Attack on Indian Parliament: Need for a reality check
Momin Iftikhar

It is disgraceful that in the name of war on terrorism, the authentic threat of terrorism
is exploited as a window of opportunity for intolerable acts.
—Noam Chomsky

Coming in the wake of 9/11, the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 Dec 2001 was a calamitous development for the Region. For India, the new environment that had blurred the lines separating genuine and long running freedom struggles from terrorism phenomenon, came as a godsend. It is instructive to note that the attack formed the seminal plank on which the Indians rested their hypothesis of “cross-border-terrorism” implying that Pakistan was sponsoring terrorists to rake up trouble in the IHK as well as in the Indian hinterland. Within days of the `Parliament Attack’ the Indians, citing “incontrovertible evidence”, had launched Operation Parakram, the largest ever mobilization for war against Pakistan and built up diplomatic pressure in a ruthless exercise of `coercive diplomacy. During the next ten months it was through a skilful display of deft diplomatic manoeuvre and a strong credible deterrence on Pakistan’s part, that the war could be averted with the narrowest of margins.
Four years have passed since and the Indo Pak relations are navigating in calmer waters, yet India remains adamantly stuck with the “cross-border-terrorism” syndrome; which has irrevocably got ingrained in the Indian conduct of policy vis-a-vis Pakistan. Mysteriously she has refused to make public the evidence that resulted into treating the attack on tier parliament as an act of war. Even more perplexing is the fact that despite Indian Parliament being the objective of the attack, no mainstream political party, no group of prominent individuals and none of the influential print or visual media has ever raised the question of an inquiry. The result is that the “incontrovertible evidence” that motivated a near war with Pakistan remains as elusive as it was. Indian Judicial System too seems to have been in cahoots with Government in suppressing the truth. It took the third judicial pronouncement on the case, by the Supreme Court of India in Aug 2004, that has thrown aside the charges involving Pakistan in the attack. It is a shame though that absolving of Pakistan from the `conspiracy’ charges by the Indian Supreme Court has elicited no response from the Indian media as well as political establishment; no apology or remorse for their churlish behaviour has been forthcoming.
According to the plot hatched by the Indian prosecution, the `conspiracy’ began with Maulana Massod Azhar, allegedly asking one Ghazi Baba, a mythical figure located somewhere in the Indian Held Kashmir to arrange for attack on some sensitive installation of India. Ghazi Baba ordered one Tariq Ahmed to arrange for the operation, who contacted Muhammad Afzal (a well known renegade having a long history of closely working with Indian intelligence agencies) to take on the assignment. On December 13, 2001, at around 11.45 a.m., five men in an Ambassador car carrying a flashing light and a home ministry sticker drove into Parliament premise. It parked in a, reserved slot and was asked to vacate. While reversing, the inexperienced driver collided with the main car in the Vice President’s cavalcade and caused a commotion. (Speaks of the efficiency of the `terrorist squad’). When challenged, the five attackers opened fire, killing nine security personnel and injuring sixteen. In the shootout all five attackers were killed. None of them could be identified but were declared Pakistanis. The, special judge of the Sessions Court claimed that the dead persons were Pakistanis since no Indian came forward to claim their bodies and by way of evidence the then Home Minister L.K. Advani proclaimed in the Indian parliament that “the dead men looked like Pakistanis”. This false story, directly holding Pakistan for the attack, was presented by the Indian police, argued for by the prosecution, propagated repeatedly in full colours by the print and the visual media for months , and ratified by two[Special Court and the Indian High Court] courts of law.
With this false premise, India launched its exercise in coercive diplomacy vis-avis Pakistan. On December 21, India recalled its High Commissioner to Pakistan, banned Pakistani over flights over Indian Territory and stopped rail and bus communications between the two countries. Both the UN’s request to be involved in the probe and Pakistan’s offer to hold a joint probe into the attack were rejected. The investigations into the attack were handed over to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police known for its expertise for organizing fake encounters. Within hours of the attack the Delhi police arrested four persons on charge of conspiracy: Mohammad Afzal, a former JKLF militant who had surrendered in 1994, his cousin Shaukat Husain Guru, Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru and S.A.R.Gilani, a lecturer of Arabic at Delhi University.
