for blasphemy, while another 20 were serving
life sentences in 2012. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
(HRCP) noted that, during 2013, as many as 39 cases of
blasphemy were registered against Pakistani citizens,
including Muslims, Christians and Hindus.
Blasphemy
accused, moreover, are not safe even after being acquitted.
In one incident, on March 22, 2014, Ashraf Gola, a former
chairman of a District Council, was shot dead while he
was travelling along with a friend, Iftikhar Ahmed, in
his car near Pind Dadan Khan in Jhelum District of Punjab.
Gola had recently been acquitted in a blasphemy case,
but remained under threat from extremists.
Earlier,
on October 19, 2012, a man, identified as Sajjad Hussain,
who was acquitted in a blasphemy case by a District and
Sessions Court in Lahore, was shot dead by two terrorists,
identified as Sheikh Zeeshan and Awais Ahmed. The accused
surrendered to the Police saying that they had killed
a "blasphemer" and had no regrets over their
action.
Extremist
groups successfully target religious minorities and anybody
who dares to speak out in their defence, including Government
officials. Judges and lawyers have also come under threat
for defending and acquitting blasphemy defendants. On
May 7, 2014, Rashid Rehman, a Human Rights lawyer and
HRCP Regional Coordinator in Punjab, was shot five times
by two unidentified militants at HRCP office on Kutchery
Road in Multan District. He later succumbed to his injuries.
His assassination was preceded by death threats that he
received for his human rights activities, especially his
denouncement of repression of religious minorities and
the misuse of blasphemy laws in the country. While defending
the case of one Junaid Hafeez, an accused of blasphemy,
on April 9, 2014, Rehman was threatened with death by
four men, including two lawyers, identified as Zulfiqar
Ali Sindhu and Sajjad Ahmad Chawan, in the court room
in Multan Central Prison. No action was taken against
those who threatened Rehman, nor was he provided any security.
No further steps have been taken thus far, and the killers
have not been arrested.
Like inter-religious
minorities such as Sikhs, Hindus and Christians, intra-religious
minorities, particularly including, Shias and Ahmadis
(but also including elements within Sunni sects, such
as the Barelvis) have long been targeted and persecuted
by Islamist extremists. According to partial data compiled
by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least
3,922 people have been killed in sectarian violence since
2001. Of these, 2,271 were Shias; were 173 Ahmadis; another
51 Tablighi Jama'at members (all data till August 24,
2014). .
Taking
note of the persecution of Ahmadis, the Annual report
of the United States (US) Commission on International
Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published on April 30, 2014,
urged the US to add Pakistan to a blacklist of violators
of religious freedom, observing that the Ahmadi community
suffers “apartheid-like” conditions in the country. The
US Commission's concern was further extended to Shias
and other non-Muslim communities, and the report voiced
alarm over the treatment of Hindus, Christians and Shia
Muslims, and urged Pakistan to improve its treatment of
religious minorities.
According
to the USCIRF report titled “Violence towards Religious
Communities in Pakistan”, published in August 2014,
moreover, over the one-year period from July 2013 to June
2014, at least 430 people were killed in a total 122 attacks
against minorities. These include 222 Shias in 54 attacks;
128 Christians in 22 recorded incidents; 10 Ahmadis in
10 such attacks; and two Sikhs in three attacks. There
are four attacks recorded on the Hindu community in this
period, with no fatality reported. 68 victims belonged
to other religious/sectarian groups, in 29 attacks.
In the
corresponding period of the preceding year, a total of
567 people were killed in a total of 150 religiously motivated
attacks, including 514 Shias killed in 54 attacks; 17
Ahmadis in 40 attacks; seven Christians in 32 attacks;
two Hindus in 10 attacks; and one Sikh in 2 attacks. 26
'others' were killed in another 12 incidents.
Worrying
over the worsening religious persecution in Pakistan,
the US State Department in its Annual Report on International
Religious Freedom, on July 29, 2014, pointed out that
Pakistan’s Constitution and laws restrict religious freedom
and practice: “Although the Constitution declares that
adequate provisions shall be made for all citizens to
profess and practise their religious beliefs freely, other
constitutional provisions and laws impose limits on this
right.”
