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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 37, March 18, 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


ASSESSMENT

INDIA
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Maoists: Surviving Adversity
Ajai Sahni
Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, ICM & SATP

In a searing self-assessment, the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), at its 4th Meet, some time in April-May 2013, conceded, "the condition of our countrywide movement is critical". And further,
In DK (Dandakaranya) mass base decreased in considerable area, the intensity and expanse of the resistance of the PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) and people decreased; non-proletarian trends increased in party and the PLGA, recruitment decreased; number of people leaving the party and the PLGA increased... the movement in NT (North Telangana) and AOB (Andhra Odisha Border) is in ebb. We are striving hard for their revival. Gondia division is continuing in a weak condition since a long period of time. Due to series of arrests in the past few years the Maharashtra movement is facing setback.
          Though the Mainpur division movement in the COB (Chhattisgarh Odisha Border) area has weakened, in the rest of the area the movement is gradually getting established among the people and expanding. Due to betrayal of (Sabyasachi) Panda and enemy onslaught the Odisha movement weakened a lot. Due to heavy losses to the leadership and subjective forces and due to decrease in mass base the BJ (Bihar Jharkhand) movement suffered setback at present. Due to Comrade Kishenji's martyrdom and martyrdom and arrests of state and district leadership comrade and dent in the deluge of Lalgarh movement the Paschim Bang (West Bengal) movement suffered a setback... ..
          (Due to) the martyrdom of four comrades including the secretary of the State Leading Committee in a fake encounter and arrests of other comrades... the Asom (Assam) state movement that was gradually developing weakened. In North Region we lost subjective forces at various levels along with party's central and state level leadership... As a result the North Regional Bureau was completely damaged...

Further,
Between 2009 and 2012 the enemy damaged our central weapon manufacturing and supply departments; the political and military people's intelligence departments, the central magazine department, central SUCOMO (Sub Committee on Mass Organisations) and the international department.

No official or outside assessment has been quite as devastating as the 4th CC's resolutions, reiterated thereafter in the Revolutionary Greetings for the 9th Anniversary of the party (September 21-27, 2013). Unsurprisingly, given the acknowledged weakening of the party, fatalities linked to Maoist violence across the country have remained relatively low, at 421 in 2013 [including 159 civilians, 111 Security Force (SF) personnel and 151 insurgents], less than 36 per cent of the peak fatalities in 2010, at 1,180 (626 civilians, 277 SF personnel and 277 Maoists), according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database. The 2013 figure, however, represents a significant escalation, after three years of continuous decline, from 367 fatalities in 2012 [146 civilians; 104 SF personnel; 117 Maoists]. Initial data for 2014 suggests a continuation of this escalating trend, with 81 already killed by March 17. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) data, however, indicates a continuance of the declining trend through 2012-2013, with 394 fatalities recorded in 2013, as against 415 in 2012, 611 in 2011 and 1,005 in 2010.

In a frustratingly familiar pattern, 16 persons – 11 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, four Chhattisgarh Policemen and one civilian, were killed on March 11, 2014, when CPI-Maoist cadre and militia ambushed a road opening party at Tahakwada on National Highway 30 near Tongpal in Sukma District. The incident occurred just eight kilometres away from Jeeram Ghati, where Maoists had massacred 31 people, including the top State leadership of the Congress Party, on May 25, 2013. The incident demonstrated, once again, the Maoist capacities to deliver lethal strikes against SFs, despite the reverses they have suffered, even as they exposed the persisting weaknesses of State response.

Crucially, in the immediate aftermath of the Tahakwada attack, the CRPF Inspector General (IG) in Chhattisgarh, H.S. Siddhu, blamed the State Police leadership for blocking a 'massive operation' across Maoist 'base zones' in Bastar, which, he asserted, could have prevented the March 11 attack. Siddhu told the media, "The plan was to mobilize forces and undertake effective operations in all the base areas of the Maoists before the beginning of the Tactical Counter Offensive in March. The CRPF saw it as a window of opportunity to destabilise the Maoists and damage their military capacity before the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) elections." The requisite force of 3,000 CRPF personnel had assembled at Jagdalpur and was on its way to Bijapur, from where operations were to commence, when permission was denied by the State Police. The last leg of the proposed operations was intended to target the Darbha and Tongpal zones, around March 10, and, Sidhu points out, "the massive entry of Forces would have sanitized the entire area and the recent incident would have been averted." The denial of permission by the State Police appears to have been based on the assessment of the Bijapur Superintendent of Police, Prashant Aggarwal, who cautioned against 'military adventurism', arguing that he did not have sufficient Forces to lend for the operation (the CRPF is required to be accompanied by contingents of State Police), and that the CRPF's proposals "were risky" as "the area being addressed is one of the highly affected." Senior Chhattisgarh Police leaders subsequently criticized Sidhu for "raising confidential issues of national security through media".

