Punjab 'Gangsters' Use Cellphones And Facebook To Post Photos, Messages Do 'Criminal Business' From Jail

Prisons seem to be turning into a safe haven for criminals in Punjab. The social media updates of gangsters housed in Bhatinda jail reveal many of the inmates are enjoying access to social media, mobile phones and the internet in Punjab jails. 

The photograph that was posted on March 13 by five gangsters, including dreaded criminal Kulbir Singh Naruana, had gone viral on social media.

MSG Movie: Religion Today Is Bizarre When Not Barbaric

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been accused of serious charges of rape and murder and has been in midst of deadly conflict with the Sikhs in the past.

With the CBI filing FIR against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in connection with the alleged forced castration of his followers at his Sirsa-based dera in Haryana, the already contested and muddled religious landscape of Punjab and Haryana is once again back in the limelight. Religion today is often bizarre when not barbaric. Punjab and Haryana, of late, have provided us with a range of religious spectacle to demonstrate this.

3 Cops To Protect A VIP, Just A Cop For 761 Citizens

In today’s day and age, when terrorism of various hues is a real threat, VIP security needs cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. Yet, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that there is far too much of it in India, much of it driven by the aspiration for the ‘status’ that having armed bodyguards confers on people. 

Governments at the state and centre need to take a hard look at just how much of the resources now devoted to VIP security are actually needed. It should not have needed a prod from the apex court for them to do so. After all, it is their duty to ensure the optimum use of the resources provided by taxpayer money. Need, not desire, must dictate who gets a security cover and how much of it.

India’s police personnel to population ratio is 1: 761, but there are as many as 47,557 cops protecting 14,842 VIPs across the country or three police personnel to one protectee even as rising crime poses a serious threat to the security of the common citizen.

Excessive deployment of police persons to secure VIPs is not just a Delhi’s phenomena where the country’s who’s who lives as the VIP security is highest in Punjab followed by Delhi and Assam. In fact, hardly any state is immune from the red and blue beacon syndrome.
   

Government’s figures show the 14,842 VIPs enjoying state protection are also drawing more than what they are entitled to by way of police escorts — 15,081 personnel in excess of what has been actually sanctioned for their security.
   

The figures, released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) of the ministry of home affairs, show a staggering deployment of police personnel for security duties rather than basic tasks like making the nation’s streets safer. It is hardly surprising that police forces remain overworked and understaffed.
   

The data, as on January 1, 2012, presents a grim scenario with some states like West Bengal having one cop for 1,658 citizens. Delhi is slightly better with one cop for 253 people but it is no surprise that the efficiency of the city police is impacted with a dozen police personnel guarding each of 427 VIPs – adding up to around 5,000 cops.
   

In fact, states like Bihar have a far more lop-sided ratio (1,456), followed by UP (1,173), Dadra & Nagar Haveli (1,046) and MP (962).
Although the number of protected persons dipped last year as compared to 2010, deployment for VIP security is still quite high as compared to the sanctioned strength for this purpose as are the number of VIP protectees.

VERY PROTECTED PERSONSIn 2011, 47,557 cops protected 14,842 VIPs — 15,081 more cops than the sanctioned number
In capital, there are 8,049 cops for VIP security, just 3,448 for crime prevention/ investigation, Delhi Police tells SC
States with max cops on VIP security:
Punjab 5,811, Assam 4,278, Andhra Pradesh 3,995, Bihar 3,664, UP 3,087
States with max people given protection:
Bihar 3,033, Punjab 1,798, Bengal 1,698, UP 1,345, Assam 1,048
States with worst ratio of cops to citizens:
Bengal 1 for 1,658, Bihar 1,456, UP 1,173, MP 962 & Andhra Pradesh 953

3 cops for 1 VIP in India 1 cop for 761 citizens 3,664 AP policemen engaged in VIP security:  In 2011, as many as 3,030 people were given police security in Bihar, followed by Punjab (1,798) and West Bengal (1,698). 

The data, comprising figures for 2011 and 2010, reveal how different states and Union Territories tend to deploy more and more cops for VIP security than the sanctioned strength of police personnel for this purpose, faced with an increasing clamour for a security detail that is seen as a status symbol. Though the Union home ministry had in the last two years pruned the central list of VIP protectees, including ministers and bureaucrats, by constantly reviewing the ‘real’ threat perception, states do not seem to respond accordingly despite facing a huge shortage of police personnel.
   

