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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 15, No. 24, December 12, 2016
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
|
Unflagging
Determination
S.
Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On December
5, 2016, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) handed
down the death
penalty to Edris Ali Sardar aka Gazi Edris (67),
a leader of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student
wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), for crimes committed during
the Liberation War in 1971. Sulaiman Mollah aka Soleman
Moulvi (84) was also charged along with Sardar, but the
Tribunal did not hold him responsible for the crimes as
he had died of old age complications on October 26, 2016,
during the closing arguments of the case. Edris has been
on the run. Four charges including death in two charges,
imprisonment for life in one and seven-year jail term
in another charge were proved beyond doubt against Edris.
The first charge that earned Edris death was for killing
200 Hindu people by firing shots indiscriminately on May
22, 1971, in Shariatpur District. The second charge that
earned him death was for killing 20 Hindu people on May
23, 1971, in Madaripur District. The third charge that
earned him life in prison was for torturing and killing
Lalit Mohan Kundu and Shuresh Goon by stabbing with a
bayonet in mid June 1971, in Shariatpur District. Edris
was also awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment
on a fourth charge, for intimidating around 1,500 people
into leaving Bangladesh between March 25 and December
10, 1971.
On August
10, 2016, ICT-1 had sentenced
former JeI Member of Parliament (MP) Mohamad Shakhawat
Hossain (62) to death, and seven of his accomplices to
life imprisonment for war crimes. His accomplices included
Mohamad Billal Hossain Biswas, Mohamad Ibrahim Hossain,
Sheikh Mohammad Mujibur Rahman, Mohamad Aziz Sardar, Abdul
Aziz Sardar, Kazi Ohidul Islam and Mohamad Abdul Khaleque
Morol. Shakhawat Hossain, Ibrahim, Abdul Aziz Sardar and
Mohamad Aziz Sardar were found guilty for their roles
in capturing and raping a woman who was connected with
freedom fighters and were sentenced to 20-year rigorous
imprisonment; Shakhawat Hossain was sentenced to death
for killing local Awami League (AL) leader Chadtullo Gazi
after keeping him confined at the Razakar camp for four
days and his seven associates were handed down imprisonment
till natural death for the same charge; Shakhawat Hossain,
Mohammad Mujibur Rahman and Mohamad Abdul Khaleque Morol
were sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment for torturing
freedom fighter Nuruddin Morol of Chingra, while Ibrahim
was found not guilty and acquitted; Shakhawat Hossain
was awarded the death penalty for torturing and killing
Malek Sardar, who was linked to the freedom fighters,
while his associates Mohamad Ibrahim Hossain, Mohamad
Aziz Sardar, Abdul Aziz Sardar, and Mohamad Abdul Khaleque
Morol, were sentenced to life imprisonment; and for torturing
freedom fighter Miron Sheikh, Shakhawat Hossain, Mohamad
Ibrahim Hossain, Mohamad Aziz Sardar, Abdul Aziz Sardar
and Mohamad Abdul Khaleque Morol were sentenced to 15-year
rigorous imprisonment.
On July
18, 2016, ICT-1 sentenced
Ashraf Hossain, Professor Sharif Ahammed and Abdul Bari
to death; and five others, including SM Yusuf Ali, Shamsul
Haque, Abdul Mannan, Harun and Abul Hashem, to life imprisonment,
after finding three of the five charges pressed against
them proved. Ashraf, Mannan and Bari were sentenced to
death for murdering 18 pro-liberation villagers at the
cremation ghat in Jamalpur District on the night
of July 22, 1971; Ashraf, Sharif, Mannan, Bari, Hashem,
Shamsul and Yusuf were jailed until death for abducting
Awami League (AL) leader and Liberation War organizer
Nurul Amin Mallick from his home at Doyamoyee Lane in
Jamalpur town on July 10, 1971; and Ashraf, Sharif, Mannan
and Bari were also sentenced to life terms for confining,
torturing and murdering innocent pro-liberation people
at the torture cell run by the Al-Badr force at the Ashek
Mahmud College’s hostel for degree students between April
22, 1971 and December 11, 1971. The Tribunal acquitted
Shamsul and Yusuf of the charge of abduction, torture,
murder, looting, setting houses on fire and other inhumane
acts around the then Jamalpur sub-division from April
22, 1971 to December 11, 1971, on the grounds that sufficient
evidence was not produced to prove the charge. It also
acquitted Ashraf, Sharif, Mannan, Bari, Hashem, Shamsul
and Yusuf of the charge of confining thousands of people,
and torturing and murdering them at Al-Badr’s torture
cell at PTI Hostel in Jamalpur between April 22, 1971
and December 11, 1971, as adequate evidence was not produced.
