Clearly, the anti-India, pro-Kashmir militancy based out of Pakistani soil is faced with serious odds. The gunning down of high-ranking militant Muhammad Riaz by an unidentified person at a mosque in Rawalakot, close to the de-facto border with India, the Line of Control, took place in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir region. This, curiously, falls into a familiar pattern by now and underpins the security failures inside Pakistan. The Islamic nation can no longer guard its own agents of terror. Riaz hailed from Surankote in Kashmir Valley and “migrated” to the Pakistani side over 20 years ago to organise anti-India militant activities there. The killing might be seen as a ‘targeted’ attack involving state actors from the Indian side. He was among the prominent militants wanted in India mainly because of his association with Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which together masterminded the 2008 serial attacks on Mumbai that killed over 160 persons. Notably, this was the third targeted attack on militants linked to the pro-Kashmiri militancy in recent times. The liquidation of Bashir Ahmed Peer, a former commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, took place in the high-security military headquarters city of Rawalpindi in February last. Another wanted militant and commander of the pro-Kashmir Al Badr Mujahideen group, Syed Khalid Raza, was exterminated in the port city of Karachi. This apart, the founder of JuD and Let, Hafiz Saeed, who camouflages himself under charity and educational initiatives with the bundles of money he took as ransom from the 1999 hijack of the Indian Airlines flight 814, himself narrowly escaped a liquidation attempt at his base in Pakistan last year. Very little is heard about Dawood Ibrahim, the Mumbai-based don who allied with Hafiz in masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. He has been under the protection of the Pakistani military establishment after the 1993 blasts in Mumbai that killed over 250 persons. He is still beyond the reach of India thus far. A similar scenario is developing in Canada, where pro-Khalistani militants are being targeted by unidentified gangs/agencies. The US claims to have evidence to show Indian involvement in the liquidation of some Khalistanis in Canada. The UN and top global players like the US can hardly take such investigations forward as these offensives are seen as part of the global fight against terror. A precedent had been set by the US itself in reaching up to Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, close to the military capital of Rawalpindi, and liquidating him in a covert operation. Notably, however, the US took responsibility for the midnight air raid and Pakistan could not speak a word against it. India effected a few military-induced surgical strikes as well, in Pakistan and Myanmar in the past. The fight against terror continues.