The merits or otherwise of the CRPF proposal notwithstanding, the spat exposed the continuing discordance between Central and State Forces on issues of strategic and tactical response to the Maoist challenge. The incoherence, indeed, pointlessness of political reactions in the wake of the incident gives little further grounds for confidence, with the Union Minister for Home Affairs, Sushil Kumar Shinde, issuing a gratuitous threat, "We will definitely take revenge", and ordering an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the attack. This, it seems, has become a UMHA ritual for major incidents now, ignoring the rather discouraging fact that there is still no word on the progress in the investigation by NIA into the earlier Darbha Valley incident of May 2013. The principal function of the NIA, it would appear, is now to give politicians the cover of an illusion of response, in the absence of any real effort to address the challenge of the Maoist insurgency.

Chhattisgarh State Chief Minister Raman Singh added to the vapidity of these responses, declaring grandly that there would be "no let up on anti-Naxalite operations". The fact that his own Police leadership was complaining, at precisely the same time, of a lack of sufficient Forces in the core areas of response, appears to have no bearing on this expression of 'determination', or on the Chief Minister's assessment of existing operational capabilities of the State Police. Worse, recent cases of visible political collusion with Maoist facilitators in Raipur and Kanker have provoked neither comment from the Chief Minister, not effective response against political leaders of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the principal opposition Congress Party in the State, months after the arrest of eight conspirators, who were running an urban network for the Maoists. The 'kingpin' of this operation, Dharmendra Chopra, was arrested while fleeing in a car belonging to Sohan Potai, the BJP Member of Parliament from Kanker. In his interrogation, Chopra disclosed that he was knowingly supported in his activities by Potai, as well as by BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Vikram Usendi, and Congress MLA Mohan Mandavi.

Chhattisgarh is not alone in the confusion of its perspectives and responses. At a time of considerable weakening of the Maoist operational capabilities across the principal theatres of their activity, almost all the worst afflicted States continue to display a comparable lack of focus, with the notable exception of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. There have, of course, been dramatic gains in Odisha as well, but these are the consequence, principally, of the disintegration of the Party structure in the State after CPI-Maoist 'State secretary' Sabyasachi Panda's defection in August 2012. The cumulative impact, however, is a significant reduction in Districts affected by Maoist activities and violence, from a total of 223 in 2008, down to 182 in 2013, including 76 Districts recording violence during the year, and another 106 in which Maoists retained some influence, according to official sources. Significantly, UMHA had indicated a decline to 173 Maoist affected Districts [87 recording violence, and 86, other activities], in June 2012.

The Maoists have pinned some hopes for a revival in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, where they had spearheaded the movement for the formation of a separate State, with the legislative separation of the Telangana and Seemandhra regions receiving Presidential assent on March 1, 2014. The 4th CC Meet Resolutions thus observed, "In Telangana the movement for Separate Telangana is developing in militant forms. Revolutionary political and propaganda agitations are ongoing widely in AP, NT and AOB. People are getting consolidated through various people's movements." Maoist optimism on Telangana, however, is likely to be belied by future events. Even if a politically sympathetic regime is installed after the formation of the new State in June 2014, sheer administrative imperatives will eventually make it necessary for the Government  to eventually restore anti-Maoist operations in the region - a pattern that has been repeated on several occasions in the past. Moreover, the social, economic and administrative conditions in the Telangana region, graphically documented in the CPI-Maoist's Social Investigation of North Telangana: Case Study of Warangal, have rendered the region and population substantially unreceptive, if not actively hostile, to the Maoists' revolutionary creed. Moreover, with the capital city, Hyderabad, going to the new Telangana State, the administrative and security leadership, as well as the resource and infrastructure profile, are unlikely to suffer the kind of haemorrhaging that afflicted new States such as Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand after their formation in 2000.

