| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 15, October 12, 2015
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
|
J&K:
Continuing Deceit
Ajit
Kumar Singh
Research
Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On October
5, 2015, following inputs about movement of terrorists
in the Hafruda Forest near the Line of Control (LoC) in
the Handwara area of Kupwara District in the preceding
days, Security Forces (SFs) launched a search operation
in the area. On seeing the Army personnel, the terrorists
opened heavy fire, triggering an exchange that resulted
in the death of four Army personnel, while the terrorists
managed to escape. Reports indicate that the terrorists
had infiltrated from across the border three days earlier.
On October
7, 2015, a Police officer was killed in a gun battle in
the Gund Dachin area of Bandipora District. Acting on
information, a Police team headed by Sub-Inspector (SI),
Altaf Ahmed Dar chased a vehicle in which terrorists,
including a ‘divisional commander’ of Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT),
Abu Qasim, were travelling to receive a group of terrorists
in the area. As the Police team opened fire and tried
to intercept the vehicle, the terrorists retaliated, triggering
a brief gun battle. During the encounter, SI Ahmad sustained
injuries and later died. The terrorists, however, managed
to escape leaving behind the vehicle. Abu Qasim was wanted
by National Investigating Agency (NIA) and carries a head
money of INR one million.
On October
8, 2015, an encounter took place between SFs and terrorists
in the Koungnoo area of Shopian District. Acting on information
regarding the presence of three terrorists, SFs had cordoned
off the area. On seeing the troops, the terrorists opened
fire, triggering an encounter. No casualty was reported
from either side, but the terrorists managed to escape
taking advantage of the dense vegetation.
These are
only the most recent incidents of offensive engagement
between Pakistan-backed terrorists and SFs. According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), the State has recorded 35 SF fatalities
during the current year (data till October 11, 2015),
as compared to 31 such deaths during the corresponding
period of 2014. The number of terrorists killed in SF
operation has also increased from 131 to 140 in the same
period, while civilian fatalities have remained more or
less at the same level, with 19 in 2015 as against 18
in 2014.
Despite
Pakistan’s persistent efforts to create an environment
of turmoil, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has managed to
sustain the relative peace achieved after a protracted
period of turmoil. While terrorism-related
fatalities have registered marginal increases since 2013,
after a sustained decline since 2002 onwards, indices
of violence are only at tiny fractions of the intensity
that was recorded between 1990 and 2006, when a high intensity
conflict raged in the State, with fatalities over the
1,000 mark each year. At peak, the State recorded 4,507
fatalities (1,067 civilians, 590 SF personnel, 2,850 terrorists)
in 2001.
The number
of violations of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) of 2003
from across the border has, however, soared enormously.
In the current year alone, Pakistan has violated the CFA
on at least 327 occasions. Through 2014, 583 CFA violations
were recorded against Pakistan. In 2011, the number of
such violations stood at 62, which increased to 114 in
2012 and further to 347 in 2013. Meanwhile, on October
5, 2015, the State Government informed the Assembly, “In
the year 2014, the number of civilians killed was 14 and
during the current year up to September 22, same number
of civilians lost their lives in border firing. In these
incidents, four security force personnel died in the year
2014, while six lost their lives in 2015."
However,
according to an October 8, 2015, report, while 65 terrorists
had succeeded in infiltrating from across the border through
2014, only 10 terrorists were believed to have successfully
crossed the border in the current year, till September
2015. This is primarily because several measures
have been taken by SFs to create a robust counter-infiltration
grid.
Out of
195 terrorists killed in J&K since January 2014, 89
(almost 46 per cent) were identified as being of Pakistani
origin. According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
(UMHA), 80 terrorists of Pakistani origin were killed
between January 1, 2014, and April 19, 2015, and at least
another nine Pakistani militants have been killed since
April 20, 2015, according to SATP data. Most recently,
an LeT 'commander' identified as Usman Tada, was killed
in an encounter between terrorists and SFs in the Darpora
forest area of Lolab in Kupwara District on October 5,
2015. Usman Tada, a Pakistani national, had been active
in the area for the past two years. Two of his accomplices
managed to escape.
