Cross Border Terrorism And Home

Grown Militancy
November 14, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Harshit Singh Jadoun

Editors Note: India and Pakistan are two countries which are endeavouring to deal
with the issue of cross border terrorism since the time of independence, 1947. One
of the most important issues with which almost every country is trying to overcome is
of combating militancy, terrorism and nuclear menace. The entire growth of country
comes at a screeching halt if the security concerns are not timely met and
addressed. Manifestations of threat range from communal/sectarian violence to
jihadist terrorism, separatist insurgencies in northeast and Naxalite extremist
militancy. Most external threats emanate from an unsettled boundary dispute with
China and ongoing cross-border jihadist terrorism in J&K sponsored terrorism,
supported by ISI and Pakistan-based Islamist fundamentalist organizations like
Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad who, in turn, are inextricably linked with
international jihadist groups like Taliban and Al Qaida. Threat from Bangladesh
assumes serious dimensions since it became a base for northeast insurgent groups
like ULFA and Naga factions. Of late, it has also been serving as a conduit for ISI
sponsored infiltration of terrorists along India and Bangladeshs porous border. To
cap it, nuclear threat from neighbouring states and from jihadist groups have the
potential of using nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future, significant being China-
Pakistan nuclear nexus. Terrorism can be classified into Political terrorism for
political purposes and non political terrorism- which exhibits conscious design to
create and maintain a high degree of fear for coercive purposes, but the end is
individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective. The
very fact that India shares its border with many nations, it makes its task of internal
and external security more difficult. The ethnic mix of population also adds fuel to the
fire, when ideology and aspiration of all religion in India are not met concurrently by
the govt. This has been seen in Punjab terrorism in 1980s, followed by Assam and
J&K problem in 1990s and now as Maoism in state of Chhattisgarh, Bihar and
Andhra Pradesh, west Bengal and Orissa. Boundary problems, difficulties and hence
border security and defence are universal phenomena. Borders mark the extent of
sovereignty which a State can claim in relation to another. As such, they are usually
associated with defence arrangements and often wars. Today the problem has
reached an alarming proportion in some parts of the world and in particular in Asia
where the concern of leaders has been to formulate and implement their foreign
policy objectives towards the permanent resolutions of these border problems in their
interactions. These interactions can either be co-operative or confliction depending
on factors such as relationship between border populations, presence of resources
along the borders and of course the nature of regime. This article basically deals with
terrorism question and that always remains unanswered and explains reasons
behind such cross border threats which plonk the life of the citizens of the country
under menace.
INTRODUCTION:
India is one of those countries which have a massive boundary ranging from
Himalayas Mountains in north to Indian Ocean in south including the territory
between the Strait of Horniuz and Strait of Malacca India has absorbed many people
and endured many invasions, expansions and disintegrations of empires that have
shaped its land boundaries. The Indian subcontinent of more than one and a half
million square miles was considered to be an intelligible isolate. 1. Indias land
boundaries have been subject to constant changes and by 6th century B.C sixteen
kingdoms or tribal republics had come into being in Northern India and jostled for
more territory. Alexander the Great of Macedonia attacked from the North- Western
direction in 326 B.C after crossing the Hindukush Mountains defeated Porous on the
banks of the Jhelum River and extended the territory up to the plains of Punjab. The
Kingdom of Magadha, situated in the middle Ganges region, expanded into a vast
empire covering three quarters of Indiafrom present Kashmir to Mysore, from
Afghanistan to Bangladesh. The Kushans controlled sectors of the Silk Route that
was the crucible of lucrative trade between the Indian, Persian, Chinese and Romani
Empires as well as the highway for the outward spread of Buddhism. The contours of
Indias land boundaries further changed with the thrust of Islam which came from the
Turkish people of Central Asia, newly converted to Islam and the Persian culture. For
200 years the new Muslim rulers of Delhi defended borders and staved off Mongol
attacks, which had devastating effects on China, Persia, Russia and Eastern Europe.

India shares ethnic, religious and cultural affinities with its neighbours and in times of
conflict, certain portion of tension flows inward in form of state sponsored terrorism.
Since these states can unleash the terrorist activities in different capacity, they may
use their own directly recruited and controlled terror squads, or may choose to work
through proxies and client movements across the border. The terrorist menace from
across the border is supported financially and materially by the government and
institutions of these countries. Therefore there are number of problems which poses
a serious challenges to the national security of India, unless immediate measures for
border areas are taken. Without peaceful borders with its neighbours, India can
hardly play its legitimate role in global affairs.