Among the various responses to their current crises, the Maoists have emphasised that their efforts must be focused to "preserve the subjective forces (from CC up to party cell) from enemy onslaught" and "particularly priority should be given to preservation of top level leadership forces". After sustained leadership losses since 2007, the Maoists appear to have taken some effective measures to contain this trend. Only one Central Committee member from Assam was arrested in 2013, while Maoist fatalities through the year included no leader above the level of State committee members. However, in a major shock to the system, the high profile spokesperson of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), G V K Prasad alias Gudsa Usendi, surrendered to SFs on January 8, 2014.

The Maoists have also resolved to "fight back the enemy onslaught on strategic area and guerilla bases. As part of this people and the People’s Militia should be rallied on a vast scale and mine warfare should be intensified." The efficient harnessing of diminished resources, and concentrated attacks on the weakest links of the state Forces are integral to this effort, and at least some successes have been notched up by the Maoists. For instance, nearly 70 percent [78 out of 111] of SF personnel killed in Maoist attacks in 2013, have been killed in major incidents (each resulting in three or more fatalities); the proportion of SFs killed in major incidents was just around 50 per cent [53 out of 104] in 2012, indicating a sharp increase in lethality, despite the declining frequency of attacks. The most notable single strike was the killing of Mahendra Karma, the controversial leader of the Salwa Judum, former Union Minister V.C. Shukla and Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committe president Nandkumar Patel and his son in the Darbha Valley ambush, in which a total of 27 persons were massacred on May 25, 2013.

The Maoists have also fully exploited the overwhelming posture of passive defence adopted by state Forces, particularly State Police formations, in the affected States. Partial data compiled by SATP indicates that, of total of 76 armed confrontation between the Police and Maoist cadres resulting in fatalities in 2013, 49 were initiated by the Maoists, and 27 by the SFs. Of these, 28 were major incidents, among which 16 were initiated by the Maoists and 12 by the SFs.

In another element of their tactical response to the crisis within the movement, the Maoists have enormously escalated their campaigns against alleged 'police informers', and civilians seen to be sympathetic to the state or to 'enemy classes'. UMHA data, for instance, indicates that 465 alleged "police informers" were killed by the Maoists between 2011 and 2013, accounting for over 44 per cent of the 1,049 civilian fatalities over this period. Such killings are ordinarily executed with a high measure of demonstrative cruelty on the principle, "kill one, frighten ten thousand".

The Maoists have devised a 15 point two year plan for the revival of their 'countrywide movement'. The losses they have suffered over the past years have tempered the euphoria and adventurist expansionism that followed the unification of the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre, and the formation of the CPI-Maoist, in September 2004. Despite defections, losses and a visible degree of demoralization, however, the core leadership remains committed to its radical project of revolutionary violence, and its conviction that the present reverses are only part of the inevitable cycle of 'advancing and retreating' that is the essence of the 'revolution'.

Past experience has, moreover, demonstrated repeatedly that the insurgents' capacity for recovery is overwhelmingly a function of the quality, character and persistence of state responses, rather than of revolutionary intent. It is here that India's greatest vulnerabilities lie: in the inability of the political executive and bureaucracy to create the necessary capacities to confront this challenge on any of its component dimensions, despite the unending deluge of rhetoric on 'holistic' and 'multi-pronged' solutions. Indeed, the 'battalion approach' - the mechanical shuffling about of troops - and fitful operations to secure transient 'area domination', remain the core of the state's 'strategy'. This is despite the recurring failure of this expedient, and the repeated loss of life among troops flung far and wide in grossly insufficient numbers, often with little training, poor technical and technological support, and little chance of quick reinforcement in case of ambush.

The Maoists have displayed tremendous capacities for resurgence in the past, and surviving is, for any insurgent formation, the essence of winning. For all their reverses, the Maoists have survived, and continue to hope for a future victory.

INDIA
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Mizoram: Continuing Irritants
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

A 20-year insurgency, in what was then the Lushai Hills District of Assam (after 1972, the Union Territory of Mizoram) came to an end on June 30, 1986, with the signing of an accord between the rebel Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Government of India (GoI). The accord resulted in the creation of Mizoram as a State in February 1987. The end of the insurgency, however, only solved the 'Mizo' (Lushai speaking people's) issues, leaving out the State's minority tribes, such as the Hmars and the Brus. Nagging issues continue to feed cycles of low grade strife, and the 'silent' activities of the Hmar under the Hmar People's Convention-Democracy (HPC-D), and the issue of Bru (Reang) refugees, remain unresolved, more than two-and-a-half decades after peace was restored to the State.