In addition,
at least four Pakistani terrorists were arrested by the
SFs between January 1, 2014, and April 19, 2015, and at
least another two since then. These include LeT terrorist
Mohammad Naveed aka Usman, involved in the attack
on a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy in Udhampur (Udhampur
District) on August 5, 2015, (Usman was arrested on the
same day); and Sajjad Ahmed, who was arrested on August
27, 2015, following an over-night encounter near the LoC
in the Rafiabad area of Baramulla District, in which four
Pakistani terrorists were killed. Usman, who underwent
a polygraph test on August 18, 2015, reportedly revealed
that the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) train LeT recruits. Incontrovertible evidence, including
the testimony of his father from Faisalabad in Pakistan
as well as Usman’s own confessional statement, confirmed
Usman’s Pakistani identity, but Islamabad continues with
its policy of bare faced denial. Pakistan’s National Database
and Registration Authority (NADRA) on August 6, 2015,
a day after Usman’s arrest, officially stated that Usman
was not a Pakistani national.
And while
its support to campaigns of terrorism in J&K continues,
Islamabad is also becoming more assertive in its support
for ‘Kashmir cause’. Thus, on August 14, 2015, Abdul Basit,
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, stated, “Aspirations
of the people of Jammu and Kashmir could neither be ignored
nor put on the back burner. No matter how much more time
their legitimate struggle takes, Pakistan will never abandon
Kashmiris and their cause." Similarly, Pakistan Army
Chief General Raheel Sharif, who had described Kashmir
as “Pakistan's jugular vein”, reiterated, on October 2,
2015, that Kashmir was the “unfinished agenda of Partition”.
Following the annual ritual of raising the Kashmir issue
at the United Nations, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
on October 1, 2015, told the UN General Assembly (UNGA)
that “since 1947, the Kashmir dispute has remained unresolved”,
and proposed a four point ‘new peace initiative with India’:
“One,
we propose that Pakistan and India formalize and
respect the 2003 understanding for a complete ceasefire
on the Line of Control in Kashmir. For this purpose,
we call for UNMOGIP’s expansion to monitor the observance
of the ceasefire.
Two, we propose, that Pakistan and India reaffirm
that they will not resort to the use or the threat
of use of force under any circumstances. This is
a central element of the UN Charter.
Three, steps be taken to demilitarize Kashmir.
Four, agree to an unconditional mutual withdrawal
from Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battleground.”
|
India’s
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted
soon after, “To de-militarize Kashmir is not the answer,
to de-terrorize Pakistan is”; and again, “Pakistan is
not primary victim of terrorism but of its own policies.
It is in fact the prime sponsor of terrorism.”
India’s
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, addressing the
UNGA on October 2, 2015, declared, “Yesterday the Prime
Minister of Pakistan proposed what he termed as a four-point
new peace initiative. I would like to respond. We do not
need four points, we need just one – give up terrorism
and let us sit down and talk.”
Meanwhile,
turbulence within Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK),
which has always been prevalent,
appears to have seen a spike. Undeclared censorship is
enforced on the region, but reports of escalating unrest
have begun to filter out. A September 29, 2015, report,
backed by video feeds, indicates that regular and massive
protests are taking place in PaK, including areas of Muzaffarabad,
Gilgit and Kotli, against regular Pakistan Armed Forces
engineered incursions. Some of the slogans raised included
Pakistani faujiyo Kashmir hamara chor do (Pakistani
military leave our Kashmir); Pakistan se lenge Azadi
(We will get freedom from Pakistan)”. Islamabad has resorted
to a brutal crackdown and ordered the detention of nearly
200 hundred protesters in major towns of Muzaffarabad,
Gilgit and Kotli. Unsurprisingly, according to the report,
the Pakistan Government asserted, "Video shown on
CNN-IBN is doctored. We don't control the media
in PoK."
The Indian
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra
Singh, responding to Pakistan Army Chief Raheel Sharif’s
statement that Kashmir is an “unfinished agenda of Partition”
asserted, on September 7, 2015, "If there is any
subject related to Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan, it
is how the parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) can
be again included in India. That means the area, which
after 65-66 years, even after being part of Jammu and
Kashmir, is under illegal possession of Pakistan."
In its pursuit to counter Pakistan at international forums,
India has begun to highlight the issue of PaK more vigorously,
after long years of a misconceived silence.
On the
domestic front, the gains in J&K have been extraordinary,
and security successes have been reflected in a deepening
consolidation
of democracy as demonstrated in successive
and successful elections witnessing large voter turnouts.