PRESENT GEO STRATEGIC SSCENARIO:

At present India is facing threats from each and every country it shares its borders
from. The form of threat through varies from purely military to a combination of
military and non military. India has land borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal,
Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, out of which two are nuclear powers one is
Pakistan and the other is China2. However, five of the six states in South Asia have
borders with India, and this has resulted in inevitable complications since all the
states are in their infancy and in several cases the boundaries are not yet firmly
settled. India, which looms large as the centre piece shares ethnic religious and
cultural affinities with all its neighbours. In times of conflict in neighbouring countries,
this becomes a source of acute tension. A spill over crisis across the borders is not
uncommon.3 The problem of cross border terrorism over the last fifty years in India
has occurred in three regions Punjab, Kashmir and the North East, where people
are on the social and physical fringes of India. Language, religion and the feeling of
alienation set these people apart from the people of the heartland of the country. All
the three are concentrated at the outer limits of India adjoining a neighbouring
country that has the desire and the ability to create problems in Indias internal
security.4

INDO PAKISTAN BORDER:

The border to be guarded on Indo- Pakistan borders is running along the States of
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and J&K. It is clearly demarcated except for about 900
kms of borders in J&K categorized as Line of Control (LOC) and Actual Ground
Position Line (AGPL) which divides the State, held of India and Pakistan further
helps it to threaten the security of the State.5 The borders have a variety of problems
and issues and need a comprehensive focus for durable settlement. At many places,
the social contours of the border are mercilessly cut across and divided into various
ethnic groups. In time of conflict in neighbouring countries this becomes a source of
acute tension. The Pakistan sponsored border terrorism in Punjab remained active
for over a decade broadly, from 1980- 1990. The conflict was caused due to a
number of reasons ranging from the future of Chandigarh, territorial adjustments with
neighbouring States, river water allocations, protection as well as promotion of
Sikhism, reducing landholdings over the past few decades which resulted in the
progeny of marginal farmers being converted into owners of economically unviable
land holdings, and unemployment reaching a new peak in the early 1980s, which
gave rise to disgruntled youth who took to militancy. During the period when
militancy was at its peak, about 15,000 people died in the militant attacks. Pakistan
exploited the dissatisfaction borne out in the State and gave covert and overt
assistance for their struggle. External support also came from influential/ prosperous
members of the community who resided abroad6. The cross-border terrorism
sponsored by Pakistan has to be situated in the broader context of the burgeoning
terrorism that has plagued contemporary Pakistan. The links between top army
personnel, bureaucrats and political leaders, on the one hand, and terrorists and
drug barons, on the other, have acquired a measure of legitimacy under the banner
of Islam and jihad. The transnational links of terrorist outfits also necessitate
international coalitions to weed out terrorism. Nevertheless the India-Pakistan peace
initiatives that are currently under way represent a positive development because
they can make an incremental contribution to ending cross-border terrorism. Indo-
Pakistan relations are characterized by existence of number of bilateral disputes
some of them rooted in historical past such as Kashmir issue, others in current
dynamics of bilateral issues viz. Baglihar Dam dispute. Pakistan continues to occupy
illegally large areas of Kashmir and lays claim over whole State of Jammu and
Kashmir. Both countries have sections at both the ends of the borders which are yet
to be settled. The situation in the State of J&K has almost always been more
vulnerable than that of any other State in the country. This is the only State which
Pakistan has never accepted to be a part of India. It is the only Muslim majority State
of India which Pakistan believes should have belonged to it like all to her Muslim
majority parts of the subcontinent.7 Although the dispute originated in 1947 along
with many other complex problems that were the product of hasty and badly planned
partition, Kashmir dispute is perhaps one of the very few and the most important
dispute that has survived over the years in somewhat original form Pakistan
demands that India should permit the people of Kashmir to decide their future
through an internationally supervised plebiscite. While recognizing that vast majority
of the Kashmiri people are the followers of Islam, India justifies her possession of
Kashmir on the basis of the Maharajas instrument of accession, the legality and
validity of which cannot be questioned, at least of all by Pakistan. Due to India
Pakistan conflict on Kashmir, the subcontinent has experienced four wars and
continues to face proxy war, low intensity conflict and limited war, Pakistan having
failed to grab Kashmir despite fighting wars resorted to the strategy of terrorism. Not
only have the conventional wars proved quite expensive but also the chances of
achieving political objectives through wars have diminished due to the development
of nuclear weapons and the possible international reaction. The three wars between
India and Pakistan, although ended without settlement of dispute, proved Indian
conventional superiority which convinced Pakistan that it could never achieve its
mission in Kashmir through conventional warfare. Pakistan continues to illegally
occupy Kashmir and lays its claim over the whole State of J&K and hence does not
recognize even the international border in the Jammu sector. Unsolved border
disputed with Pakistan in the area of Sir Creek in Gujarat, the LOC in J&K, AGPL
portion in Siachin are the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan on
boundary demarcations.8 The main objective of Pakistans sponsored terrorism
across the border in Kashmir is to use violence to affect the psychology of India so
that it gets exhausted and surrenders. Pakistan sponsored terrorism is a well
planned strategy. They specifically target political leaders of institutions to malign the
creditability of a government. The main aim of Pakistans proxy war against India is
to ensure that the Indian Army and central paramilitary forces remain engaged in
counter insurgency and internal security operations in Kashmir. In religious terrorism,
though the target is the State, the victims are civilian. Pakistan resorted to the
strategy of cross border terrorism because it appeared to be a more costeffective
option. It was a lowcost option that has greater chances of success. It also does not
involve the risk of conventional was as it is fought on the victims territory. It appears
that due to these advantages the option of proxy war through terrorism has
increasingly replaced the option of conventional war in South Asia. It enables
Pakistan to keep the conflict at low costs, less intense and at low level to avoid the
possibility of full-fledged conventional war. Lieutenant General Chandra Shekhar,
Vice Chief of Army staff, explained that proxy war is a low- cost and no- case option
but best suited to promote Pakistans geo political, diplomatic and military interest,
not only to wrest Kashmir but also to gain forward strategic depth. Pakistans main
objective is to keep India involved in protracted proxy war to degrade Indias
conventional superiority through a process of strategic fatigue.

