India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad
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INDIA, PAKISTAN AND THE SECRET JIHAD This book explores the history of jihadist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, docu- menting the course of their activities and their changing character from 1947 to 2004. Drawing on new material, including classified Indian intelligence dossiers and records, Praveen Swami shows that jihadist violence was not, as is widely assumed, a phenomenon that manifested itself in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir only after 1988. Rather, a welter of jihadist groups waged a sustained campaign against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir from the outset, after the Partition of India. This book first analyses the ideology and practice of Islamist terrorism as it changed and evolved from 1947–1948 onwards. It subsequently discusses the impact of the secret jihad on Indian policy-making on Jammu and Kashmir, as well as its influence on political life within the state. Finally, looking at some of the reasons why the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir acquired such intensity in 1990, the author suggests that the answers lie in the transfiguration of the strategic environment in South Asia by the nuclear weapons programmes of India and Pakistan. As such, the book argues, the violent conflict which exploded in these two regions after 1990 was not a historical discontinuity: it was, instead, an escalated form of what was by then a five-decade old secret war. This new work will be of much interest to students of the India–Pakistan conflict, South Asian politics and security studies in general. Praveen Swami is New Delhi Chief of Bureau for Frontline magazine, and writes on security- and intelligence-related issues. He has reported on the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as other low-intensity conflicts in India, for over a decade. ASIAN SECURITY STUDIES Edited by Sumit Ganguly Indiana University, Bloomington and Andrew Scobell, US Army War College Few regions of the world are fraught with as many security questions as Asia. Within this region it is possible to study great power rivalries, irredentist conflicts, nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation, secessionist movements, ethnoreligious conflicts and inter-state wars. This new book series will publish the best possible scholarship on the security issues affecting the region, and will include detailed empirical studies, theoretically oriented case studies and policy-relevant analyses as well as more general works. CHINA AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Alternate paths to global power Marc Lanteigne CHINA’S RISING SEA POWER The PLA navy’s submarine challenge Peter Howarth IF CHINA ATTACKS TAIWAN Military strategy, politics and economics Steve Tsang (Ed.) CHINESE CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS The transformation of the People’s Liberation Army Nan Li (Ed.) THE CHINESE ARMY TODAY Tradition and transformation for the 21st century Dennis J. Blasko TAIWAN’S SECURITY History and prospects Bernard D. Cole RELIGION AND CONFLICT IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Disrupting violence Linell E. Cady and Sheldon W. Simon (Eds.) POLITICAL ISLAM AND VIOLENCE IN INDONESIA Zachary Abuza US-INDIAN STRATEGIC COOPERATION INTO THE 21ST CENTURY More than words Sumit Ganguly, Brian Shoup and Andrew Scobell (Eds.) INDIA, PAKISTAN AND THE SECRET JIHAD The covert war in Kashmir, 1947–2004 Praveen Swami INDIA, PAKISTAN AND THE SECRET JIHAD The covert war in Kashmir, 1947–2004 Praveen Swami First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2007 Praveen Swami All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Swami, Praveen. India, Pakistan and the secret jihad : the covert war in Kashmir, 1947–2004 / Praveen Swami. -- 1st ed. p. cm. -- (Asian security studies) “Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–415–40459–2 (hardback) 1. Jammu and Kashmir (India)--Politics and government. 2. India--Foreign relations--Pakistan. 3. Pakistan--Foreign relations--India. 4. Jihad. I. Title. II. Series. DS485.K27S93 2006 954.604--dc22 2006014509 ISBN10: 0–415–40459–2 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–203–96840–9 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–40459–4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–96840–6 (ebk) For my daughter Tarsha, the light of my eyes When she is old enough to read this book, I hope she will at least understand – if not forgive – my sudden and sometimes prolonged disappearances CONTENTS Acknowledgements viii 1 A house on a hill 1 2 The informal war 17 3 The master cell 49 4 Al-Fatah 76 5 Years of retreat and revival 104 6 The war of many fronts 137 7 The nuclear Jihad 172 8 Towards peace? 206 Notes 219 Bibliography 241 Index 247 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have written this book without the generous support of several individuals, some of whom I cannot name. Amongst those I can, Sumit Ganguly must come first: his persistent prodding and encouragement led me to begin work on this book, and he generously gave of both his time and energies in the course of my writing it. To N. Ram, the Editor-in-Chief of Frontline magazine, I will always be indebted. He entrusted a young and untested reporter with covering India’s most sensitive conflict, and stood by me during difficulties with both the establishment and non-state actors. Frontline has often been complimented for both the breadth and the depth of its reportage on the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. This is not because of any exceptional abilities I possess, but because of the magazine’s unparalleled willingness to commit financial and organizational resources to real news – something that is, sadly, a diminishing feature of Indian journalism. Finally, without the support of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), which awarded me a Senior Fellowship in 2004–2005, I could not have actually written this book. Their decision to grant a prestigious and generous fellowship to a relatively obscure journalist amazing – and I will always be grateful for the opportunity they provided. To the individuals at USIP who worked with me as the book was being written, I also wish to record my gratitude: John Crist, my programme officer, was saint- like in his patience and concern; Kiran Sharma provided library support of a quality I had not imagined could exist; C. Christine Fair was a source of not only great intellectual stimulation but personal strength. To Razili Datta I owe special thanks; I was blessed to have a research assistance of such intelligence and integrity. To my friends in Washington, DC, Murtaza Solangi, Ayesha Siddiqa, and to Hannah Bloch, Claudia Kinkela and Laurent Murawiec I owe special thanks for their love and patience. I am indebted, too, to Ajai Sahni, A.K. Doval, Anupam Gupta, A.M. Watali, Dinkar Gupta, Farooq Khan, Farooq Ahmad, Gurbachan Jagat, K.P.S. Gill, K. Rajendra, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, N.N. Vohra, Pushpa Iyer, Sumedh Saini and Usman Majid for the time they gave to discussing issues directly related viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS either to this book or to helping develop, over the years, some understanding of covert warfare. Above all, though, I am grateful to J., J., A., K., M., R., R., G., N., and D., the people who made it possible to gather the material needed to write this book and allowed me to peek into the secret world they inhabit, at not inconsiderable risk to their careers and, in some cases, their lives. ix 1 A HOUSE ON A HILL The last argument is the sword. Nurul Amin, Chief Minister of East Pakistan and President of the East Pakistan Muslim League, 19501 Perched above the Dal Lake in Srinagar, on the slopes of the Shankaracharya mountain, is one of Jammu and Kashmir’s least known monuments: a modest two-storey house that sits under the shade of a magnificent Chinar tree. It shows signs of neglect – the hand-carved walnut-wood ceilings have been painted over with hospital-white enamel, and a spectacularly unappealing concrete office block has come up on its right flank – but even the considerable efforts of the Public Works Department have not succeeded in obscuring its beauty. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, India’s third Prime Minister and the architect of its most decisive military victory over Pakistan, is reputed to have spent a part of her honeymoon in this house. While the story might be apocryphal, few who have seen the house would disagree that she would have been well advised to do so. On all sides of the house on the hill are other landmarks of Jammu and Kashmir’s recent political history. A few hundred metres to the left is the house of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the leader who was central in crafting the state’s independence from monarchical rule and was without dispute its most important political figure. The Lieutenant-General of Indian Army’s XV Corps, who commands the military forces that defended what is now Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani assault in 1947–1948 and have held it ever since, lives and works across the road.