Improvements in the security grid along the border have
been effective in pushing down infiltration rates, and
improvements in the State Police have resulted in augmented
flows of intelligence and a widening counter-insurgency
role for local Police Forces. Unfortunately, a measure
of neglect could easily put these great and cumulative
gains at risk. Indeed, the Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG) of India Report
laid on the table of the State Legislature Assembly on
March 27, 2015, noted,
18
out of total 195 police stations and 103 out of
total 192 police posts were operating without own
buildings… Basic equipment (like bomb disposal equipment)
had not been provided to the majority of the police
stations. The life saving equipment viz., Body Protectors
and Bullet Proof Vests were not available with 64
police stations…”
|
Pakistan’s
objectives and commitment to support terrorism and separatism
in J&K shows no signs of waning. The visible slackness
on the part of the Central and State Governments in J&K
will prove detrimental in the long run, even as the increasing
perversity of the political discourse polarizes communities
and creates conditions for further destabilization.
|
The
Lifeblood of Terror
Sanchita
Bhattacharya
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On September
24, 2015, a fake lottery scam, with suspected hawala
(illegal money transactions) linkages, was unearthed in
West Bengal. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT),
based on inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), exposed
the racket and seized INR 200 million in raids. As many
as nine locations in Kolkata and one in Siliguri of Darjeeling
District were raided. According to reports available,
of these, as many as 20 sacks of notes were seized from
two locations in Kolkata and one in Siliguri. An unnamed
senior intelligence official disclosed, "It is a
lottery-hawala-money laundering racket. Money seized
was being transferred by hawala on Thursday [September
24] to Dubai. We are looking at further nodes there".
Reports
on September 27, 2015, indicated that IB alerted the Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) about numerous bank accounts,
involved in either hawala or fake lottery schemes
running across India, possibly being operated by Dawood
Ibrahim. With inputs from the Research and Analysis Wing
(R&AW), IB submitted a detailed report over the scam
to the UMHA, informing the Centre that a majority of the
bank accounts were in Government banks, with the State
Bank of India topping the list. 30 per cent of such suspicious
bank accounts were operational in Bihar, followed by 18
per cent in West Bengal, 13.5 per cent in Uttar Pradesh
and 11 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. More importantly, the
cases investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
found that the estimated size of the scam thus far was
INR 41.93 billion. The report further noted that while
1,175 Pakistani phone numbers were under surveillance,
305 Indian phone numbers were known to be in constant
touch with these Pakistani contacts.
Money laundering
channels, fake lottery scams, the circulation of Fake
Indian Currency Notes (FICNs), narco-trafficking, etc.,
have been integral to the funding of Islamist terrorism
in India. Pakistani sponsored modules
have long sought to destabilise the India through these
instrumentalities. These modules receive funding and instructions
from Pakistani intelligence agencies, most prominently
the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and also use launch
pads in UAE and Bangladesh.
Hawala
channels have been the dominant medium of transferring
funds to Kashmiri separatist organisations. According
to a September 13, 2015, report, the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) identified JKART (Jammu and Kashmir Affectees
Relief Trust), with its head office in Rawalpindi (Pakistan)
and branch offices in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad (Pakistan
occupied Kashmir), sends money into India through the
hawala route as well as banking channels, and these
funds are distributed through conduits not only in Jammu
and Kashmir (J&K) but also in Delhi and other parts
of the country.
On August
22, 2015, ED had issued fresh summons to Kashmiri separatist
leader Shabir Shah, Chairman of the Democratic Freedom
Party of Jammu and Kashmir, for questioning in connection
with a decade-old case of terror financing through the
hawala channel. This is the third attempt by the
agency to serve summons on Shah in a case where Delhi
Police's Special Cell arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani on
August 26, 2005, along with INR 6.3 million, which he
had received through hawala channels from the Middle
East, and a large amount of ammunition. During questioning,
Wani had claimed before Police that, out of the INR 6.3
million, INR five million was to be delivered to Shah
and INR one million to Abu Baqar, the Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM)
'area commander' in Srinagar, while the rest of the money
was to be his (Wani's) commission. Wani, an alleged hawala
dealer, had also claimed that he had passed on INR 22.5
million to Shah and his kin in several installments over
the preceding year. According to sources, Shah had asked
Wani to channel hawala money to him from Delhi,
for which he was to be paid three per cent as commission.
Similarly,
in July 2015, ED filed a charge sheet against Firdous
Ahmad Shah, a member of Syed Ali Geelani's All Parties
Hurriyat Conference, and Yar Mohammed Khan, for allegedly
receiving money from Europe for use in terror financing.