In 2010, all the states and UTs together deployed 50,059 police personnel for protecting 16,788 VIPs, including ministers, MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats and judges. Interestingly, deployment of police personnel for these VIPs during the year was 21,761 more than what was actually sanctioned for their security. The data, presented to the home ministry by the BPR&D, also shows that Punjab, which reports a vacancy of around 12,000 police personnel, topped the list sparing 5,811 cops to secure VIPs followed by Delhi (5,183), Assam (4,278) and Andhra Pradesh (3,664) despite facing shortage. 

Though these figures slightly vary for Delhi as it has to deploy more whenever VIPs of other states or foreign dignitaries have to visit the national Capital, the BPR&D has taken into account the deployment figure of six months while arriving at the final data.

Defeating’ India And ‘Controlling’ Afghanistan Have Been The Goals Of Pakistan’s Jihad Industry

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The education ministry indoctrinated young minds and trained a crop of Jihadis through a special madrassa network.

…In the past few years, Pakistan has witnessed an exceptionally high level of tolerance for extremism among the middle class, which staffs Urdu media and provides intellectual direction to public opinion. Urdu newspapers glorify militant groups as the agents of local and global “Jihad” and are steeped in the Jihadist discourse that emanated from Pakistan’s concerted alliance with the USA in the 1980s to nurture the mujahideen and later efforts to seek “strategic depth” in Afghanistan and “fix” India via proactive Jihadism.

Little has changed in the past three decades except the fact that a grander version of Urdu press now exists in the shape of electronic media. The latter, barring few exceptions, has also overtly and covertly supported soft Islamism as a natural policy option for an Islamic Republic endowed with nuclear weapons.

Aaj Ka Censor Raj: How Pahlaj Nihalani Is Terrorising Bollywood's Filmmakers?

By RAMAN KAPOOR | INNLIVE

There were a few days to go for the release ofNH10 - Anushka Sharma's debut film as a producer. In the corridors of the preview theatre where the movie was being screened for members of the Central Board of Film Certification, a tense Anurag Kashyap (co-producer) was pacing up and down. Along with him were waiting Anushka, NH10's director Navdeep Singh and the other co-producers - Madhu Mantena, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Karnesh Sharma.

How Did Sikh Heritage Become Hostage To Hostilities Between India And Pakistan?

By RUMAISA KHAN | INNLIVE

The grievances that gave birth to the Khalistan movement are alive. They find a platform in gurdwaras across the border.

Just outside the main complex of the shrine where the samadhi and the grave of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, are believed to be located is the sacred well from where Guru Nanak used to draw water for his fields. After a long pilgrimage of almost three decades, the guru finally decided to settle at this spot, now called Kartarpur Sahib, near the city of Narowal in present-day Pakistan.

Commentary: Capital Controversy, Hyderabad like Delhi

By Madabhushi Sridhar (Guest Writer)

Under the pressure of the Seemandhra Congress leaders the High Command announced a high level committee with four senior Congress leaders, Digvijay, Antony, Veerappa Moily and Ahmed Patel to remove their apprehensions about revenue, water and safety during division of state.

The seeds of uncertainty and doubts about Hyderabad are sown in the CWC resolution itself, though written with ‘skilful diplomatic efficiency’. Their hesitant assurance and doubtful commitment form part of their written statements, while congress leaders leak every thing ‘off the record’. Earlier when they had poll alliance with TRC in 2004 they just ‘referred’ to Telangana demand which later became controversial and revealed an escape route for them. Then election manifesto, Presidential Address and even the declaration on December 9, 2009 are drafted with great diplomacy which did not lead to any commitment. The latest example, is the resolution of CWC on 30th July 2013.

`Incorruptible' Ex-MLA Now Lives On Streets

By AMIT GILL | INNLIVE

Two time MLA from Punjab now living on street with family. Ex-MLA claims never saved enough to build house. Says he quit his party BSP and politics as he could not compromise with corruption.

As pre-monsoon showers hit Garhshankar town in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, Shingara Ram Shahunggra and his family started looking for tarpaulin sheets to cover their belongings lying by the side of the road.

Special Report: Do bank lockers offer the ultimate security for your valuables?

 The recent Punjab National Bank locker heist in Sonipat raises questions about security measures.

More than a decade ago, bank lockers were the ultimate safety boxes for people to store their most valuable items. But with the increasing techno-heists and lackadaisical security measures provided by banks, these lockers may not be as safe as they once were. Also, the bank does not take any responsibility for your lost items and hence are not liable to compensate you, in case your locker is robbed.