On June
1, 2016, ICT-1 handed
down the death penalty to Mohibur
Rahman aka Bara Miah (65); and a jail terms until
death to his sibling Mozibur Rahman alias Ranga
Miah (60) and cousin Abdur Razzak (63), finding them guilty
on four charges. They were involved with the Nezam-e-Islami
(NeI) Party and had joined the Razakar force that collaborated
with the Pakistan Army in the genocide of 1971. The Tribunal
awarded the death penalty to Mohibur for killing freedom
fighters Akal Ali and Rajab Ali and hiding their bodies
on November 11, 1971, while it awarded jail until death
to Mozibur and Razzak on the same charge; 10-year jail
terms were pronounced against the three for the attack,
arson and looting of the Khagaura house of General M.A.
Rob, an organizer of the Liberation War; the Tribunal
also awarded 20-year imprisonment terms to each for helping
Pakistani soldiers rape the wife of Manjab Ali, younger
sister of Allat Mia, the same day at Khagaura. ICT further
awarded seven years of jail to the trio on the charge
of abduction and torture of Ansar Ali, who was permanently
maimed as a result.
Thus far,
the War
Crimes (WC) Trials, which began on
March 25, 2010, have indicted 74 leaders, including 44
from JeI; 12 from the Muslim League (ML); five from Nezam-e-Islami
(NeI); four from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); two
each from the Jatiya Party (JP) and Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP); four former Razakar members; and one former
Al-Badr member. Verdicts have been delivered against 51
accused, including 29 death penalties and 22 life sentences.
So far, six of the 29 people who were awarded the death
sentence have been hanged. On September 3, 2016, JeI central
executive member Mir Quasem Ali (63) was hanged at Kashimpur
Central Jail in Gazipur District; on May 11, 2016, JeI
Ameer (Chief) Motiur Rahman Nizami (75) was executed
at Dhaka Central Jail; on November 22, 2015, JeI Secretary
General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed (67) and BNP Standing
Committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (66) were
hanged simultaneously at Dhaka Central Jail; on April
11, 2015, JeI Senior Assistant Secretary General Mohammed
Kamaruzzaman (63) was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail; and
on December 12, 2013, JeI Assistant Secretary General
Abdul Quader Mollah (65), who earned the nickname ‘Mirpurer
Koshai (Butcher of Mirpur)’ was hanged at Dhaka Central
Jail. 12 others are absconding and another 11 cases are
currently pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court. Meanwhile, out of 22 persons who were awarded life
sentences, three persons have already died serving their
sentence – former JeI Ameer Ghulam Azam (91), who
died on October 23, 2014; former BNP minister Abdul Alim
(83), who died on August 30, 2014; and former JeI National
Assembly member S.M. Yousuf Ali (83), who died on November
17, 2016. Another seven are lodged in various jails of
the country.
On August
31, 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, reaffirming
her determination to continue the trial of war criminals,
stated, "We have completed the trial of Bangabandhu
(Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) killing case and executed the
verdict. We are also holding the trial of war criminals
which Bangabandhu started and implementing the judgments
and we would continue it." On August 14, 2016, five
condemned killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
– Rahman Syed Farooq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan,
Bazlul Huda, A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed and Mohiuddin Ahmed
– were hanged at Dhaka Central Jail.
Nevertheless,
on September 8, 2016, Law Minister Anisul Huq cautioned
“The children of war criminals are not innocent. They
are hatching conspiracies and will continue it. We have
to remember that and stay alert against them. We have
to continue our war against their conspiracies.” Further,
on November 9, 2016, blaming anti-liberation forces and
aides of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia for instigating
attacks on Hindus, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim observed,
“The killers and looters who don't believe in Bangladesh's
liberation carried out the attack on the Hindus of Nasirnagar.