ED had alleged that the fund was received from Italy through
Western Union Money Transfer and this money was used for
unlawful activities relating to the financing of terror.
Meanwhile,
Bangladesh has become a market for dumping FICNs. Two
big seizures of FICNs within Bangladesh in the month of
September 2015, including INR 27.1 million from a consignment
arriving at the Chittagong Port from Dubai on September
20 and INR 12.8 million from a Bangladeshi flying into
Dhaka from Dubai on September 22, have deepened India's
suspicion that Pakistani agents are producing FICNs in
bulk at facilities in the Gulf, and shipping the fake
currency into South Asian ports and airports, for entry
into India.
According
to Indian intelligence sources, the total amount of FICNs
recovered from Bangladesh since January 2014 is over INR
230 million. Most FICN hauls were from flights arriving
into Bangladesh, either directly from Pakistan or from
Dubai, Colombo (Sri Lanka), Doha and Turkey. Indeed, October
1, 2015, reports indicate that UMHA had warned the West
Bengal and Assam State Governments to maintain strict
vigil across the border.
FICNs circulation
remains a major challenge in India. The Rajya Sabha
(Upper House of Indian Parliament) was informed on August
4, 2015, by Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant
Sinha, that more than 1.55 million notes were recovered
in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with a face value of about INR
775 million. The porous Indo-Bangla border has made the
Malda
District in West Bengal the epicenter
for FICN smuggling. According to a Malda District Police
report, FICNs with a face value of INR 14.3 million were
seized in 2013; rising to INR 15 million in 2014; and
INR 19.7 million in the current year (till July, 2015).
The source of most of these notes is Pakistan, and the
quality is so good that it can hardly be distinguished
from original notes.
FICN rackets
have taken the magnitude of a cottage industry at places
like Mohabbatpur, Chorianantapur and Sasani in Malda District;
Gopalnagar and Khoribona in Murshidabad District; Misutola
and Dangipara in Uttar Dinajpur District (all in West
Bengal), which are easily accessible to Bangladesh's Chapai
Nababgunj District, notorious for being a fake currency
hub, as well as Nepal. Malda Superintendent of Police
(SP) Prasun Banerjee, according to a September 14, 2015,
report, observed, "Also, people here work as labourers
in Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Assam and they carry the
notes with them there." NIA had stated that 80 per
cent FICNs are sneaked into the country through the 172
kilometer porous border along Malda. According to NIA,
Malda has become the locus of a range of criminal activities
with links to the Pakistan's ISI-backed network of terrorism.
West Bengal
is not alone among Indian states affected by FICNs circulation.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),
of the 30,354,604 FICNs seized across the country in 2014,
8,747,820 were recovered from Gujarat. Chhattisgarh followed
close at heel with the seizure of 7,386,900 fake notes,
while Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana saw recoveries
of 5,437,600, 3,249,000 and 1,696,850 counterfeit notes,
respectively. Apart from the road and railway routes,
the air route via Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and the UAE, as also China and Holland,
have been used for smuggling in fake notes.
According
to an April 10, 2015, report, from 2006 onwards INR 148.5
million have been recovered by the Police and NIA in 15
states (names not available). Of these, NIA seized INR
36.6 million in terror funds in 11 cases investigated
by it since its inception in December 2008. As many as
101 persons are accused in these cases. Jammu and Kashmir
Police ranks second only to NIA in seizures. The State
has seized INR 29.3 million in 80 terror financing cases
since 2006, in which 190 persons are accused. Manipur,
despite its small size, reported terror fund seizures
worth INR 21.1 million in 26 cases, followed by Delhi
which seized INR 19.2 million in 21 cases. Madhya Pradesh
accounted INR 16.4 million, and Odisha Police around INR
11.2 million in seizures of terrorist funds. Karnataka,
Gujarat and Kerala registered 14, three and one terror
financing cases, respectively, under the Unlawful Activities
[Prevention] Act (UAPA), but have not reported any seizure
since 2006.
On September
9, 2015, Union Home Minister (UHM) Rajnath Singh noted
that India faces a serious challenge because of drug trafficking
due to its proximity to major opium-growing areas of the
region, adding: "Involvement of various terrorist
groups and syndicates in drug trafficking leads to threat
to the national security and sovereignty of states by
the way of narco-terrorism." Significantly, a dossier
on Dawood Ibrahim, reportedly prepared by National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval, discloses that Dawood's cash comes
from the drug trade, fake currency, realty and money laundering.
