The low-intensity proxy war, unleashed by Pakistan's ISI about a decade ago in J&K continues. ISI operatives, agents and supporters have spread their tentacles in several other parts of the country and the threat posed by their covert operations has grown manifold over the past few years.

If J&K was the gateway for the ISI to start disturbances, the northeast and southern States are the other territories where the Pakistan agency is gaining a foothold ... According to an assessment by the Union Home Ministry, the ISI has established its network in western UP, north Kerala, Tamil Nadu, the Indo-Bangladesh border and Assam besides J&K.

The ISI trained, armed and funded mercenaries. From about 14 countries and pushed them into J&K. Authoritative figures show that 1,037 foreign mercenaries were killed during the 1990-1998 period in J&K and of them 400 hailed from Pakistan.

... The ISI plan to stoke the fires of in surgency and forge links with the militant organisations in Assam and Nagaland indicates its aspiration to stretch the Indian security forces to the maximum by pinning them down to internal security duties and thereby impair their offensive capabilities and boost the cost of fighting terrorism ...

... In some cases in western UP and Hyderabad, the ISI-backed militants even married local girls, started business and gained legitimacy by procuring documents such as passport and ration card ... It is its hidden agenda of whipping up communal tensions and spreading religious fundamentalism that is causing concern among the security and intelligence agencies ...

The Union Home Secretary, Kamal Pande, maintains that the threat to the country's internal security is real. Clearly, there is no room for muddleheaded policies and vacillating politics while dealing with the problem.

... The former president of the People's Union for Civil Liberties and jurist, Rajinder Sachar, said that the magnitude of the ISI penetration, as brought out by the Government, was cause for concern but he rejected the view that all minorities were pro-Pakistan sympathisers.

"The entire Muslim population is weak in its loyalty towards the country is a very dangerous angle to give to this problem ... ", he says.  (Source: The Hindu, 5 September, 1999)