On February 9, 2014, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) declared that repatriation of refugees from Tripura to Mizoram would not be possible as long as three basic demands were not fulfilled: financial assistance to each family should be enhanced from INR 90,000 to INR 150,000; free ration for two years; and allotment of land under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

Following the Assembly elections of November 2013, the new Government of Mizoram had initiated steps to resume repatriation of Bru refugees sheltered in six relief camps in North Tripura’s Kanchanpur Subdivision. A. Sawibunga, President of MBDPF, stated, on February 9, 2014, “We heard that the Mizoram Government is on the move to resume repatriation of Reang refugees without considering our basic demands. We are ready to resettle in Mizoram but provided the Government takes steps to address our basic needs or requirement.” Arguing that repatriation of Bru refugees is not the only solution to the problem, A. Sawibunga added that the Government must pay heed to the ‘social demands’ of the Bru people, and that, “Return of displaced Bru people could take place any time after addressing genuine grievances of Bru people.”

Congress leader Lal Thanhawla, at his swearing-in ceremony as the Chief Minister of Mizoram for the second consecutive term, on December 14, 2013, declared that the future of Brus lodged in six relief camps in Tripura would be taken up by his Government, and that the new Government would try its best to end the problem. He, however, asserted that the Government would take steps to delete the names of those who refused to be repatriated.

This declaration came even before the dust had settled, after scores of Brus fled Mizoram following the abduction of three people [two Mizos and Deep Mondal, an official of a Delhi-based telecom company and resident of Kolkata (West Bengal)] by Tripura-based National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) militants from Damparengpui village near the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mamit District of Mizoram on November 23, 2013. On December 6, Mizoram Police officials stated that an NLFT cadre, who abducted the trio, had demanded a ransom of INR 50 million for Mondal's release. A senior Police official indicated that the ransom demand was made directly to the telecom company. The abductors had not demanded any ransom for the two abducted Mizos. On January 19, 2014, over 2,423 Bru, including women and children fled from Mizoram, and sheltered in Tripura, after Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP,  Mizo Students’ Federation), a powerful students' union, reportedly began a mass voluntary search operation, on January 14, 2014, to find the abducted men. "Over 2,423 men, women and children comprising 368 families late January 19 evening took shelter in four villages in Tripura," a Tripura relief department official disclosed. The Brus from at least three villages - Damdiai, Tumpanglui and New Eden - in Mamit District, fled to Tripura or had taken refuge in nearby villages, fearing a repeat of the 1997-Bru-Mizo ethnic violence. On January 16, 2014, MBDPF President Saibunga alleged that a group of Mizo youth had perpetrated violence against Brus living in the three villages on January 13, and accused the latter of maintaining clandestine relations with banned militant outfits. Saibunga alleged, "They beat up the Brus and set at least 13 house on fire, forcing the Bru families to flee the place and take shelter in camps in Tripura."

On January 21, 2014, the two Mizos were released by their abductors, after spending nearly two months in captivity in the jungles of eastern Bangladesh. Despite subsequent warnings, Mondal is still held captive. On January 23, the Young Mizo Association (YMA) had warned that Mizo people would launch a mass search operation, if Deep Mondal, was not released during January. The MZP also urged the abductors to free Mondal unconditionally and immediately or face the wrath of the Mizo people, declaring, "We will not tolerate the Brus using the Mizos and non-tribal people working in Mizoram for earning money by way of abduction for ransom."

This is the third round of ethnic tension between the Mizos and the Brus, the major one being that of 1997. The second exodus of the Brus to Tripura took place in 2009, during the first stage of repatriation, following the killing of a Mizo youth by suspected Bru militants in November 2009.

The unfinished repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura, who fled the State after the major ethnic clashes of 1997, continues to be an issue plaguing Mizoram even after 17 years later. In the fifth phase of repatriation (September 30-October 6, 2013), about 100 families from relief camps in the Kanchanpur Subdivision of North Tripura District returned to Mizoram. 891 Bru families had earlier been repatriated to Mizoram in four phases between May 2010 and May 2012, out of an estimated 35,000 Bru refugees in Tripura.  

