Friday, March 29, 2024
 
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Gurdaspur attack and Pak plans

By Farooq Ganderbali


The Gurdaspur attack of July 26, 2015, carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists, most likely from Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), is a pointer to a far bigger and diabolic game plan being put in place by the Generals in Rawalpindi. The modus operandi of the attack and the place and targets chosen for the attack reveal part of this plan.


In simpler terms, the Pakistan Army wants to open up a wider front of proxy war against India, including Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This is going to be a do or die operation. The Generals in Rawalpindi have been desperate to damage India for long but have not been successful so far. All these states are also, incidentally, either directly ruled by the party in power, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or in alliance with BJP and therefore will have considerable political fallout.


Their plan began some time back with Kashmir as the starting point. They have been instrumental in instigating separatist and other extremist elements in the valley against the security forces and the central government. These elements have been upping the ante in the valley for some months on some pretext or the other. The valley has also witnessed a spike in violence in the recent months, pointing to the slow but steady raising of pitch in the area, exploiting the deepening divide between the people and the ruling dispensation in the state. The tempers in the valley have become more frayed than in the past and this is reflected in the increasing number of young men joining extremism. Many of these new comers to extremism have had their stint at violence in the infamous stone pelting phase of the violence in the Kashmir valley. All of them were born into violence, witnessing terrorist attacks, killings and terror. These men are also increasingly getting influenced by the vicious propaganda unleashed by global terrorist groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), all of which is freely available on the internet. The Pakistan Army plan for Kashmir is to keep it in slow fuse burn. This will keep the issue alive but will mpt attract too much attention from the international community.


With the Kashmir plan in place, the second part of the plan has been in the works for some months. This involves opening up the front all along the International Border by time tested methods of suicide attacks, bomb blasts and attacks on the security forces. The Jammu region for instance has been on the radar for some time. There have been several attacks in the region, mainly targeting the security forces, including the army. These were planned and executed with certain clear objectives. One is to demoralize and keep the forces engaged. Second is to create terror in the minds of the people about the failure of their governments to protect them. Third is to boost the ranks of the terrorist groups which had been hit hard by the security operations in the past.


The Gurdaspur attack heralds the beginning of the third part of the plan—expands the proxy war across the IB. Punjab is the obvious first target. It has had a history of Pak-sponsored terrorism for long till the terrorist groups were put down by the Indian security forces at great cost. Several terrorist groups active in Punjab in the 80s had sanctuary in Pakistan. They were trained and armed by the ISI, the notorious intelligence wing of Pakistan Army. The manner in which the attack was executed points to a plan of greater and random violence. This was reflected in the random killing of patients, a dhaba owner and other civilians. The fact that the attackers chose the national highway and the police station as their principal targets points to their plan to execute a `mini Mumbai`like attacks which have maximum impact on the people and leadership. Armed assaults and long-played out siege attract wider media coverage and public attention with resultant fall-out on the leadership of the country.


Similar attacks are likely to be played out in other neighbouring border states of Rajasthan and Gujarat which will keep the border alive but without getting into open conflict with a bigger adversary for Pakistan.

It is also not a coincidence that LeT, the favourite proxy warrior of Pakistan Army, has been expanding its presence all along the border for several years now. The terrorist group has had a major training hub in Hyderabad (Sindh). It has several such hubs along the Punjab border, including Lahore and Bahawalpur. In the recent years, there have been reports of LeT ideologues and trainers moving their base closer to the Indian border. This movement has been happening with the support of Pakistan army. Punjab has been a hub for LeT for long. Sindh has been the new frontier for groups like LeT. In fact, LeT has been buying huge tracts of land in Sindh for some years now. The group’s expansion into Sindh in the last few years has been documented by well-known Pakistani scholars, prominent being Ayesha Siddiqa.
This was not a coincidence but part of the Pakistan Army plan to expand the proxy war against India. The Gurdaspur attack was the first warning shot.



(The author is a Freelance Journalist and columnist)


(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Scoop News and Scoop News does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)


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