Agencies feel once they have control over Dawood's offshore
assets, "it'll break the security cordon around him..."
June 26,
2015, report stated that 110,032 tonnes of illegal narcotic
substances were seized between 2011 and 2014. Moreover,
as many as 64,737 drug-trafficking cases were reported
during same time-frame. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
data for January 2015 reveals that the four major international
airports of India in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata
account for 94 per cent of the instances of drug smuggling
and seizures.
To fight
this menace of terror finance, India has taken several
measures in the past.
Most recently, in September 2015 the Union Government
approved the introduction of seven new security features
in currency notes to detect FICN. Though the measures
are not yet disclosed by the agencies, they are expected
to be functional in 2016. Moreover, in the same month,
a team was formed, on the directions of the Department
of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, to conduct a
‘national risk assessment’ on the threat posed to the
financial sector by money-laundering and terror financing.
Pakistan
remains relentless in its effort to destabilise India
through terrorism, creating resources for its proxy war
through the circulation of FICN, drugs and a range of
criminal enterprises, even as monies are directly provided
to terrorist networks through hawala and the banking
system. Various ‘peace building’ measures that New Delhi
has supported, including the easier movement of populations
across the Line of Control and International Border in
J&K, improved trade relations and greater ‘people
to people’ contacts, have only facilitated some of these
processes, and have encouraged Pakistan to believe that
it can continue with its malfeasance without prohibitive,
or even significant, costs. After decades of Pakistan
backed terrorism and subversion, India is yet to formulate
a coherent strategy of response. Fire-fighting initiatives,
seeking to contain or suppress the visible manifestations
of Pakistan’s proxy war can only provide limited relief,
but fail consistently to address the source.
|
Weekly Fatalities:
Major Conflicts in South Asia
October 5-11, 2015
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
5
|
2
|
7
|
Meghalaya
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Nagaland
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Maharashtra
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
4
|
8
|
6
|
18
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
FATA
|
0
|
0
|
22
|
22
|
KP
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Punjab
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
8
|
Sindh
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Killing
of
bloggers
propels
Bangladesh
onto
Global
Impunity
Index
of
CPJ:
The
killing
of
bloggers
in
Bangladesh
propelled
the
country
onto
Global
Impunity
Index
of
Committee
to
Protect
Journalists
(CPJ).
CPJ
in
a
report
said,
"At
least
four
Bangladeshi
bloggers
have
been
hacked
to
death
by
apparent
Islamic
extremists
this
year
alone,
and
a
total
of
five
of
Bangladesh's
seven
victims
of
unsolved
murders
over
the
last
decade
are
bloggers
who
criticized
religious
extremism.
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
and
the
nominally
secular
ruling
Awami
League
party
have
done
little
to
speak
out
for
justice
in
these
crimes,
allowing
political
interests
to
trump
rule
of
law.
Authorities
seem
more
concerned
with
what
bloggers
are
writing
than
going
after
their
killers."
Daily
Star,
October
10,
2015.
No
one
will
be
able
to
destabilise
the
country
by
killing
foreigners,
says
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed:
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed
on
October
7
said
that
no
one
will
be
able
to
destabilise
the
country
by
killing
foreigners.
She
said,
"Bangladesh
has
consolidated
its
position
on
the
international
stage
in
such
a
way
that
no
one
will
be
able
to
destabilise
the
country
with
such
incidents."
The
Prime
Minister
urged
all,
including
the
members
of
the
Armed
Forces,
to
remain
alert
so
that
no
one
could
hold
up
the
pace
of
country's
development.
Daily
Star,
October
8,
2015.
INDIA
69
people
killed
in
militancy
related
incidents
and
cross
border
firing
this
year,
informs
Jammu
and
Kashmir
Government:
The
Jammu
and
Kashmir
government
on
October
5
informed
the
State
Assembly
that
69
people,
including
35
Security
Force
(SF)
personnel,
were
killed
and
199
injured
in
militancy-related
incidents
and
Pakistani
firing
in
the
state
this
year.
While
49
people
-
29
SF
personnel
and
20
civilians
-
lost
their
lives
in
militancy-related
violence,
six
SF
personnel
were
among
20
people
killed
in
firing
from
across
the
border
till
September
22
this
year
(2015),
Chief
Minister
(CM)
Mufti
Mohammad
Sayeed
said
in
a
written
reply
to
a
question
raised
by
National
Conference
legislator
Mian
Altaf
Ahmad.