A March 6, 2014, report, however, claimed that the Bru refugee repatriation would be completed before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in April-May 2014. A meeting between the District Level Core Committee on Bru Repatriation and the Rehabilitation Committee was also held on March 6, 2014, in Mamit District in Mizoram, in this regard. However, given the current situation, this is unlikely to happen. According to a March 15, 2014, report, the MBDPF has also sought arrangements of polling booths in all the Bru relief camps of North Tripura District, so that the Bru refuges can exercise their franchise in the elections scheduled to be held on April 9, 2014, without any trouble, adding that only a few voters were able to cast their votes in the November 2013 Mizoram Assembly elections. The Forum also alleged that the community-based Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) of Mizoram vehemently opposed the setting up of polling booths in relief camps in Tripura, effectively deleting the names of Bru refugees from the existing Electoral Roll. On February 5, 2014, moreover, major civil society organizations in Mizoram had asked the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) V.S. Sampath to delete the names of Bru voters, who were in six Tripura relief camps from the Mizoram voters' lists if they did not return to Mizoram by February, 2014. A March 18, 2014, report further observed that Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, in the preceding week, had submitted a memorandum to the CEC, urging him not to allow Bru refugees living in relief camps in Tripura to exercise their franchise in the April 9 elections to the State's lone Lok Sabha seat. The Chief Minister asserted that if the Bru voters wanted to exercise their franchise, they should cast their votes inside Mizoram, not in the relief camps through postal ballots.  

Further, knowing about the difficulties faced by Bru returnees to Mizoram, the displaced Brus are apprehensive about returning to Mizoram unless both the Central and State Government take favorable steps to resolve their demands.

Meanwhile, the stalled talks between the Mizoram Government and the insurgent Hmar People's Convention - Democracy (HPC-D), which resumed in State capital Aizawl on August 14, 2013, ended in a deadlock. HPC-D and the Government of Mizoram had signed a Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement at Aizawl, on January 31, 2013, for a period of six months, after several months of tense negotiations. The HPC-D had also received a major setback on June 10, 2012, when SFs arrested two top leaders of the group, ‘army chief’ Lalropuia and ‘deputy army chief’ Biaknunga, at the Kumbigram Airport located in Silchar, Cachar District, Assam. Again, on July 18, 2012, H. Zosangbera, the 'chairman' of HPC-D, was arrested from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, by a combined team of the Mizoram and Delhi Police. However, all the three leaders were released on bail and talks were initiated again in 2013.

The unresolved challenges of the State are further compounded by occasional activities of militant groups from neighbouring states engaging in abduction and arms smuggling, using Mizoram as a conduit.

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, the State recorded two incidents of abduction in 2013 [the November 23 incident and an earlier February 19 incident; the NLFT and Brus were involved in both the incidents] resulting in eight persons abducted. In 2012 as well, the NLFT had abducted 12 persons in two incidents; six on November 25, including three Tripura residents, two timber merchants and one driver, from Rajibnagar village, in Mamit District; and another six on March 26, all executives of the Assam-based Anupam Bricks and Concrete Industries (ABCI), including residents of Assam, Punjab, and Rajasthan, from the Lunglei District.

Mamit District Superintendant of Police, Rodingliana Chawngthu, on January 25, 2014, disclosed that several steps had been taken to curb the activities of the NLFT and BDFM along the international border with Bangladesh: "The area is heavily forested and falls inside a tiger sanctuary. We have now got the Border Security Force (BSF) carrying out joint patrolling with Forest Department personnel who know all the tracks inside the forest. A permanent Border Out Post will also be set up at the location where Mondal was abducted."

Significantly, the BSF submitted a list of 66 militant camps operating from Bangladesh, to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), during a three-day bi-annual border coordination meeting [March 7-9, 2014] between the BSF inspector-generals and BGB’s region commanders held in Shillong (Meghalaya). On June 12, 2013, during a meeting with Mizoram Chief Minister, BSF officials had stated that at least 27 camps of different insurgent groups were still located in Bangladesh near the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mamit District of Mizoram. Significantly, according to an April 29, 2013, reportthe Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has set a 2014 deadline to complete the fencing along the India-Bangladesh border. Mizoram shares unfenced borders with Myanmar (404 kilometres) and Bangladesh (318 kilometres) of which nearly 62 kilometres of the border with Bangladesh in Mamit District is unfenced.

