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Money, not militancy alone, is a motivator

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

General Parvez Musharraf donates a day's salary to it, while the ISI pumps in millions.

Militancy in Kashmir is receiving an unprecedented amount of money from the Inter Services Intelligence and militant organisations, according to intelligence inputs. The funding has gone up in the wake of the military coup in Pakistan.

The directional change in militancy after Gen Mushafraf's takeover in Pakistan is sustained and abetted by a massive in flow of money, most of it smuggled into the Valley by couriers and terrorists.

According to authoritative information, a senior leader of the All Party Hurriyat Conference is among the major benefactors of the fresh fund flow into the Valley. He has been paid Rs 2.5 million recently from across the border, state intelligence sources.

Suicide squads, who began spreading terror by attacking security installations, are the highest paid and cost a huge sum for their backers. If a member of the suicide squads (called Fidayeen) is killed during the action, his family is paid a lumpsum of about Rs 1 million. If the member survives, he gets a pension ranging between Rs 2 and 4,000 per month.

In case a terrorist is injured seriously during fighting, his family is paid Rs 200,000.

A militant could be paid anything from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 per month, depending upon his efficiency and seniority.

According to information, the Hizbul Mujahiddin has kept apart 10 million US dollars for the "liberation of Kashmir". Of this, Rs 5.5 million was spent in 1999 and for the year 2000, Rs 7.7 million has been allotted.

In the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir's budget for 1999-2000, an amount of Rs 260 million has been earmarked for the separatists movement in Indian Kashmir.

A fresh assessment by intelligence agencies points out that about 3,000 militants are operating in the Valley at present, while fresh inputs from the state police reveal that the total number could be anywhere up to 5,000.

Of this, around 700 to 800 get killed a year. In the last 10 days of January this year, the security forces have gunned down 23 terrorists.

The financial implications of these killings back in Pakistan, from where most militants come, are massive. About 65 per cent of the militants are from Pakistan, a large number of the rest are from Afghanistan, and others from countries such as Nigeria, Sudan and Bangladesh.

Latest reports also point at the growing presence of cadres of Al Badar, a militant group directly under the control of Osama bin Laden. About 150 of them, all of them considered highly rabid, are reportedly operating at present in the Valley.

While the Intelligence Bureau assess that there are about 3,000 militants, including 700 to 800 local militants, operating in Kashmir, Military Intelligence puts the number much lower. Their assessment is that a maximum of 600 foreign militants are operating the Valley at any given point of time.

Intercepts with Military Intelligence point out that if a terrorist volunteers to carry out a suicide mission, he is paid Rs 50,000 in advance. And if he comes back alive, he is paid yet another Rs 50,000.

The suicide squads are almost completely made up of Pakistanis and Afghanis. Most of them belong to lower middle class houses, where life is a struggle.

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