Times
of
India,
October
7,
2015.
More
than
500
Maoists
give
up
arms
in
10
years
in
Maharashtra,
says
report:
Maharashtra
Government's
Naxal
(Left
Wing
Extremism)
surrender
policy
has
yielded
positive
results
with
502
Maoists
giving
up
arms
in
the
last
10
years
and
being
rehabilitated.
Of
these,
482
rebels
have
surrendered
in
Gadchiroli
District
alone,
considered
as
a
Naxal
hotbed.
Maharashtra
Government
had
launched
a
Naxal
surrender
policy
on
August
29,
2005,
which
has
been
extended
time
and
again
till
date,
official
sources
from
Anti-Naxalite
Operations
(ANO)
of
Maharashtra
Police
said.
First
Post,
October
7,
2015.
Centre
examining
northeast's
special
category
status,
says
Union
Minister
Jitendra
Singh:
Central
Government's
Finance
Ministry
is
examining
the
continuation
of
the
special
category
status
for
the
eight
northeast
states,
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Development
of
North
Eastern
Region
(Independent
charge)
Jitendra
Singh
said
in
Agartala
on
October
9.
Jitendra
Singh
said
the
issue
whether
the
eight
northeast
states
will
continue
to
get
special
category
status
"is
being
looked
into
by
the
union
finance
ministry".
"When
and
how
the
issue
would
be
settled,
I
do
not
know,"
he
added.
Nagland
Post,
October
10,
2015.
NEPAL
CPN-UML
Chairman
K.
P.
Sharma
Oli
elected
as
38th
Prime
Minister
of
Nepal:
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Unified
Marxist
Leninist
(CPN-UML)
Chairman
K.
P.
Sharma
Oli
was
elected
38th
Prime
Minister
of
Nepal
on
October
11
by
defeating
Nepali
Congress
(NC)
President
Sushil
Koirala
with
a
margin
of
89
votes.
Oli
garnered
338
votes
while
Koirala
polled
249
votes
during
the
voting
held
at
the
Parliament.
Seven
members
remained
absent
and
two
members
of
Tharuhat
Tarai
Party
Nepal
boycotted
the
voting.
587
members
took
part
in
the
voting.
Himalayan
Times,
October
12,
2015.
Government
registers
"first
amendment
bill"
to
address
demands
of
Madhesi
and
indigenous
communities:
17
days
after
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA)
promulgated
new
constitution
on
September
20,
the
Government
on
October
7
registered
"first
amendment
bill"
of
the
constitution
at
Parliament
Secretariat
in
Kathmandu
seeking
to
address
proportional
inclusion
and
making
population
the
basis
for
delineating
the
electoral
constituencies
-
the
two
major
demands
of
Madhesi
and
indigenous
communities.
The
bill
registered
by
Minister
for
Law,
Justice,
Constituent
Assembly
and
Parliamentary
Affairs
Narahari
Acharya
seeks
amendment
to
five
provisions
of
Articles
42,
84
and
286
to
address
the
two
issues.
Himalayan
Times,
October
8,
2015.
PAKISTAN
588
persons
become
victims
of
821
terrorism
incidents
in
eight
months,
says
report:
The
first
eight
months
of
the
current
year
(2015)
has
witnessed
821
incidents
of
terrorism
in
the
country,
in
which
588
people
lost
their
lives
while
1,007
people
got
injured.
The
report
revealed
that
in
124
incidents
of
terrorism
during
month
of
January,
122
people
were
killed
and
174
were
injured.
Similarly,
in
10
terrorism
related
incidents
during
February,
9
people
were
killed
and
49
injured,
in
March
86
terrorism
related
incidents
occurred
in
which
45
people
were
killed
and
141
injured
and
in
113
incidents
during
month
of
April,
59
lost
their
lives
and
110
got
injured.
The
data
further
revealed
that
the
month
of
May
witnessed
121
unfortunate
incidents
of
terrorism
with
killing
of
137
people
and
injuries
to
162
people.
In
June,
there
were
70
such
incidents
in
which
50
got
killed
and
55
got
injured,
the
month
of
July
saw
116
such
incidents
in
which
65
were
killed
and
131
injured
while
in
August
2015,
61
people
became
victims
of
82
terrorism
related
incidents
while
77
got
injured.
Dawn,
October
12,
2015.