The dramatic heist at the Sonipat branch of Punjab National Bank last month has once again raised the question about whether bank lockers can be trusted with your valuables.  Demonstrating astonishing daring, a gang of thieves dug a 77-foot tunnel to get into the main locker vault. The perpetrators cleaned out jewellery and cash worth crores from 89 lockers in the vault.

Navjot Singh Sidhu To Soon 'Retire Hurt' From Politics?

By Kajol Singh / INN Bureau

This could be the proverbial last straw. Navjot Singh Sidhu has been ‘missing’ from Punjab politics and his Lok Sabha constituency for the last few months. But the cricketer-turned-politician-turned-comedy show host may have bitten off more than he could chew when he chose to stay away from the two-day state executive meeting of the BJP’s Punjab unit in Amritsar – the home city of his constituency.

The fact that Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh addressed the state executive on 7-8 July but Sidhu still chose to stay away tells the story of his alienation from the party that he joined in 2004.

At Laugh: In Bathinda, All Sarpanchs Are ‘Falana Singhs’

By Surjit Singh / Bhatinda

The oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected sarpanchs and panchs from Bathinda district turned out to be a comical affair on Saturday as many of the elected representatives parroted the words uttered by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. 
    
To help the newly-elected sarpanchs and panchs, Badal told them to take their oaths on this line of, “Main Falana Singh sauhn chukda haan’ (I XYZ Singh take oath) and “Saarian da dhanwaad” (thank you everyone).

Narendra Modiji, What Are Sources Of funds of Large Entrepreneurial Class As Gujarat Faces Banking Deficit?

By Aakaar Patel | Ahmedabad

For Gujarat that boasts of a large entrepreneurial class, this is surprising to know that the state makes little use of the banking system. According to the 2011 census, only 57.9% of the households in Gujarat access banking services. This is lower than the national average of 58.7%, says banking statistics sourced from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

The per capita outstanding bank credit in Gujarat is lower than the all-India average. Delhi and Maharashtra top the states in terms of per capita bank credit, writes Mahesh Vyas, MD and chief economist, Centre at Monitoring Indian Economy.

Exclusive: 'Udta Punjab' Leaked Online, Suspicion Falls On Censor Board!

By RAMAN KAPOOR | INNLIVE

Udta Punjab has been leaked online, just days before its scheduled theatrical release on 17 June.

A senior police official at the cyber crime police station at BKC, Bandra confirmed to INNLIVE that the film's director, Abhishek Chaubey, had given a written request to the police to look into the matter three days ago. An FIR was lodged at the police station.

Exclusive: Why Is 'Malala Yousufzai' Hated In Pakistan?

By Fariha Ansari / Delhi

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai may have been a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But in Pakistan, she faces threats from the Taliban and conspiracy theories abound.

It is around 6 pm in Pakistan. The date is 9 October 2012. According to the news on the local media, the Taliban just shot Malala Yousufzai. Two assailants fired a bullet in her head as she was going home after school in a mini-bus. The girl who lives in Mingora, in the Swat valley, was considered guilty by militants of criticising them on her blog.

Congress Crisis Deepens As Its Support Base Crumbles

Decimated in Delhi, the party draws solace from humiliation heaped on Modi.

Once it became clear that the Congress was all set for a wipe-out in the Delhi assembly polls, a group of party workers gathered outside the party office headquarters on Tuesday morning to demand that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra play a more active role in politics.

The all-too familiar slogans, “Priyanka lao, Congress bachao” were again raised, similar to the demand made after the party was routed in last year’s Lok Sabha election and subsequently in the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls.

Eco-Friendly: Green Rickshaw Ride Now, A Phone Call Away

By Surjit Singh / Chandigarh

Upgrade to the new cycle rickshaw. It is lighter, faster, bright green (in colour and benefits), has safety belts, low-floor footboard, FM radio and also the day’s newspaper.

And this fancy rickshaw ride is just a phone call away. Radio cabs have been around for long, but now Ecocabs—a new initiative by an urban mobility expert Navdeep Asija—will provide dial-a-cycle-rickshaw service in Chandigarh.

Al-Qaeda strikes back in Lahore

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

The Civil Lines area of the northeastern Pakistani city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province, is famed for its magnificent automobile display rooms and the city police headquarters. On Wednesday morning, though, al-Qaeda-linked militants set their sights on a little-known structure that houses the operations office of Pakistan's premier secret service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is actively working to purge jihadi networks from Punjab.

