Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani shake hands before their meeting in Colombo August 2, 2008. The leaders of South Asia called for fighting terrorism together as a regional summit overshadowed by worsening ties between India and Pakistan, its biggest members, opened on Saturday.REUTERS/Buddhika Weerasinghe (SRI LANKA)From Times Of India:
KUALA LUMPUR: Indian intelligence agencies have uncovered at least 800 terrorist cells in the country operating with "external support," and are now looking for the brains behind them within India, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan has said.
"We are concerned that there is a great deal of external inspiration and support, we are also concerned and are looking at a mastermind within the country," Narayanan told Singapore's Straits Times in an interview here, when asked about investigations into the blasts that rocked Bangalore and Ahmedabad on consecutive days.
Narayanan said intelligence agents had "disrupted" several modules, some of which are "not entirely foreign."
"Clearly, there is some kind of organisation. We have to find out if that organisation is localised or there is an external group or module operating," he said without elaborating.
He also expressed concern over the bombing of hospitals by terror outfits in Ahmedabad -- the first instance of a hospital being targeted by terrorists in India.
"Copycat systems are coming up," he said. "Like putting bombs in vehicles near hospitals soon after blasts, knowing that large congregations will be there and impact will be much greater," Narayanan said.
More News On Terrorism In India:
India security forces kill 13 Kashmiri protesters -- Yahoo News
India's Terrorism Dilemma -- Yahoo Finance
Indo-US counter terrorism exercise begins in Mizoram -- New Kerala
How To Fight Terror -- Times Of India
The War Moves East -- Strategy Page
Opinion: Dismantling terrorism's South Asian front -- Globe and Mail
Opinion: India's Counterterrorism Failings -- Wall Street Journal
Opinion: Editorial: Dealing with jihadis -- Business Standard (India)
My Comment: This problem is only going to get worse. India has a long history in dealing with terrorism from its Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim communities. The difference now is that there is a sense that the Indian Government is losing control of the situation. 800 terror cells will get a lot of attention.
The fear that India has stems from the many conflicts that are now occurring on its borders. Sri Lanka is in its 25th year fighting the Tamil community. Burma's ruthless dictatorship is still in power. Thailand has its own political crisis and Islamic insurgency in the south of the country.
Nepal now has a Marxist Government. China has an insurgency that is growing in its Western provinces. Pakistan is losing its war with its own Taliban. Afghanistan is under pressure from insurgents based in Pakistan's Frontier Region and in the southern part of their country. And India itself .... Kashmir is just one of many regions in India that can explode almost immediately.
Nuclear technology is now on the world market for the highest bidder. Weapons are more sophisticated and far more effective when used. Extremism as a cultural condition is becoming the fashion for a small but significant portion of the world community, with intolerance of other religions and cultural traditions being the accepted norm of behavior.
The Indian Government knows about this .... and I sense that they also know that they do not have the resources and means to deal with it.
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