REASON FOR THE CROSS BORDER TERRORISM:

India is emerging as economically and military strong nation in both continental Asia
as well as the Indian Ocean region. In the present scenario, India faces a great
threat from all the countries with which it has borders, in one or the other form. The
form of threat varies from pure military to a combination of military and non-military.
Today India faces more security threat from Pakistan than any of its neighbours,
because of multiple conflicts since 1947 partition on issues like J&K, water sharing,
Sir Creek etc. Pakistan has not accepted regional supremacy of India and
undertaken many military and terrorist actions to destabilise India since
independence.
The dynamic nature of the problems concerning management of borders is brought
out by manner in which the sensitivity of the India- Pakistan, Indo-Bhutan and India-
Bangladesh borders have changed over a period of time. These borders, which have
been open, were once peaceful and trouble-free. However, with the increasing
activities of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan and frequent movement
of militants in other States, the nature of the borders has changed completely. The
Pakistan is resorting to Cross border terrorism, to covertly bringing pressure to bear
on India across the border through violence, so as keep it engaged in proxy wars,
divert its resources from other development and garner support of Muslim
community in India for creating separate Muslim state and finally to degrade Indias
conventional superiority through a process of strategic fatigue.

INDIAS COUNTER TERRORISM SET-UP:

1. The state police and its intelligence set-up: Under Indias federal Constitution, the
responsibility for policing and maintenance of law and order is that of the individual
states. The central government in New Delhi can only give them advice, financial
help, training and other assistance to strengthen their professional capabilities and
share with them the intelligence collected by it. The responsibility for follow-up action
lies with the state police.

2. The national intelligence community: This consists of the internal intelligence

agency (Intelligence Bureau), the external intelligence agency (Research and
Analysis Wing), the Defence Intelligence Agency that was set up a year ago, and the
intelligence directorates general of the armed forces. The IB collects terrorism-
related intelligence inside the country and RAW does it outside. The DIA and the
intelligence directorates general of the armed forces essentially collect tactical
intelligence during their counter-terrorism operations in areas such as Jammu and
Kashmir, Nagaland, etc, where they are deployed

3. Physical security agencies: These include the Central Industrial Security Force,
responsible for physical security at airports and sensitive establishments; the
National Security Guards, a specially trained intervention force to terminate terrorist
situations such as hijacking, hostage-taking, etc; and the Special Protection Group,
responsible for the security of the prime minister and former prime ministers.

4. Paramilitary forces: These include the Central Reserve Police Force and the
Border Security Force, which assist the police in counter-terrorism operations when
called upon to do so.

5. The Army: Their assistance is sought as a last resort when the police and
paramilitary forces are not able to cope with a terrorist situation. But in view of
Pakistans large-scale infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and the presence and
activities of a large number of Pakistani mercenaries, many of them ex-servicemen,
the army has a more active, permanent and leadership role in counter-terrorism
operations here.