The attack was aimed at demeaning the Sheikh Hasina-led
Government and making Bangladesh look like it is not safe
for the Hindus. The attackers will be tried at the speedy
trial tribunal.” On October 30, 2016, more than 100 people
were injured when an estimated 3,000 local Muslim zealots,
armed with sticks and sharp weapons, vandalized and looted
17 temples and over a hundred Hindu houses and business
establishments in the Nasirnagar and Haripur unions of
Nasirnagar upazila (sub-District) of Brahmanbaria
District. On November 4 and 5, 2016, another six houses
of Hindu families were set on fire in the same area. Attacks
on Hindus are not unusual in Bangladesh, but it is rare
to see multiple large crowds targeting temples in an organized
way as they did on October 30, 2016.
Sheikh
Hasina’s Awami League (AL)-led Government, which came
to power on January 6, 2009, has shown enormous courage
in going ahead with the War Crime Trials, and the completion
of this process will eventually prove to be an important
chapter in the history of Bangladesh, bringing some measure
of justice to millions who had suffered at the hands of
the Pakistan Army and its collaborators in Bangladesh.
The Trials are the unfinished agenda of the Liberation
War, and need to be sustained, despite efforts of anti-liberation
forces and their sympathizers in the Diaspora and international
community, to disrupt the process.
|
Latehar:
Cyclical Harm
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On November
23, 2016, six Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres were killed in an encounter with Commando Battalion
for Resolute Action (CoBRA) personnel of the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) and the Jharkhand Police, at a remote
location inside the Karmadih-Naurnagu Forests under the
Chhipadohar Police Station of Latehar District. CRPF,
Director General (DG), K. Durga Prasad disclosed, "Two
out of the six slain rebels have been identified as ‘sub-zonal
commander’ Deepak Kharwar alias Shailesh Kharwar,
who carried a cash reward of Rs, Five Lakh [INR 500,000]
on his head, and ‘area commander’ Nagendra Yadav,"
and added, further, that the duo was mainly active in
Latehar and Lohardaga and used to operate under the directives
of Maoist ‘zonal commander’ Nakul Yadav. The identities
of the remaining four Maoists are yet to be ascertained.
Giving details on items recovered, Superintendent of Police
(SP) Anup Birtharey stated that the Forces recovered one
INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifle, two Self-Loading
Rifles (SLRs), three .303 rifles, 600 bullets of various
calibres and one dozen explosive devices. One carbine
was also recovered from the riverbed. He further disclosed
that four out of the seven recovered weapons had been
looted from the Police on earlier occasions.
On December
11, 2016, acting on a tip-off by local residents, Police
recovered a huge cache of explosives, including 120 Improvised
Explosive Devices (IEDs) and two cylinder bombs (weighing
five kilograms each), from a Maoist hideout in Barwaiya
forests of Manika in Latehar District. Commenting on the
recovery, SP, Anoop Birtharay said the explosives belonged
to the Maoist squad of 'sub-zonal commander' Shravan Yadav
who carried a reward of INR 500,000 on his head.
Further,
on October 22, 2016, Police and CRPF personnel raided
a Maoist hideout in the Serendag area of Latehar District
and a recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition, including
16 IEDs together weighing around 50 kilograms, one .303
rifle, two country made guns, 327 rounds of ammunition,
along with a ten meter red CPI-Maoist banner, which were
kept in steel containers.
Prior to
the November 23, 2016, incident, however, the last killing
in the District was recorded, on July 25, 2016, when CPI-Maoist
cadres had killed three civilians, including two sons
of a surrendered Maoist, in the Barkol Forest range of
Latehar District. A pamphlet found from the spot alleged
that the victims were 'Police informers'. According to
media reports, after the surrender of Rampreet Yadav (former
Maoist), the Maoists had been suspecting his sons Shravan
Yadav (32) and Hiralal Yadav (20), along with Shivlal
Yadav (22), were working as 'Police informers'. On July
24, 2016, when the Maoists came to know about Shravan
and Hiralal's presence in the Barkol area, a team of Maoists
went to their homes and took them away to the Barkol Forest
area and gunned them down. The Maoists also went to Shivlal
Yadav's house and strangled him with a rope.
According
to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), Latehar recorded at least 41 Left Wing
Extremism (LWE)-related incidents in 2016 (all
data till December 11, 20016), including four of killing,
19 of recovery, 10 of arrest, three of arson, two of blowing
up of Panchayat (village level local-self government
institution) buildings; one each of abduction, vandalism
and holding of Kangaroo Court (jan adalat/
people's court). In the corresponding period of 2015,
the District had recorded at least 13 LWE-related incidents
– two of killing, three each of arrest and recovery, two
of arson, one each of blowing up of a Railway track, vandalism
and bandh (general shut down) call.
