CHANDIGARH: Senior police and intelligence officials in Punjab are concerned that Pakistan may now play a greater role in accentuating violence and Subversion in this strife-tom state following: the recent developments in Afghanistan which have left it with only a “single front” to reckon with. This concern has been substantiated by recent revelations that the Afghan Mujahedeen have been helping the Punjab militants to cross the border besides giving them training.
According to informed sources the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been telling the Pakistan-based Punjab militant leaders that it will now be in a position to divert to them substantial portions of the deadly armaments earlier committed to the Afghan Mujahedeen. The Punjab militants have also established direct contact with the powerful Afghan Mujahedeen leaders through their Pakistani mentors.
These sources revealed that a top Punjab militant Daljit Singh Khalsa president of a powerful 4nd underground faction of the Sikh Students Federation (SSF) aligned to the Panthic Committee (Sohan) had recently met the Afghan Hizbe-Islami leader Gulbudin Hekmatyar Bitu and had sought the Afghan leaders “cooperation.”
Bitu a graduate of Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana was in Pakistan for seven to eight months before returning to India recently. He is currently involved in the efforts to unite militant organization.
The ISI has decided to provide training to selected persons in advanced guerilla warfare apart from also familiarizing the common militant with basic guerilla warfare
The sources also revealed that the Pakistani authorities are playing close attention to forging a “working understanding” between the Kashmiri and Punjab militants. In fact the Jammu and Kashmir order is being used more frequently by the Punjab militants to go and return from Pakistan after collecting weapons or getting training. The weapons are usually left in the custody of the Kashmiri militants in Kashmir from where they are transported to Punjab sometimes with the help of transport companies.
The Punjab militants are also being advised by Pakistan to strengthen their intelligence network in the cities village’s factories and at vital installations and attempt sabotage through sophisticated methods Nepal which has been figuring as a recent source of weapon supply has been found suitable due to the topographical advantages and comparatively lesser vigil. Thus the militants are planning to strengthen their hold over the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh especially areas close to the Indo Nepal border
The sources further revealed that at a recent meeting held between Punjab militants and the ISI the former were asked to form Khalsa panchayats (parallel judicial system) and bring down the democratically-election Congress government in the state. The meeting held around mid-April was attended by top Punjab militants most of them aligned to the Panthic Committee. The emphasis was on ideological revival getting mass support or the cause of militancy and a great degree of sophistication on targeted action.
Significantly intelligence reports indicate that the Babbar Khalsa a dreaded underground militant organization had decided to constitute suicide squads with women members on the line of the LTTE. A separate decision on similar lines is reported to have also been taken by the Panthic Committee
The latter is even understood to have constituted a 15-member squad comprising among others Rajbir Singh Jassi Ajmer Singh Khalsa both SSF (Bitu) Naib Singh Rurke Darshan Singh Kothi both KFC (Panjwar) Jasmel Singh Lalli and Devinder Singh Pawat both BTFK (Chhandra). Bitu is reported to have decided to constitute 40 such units.
Police sources say that the militants appear to be better organized than before even though their numbers may have slightly decreased. They reveal that Pakistan has been providing them with specialized training in the form of a 10-day capsule training course A 21-day extended training course in the use of sophisticated weapons explosives and handling of technical equipment including wireless sets is also organized. For example the Punjab militants have now been provided remote controls for explosive devices with a range of one-and-a-half km.
The sources also revealed that there is a move to install a private radio station near Lahore by Punjab militants. Earlier there had been a move to install a powerful wireless station to communicate with the militants for which the KLF is reported to have raised a huge sum of over Rs.1 crore. Militant leaders in Pakistan who are housed in comfortable bungalows are being allowed to make use of sophisticated communication facilities. For example recently Bitu was allowed to get in touch with militant leaders in several European countries.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1992