The Special Court Judge Shri S.N. Dhingra, trying the case under POTA, delivered the court verdict a year later and found all accused guilty. The three men were given death and life imprisonment sentences while Afsan was given 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment. It is interesting to note that Dhingra, known as the “Hanging Judge” in the legal circles, has a history of being used as a rubber stamp for consigning innocents to death on fake charges of terrorism. On appeal, the Delhi High Court, on 29 October 2003, acquitted Professor S.A.R. Gilani and Afsan Guru for lack of any implicating evidence, while upholding the death sentence on the remaining two. Afzal and Shaukat appealed to the Supreme Court, which gave its verdict on 3 August this year; Shaukat’s death sentence was lifted, leaving him with an imprisonment of ten years while Afzal’s death sentence was confirmed. The tragic figure of Afzal, a renegade, with his longstanding association with India’s Special Task Force, emerges as the ultimate fall guy of the Parliament Attack Case and injustice meted out to him merits a -separate write up.
A fact that has largely gone un-noticed is that the verdict by the Indian Supreme Court has silently but surely sounded the death knell of the India’s “cross-border-terrorism “propaganda, coined in the wake of the attack. As pointed out by the Supreme Court, charges of a `Pakistani Connection’, based solely on confessional statement of Muhammad Afzal obtained by Police under POTA, were simply untenable; “...All these lapses and violations of procedural safeguards guaranteed in the statute itself impel us to hold that it is not safe to act on the alleged confessional statement of Afzal and place reliance on this item of evidence on which the prosecution places heavy reliance.”
With Afzal’s confession set aside, the story of conspiracy linking ISI, Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Ghazi Baba, Tariq, and the rest, disappears from the judgment of the court. All that the judgment refers to is that five unidentified armed men attacked Indian Parliament and died, and that Mohammad Afzal participated in the conspiracy. The development has thrown overboard the four year old story, repeated ad nauseam by the Indian police, argued for by the prosecution, propagated repeatedly in full colours by the print and the visual media and ratified by two[Special Court and the Indian High Court] courts of law.
In hindsight Indian design becomes apparent - she wanted to use the “window of opportunity” provided by 9/11 to settle scores with Pakistan. 12/13 was therefore engineered or an indigenous event of terrorism seized upon to propound the “crossborder-terrorism” theory. It is a pity that despite the SC verdict on the Parliament Attack case the Indian Government is stuck in the same old groove that she is a victim of extraneous terrorism. India needs to acknowledge the indigenous causes leading to various incidents of homespun terror and take remedial measure to find peace as a Nation. All her neighbours wish her godspeed.

Pakistan and post-Taliban developments in Afghanistan
Shamsa Ishfaq

Afghanistan had completely lost its infrastructure and technical professionals because of years of conflict. Since the fall of Taliban, she has been engaged in gigantic process of reconstruction and development. The regional and world focus too, was to rebuild Afghanistan from ashes, which was a long and exhausting process. Restructuring of economy and infrastructure were given due importance but the most needed was political stability. Now its emergence from the shadow and after effects of destruction and war for nearly twenty years is an indication of peace and stability returning home.
In war ravaged Afghanistan hunger and suffering posed a collateral threat to internal stability. As many as 5 million people were facing dire food shortages with 130,000 refugees living in makeshift camps in Pakistan. In addition, there was little history and experience in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). So the key areas crucial for development of Afghanistan included roads, transport, electricity, civil aviation and social infrastructure like health, education and agriculture. It was also agreed that the world must not abandon Afghanistan as it did after the Soviets departed. The United Nations (UN) in collaboration with other international bodies started activities to build afghan administrative capacity and strengthen institutions of good governance, law and order and security. More than 40 countries around the globe also contributed significantly to rebuilding Afghanistan. Among neighbours Pakistan stood as unflinching support to-date.