It is high
time that the Nawaz Sharif Government breaks the silence
over Pakistan's pernicious and inequitable blasphemy law
and ensures freedom and security to all its citizens.
While Islamabad has come under international pressure
to repeal the blasphemy law and take effective steps to
protect religious minorities, the truth is that extremist
and fanatical forces continue to persecute and murder
under an umbrella of effective state protection, where
cases against perpetrators of such violence are not registered,
or are not pursued through serious investigation and prosecution.
It is the state's bigoted approach that has exacerbated
majoritarian religious violence in the country, and religious
and sectarian minorities live under a pall of enveloping
insecurity and fear of persecution.
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Assam-Nagaland:
Interstate Wars
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
In a series
of violent incidents between Assam and Nagaland related
to a long history of border disputes, erupted on August
12, 2014, resulting in the third largest death toll of
20 fatalities in this pattern of strife. 14 Adivasis (tribals
from Central India settled in the Northeast region) have
been killed by miscreants from Nagaland, another six persons
were killed in a clash with the police, while several
have been injured in the disputed 'B Sector' of the Assam-Nagaland
border in the Golaghat District. The violence has provoked
the flight of over 10,000 persons from their homes, and
they have had to take shelter in 14 relief camps in Uriamghat,
under Golaghat District in the Dhansiri Sub-division.
Following the incidents, Nagaland and Manipur were cut-off
by road after an economic blockade was imposed against
Nagaland by various Assam-based organizations.
The violence
reportedly started when the All Adivasis National Liberation
Army (AANLA)
in combat uniforms started beating up youth and killing
cattle in the Ronsuyan and Chandalashung ‘B’ villages,
in the Ralan area of the Wokha District of Nagaland, along
the Assam-Nagaland border, in the afternoon of August
12. Later in the day, two individuals, identified as Fosoi
Gaur and Chintamoni Barhoi, were killed in firing by miscreants
from Nagaland at Chetia Gaon under the Uriamghat Police
Station in the Golaghat District of Assam, along the border.
They were protesting at a Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF - deployed along the border as a ‘neutral force’)
camp, against the alleged abduction of two schoolboys,
Ajoy Gor and Philson Kujur, who have been missing since
July 26, 2014, when they went to the adjacent Chandla
Chung village on the Nagaland side.
On August
13, armed Nagas continued their raids in Assam villages
and killed a village headman, Africa Toppo, and set ablaze
nearly 200 houses in the 'B Sector' of Golaghat District.
The situation worsened when angry locals fought pitched
battles with CRPF personnel, demanding that they move
to the border areas to take on the 'Naga miscreants'.
Another nine bodies were recovered from 'B Sector' on
August 15. Assam Home Commissioner G.D. Tripathi stated
that the recovered bodies were related to indiscriminate
firing and arson by miscreants from Nagaland in eight
villages in Golaghat District, along the disputed boundary,
on August 12. Further, on August 17, another two bodies
were found at the Sainpur village in 'B Sector', taking
the toll to 14. Police disclosed that these were also
victims of the first day's violence, on August 12.
On August
22, after a meeting with representatives of seven agitating
organizations of Golaghat, Assam Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) inquiry into the entire episode, right from the
abduction of the two school children on July 26, to the
subsequent clashes between Security Forces and protestors,
as well as between populations across the border. Nagaland
Chief Minister T.R Zeliang had also earlier stated that
the Nagaland Government had constituted an Inquiry Committee
to get to the bottom of the violence and identify those
involved.
The Nagaland-Assam
boundary problems stems from the question of transferring
of forest and other areas of the Nagas Hills, which were
included within the neighbouring Districts of Assam by
the then British Government of India under various provisions
since 1898, solely for the purpose of their administrative
convenience. After a separate State of Nagaland was created
in December 1963, the Assam-Nagaland inter-State border
area was divided, for administrative convenience, into
six sectors - A, B, C, D, E and F - spread over Sivasagar,
Jorhat, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong Districts. The B Sector
in Golaghat had witnessed one of the worst clashes between
the two States on January 5, 1979 - known as Chungajan
carnage - when several villages including Chungajan Tiniali
and Chungajan Mikir were attacked. At least 69 villagers
were killed, while 23,500 people of the area were displaced.