The issue of arms smuggling also remains a concern. SATP recorded five incidents of arms seizure in 2013, as against three incidents [resulting in seven smugglers arrests] in 2012. Eight smugglers were arrested in 2013. The biggest arms seizure in the State [31 AK-47 assault rifles, one Singapore-made Light Machine Gun (LMG), one US-made Browning automatic rifle, 809 rounds of ammunition, and 32 magazines] was on March 7 and 8, 2013, from a farmhouse near the Lengpui Airport, on the outskirts of State capital, Aizawl. The consignment was meant to be delivered to the Parbotia Chatagram Jana Sangata Samiti (PCJSS), a group claiming to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) tribes of Bangladesh.

With a multiplicity of challenges still facing the State, the Mizoram Government, on June 15, 2013, demanded Security-Related Expenditure (SRE) support for the State. On June 5, 2013, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, while addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security at New Delhi, argued that various militant groups from neighbouring States in the Northeast, as well as from countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh, had taken advantage of the porous and inhospitable terrain along Mizoram's interstate and international borders.

Despite an enduring peace after an agonizing twenty years of insurgency, a variety of issues, principally the result of ethnic tensions and overflows of insurgency from the neighbourhood, continue to rankle in Mizoram.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
March 10-16, 2014

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist Terrorism

0
0
1
1

INDIA

 

Arunachal Pradesh

0
0
1
1

Assam

0
0
3
3

Jammu and Kashmir

0
0
2
2

Manipur

0
2
0
2

Left-wing Extremism

 

Jharkhand

1
0
0
1

Andhra Pradesh

1
0
0
1

Chhattisgarh

1
15
0
16

Total (INDIA)

3
17
6
26

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

11
2
0
13

FATA

1
0
3
4

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

12
3
1
16

Punjab

0
0
1
1

Sindh

30
0
15
45

Total (PAKISTAN)

54
5
20
79
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


BANGLADESH

Ban on JeI by June 2014, asserts Liberation War Affairs Minister A K M Mozammel Huq: The Bangladesh Government on March 13 said it will take steps to ban Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) by June 2014 for its involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. Liberation War Affairs Minister A K M Mozammel Huq said, "The government is planning of banning the anti-liberation force Jamaat, but it has no plan to ban other religion-based political parties". Earlier in August, 2013, a High Court bench declared JeI's registration with the Election Commission illegal. Gulf Times, March 15, 2014.


INDIA

Maoists kill 16 persons including 15 Security Force personnel in Chhattisgarh: Fifteen Security Force (SF) personnel were killed in a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) ambush on March 11 in Sukma District of south Chhattisgarh. One civilian, Vikram Nishad, also died in the crossfire, while three others were injured. Additional Director-General of Police Mukesh Gupta said 11 of the personnel who died belonged to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), while four were from the Chhattisgarh Police. The Hindu, March 12, 2014.

CPI-Maoist 'internal document' asks cadres to target 12 political leaders before general elections: An internal document prepared by the Central leadership of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has asked its cadres to boycott the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) elections and specifically names 12 political leaders who are to be targeted along with Security Forces (SFs). The document gives out names of some political leaders in Hindi codes, "Nare, Baba, Nunu, Ram, Ud, Ani, Binde, Prah, Jeev, Lal, Prem, Shai" who are to be "eliminated at any cost despite them having security cover." Indian Express, March 12, 2014.

ISI wanted IM chief Riyaz Bhatkal's family to take refuge in Pakistan, reveals arrested IM's 'India operation' chief Yasin Bhatkal: Arrested Indian Mujahideen's (IM) 'India operation' chief Yasin Bhatkal during interrogation said that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) wanted IM 'chief' Riyaz Bhatkal, who is in Pakistan, to convince his family in Karnataka to cross borders and join him in that country. Riyaz who felt the ISI proposed this in order to gain control over the terror outfit rebuffed the suggestion because his family had strong local roots. Riyaz was planning independent setting for his terror outfit with the help of al Qaida so that they could not depend on ISI. Times of India, March 11, 2014.

ED registers case against HM 'chief' Syed Salahuddin: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 11 registered a money laundering case against ten people, including Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) 'chief', Syed Salahuddin, for allegedly funding terror activities in the country from across the border. The ED was prompted to register the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of an FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the ten persons in 2013. The NIA had filed the case in connection with its probe into cross-LoC trade. Indian Express, March 12, 2014.