Further,
Maoists blew up Panchayat buildings on two occasions
(on February 19 and February 20), set ablaze a tower of
a private telecom company on two occasions (on February
19 and February 20), and set ablaze at least 10 heavy
vehicles engaged in a road construction project on June
10. They vandalised a solar panel and battery powering
a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile tower on
June 26; held a kangaroo court at a location which
was just 15 kilometers away from Latehar District Headquarters
on July 5, 2016. LWEs ordinarily conduct such courts in
areas where they have a strong presence.
Other parameters
are also indicative of significant Maoist presence in
the Latehar. According to the SATP database, there were
at least 19 incidents of arms and ammunition recovery
by the SFs during which huge caches of arms and ammunitions
were recovered. Also, out of 215 LWE cadres arrested from
the State in 2016, at least 25 were arrested from Latehar
alone. In a significant incident of arrest, Sohan Yadav,
‘bodyguard’ of Maoist ‘Central Committee (CC) member’
Dev Kumar Singh aka Arvindji, was arrested
on March 15, 2016. Out of the 25 LWE surrenders reported
in Jharkhand, Latehar accounted for two. Most recently,
on December 7, 2016, a Maoist ‘sub-zonal commander’, identified
as Sanjay Korwa, carrying a bounty of INR 500,000, surrendered
in the District. Earlier, on April 12, 2016, a Maoist
leader, Dinesh Yadav (40), with several aliases
– Chasma, Satyendra Yadav, Chota Vikas and Umesh, carrying
a reward of INR 2.5 million, surrendered in the District.
Yadav was a member of the CPI-Maoist Special Area Committee
for Bihar-Jharkhand-North Chhattisgarh. He had been involved
in LWE activities since 1998.
In the
four killing incidents recorded in Latehar in 2016, at
least 11 persons, including three civilians, one Security
Force (SF) trooper and seven Maoists died. During the
corresponding period of 2015, the District recorded just
three fatalities (one civilian and two Maoists) in two
incidents, and there were no further fatalities in 2015.
There were only three fatalities (all Maoists) through
2014. Jharkhand State recorded a total of 79 fatalities
in 2016 (data till December 11).
Fatalities
in Latehar District and Jharkhand: 2005-2016*
Year
|
Latehar
|
Jharkhand
|
Latehar's
share in % of Total killing
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
LWEs
|
Total
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
LWEs/
Maoists
|
Total
|
2005
|
4
|
0
|
8
|
12
|
49
|
27
|
20
|
96
|
12.25
|
2006
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
18
|
47
|
29
|
94
|
4.25
|
2007
|
6
|
0
|
22
|
28
|
69
|
6
|
45
|
120
|
23.33
|
2008
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
74
|
39
|
50
|
163
|
3.68
|
2009
|
9
|
27
|
6
|
42
|
74
|
67
|
76
|
217
|
19.35
|
2010
|
6
|
6
|
1
|
13
|
71
|
27
|
49
|
147
|
8.84
|
2011
|
15
|
11
|
18
|
44
|
79
|
30
|
48
|
157
|
28.02
|
2012
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
12
|
48
|
24
|
26
|
98
|
12.24
|
2013
|
5
|
10
|
18
|
33
|
48
|
26
|
57
|
131
|
25.19
|
2014
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
48
|
12
|
37
|
97
|
3.09
|
2015
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
16
|
5
|
37
|
58
|
5.17
|
2016
|
3
|
1
|
7
|
11
|
30
|
10
|
39
|
79
|
13.92
|
Total
|
56
|
61
|
94
|
211
|
624
|
320
|
513
|
1457
|
14.48
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till December 11, 2016.
|
Though
no consistent trend in fatalities has been established,
the sway of LWE violence in the District is inescapable.
Since the formation of CPI-Maoist on September 21, 2004,
Latehar has recorded 211 Maoist-linked fatalities, including
56 civilians, 61 SF personnel and 94 Maoists. Thus, of
a total of 1,457 fatalities recorded in the State of Jharkhand
during the period, Latehar accounted for 14.48 per cent.
The highest number of fatalities, 44, in the District,
was recorded in year 2011, while a low of three fatalities
was registered twice in 2014 and 2015.
