Plea to BJP-led Govt. to Raid Muslim Concentration Areas to Recover Arms, Bombs etc.
The serial bombing ... in Coimbatore ... convincingly demonstrated that militant Islamic fundamentalism has taken root in Tamil Nadu ... The men behind it have assiduously built up an extensive network ... All this would not have been possible without external assistance in the shape of money, material and guidance.
On the question of Hindu-Muslim unity or maintaining communal peace, the DMK and the ALADMK have no differences. However, while the ... Jayalalitha was perceived to be patronising the backward class of Thevars, it was also considered to be well disposed towards the RSS and its front organisations like the Hindu Munnani ... DMK government ... in 1996 gave a subtle twist (to) in its attitude towards Muslims as they were extended a favoured treatment. Karunanidhi grant of bail in January, 1997 for the sixteen Al-Umma militants who were arrested in the RSS building blast case ...
There were strong signals from November, 1997 onwards on the growing Muslim militancy in Tamil Nadu ... The Intelligence Bureau and the Home Ministry had repeated sent warnings and alerts to the DGP, Tamil Nadu and the state government but the response was lukewarm. There was a communication on December 21, 1997, another on January 2, 1998 and yet another on January 19, 1998 and all these communications contained warnings about the activities of Al-Umma and their planning for explosions ...
The ... recoveries ... all over Tamil Nadu by the police since February 14, are like the proverbial locking of the door after the horse had bolted. Extensive publicity is being give to recoveries and arrests to show that Tamil Nadu police is rounding up all the Islamic militant elements. Politicians in power ... fail to read strong signals which call for immediate attention, when their party's narrow interests are involved ...
Following the demolition of Babari Masjid in December, 1992, the ISI had extended their operations in a systematic manner throughout the country and the process continues. The serial bomb blasts on March 12, 1993 in Mumbai were carried out in a demonstrative manner to show what Islamic militants were capable of. In the following weeks recruits were taken from Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Patna, Aligarh, Lucknow, etc. and most of them were taken to Pakistan through Bangladesh ... The bomb making and locating agents throughout the country seem to have continued unabated ...
.. Islamic militants are active (in) almost the entire country. J&K and the north-east have their own serious problems and the ISI role there is very pronounced ... What lesson does India learn from all this evidence? The obvious one is that Islamic militancy has spread throughout the country and arms and explosives are secreted in several cities and areas. If surprise raids are carried out in some of the communally- sensitive areas, even if they have remained peaceful for quite some time, there is a strong possibility of firearms and bombs being recovered. With the BJP government settling down at the Centre, the Islamic militants are likely to become more restive and aggressive. No time should be lost in strengthening the intelligence and law and order organisations and intensifying vigilance at all levels. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 9 April, 1998)
