[Reader-list] The harsh reality: Nation walks on razor edge

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

 The harsh reality: Nation walks on razor edge
Dina Nath Mishra

 Increasing *jihadi* attacks in cities have reached a point from where the
next jump would be much more devastating for the nation. While these attacks
are called terrorist acts the world over, *jihad* is actually something
different. As explained by several e-mails before the blast, it means that
the devastating bomb blasts are a religious duty of every Muslim to kill the
non-believers. Those who do not participate in *jihad* are not doing their
duty. But not every Muslim thinks like this but this is a small section
only.

 Knowledgeable members of Intelligence agencies and police assess that there
are 60,000 *jihadi*s in different parts of India. Formerly, these types of
attacks were conducted by the ISI with the help of sleeping cells. An outfit
named SIMI was born. It gained strength during the rise of Osama Bin Laden.
SIMI members used to sell Osama literature, cassettes and photos. The media
noticed this at many places in UP.

 After covering around half the districts in UP, SIMI gradually spread
throughout the country. From recent blasts in four State capitals, it boldly
rechristened itself Indian Mujahideen. After the blasts in Ahmedabad and a
large catch of explosives in Surat, the Gujarat Police caught hold of Abu
Bashir, the mastermind of Indian Mujahideen from Azamgarh. Gujarat Police,
assisted by UP Police, unearthed an undesirable part of the terror network
in north India. The Delhi serial bomb blasts opened the eyes of the general
public to it.

 Some Jamia students were involved in these dastardly acts of terror, which
killed around 30 people in Delhi alone. Raids were conducted in the narrow
bylanes of Jamia Nagar. Two *jihadi*s were killed on the spot, two arrested
while two escaped. A police inspector, Mohan Chand Sharma, was killed by the
terrorists. This raid was conducted as the police had concrete information.
But the local Muslim population was soon up in arms against the raiding
police party.

 Within two days, the Jamia students started protesting. Meetings of Muslim
students were held and addressed by fiery speakers. These speeches were
quite provocative, saying that Muslims were under attack and that they
should fight. Elements connected with SIMI, its clone Indian Mujahideen, and
the *madarsa* cadre who had been working underground in the campus, surfaced
boldly. They claimed that the students allegedly involved in the Delhi
blasts were innocent. They also alleged that Sharma's own colleagues shot
him.

 These Muslims raised a lot of questions about the raid. Why didn't the
police take permission from the local MLA? Why didn't they first inform the
mohalla committee? The most bizarre demand was that of raid should have been
conducted by Muslim policemen.

 The raiding of suspected terrorist hideouts faces the resistance of Muslim
masses in general. This is not new. In 1995, after the serial bomb blasts in
Hyderabad, a suspect was arrested. During interrogation he revealed that he
was trained by ISI in Islamabad. He also disclosed about his associates and
told the police how he arrived in India via Kathmandu with arrangements for
staying for a day in a Patna mosque on his way to Hyderabad.

 The Hyderabad and Bihar police planned a raid in the wee hours. But the
Imam ran to the minaret loudspeaker and gave a call to Muslims to assemble
at the mosque. He aroused their religious sentiments. As a result, thousands
of Muslims gathered there within a few minutes. The raiding party was under
siege. They rang up high officials who, in turn, ran to the Chief Minister.
Instantly the raiding police party was withdrawn. The police party had to
escape through the backdoor.

 This is not the story of just one raid. It is a pattern. It could not
materialise in Jamia Nagar. But during the second half of the raid, the
anger against police action was raging among the local Muslims. But as
Sharma was killed, they could not do much.

 The *jihadi*s who escaped were from Azamgarh that has acquired notoriety of
producing scores of terrorists and the mafia. Having obtained the clues from
arrested terrorists about the whereabouts of the perpetrators of serial
blasts in Delhi, the Delhi Police, accompanied by the UP Police, went to
Azamgarh to flush out those responsible for the blasts. House-to-house
searches were conducted in Sarai Mir and Sanjarpur.

 Cops were looking for Sajid, Salman, Khalid and Mohd Arif. Their families
said they had had no communication with them from four months. Documents and
CDs pertaining to the blasts were recovered during these searches. These are
only few examples. Azamgarh has a horrendous history of riots. After a
recent riot, a *jihadi* proudly told a media person that Azamgarh would turn
into another Kashmir.

 Indian security agencies must get ready to face such a serious situation.