The worst confrontation occurred in 1985, when over 100
people were killed at Merapani in the D-sector of Golaghat
District.
The total
area transferred out of the then Naga Hills to Assam Districts,
and now claimed by the Nagas, amounted to 4,974.16 square
miles in the A, B, C and D Sectors. Meanwhile, an August
12 report indicated that, according to a recent reply
in the State Assembly, the Assam Government had alleged
that Nagaland has encroached 59,159.77 hectares of Assam
land, and that some 60 per cent of the B Sector was 'under
encroachment', despite deployment of a neutral force at
strategic points of the disputed border.
Significantly,
a delegation of United Naga Tribes Association of Border
Areas (UNTABA), on August 18, met Nagaland Chief Minister
Zeliang at his private residence in Dimapur and submitted
a representation related to the border issue between Assam
and Nagaland. Some of the highlights of the representation
include the core demand for restoration of all 'Naga lands'
arbitrarily transferred by the then British Government,
as reflected in the nine Point Agreement between the Nagas
and the representative of the then British India Government,
Sir Akbar Hydari, in June 1947; and reiterated in the
16-point demand by the Delegation of the Naga peoples
Convention in October 1959; and further resolved to pursue
the appointment of boundary commission or any other efforts
for settlement without compromising the rights of the
original land owners. A 16-point agreement in 1960 led
to the creation of Nagaland, and included provisions for
the restoration of all Naga territories that had been
transferred out of the Naga Hills after the British annexed
Assam in 1826. The Assam Government has insisted on maintaining
the 'constitutional boundary', as decided on December
1, 1963, when the Nagaland State was created.
UNTABA
also reiterated its demand that all bilateral and tripartite
interim agreements made from 1972 onwards must be strictly
reviewed and implemented in letter and spirit. The association
also emphasised the demand for setting up border police
and village guards and posts in all the border villages.
The Interim Agreements of 1972 was further re-affirmed
in 1979 by both the State Governments, to maintain peace
and harmony in the border areas. UNTABA, on August 13,
maintained that instead of strictly adhering to these
agreements, the Assam Government had unilaterally established
many armed Assam Police posts inside Nagaland to “terrorize
our people”, while successive Governments of Nagaland
had “miserably failed” to check such “illegal establishments”
over the years.
Meanwhile,
claims and counter-claims have echoed through the latest
round of violence. While the Assam Government has not
ruled out the involvement of the militant Nationalist
Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) in the violence, Nagaland
insists that it is landless migrants backed by Maoist
groups and AANLA that have been responsible for the situation.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Border Affairs, Thomas
Lotha, who visited the affected areas, observed, “Nagas
will think ten times before fighting with the indigenous
Assamese, as they consider Ahoms as their elder brother.
But it is the landless migrants backed by Maoist groups
and anti–social elements who are creating a situation
in the area and try(ing) to sow enmity among Nagas and
Assamese.” Thomas also noted that both Assamese and Nagas
needed to realize that outsiders are all out to create
problems in the Disturbed Area Belt (DAB) to grab land.
Similarly, Nagaland Home Minister Y. Patton argued, on
August 13, that “illegal immigrants” along the border
were to blame for the problem, noting that, "The
incident that took place yesterday (August 12) at Ralan
area is a reminder for both the States of Assam and Nagaland
how much damage illegal immigrants can do to both the
people of Assam and Nagaland.”
Significantly,
on August 21, 2014, Assam and Nagaland, decided to
put in place a joint mechanism for regular coordination
between their officials to prevent the recurrence of violence
over the long-pending boundary dispute. The two States
also agreed that the historical problems causing the recurring
incidents in the disputed belt should be resolved. Assam
Chief Minister Gogoi and Nagaland Chief Minister Zeliang
arrived at this agreement in the presence of the Union
Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, at a meeting
held on the sidelines of the two-day Conference of Chief
Ministers of North Eastern States at the Assam Administrative
Staff College, in Guwahati. Gogoi and Zeliang noted that
both the States expressed dissatisfaction with the CRPF
posted in DAB as a neutral force. Rijiju promised the
Centre’s help to contain the situation, while stating
that the Centre was ready to reinforce the Central forces
in disturbed areas along the boundary.