Latehar
District, falls under the Palamu Division of Jharkhand
State, and was carved out of the old Palamu District on
April 4, 2001, with the truncated Palamu to its North,
Chatra to its East, Lohardaga and Gumla Districts in the
South, Garhwa to its North West, and Surguja, in Chhattisgarh,
to its South West. Latehar is a predominantly forest District,
spread across an area of 3651.59 square kilometers, of
which 61.48 per cent (2,245 square kilometres) is under
dense forest and its hilly terrain makes it a perfect
location for a Maoist haven. Terror also dominates Latehar
due to the District’s proximity with other Maoist-affected
areas of Jharkhand, such as Chatra, Garhwa, Gumla, Lohardaga
and Palamu, as well as its proximity to Chhattisgarh,
the State currently the worst affected by LWE.
The District
is also afflicted by low human development indicators,
as well as widespread absence and worsening access to
healthcare, education, drinking water, sanitation and
food, creating an alarming humanitarian situation. These
conditions are well exploited by the Maoists. Unsurprisingly,
according to the “District Development and Diversity Index
Report for India and Major States,” a joint survey conducted
by the US-India Policy Institute (USIPI) and the Centre
for Research and Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP),
New Delhi, found that, among 599 Districts across India
under purview of the Survey, Latehar was ranked 457th,
i.e., among the most backward. The report released on
January 29, 2015, took composite development — measured
in terms of economic development and the indices of health,
education and material well-being – into consideration.
On November
14, 2016, State Director General of Police (DGP), D.K.
Pandey stated that the Maoist menace was now confined
to a few zones or "axes" in 11 Districts of
the State: “At present, the rebels are confined in the
bordering areas of the Latehar-Lohardaga-Gumla axis. Security
forces have successfully managed to either persuade rebels
to surrender or nabbed a number of them during counter-Maoist
operations.” He claimed, further, that the situation had
improved as, earlier, the rebels’ writ ran across all
24 Districts of the State.
More recently,
according to a December 1, 2016, media report, the Jharkhand
Government intends to set up a security camp atop the
Burha Pahar (Hill) in Latehar, which has emerged as a
CPI-Maoist bastion, with its top leaders, such as Dev
Kumar Singh aka Arvindji and Sudhakaran aka
Sudhakar Reddy, hiding there. Arvindji, Maoist CC
member, who carries a reward of INR 10 million, and Sudhakar,
Maoist CC member and party's ‘military strategist’, came
to Jharkhand from Andhra Pradesh in early 2016 to help
their organisation to regain control over bases that had
been smashed by SFs, and to revive the corridor between
Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Announcing the plan,
Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajabala Verma stated, on December
1, 2016, “Burha Pahar that has become a synonym for Naxalism
will soon be under Police control. Security Forces will
set up a camp there.”
Latehar
is among 13 focus areas identified by the State Police
where several security measures and developmental initiatives
have been taken. DGP Pandey disclosed, on June 12, 2016,
"We have identified 13 focus areas. These areas are
being secured, cleared and developmental initiatives like
bridges, fair price shops, electricity are being taken
up besides efforts to generate employment." The 13
focus areas are in the Districts of Garhwa, Palamau, Chatra,
Latehar, Gumla, Lohardaga, Bokaro, Giridih and the Santhal
Pargana region.
Meanwhile,
the State Government has added to some of the effective
measures adopted in the past to fight
the LWE menace. On November 29, 2016, the Sate Cabinet,
on special instructions from Chief Minister (CM) Raghubar
Das, approved the formation of Civil Defence Volunteers
in Latehar District along with another 21 Districts (Ranchi,
Jamshedpur Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Giridih, Koderma,
Chatra, Dumka, Deoghar, Pakur, Palamu, Garhwa, Gumla,
Lohardaga, Simdega, West Singhbhum, Khunti, Saraikela,
Jamtara and Bokaro). Most recently, on November 29, 2016,
Jharkhand Government approved the addition of three new
Indian Reserve Battalions (IRB) to the existing 40 Battalions
of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), including 22 CRPF
battalions, 10 Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) Battalions
and eight India Reserve Battalions presently deployed
across the State.
Latehar
remains a major area of concern in Jharkhand. Given the
cyclical nature of violence in the District, and continuous
efforts by the surviving Maoist formations to revive activities,
urgent and sustained efforts are necessary to consolidate
the significant operational successes and gains of the
past years.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
December
5-11, 2016
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
8
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
FATA
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
KP
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Sindh
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
| |