However, guards at the ISI building became suspicious of the red van carrying the militants and opened fire. While returning the fire, the militants diverted to a police helpline office and set off a powerful bomb which killed at least 23 people and left hundreds injured.

A similar attack was planned on the ISI headquarters in the capital Islamabad, but the men were arrested on Wednesday before they could act.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were quick to condemn the attack, the third this year in Lahore. The others were the March 3 incident in which gunmen killed six police guards in an ambush on the Sri Lanka cricket team and the March 30 attack on a police academy which killed eight people.

Punjab is the country's largest province and with about 82 million people it accounts for approximately half of the total population. Due to its overwhelming representation in the armed forces, it is also known as the "sword arm" of the country.

Wednesday's attack is widely seen as retaliation for the military's operations in the Swat area of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), where for the past two weeks fierce fighting has raged against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. This is not the case.

HNN investigations reveal that in response to the Swat operation, Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud sent several men to various destinations, but they all failed to launch an attack.

The biggest group was sent to the southern port city of Karachi. It comprised Amjad Zameer Khattak alias Musarat alias Talha, the son of Sadiq Zameer and a resident of Swat; Mohammad Asim alias Tipu Sultan alias Babu, the son of Mohammad Hakeem Khan of Nowshehra in NWFP; Mohammad Safir alias Saifullah, Adnan and Abdul Hameed. They had belonged to the banned outfits the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Harkatul Mujahideen, but now they are allied with a nexus headed by Baitullah Mehsud.

They apparently arrived in Karachi last week and planned a suicide attack on the headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is anti-Taliban and a coalition partner in the federal and provincial government. They dropped this plan when they found the building to be too heavily guarded.

They were in the process of identifying another target when their presence was leaked to the police and Khattak and Asim were arrested. The others escaped.

Wednesday's Lahore attack is rooted in an agreement between Pakistan and the United States in the last days of the George W Bush administration. Washington relayed to the Pakistani envoy in the US that it was seriously displeased over Pakistan's inactivity in trying to arrest big al-Qaeda names.

In the three of four years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Pakistan signing onto the "war on terror", Pakistan had hunted down several big names. These included Abu Zobedah, Ramzi Binul Shib and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, wanted in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. Arrests such as these justified the large amounts of aid and money the US gave to Pakistan.

Pakistan's efforts then tapered off, especially in the tribal areas, where it had lost much of its writ as the militants had ejected the para-military forces from the area. Islamabad also feared an escalation of suicide attacks.

After assuming office in January, President Barack Obama picked up on the Bush administration's warning to the Pakistani envoy, and soon after a top al-Qaeda ideologue, Egyptian scholar Sheikh Essa al-Misri, was arrested.

Abu Amro Abdul Hakeem alias Sheikh Essa, in his 70s, had never been particularly popular with the al-Qaeda leadership, but given of his background he was respected in jihadi circles. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1960s and close to slain Abdul Qadir Audah, a Muslim Brotherhood general who was executed by Gamal Abdul Nasser's regime in Egypt in 1960.

Sheikh Essa, who had recovered from a form of paralysis, had settled in the North Waziristan tribal area in a very secure environment. However, while traveling to a meeting in Faisalabad in Punjab he was captured by security agents. This arrest caused considerable anger in militant circles, especially in the Arab camps.

However, the real trigger for the Lahore attack, planned by more than two Pakistani groups, was the recent clampdown on a major al-Qaeda sanctuary in Mohmand Agency.

Ten days ago, security agencies arrested four Saudi nationals. They were named only as Ahmed, Ali, Mohammad and Obaidullah and had arrived from Saudi Arabia recently. There was also an Abdullah from Libya, and all were experts in explosives and had spent some time in the Afghan province of Helmand.

Al-Qaeda also has sanctuaries in Bajaur Agency, which, like Mohmand, borders the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nooristan. Top al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden and his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, have been seen in these regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The capture of the Saudis shows a real hostile gesture by Pakistan against al-Qaeda's most high-profile sanctuary.

As a result, the Lahore operation was planned and financed by al-Qaeda. The Jundul Fida group led by veteran Kashmiri guerrilla commander Ilyas Kashmiri provided logistic support and militants linked with Baitullah Mehsud were used in the suicide mission.

A new perspective
There is a strong possibility of more terror incidents such as the latest one in Lahore. The Pakistani establishment is convinced that it can prevent this from happening by defeating the militants in Swat and the Malakand Agency, provided there is unanimous political support behind the military operations.