On August
22, Gogoi also pointed out that his Government would urge
the Supreme Court for an early settlement of the vexed
border issue. Four days earlier, Joint Secretary (North
East) of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), Shambhu
Singh, had also pointed out that, as a case regarding
the boundary dispute was pending before the Supreme Court,
it was not possible for the Centre to intervene to resolve
the issue. He further disclosed that the MHA was 'closely
monitoring' the situation and was 'in touch' with both
the State Governments.
The abrupt
violence along the Assam-Nagaland border underscores the
volatility of the situation in the Northeast, despite
the continuous decline of insurgent violence across this
historically troubled region, even as it demonstrates
the danger of the policy of indefinite delay in resolving
prickly issues. A multiplicity of ethnic disputes have
long polarized communities across India's Northeast, and
State and Central Government policies have tended to neglect,
and in some cases, even to exacerbate such disputes and
tensions. In the absence of a principled and strategic
approach to the many active and latent conflicts of the
Northeast, the potential for violence will, inevitably,
be realized in bouts of blood-letting from time to time.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
August 18-24,
2014
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Left-wing
Extremists
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
9
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
2
|
2
|
7
|
11
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
7
|
3
|
19
|
29
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
3
|
16
|
19
|
FATA
|
10
|
0
|
54
|
64
|
Sindh
|
25
|
4
|
1
|
30
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
'The
family
of
Ziaur
Rahman
is
a
killer
and
corrupt
family',
asserts
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed:
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed
on
August
21
said
that
the
family
of
Bangladesh
Nationalist
Party
(BNP)
founder
Ziaur
Rahman
is
"a
killer
and
corrupt
family".
She
asserted
that
Rahman
was
behind
the
murder
of
Sheikh
Mujibur
Rahman
on
August
15,
1975,
and
his
family
was
involved
in
the
August
21,
2004,
grenade
attack.
Hasina
said
there
would
be
no
room
for
them
in
Bangladesh.
Daily
Star,
August
22,
2014.
Four
attempts
have
been
made
to
assassinate
PM
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed
over
the
last
25
years,
says
report:
Over
the
last
25
years,
four
attempts
have
been
made
to
assassinate
Awami
League
(AL)
President
and
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed.
Dhaka
Tribune,
August
21,
2014.
INDIA
Ansar
ul-Tawhid
fi
Bilad
al-Hind
calls
Indian
Muslim
to
join
global
jihad,
says
report:
Ansar-ut
Tawhid
fi
Bilad
al-Hind
(AuT
-
Supporters
of
Monotheism
in
the
Land
of
India)
is
calling
Indian
Muslims
for
global
jihad
and
urging
them
to
fight
the
democratically
elected
secular
government.
The
terror
group
formed
by
Indians
with
an
aim
to
'highlight'
the
issue
of
government
atrocities
against
Muslims
in
India
and
encourage
Indian
Muslims
to
join
the
ongoing
Afghan
or
Syrian
jihads
and
to
carry
out
attacks
inside
India.
Sahara
Samay,
August
22,
2014.
IM
planned
to
send
poisoned
letters
to
kill
targets,
according
to
Delhi
Police
charge
sheet:
Suspected
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
operatives
planned
to
send
letters
soaked
with
poison
to
kill
its
targets,
Delhi
Police
claimed
in
a
chargesheet
filed
on
August
8,
in
a
case
relating
to
an
illegal
arms
factory
operated
by
the
terror
group
in
the
National
Capital.
Police
filed
the
charge
sheet
in
a
court
in
New
Delhi
against
suspected
IM
operatives
Tehsin
Akhtar,
Zia-ur-Rahman
alias
Waqas
and
three
others,
Mohammad
Maroof,
Waqar
Azhar
and
Mohammad
Saqib
Ansari
for
allegedly
setting
up
the
illegal
arms
factory.
Times
of
India,
August
21,
2014.
Government
orders
preparation
of
a
new
'anti-Maoist
doctrine'
to
wipe
out
Naxal
menace:
The
Union
Minister
of
Home
Affairs
Rajnath
Singh
ordered
the
preparation
of
a
new
'anti-Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
doctrine'
to
codify
government's
policy
for
tackling
the
menace.