SEBI tightens norms to check money laundering and terror funding, says report: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on March 12 tightened norms aimed at countering money laundering and terror financing through the capital markets and asked market entities to conduct detailed risk assessment of their clients, including those linked to countries facing international sanctions. Besides, stock exchanges have been asked to monitor the compliance of various entities through half-yearly internal audits and inspections and keep SEBI informed on these issues. Zee News, March 13, 2014.


NEPAL

NC and CPN-UML planning to skip 'authentication' altogether from the CA Rules: After contending with the problem as to who - the President or the Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman - should authenticate a new constitution for days, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) that are sharply divided over the matter are planning to skip the term 'authentication' altogether from the CA Rules, currently being drafted. It is likely that the two coalition partners would settle for the term 'certification'. Himalayan Times, March 10, 2014.


PAKISTAN

30 civilians and 15 militants among 45 persons killed during the week in Sindh: Three people were killed in separate incidents in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on March 14.

28 persons, including 19 civilians, were killed in gang war clashes in different parts of Karachi city on March 12.

Seven persons, including a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist, were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on March 11.

Five people were found dead in the Brohi Mohalla area of Mawach Goth area in Baldia Town of Karachi on March 10. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia; Nation; Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, March 11-17, 2014.

11 persons killed in suicide blast in Peshawar: At least 11 persons were killed and 45 others were injured in a suicide attack targeting Policemen in the Sarband area of Peshawar (Peshawar Disrict), the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on March 15. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP-city) Banaras Khan said the blast appeared to have targeted Police mobile van and was carried out by a suicide bomber. Dawn, March 16, 2014.

10 persons killed in bomb blast in Balochistan: At least 10 persons, including nine civilians and one trooper were killed and 35 others were injured in a bomb explosion targeting Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle at Science College Chowk area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on March 14. The target of the blast was FC vehicle that narrowly escaped the attack. Dawn, March 16, 2014.

Karachi operation to continue until peace restored, says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: On March 14, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the operation in Karachi will continue and that he would himself monitor it. "Karachi operation will continue. The sacrifices rendered by our security agencies are invaluable. Karachi operation is not a routine issue for the government and I will regularly monitor and supervise operation and will help the provincial government in resolving their issues," the Prime Minister said. Daily Times, March 15, 2014.

ISI confirms threat to former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf's life: The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on March 13 confirmed the seriousness of the threats that former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf's lawyers claim he is facing. A representative of the ISI said that it had intercepted a phone call on the night of March 12, 2014, which confirmed that Musharraf was susceptible to attack. Tribune, March 14, 2014.

TTP peace process enters 'decisive phase', claims Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Affairs Irfan Siddiqui: Adviser to Prime Minister on National Affairs, Irfan Siddiqui, on March 13 said that the talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had entered a crucial stage and the-two member TTP talks committee would give a report about its talks with the Taliban leadership after its return from Miranshah in North Waziristan Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) within two days. He said that after the report from the Taliban committee, a decision would be taken on how to take forward the talks process. Daily Times, March 14, 2014.

No Pakistani civilians killed by US drones in 2013, says UN Investigator Ben Emmerson: No Pakistani civilian was killed by United States (US) drones in 2013, said United Nations (UN) Investigator Ben Emmerson while presenting his latest report on drone strikes to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on March 12. The total number of recorded strikes in 2013 was down to 27 from a peak of 128 in 2010, he said, adding, "But perhaps most significantly, for the first time in nine years there were no reports of civilian casualties during 2013 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) area of Pakistan.. Tribune, March 13, 2014.


SRI LANKA

We only fought brutal LTTE not Tamils, says President Mahinda Rajapaksa: President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on March 12, "The war was not against the Tamils. We only fought a brutal terrorist outfit that was the LTTE". "If our war was against Tamils how could the Tamils live happily and peacefully among the Sinhalese in the south of the country," Rajapaksa added. Times of India, March 14, 2014.

New video clip released by Channel 4 accuses Sri Lankan Armed Forces of having 'underlying culture of systematic brutality and sexual violence': A new video clip released on March 10 by British public-service television broadcaster Channel 4 has accused the Sri Lankan Armed Forces of having an "underlying culture of systematic brutality and sexual violence". Channel 4 journalist Callum Macra said, "On the new visual that has emerged, it was unclear when the video was filmed but suggests it was at some point in the last two or three years of the war, possibly by a soldier using a mobile phone. The Hindu, March 11, 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.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

Publisher
K. P. S. Gill

Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


A Project of the
Institute For Conflict Management



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