Despite immense challenges, Afghanistan has managed to make tremendous progress in almost all spheres in the last two years. Afghanistan economic restructuring and infrastructure development is taking pace day to day. According to macroeconomic assessment up till March 2005, per capita GDP of Afghanistan is estimated to have risen from $ 199 in FY 2003 to $ 228 in FY 2004. Domestic revenue generation strengthened from $ 208 million to an estimated 256 million by March 2005.
A Priority Reform and Restructuring (PRR) program was introduced to dilute heavy presence of international and non-government organizations. This program enabled government departments to transfer or appoint key staff to a higher pay scale for a fixed term. To reduce distortion of local labour market, already suffering acutely from scarcity of qualified personnel, 10 ministries and two independent entities had been granted PRR status. Also 8,017 positions had been transferred to the PRR scales. Eleven national and foreign banks have been operating under central bank of Afghanistan, which is gradually disengaging from its commercial banking functions.
An interim poverty reduction strategy has been formulated aimed to reduce poverty, sustain economic growth and promoting social inclusion. This 15-month formulation process is to include widespread consolation with civil society and the development of a 3-year macroeconomic framework. In this entire process of rebuilding, Pakistan has not acted as a traditional donor country. Her contribution and cooperation projects are an acknowledgment of shared historical and cultural heritage between the two brotherly nations. As often described in literary terms, every drop of rain water falling into river Kabul ultimately travels to Pakistan. Knowing this fact, Pakistan and Afghanistan have taken effective measures to strengthen their economic and commercial relations. Not only this Pakistan and Afghanistan have negotiated transit trade agreements that will allow Afghanistan to use their ports.
A bilateral transportation agreement has been signed to facilitate the movements of trucks across the border. The Mazar-e-Sharif-Herat ring road was near completion, which would enable Pakistan easy access to CARs. Construction of Torkham-Jalalabad road has already been in progress and expected to be completed this year. A road between Ghulam Khan and Spin Boldak has also been considered to make operative, quickly. The improved road infrastructure will reduce time and difficulties of the importers and transporters on both sides of Durand line. To increase access to international markets both countries have agreed to lay down a railway track of about one-hundred-three kilometers between Chaman (Pakistan) and Kandahar (Afghanistan)” through the Afghan city of Spin Boldak. Besides, Pakistani authorities are considering providing assistance to Afghanistan in building a small airport at Khost.
Apart from economic ventures and developments Pakistan’s support to Afghanistan in building of democratic institutions, infrastructure and human capacity and welcoming of parliamentary elections is indeed laudable. However, preconceived notions and unsubstantiated assumptions like ‘Pakistan desires to subjugate and not allow the Afghans to exercise their sovereignty are still prevailing in media. Additionally, Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency is supporting Taliban uprising in Afghanistan is another piece of media fabrication. Peace and stability in Afghanistan is Pakistan’s strategic interest and she is fully committed to this goal. She has no desire to subjugate Afghans and all her efforts and assistance is to restore peace and stability in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s entry into SAARC as a member has been approved by Pakistan. This approval of Pakistan propagated as Pakistan’s backing is aimed at making Kabul’s trade policy Pakistan centric and rebuild the influence that it had once in Afghanistan. The concerns, however, are redundant.
Indeed, government of Afghanistan’s response to 8th October earthquake is recognition of the fact that Pakistan and Afghanistan stood shoulder to shoulder through thick and thin. As president Karzai expressed profound grief over destruction caused by earthquake in Pakistan. It was the only nation to lower the flag and three days mourning to share grief of their Pakistani brethrens. Not only this, a relief package including dispatch of 34 doctors and 4 tons of medicine is commendable.
Afghanistan is on a long path towards integration into the international economy. Pakistan’s efforts and contribution has sustained despite subversive endeavours by its eastern neighbour. But she will continue to support its Afghan brethren in national reconciliation and reconstruction of their country. There can be no doubt that a strong, stable and prosperous Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and hence she will spare no effort to help in achieving this.