In the latest offensive in Swat, the army has stuck to its task, despite some acts of brutality by the militants - the headless bodies of two majors were recently found . Such barbarity is the work of the group of Qari Hussain of South Waziristan and his Uzbek accomplices.

The armed forces are convinced that if they lose this operation, Pakistan will fall into a spiral of instability, even leading to "Talibanization".

The recent Supreme Court judgement lifting a ban against opposition leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif from contesting in elections provides a good opportunity to strengthen the political system.

Sharif is likely to contest a by-election in the near future and be elected to parliament. He could then replace Gilani as prime minister, which will solidify support for the military operations against militancy.

Wealthy Dynasties Of Pakistan Ruled By 'Political Sultans'

By Farzeen Ayaz | Karachi

How a few wealthy dynasties dominate the nation’s politics, and get even richer. Last month, the Election Commission of Pakistan, manifesting its independence, declared  Nawaz Sharif one of the country’s richest parliamentarians and revealed his assets: six agricultural properties, a house in Upper Mall, Lahore, Rs 126 million in seven bank accounts, and other properties under the name of his wife, making him a billionaire. 

This may be explained by the fact that he belongs to an affluent family of businessmen. His father, Muhammad Sharif, a Kashmiri from Amritsar who moved to Lahore in 1947, had slowly built up a smelting works. He was stripped of his property in 1972 by the wave of nationalisation ordered by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but the privatisation decided by Zia-ul-Haq (who blessed the elevation of Nawaz to the post of Punjab chief minister in 1985) helped the family recover its assets. 

Why Pakistan's Military is Gun Shy?

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

The attack on Mumbai on November 26 by Pakistan-linked militants opens a similar opportunity for India to what happened to Washington after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The US was able to further its regional designs with global support and was able to coerce Islamabad into cracking down on its own strategic partner, the Taliban in Afghanistan.

New Delhi also now has the international community on its side, but Pakistan is in a very different position from where it was seven years ago, and the new political and military leaders are not in a position to take similar steps to those of their predecessors.

In a new round of international pressure following the Mumbai attack, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, arrived in Pakistan this week to meet with senior Pakistani officials. The chief of Interpol was also scheduled to visit Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss the mechanism for the arrest and interrogation of wanted people such as Zakiur Rahman, the chief of the Lashka-e-Toiba (LET), which was connected to the militants who attacked Mumbai; Maulana Masood Azhar of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed and former Mumbai underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim.

India is reported to have mobilized forces near the Rajasthan-Sindh Pakistani border areas and Pakistani intelligence sources have talked of possible surgical strikes on militant bases in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Lahore, at the central offices of the Jamaatut Dawa, which this month was declared by the United Nations Security Council a front for the LET, which is banned as a terror group. The Pakistan Air Force has been placed on red alert.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, both in public statements and private meetings, urged Pakistan to understand the gravity of the current situation and to take immediate steps to stop terrorists from using its soil for attacking others. The US warned Pakistan that in the absence of appropriate steps, it would be hard for the US to prevent Delhi from carrying out strikes inside Pakistan in retaliation for the Mumbai attack in which 10 militants held the city hostage for three days and killed 175 people, including top police officials.

In a speech at Washington's Council on Foreign Relations, Rice said what Pakistan had done so far to catch those responsible for the attacks in Mumbai was not enough. "You need to deal with the terrorism problem," she said when asked what her message was to Pakistan. "And it's not enough to say these are non-state actors. If they’re operating from Pakistani territory, then they have to be dealt with."

According to reports, Islamabad has assured Indian leaders and international leaders such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that it is ready to take all steps demanded by the world community to avoid a war.

All the same, actions speak louder than words and the prevailing opinion in Western capitals and in New Delhi is that Pakistan will not undertake any real crackdown on militants.

This view is reinforced by the contradictory statements of Pakistani officials. On December 7, Pakistani authorities issued a statement that Azhar, the founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, had been placed under house arrested at his Bahawalpur residence in Punjab. But on December 17, first the Pakistan envoy to New Delhi and then Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stunned everybody by saying that Azhar was at large and not in Pakistan.

Azhar, a firebrand orator in favor of jihad although he has never been a combatant, was arrested in India in 1994 over his connections with the Kashmiri separatist group Harkatul Mujahideen. In December 1999, Azhar was freed along with separatist guerrillas Mushtaq Zargar and Omar Shiekh (the abductor of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002) by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that was held hostage in Kandahar, Afghanistan, under Taliban control.

