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ISI-backed terrorism has claimed 34,252 lives since 1990: report

George Iype in New Delhi

The Union home ministry's draft report on the activities of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence in India states that 29,151 civilians and 5,101 security personnel have been killed due to the ISI-sponsored terrorism across the country since 1990.

The draft report has been prepared to finalise the white paper on the ISI in India which Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani has promised to table in Parliament.

The report reveals that the Indian government has spent Rs 640 billion to counter the ISI's terrorist activities in the country.

While the ISI has smuggled nearly 70,000 sophisticated weapons and 50,000 kilograms of explosives into India, Pakistan-aided militants have caused 4,730 small, medium and major explosions in many parts of the country.

The home ministry estimates that the ISI-sponsored terrorist hits have damaged civilian and government property worth Rs 25 billion.

Providing details about the ISI's militant camps and its network in Kashmir and across the country, the report asserts that India is one of the worst victims of cross border terrorism in the world.

The draft report also states that there are nearly 190 foreign-backed terrorist outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 15 are termed as "very active outfits". The ministry estimates that 900 out of the more than 2,300 hardcore militants currently operating in Jammu and Kashmir are foreign mercenaries.

The report points out that the ISI has an integrated intelligence process and apparatus for the collection, analysis and to conduct covert action in India.

While the ISI has India-specific skills, it has the Pakistan army's logistic support base and has leverage over other security agencies and administrative departments in Pakistan too.

The report alleges that the ISI has operational links with drug syndicates, gun manufacturers and the underworld networks and it runs intelligence bases in Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai, Thailand and west Asia.

The report states that the ISI has institutionalised leverage and influence of fundamentalist groups and that it runs terrorist camps in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Gulf countries for Pakistan's proxy war against India in Kashmir. The dominant ISI-aided terrorist outfits operating in Kashmir are the Harkat-ul-Ansar, the Hizbul-Mujhadeen and Lashkar-e-Tohiba.

It also refers to a number of Islamic organisations across India that are part of the ISI's network in carrying out its terrorist activities in Kashmir and setting off explosions in other parts of the country.

According to the report, the ISI's main objective in India is to sustain Pakistan's Kashmir movement in full swing, but with minimal cost and to strategically prevent India from becoming a dominant power in Asia.

Soon after he took over the home ministry in April, Advani had given his nod to Jammu and Kashmir state government and the central security forces to carry out "deep strikes" into the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to destroy the training camps of terrorists and mercenaries.

While Advani has often termed his pro-active policy in Kashmir as "successful," he promised to draw up a white paper on the ISI activities in the country in response to demands from Opposition members of Parliament who claim that the minister's steps have all failed.

The MPs have alleged that the proxy war being waged by the ISI through militants in Jammu and Kashmir is in full swing despite measures taken by the government, as recent reports have unveiled ISI networks in some southern and northern Indian states too.

Though Advani had promised to table the white paper in the ongoing session of Parliament, officials said it is unlikely to be submitted to Parliament, as the home ministry has not yet finalised the complete document.

The winter session of Parliament ends on Wednesday.

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