From Our correspondent
New Delhi: The ominous threat from Qaeda to open branches in neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar sends warning signal to North East India which shares most of its borders with these two counties that to with volatile Muslim population.
It is well known that Pakistan’s ISI was providing arms, ammunitions and training to the militants of all hue of North East from the vast and porous Indo-Bangladesh border especially during the regime of Begum Khalida Zia. But under the regime of Begum Seikh Hasina the fundamentalists do not get such indirect patronage.
North East militants, mainly the NSCN (K) and ULFA use bordering areas of Myanmar against India.
To add to the discomfort of both the countries, Myanmar has a burning problem with Rohinga Muslims who it alleges belong to Bangladesh.
India’s domestic security agency issued a security alert to several states on Thursday after al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group. Al-Qaeda would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” in India , Bangladesh and other South Asian countries like Burma (now Myanmar), he had said.
In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al-Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.
Zawahri described the formation of “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” as a glad tidings for Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir” and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.
Counter-terrorism experts say al-Qaeda’s ageing leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanised young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border. Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a “caliph” or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.
The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi’s followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions. This announcement could pose a challenge to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
The statement did not mention Islamic State or Baghdadi, but it appear to take a subtle dig at the group’s efforts at administering areas it has seized in Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State’s effort at state-building is something never attempted by Al-Qaeda’s central leaders, who traditionally have preferred to plot complex attacks on targets in the West.
Zawahri called for unity among militants and criticised “discord” – echoing a common al-Qaeda complaint against Islamic State’s record of clashing with rival Islamist groups in Syria.
The statement also warned al-Qaeda’s new wing against oppressing local populations – another complaint levelled against Islamic State by critics in Iraq and Syria.
Muslims account for 15 percent of Indians but, numbering an estimated 175 million, theirs is the third-largest Muslim population in the world.
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan was born as the first and only secular country in the world but later became Islamic Republic. The whole issue was discussed in the Union Cabinet which met tonight and earlier at the Home Ministry level.