Fighting
for
an
independent
Balochistan,
says
Baloch
separatist
leader
Hyrbyair
Marri:
Baloch
separatist
leader
Hyrbyair
Marri
in
an
interview
on
October
9
said
that
he
was
fighting
for
an
independent
Balochistan,
a
report
published
on
the
British
Broadcasting
Corporation
(BBC)
Urdu
website
said.
He,
however,
said
that
neither
he
nor
his
associates
have
any
affiliation
with
the
proscribed
Balochistan
Liberation
Army
(BLA)
militant
group.
He
also
added
that
the
Baloch
people
are
not
in
favour
of
seeking
help
from
India
to
gain
freedom.
Dawn,
October
11,
2015.
Situation
for
journalists
unlikely
to
improve
in
Pakistan,
says
CPJ
Impunity
Index
Report:
The
Committee
to
Protect
Journalists
(CPJ)
on
October
8
in
its
recently
released
Impunity
Index
Report,
"Getting
Away
with
Murder",
for
2015
stated
that
Pakistan's
position
remains
unchanged
at
number
9.
However,
its
rating
has
improved
by
0.004
points
from
0.123
in
2014
to
0.119
in
the
latest
report.
The
report
looks
at
unsolved
murders
of
journalists
-
in
countries
where
attacks
on
journalists
mostly
go
unpunished
-
as
a
percentage
of
the
country's
population.
The News,
October
9,
2015.
Over
6,000
death-row
convicts
in
jails,
Government
informs
Senate:
Minister
of
State
for
Interior
Baleeghur
Rahman
informed
the
Senate
on
October
6
that
there
were
a
total
of
6,016
death
row
convicts
imprisoned
in
various
jails
across
the
country.
During
the
question
hour,
he
said
that
the
process
for
execution
of
the
convicts
who
had
availed
of
all
legal
options
and
whose
mercy
petitions
had
also
been
rejected
continued
as
per
law
since
December
17,
2014.
The
last
such
prisoner,
Mohammad
Aslam,
was
executed
in
the
Bahawalpur
jail
in
September.
Dawn,
October
7,
2015.
Military
operation
to
continue,
says
Islamabad's
Defense
attache
Brigadier
Sarfraz
Ali
Chaudhary:
The
current
military
operation
against
militants
will
continue
until
the
writ
of
the
state
is
restored,
said,
Pakistan's
Defence
Attaché
Brigadier
Sarfraz
Ali
Chaudhary
while
addressing
a
convention
of
Pakistani-Americans
in
Washington
on
October
5.
He
said
that
the
operation
had
four
major
goals,
eliminating
extremists
from
North
Waziristan,
their
sleeper
cells
elsewhere
in
the
country,
restoring
the
writ
of
the
state,
and
ensuring
that
only
the
state
had
monopoly
on
the
use
of
legitimate
physical
force
within
its
jurisdiction.
Dawn,
October
6,
2015.
Criticizing
blasphemy
laws
not
blasphemous,
Says
Supreme
Court
Judge:
Justice
Asif
Saeed
Khosa
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
Pakistan
on
October
5
while
hearing
an
appeal
filed
by
Mumtaz
Qadri,
the
killer
of
former
Punjab
Governor
Salman
Taseer,
against
his
death
penalty,
said
that
criticism
of
the
blasphemy
law
did
not
amount
to
blasphemy.
During
the
hearing
on
October
5,
the
bench
observed
that
the
entire
argument
of
Qadri's
counsel
would
be
rendered
irrelevant
if
it
is
not
established
that
then
governor
Salman
Taseer
had
committed
blasphemy.
Daily Times,
October
6,
2015.
SRI
LANKA
Government
to
abolish
Missing
Persons
Commission
and
replace
it
with
new
commission
to
continue
its
procedures,
says
Justice
Minister
Wijedasa
Rajapaksa:
Justice
Minister
Wijedasa
Rajapaksa
said
that
the
Government
is
to
abolish
the
Missing
Persons
Commission
and
replace
it
with
a
new
commission
to
continue
its
procedures.
He
said,
"The
international
community
has
no
confidence
in
the
Missing
Persons'
Commission
so
it
will
be
abolished.
Even
locally,
most
of
the
people
are
not
happy
with
the
Commission
and
they
have
no
faith
in
the
process.
However,
we
will
not
abandon
the
procedure.
We
will
go
ahead
with
the
procedure
with
a
commission
which
will
be
more
effective."
Colombo Page,
October
11,
2015.
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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