In 2000, Azhar, claimed by Pakistan to have never entered Pakistan, announced the formation of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, at a press briefing at the Karachi Press Club, along with the now slain Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai. Jaish was banned in 2002 under US pressure, but Azhar remained close to the Pakistani establishment, mainly because he refused to support al-Qaeda against the Pakistan military.

Following the Mumbai attack, Delhi has demanded that Azhar, along with others such as Dawood, be handed over. This was refused by Pakistan, which said Azhar was a Pakistani national and had never been tried by Indian authorities. Then came the surprise announcement that he was not even in Pakistan.

What complicates the situation is the lack of unity between the civilian government in Islamabad and the military. The government managed to get the international community to support it by having the Jamaatut Dawa declared a front for the LET to justify a crackdown on the organization against the will of the army. (See Pakistan's military takes a big hit Asia Times Online, December 13.)

But the military establishment, which has been humiliated over the past seven years, has good reasons not to back the government.

The problems started after September 11, when the US forced the then-military government of president General Pervez Musharraf to abandon the Taliban. Up to 2001, Afghanistan had virtually been a fifth Pakistani province for which Pakistan arranged day-to-day expenditures. Even the communications network was run by the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited.

By 2003, Pakistan had been forced to send the army into the restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan to crack down on al-Qaeda and militants, in breach of its agreements with the tribes.

In 2004, Pakistan was forced to shut militant camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and to accept India's fencing of the Line of Control that separates the two Kashmirs. As a result, militant operations into India-administered Kashmir were badly interrupted.
When Pakistan changed its Afghan policy, Musharraf, who was also chief of army staff, informed all jihadi organizations that the policy was necessary to preserve Pakistan's interests in Kashmir. However, when the Kashmir policy changed and operations started in the tribal areas, the jihadi organizations reacted.

By 2005, all the big names in the LET had left the Kashmiri camps and taken up in the North and South Waziristan tribal areas. The same happened with Jaish and other organizations. The most respected name of the Kashmiri struggle, Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri, the commander of Harkatul Jihad al-Islami, also moved to Waziristan.

This was the beginning of serious problems for Pakistan and also resulted in a change in the dynamics of the Afghan war. Trained by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence's India cell, these disgruntled militants caused havoc in Afghanistan and played a significant role in bringing the latest guerrilla tactics to Afghanistan. They also introduced major changes in the fighting techniques of the tribal militants against the Pakistani forces.

By 2006, the Taliban had regrouped and launched the spring offensive that paved the way for significant advances over the next two years. At the same time, militants escalated their activities in Pakistan and forced Pakistan into virtual neutrality in the US-led "war on terror".

An unprecedented number of attacks were carried out on Pakistani security forces in 2007 and by February 2008 suicide attacks in Pakistan outnumbered those in Iraq. Militants carried out dozens of attacks on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) supply lines from Karachi, virtually bringing them to a halt. According to Strategic Forecasting, a Texas-based private intelligence entity: "Pakistan remains the single-most important logistics route for the Afghan campaign. This is not by accident. It is by far the quickest and most efficient overland route to the open ocean."

In this situation, the only peaceful place in Pakistan is Punjab, the largest province and the seat of government. But this peace can only be ensured through central Punjabi jihadi leaders like Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of the LET and southern Punjabi jihadi leader Azhar. Azhar has influence in the jihadi networks in Punjab and he convinced jihadis, after a wave of suicide attacks in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, to go to Afghanistan and spare Punjab.

The highly demoralized Pakistan army has failed in the tribal areas and in the Swat Valley it has had to solicit peace accords. Opening up a new front in Punjab, which could spread to the port city of Karachi - the financial lifeline of the country - would be a disaster.

This explains the military's resistance to the government push to go full out against militancy, a move that would also compromise NATO's lifeline to Afghanistan.

New Book: 'The Inside Story Of Ajmal Kasab's Recruitment'

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

In Pakistan during May 2008 - A party of Lashkar trainee fighters bumped along in a hand -painted bus that spluttered and lurched into the wooded mountains of Pakistan - administered Kashmir. Qahafa the Bull, the mujahid trainer, and chacha Zaki, the outfit's military commander, had selected them from a much larger pool of recruits, and from this group they intended to choose the final ten -man team for Operation Bombay. 

Arriving at the House of the Holy Warriors, on the bowl -like plains high above Muzaffarabad, the men were frisked for cigarettes, opium and tobacco, before being photographed and fingerprinted. No one would be allowed to leave without an instructor for fear of contaminating the outfit, although none of them had any idea as to where they were being assigned.