Counterterrorism Blog

Once again, suspected Al Qaeda commanders claimed its presence in India, declaring jihad (Holy War) against the country and Kashmir as the gateway of Jihad against India’ for the first time ever. In a video message, [received by a Jammu and Kashmir based local news agency Current News Service (CNS) on June 08], a masked man identified himself as Abu Abrahim Al Asim voiced the statement (in Urdu) on behalf of Abu Abdul Rehman Al Ansari, the suspected chief of the Al-Qaeda for India (Al-Qaeda-fill-Hind-AQH). Similar CDs were reportedly distributed byan unidentified man during Friday prayers at a Mosque at Gaw Kadal in Srinagar.

The content of the CD:

“America was trying to equip India with sophisticated arms and nuclear capability and Allah had already warned the Muslims against this unholy nexus among the infidels against the Muslims. America, Israel and other western nations in collaboration with India were trying to divide Kashmir to gain hegemony in the region and set up military bases in this region. We declare Jihad against India. Jammu and Kashmir shall be the gateway for such a Jihad.”

A list of names that the AQH CD says as ‘Traitors of Islam’ (in India):

Separatist leaders: Senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq, Abdul Gani Bhat, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)’s Yasin Malik.

Political leaders: J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chief minister and PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.

Militant leader: Syed Sallahuddin, the supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen and the head of the Muzaffarabad (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) based United Jihad Council (UJC) for 'protecting and supporting APHC leaders.

Image from CD:

Veracity under Scanner

Is it a mischief by somebody influenced by Osama bin laden and Al Qaeda or is it a real threat coming from the outfit? One thing is certain that whoever behind this CD and calls has fair amount of knowledge on the global Islamist agenda and the geographic locations where the jihadi movement is ongoing. It talks about Islamic caliphate too. To give a localized flavor, Urdu was used to air propaganda.

Every time an Al Qaeda name surfaces in the media, both police and intelligence agencies prefer to deny/downplay any presence of it in J&K and elsewhere in India. Even the terrorist outfits operating in J&K from Pakistan’s soil maintain that there is no space for al Qaeda in their so called struggle for homeland.

Last year in July, Immediately after Mumbai serial train blasts, one Abu Al Hadeed presented himself as Al Qaeda representative in India and called the same Srinagar based news agency, (Current News Service) to announce the arrival of Al Qaeda-Hind in Kashmir and appealed to all Muslims in India to fight for freedom and Islam. Abu Hadeed too mentioned Abu Abdul Rehman Al Ansari’s name as AQ chief in India.

Again in mid November, reports of suspected al Qaeda terrorists’ plan to perpetrate major attacks on airports in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (south India) surfaced. The written letter received by airport authority at Tiruchirappalli or Trichy (in Tamil Nadu) indicated about 10 members of the outfit’s suicide squad have penetrated airports in Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore and airports in Kerala.

However, the CD is under intelligence scanner right now and it would be far fetched if we draw conclusions regarding the AQ-H presence in India at this juncture. It is certain that Al Qaeda along with its affiliates has been trying desperately to set up base in Indian soil and may be testing waters for now.

Related Article: "New al-Qaeda Threats Issued Against Indian Infrastructure" [Terrorism Focus, Volume 3, Issue 45, November 21, 2006]