OPTIONS FOR INDIA:

1. Military Option- India needs to consider the military option seriously. This would
not only enhance the deterrence in place against such attacks, but would ensure that
the state-jihadi nexus is constricted. The state element would likely be more
sensitive to the likely hurt that India could inflict militarily and therefore exercise
restraint over jihadi impulses. Any such consideration would enable execution of the
military operation better and integrate it with the political and diplomatic prongs of the
strategy that would likely unfold in real time. India must invest more in strengthening
its security forces including army by procuring state of the art weapon and
equipment, surveillance devices, mobility vehicles including helicopter and aircrafts
and logistic support. There should be more cooperation and inter- operability
amongst all security elements for synergy of operation. All sensitive areas along the
border must be guarded and infiltration routes covered by deploying adequate
forces. The intelligence must be shared by all to detect and counter any form of
terrorist activity in time.

2. Diplomatic Dialogue- India must diplomatically engage not only Pakistan, but also
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, so as to formulate policies for
cooperation in economic, military, cultural and terrorism fields and ensure mutual
quest for regional peace, prosperity and stability. As far as Pakistan is concerned
India need to adopt test and trust policy in all future relations and engage them
actively by giving more economic facilities and trade concessions. India must also
ensure that Pakistan remains politically viable nation so that it is not taken over by
non state forces.

3. International Support- India has initiated many dialogues in international forum for
formulation of combined policy and guidelines for combating terrorism, some of
which are in force and being implemented. India need to especially motivate and
convince USA and China to keep Pakistan under control, so that ISI can be checked
for sponsoring and supporting various terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan. In
wake of recent attack by Taliban on naval base of Pakistan, the security of their
nuclear arsenal is threatened. If Taliban and al Qaeda are successful in securing
nuclear weapon from Pakistan, then India will be the nation to face the brunt of their
hatred.

4. Internal Stability- India need to understand the importance of maintaining peace

and harmony amongst all religion and community in India, with special reference to
Muslim and people belonging to NE states and RED CORRIDOR( Maoism). Over
last decades ISI has targeted these people and fuelled insurgency in these regions.
The importance of good grievances detection, monitoring and redressal machinery
so that the build-up of grievances in any community is detected in time and the
political leadership alerted and advised to take prompt action to redress them. The
intelligence agencies have an important role to play as the eyes and ears of the
government in different communities to detect feelings of anger and alienation which
need immediate attention.

CONCLUSION:
The fight against terrorism is very difficult and challenging task, for which concerted
efforts by various responsible agencies, both national and international, is required.
For fighting a successful war against cross border terrorism, an international political
support and cooperation and coordination among the neighbouring States is
required. It is unfortunate that various states are pursuing cross border terrorism in
spite of its prohibition, as International Law regarding the implementation and
enforcement of its rules is not as strong as it should be.
India- Pakistan relations have deteriorated over period of time even though
continuous processes by both nations are being initiated for peace, harmony and
cooperation. However, due to ideological and historical differences not much has
been gained by either side. Pakistan policy to degrade Indias conventional
superiority through a process of strategic fatigue is the main stumbling block in all
peace process. ISI of Pakistan has taken up one point agenda of spreading terrorism
in India by all means, and unless India takes all necessary actions to check its
activities now, the threat of nuclear terrorism looms ahead.

REFERENCES:
1. Surjit Man Singh (1998), Geographic settings, New Delhi, p.4
2. Prakash Singh, Border Management, (July 2, 2001), BSF Journal 11
3. N.S Jamwal, Management of Land Borders, Strategic Analysis, Vol.XXVI, (2002).
4. N.S Jamwal, Counter Terrorism Strategy, Strategic Analysis, Vol.XXVII, (2003),
pp. 56-78.
5. N.S Jamwal, Terrorists Modus Operandi in Jammu and Kashmir, Strategic
Analysis, Vol.XXVII, (2003), pp. 382-402.
6. N.S Jamwal, Counter Terrorism Strategy, Strategic Analysis, Vol.XXVII, (2003),
pp. 56-78
7. Bal raj Puri, Security Situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Strategic Analysis, (July-
September, 2003), p.32.
8. Jay Millan, Terrorism as a Military Weapon, (January- February, 1999), 28 Air
University Review54

9. Indias national security: Internal and External Threat,

http://www.livemint.com/Specials/xziEQVjEQhApmtqEAR8dtI/Indias-National
Security-Internal-and-External-Threats.html. Last seen 24/01/2015.

10. Challenges for Cross Border Terrorism for India

http://www.cdsrd.org/userfiles/19_%20Col_%20Rawat.pdf. Last seen 24/01/2015.

11. Indias stand on Cross border Terrorism

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10603/10659/9/09_chapter%20
2.pdf . Last seen 24/01/2015.

12. Economic and Political Weekly

http://www.epw.in/commentary/cross-border-terrorism.html. Last seen 24/01/2015.