The
consent
of
all
Maoist-affected
States
and
the
Union
Cabinet
will
be
sought
on
the
same.
Economic
Times,
August
22,
2014.
GoI
urges
Bangladesh
to
demolish
North-East
militant
camps
in
Bangladesh:
On
August
20,
Government
of
India
(GoI)
urged
Bangladesh
to
demolish
the
camps
operated
by
militant
groups
of
the
North-East.
The
request
was
made
at
the
five-day
meeting
of
Border
Security
Force
and
Border
Guard
Bangladesh
Border
Coordination
Conference
in
New
Delhi.
Assam
Tribune,
August
22,
2014.
BSNL
to
set
up
253
mobile
towers
in
Maoist-affected
regions
of
Odisha:
Bharat
Sanchar
Nigam
Limited
(BSNL)
has
decided
to
set
up
253
mobile
towers
in
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)-affected
regions
of
Odisha.
Sources
said
the
Maoists
blew
up
at
least
60
towers
in
Odisha
in
the
past
five
years.
Times
of
India,
August
22,
2014.
Ban
on
CPI-Maoist
and
seven
of
its
bodies
extended
in
Andhra
Pradesh:
Andhra
Pradesh
State
Government
under
the
State
Public
Security
Act
1992
has
extended
ban
on
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
and
seven
CPI-Maoist
backed
organisations
for
one
more
year.
The
organisations
are:
CPI-Maoist,
Revolutionary
Democratic
Front
(RDF),
Radical
Youth
League
(RYL),
Rythu
Coolie
Sangham
(RCS),
Radical
Students
Union
(RSU),
Singareni
Karmika
Samakhya
(SIKASA),
Viplava
Karmika
Samakhya
(VIKASA)
and
All
India
Revolutionary
Students
Federation
(AIRSF).
The
Hindu,
August
22,
2014.
NEPAL
CPN-UML
reiterates
its
demand
for
fresh
endorsement
of
President
and
Vice
President
by
CA:
A
day
after
Prime
Minister
Sushil
Koirala
flatly
rejected
its
demand
for
fresh
endorsement
of
the
President
and
Vice
President
by
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA),
the
Government's
main
coalition
partner,
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Unified
Marxist
Leninist
(CPN-UML),
on
August
21
reiterated
its
demand
with
the
Prime
Minister
himself.
During
a
meeting
with
Prime
Minister
Koirala,
CPN-UML
Chairman
K
P
Sharma
Oli
objected
to
Koirala's
remark
on
August
20
that
the
fresh
endorsement
demand
was
now
'irrelevant'.
My
Republica,
August
22,
2014.
CPDCC
agrees
on
title
of
new
constitution:
A
meeting
of
the
Constitutional-Political
Dialogue
and
Consensus
Committee
(CPDCC)
headed
by
Unified
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M)
leader
Baburam
Bhattarai
held
on
August
19
agreed
on
the
title
of
the
new
constitution.
The
new
constitution
will
be
called
Nepal's
Constitution,
according
to
committee
member
Laxman
Lal
Karna.
Parties
were
divided
on
the
title,
with
some
proposing
to
add
federal
or
republic
and
others
pro-socialist
in
the
title.
Himalayan
Times,
August
20,
2014.
PAKISTAN
54
militants
and
10
civilians
among
64
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
Five
militants
were
killed
and
three
others
were
injured
in
a
clash
with
a
tribal
militia
in
Dana
Khola
area
of
Lower
Orakzai
Agency
in
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
on
August
23.
At
least
48
suspected
militants
were
killed,
seven
hideouts,
nine
vehicles
and
several
motorcycles
were
destroyed
in
fresh
air
strikes
carried
out
by
fighter
jets
and
Cobra
gunship
helicopters
in
the
Khyber
and
North
Waziristan
Agencies
of
FATA
on
August
19.
Six
persons
were
killed
on
August
19
when
a
remote-controlled
explosive
device
went
off
in
the
Tangi
area
of
Salarzai
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
in
Bajaur
Agency.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
18-24,
2013.
25
civilians
and
four
SFs
among
30
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
Sindh:
Thirteen
people
were
killed
in
different
incidents
of
violence
in
Karachi,
the
provincial
capital
of
Sindh
on
August
23.
Seven
persons,
including
a
Pakistan
Air
Force
(PAF)
official,
were
killed
in
separate
incidents
of
violence
in
Karachi
on
August
22.
Three
Policemen
among
four
persons
were
killed
in
separate
incidents
of
violence
in
Karachi
on
August
19.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
18-24,
2013.
16
militants
killed
in
Balochistan:
Frontier
Corps
(FC)
claimed
to
have
killed
16
militants
during
an
operation
in
the
Dasht
area
of
Turbat
District
on
August
22.
Khan
Wasey,
the
spokesman
for
FC
said
that
Security
Forces
(SFs)
launched
an
operation
against
miscreants
in
Dasht,
adding,
"At
least
12
militants
were
killed
in
armed
clashes."
Later,
four
more
suspected
militants
were
killed
in
the
exchange
of
fire.
Dawn,
August
23,
2014.
US
offers
USD
30
million
in
search
for
Haqqani
Network
leaders:
The
United
States
(US)
on
August
21
offered
a
total
USD
30
million
in
return
for
information
on
key
leaders
of
the
Haqqani
Network
that
is
blamed
for
numerous
attacks
in
Afghanistan.
"The
Department
has
authorised
rewards
of
up
to
USD
5
million
each
for
information
leading
to
the
location
of
Aziz
Haqqani,
Khalil
al-Rahman
Haqqani,
Yahya
Haqqani,
and
Abdul
Rauf
Zakir,"
the
State
Department
said
in
a
statement.
Tribune,
August
22,
2014.
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
security
improves,
claims
IGP
Nasir
Khan
Durrani:
Operational
and
administrative
measures
implemented
by
the
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
(KP)
Police
have
improved
the
province's
security
situation,
KP
Inspector
General
of
Police
(IGP)
Nasir
Khan
Durrani
claimed
on
August
19.
KP
has
been
mostly
'peaceful'
for
the
last
few
months.
Central
Asia
Online,
August
20,
2014.
SRI
LANKA
'LTTE
runs
Madrassa
type
Indoctrination
Schools
in
Europe',
says
Sri
Lankan
Diplomat:
Sri
Lanka's
Ambassador
to
the
United
Nations
(UN)
in
Geneva,
Ravinatha
Aryasinha,
revealed
that
the
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
are
running
"Madrassa
type"
indoctrination
schools
in
European
Union
(EU)
countries
in
which
there
is
a
substantial
population
of
Tamils
from
Sri
Lanka.
He
said
that
the
LTTE
has
established
"Madrassa-type"
schools
called
"Tamil
Cholai"
to
"ferment
the
radicalisation
of
Tamil
youth,
and
glorify
terrorism
and
martyrdom.".
Indian
Express,
August
23,
2014.
'Government
will
not
allow
anyone
to
use
its
soil
for
terrorist
acts
against
India',
says
External
Affairs
Minister
G
L
Peiris:
External
Affairs
Minister
G
L
Peiris
on
August
19
said
that
the
Government
will
not
allow
anyone
to
use
its
soil
for
terror
elements
to
plan
anti-India
activities.
Peiris
said,
"We
have
constantly
assured
India
that
under
no
circumstances
will
Sri
Lankan
soil
be
used
for
any
acts
against
India."
Indian
authorities
recently
uncovered
an
alleged
plot
by
a
Pakistan-based
terror
group
to
carry
out
suicide
attacks
on
United
States
(US)
and
Israeli
consulates
in
south
India.
Colombo
Page,
August
20,
2014.
Sri
Lanka
will
not
allow
UN
team
entry
to
probe
alleged
war
crimes,
says
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa:
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
on
August
19
said
that
Sri
Lanka
will
not
allow
the
United
Nations
(UN)
team
investigating
alleged
war
crimes
committed
during
the
last
seven
years
of
the
three-decade
long
armed
conflict
with
the
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE).
He
said
the
team
of
UN
investigators
appointed
by
the
High
Commissioner
for
Human
Rights
Navi
Pillay
will
not
be
allowed
into
the
country.
Colombo
Page,
August
20,
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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