No other country in the world has suffered ‘Terrorism’ more than India has — so much so that almost every major city of ours has been attacked by the terrorists so far. The whole world was a witness of the havoc caused on 26/11 by ten Pakistani terrorists-including lone captured terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab – who came on a boat and mercilessly killed, with his fellow terrorists, 167 innocent people in Mumbai.
Ongoing investigations and revelations made by ‘David Coleman Headly’, an American double agent and a Lashkar operative have left no doubt in our mind that Pakistan was indeed responsible for this attack and that the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence), the premier spy agency of Pakistan, was involved in the attack from the beginning till the end. But is Pakistan the only country sponsoring terrorism?
If we believe the revelations made by ‘WikiLeaks’, a whistle-blower organization, Saudi Arabia is the main source of funding for militants affiliated with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and other groups.
The U.S. government message, or cable, sent by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and senior State Department officials last December, made it clear that residents of Saudi Arabia and its neighbors are the chief financial supporters of many terrorism activities worldwide.
“It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority,” the cable said, concluding that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.”
Impact of Saudi funding in India
The fact today is that India’s secular democracy is in danger because of the Saudi funded Islamic extremism that has engulfed its society. According to the South Asia Analysis Group, the spread of Saudi funded radical Wahhabi Islam is the single biggest reason behind the radicalization of few Indian Muslims. Though large majority of Indian Muslims are peaceful in nature but efforts are on by the outsiders to brainwash them under the guise of Wahhabi Islam.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries- in their pursuit of a Muslim brotherhood- have been sending millions of dollars every year to Indian Muslim organizations and radical Madarssas– which are ultimately being used to radicalize the Indian youth.
It’s high time the Indian government woke up to this reality and did something to stop the Saudi funding in our country. Otherwise India will remain vulnerable strategically to Islamic extremism for years to come.
Why Saudi Arabia is doing it?
The main reason behind this is their obsession of exporting violent fundamentalist ideology or doctrine that rejects all non-Wahhabi Islam, especially the spiritual forms of Islam- across the globe. Please note, Wahhabism is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. It is an expansionist sect intolerant of Shi‘ite Islam, Sufism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism; in fact, Wahhabists intend to challenge and destroy these religions. The Saudi-Wahhabi threat to the whole world must not be underestimated; it requires our immediate attention.
The fact of the matter is that today Saudi Arabia has become the major source of funding for almost all of the Muslim separatists movements in the world. Be it Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, or Xinxiang movement; everywhere you can find the Saudi footprint.
According to one estimate billions of dollars are being sent by Saudi Arabia for the promotion of Wahhabism all around the world. This money is being used to build mosques and religious schools or Madarsas, to spread literature, and to train and create a force of so called Mujhahiddins to fight for their political motives.
It is a fact that it was Saudi Arabia who had fully funded and supported the creation of Pakistan in the sub continent because it suited their purpose. Since the independence of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has got hold of its politics through the power of money and religion. It is an open secret how Pakistan has become a client state of Saudi Arabia since its independence.
The Madarsas funded by Saudi are being used to indoctrinate the young Muslims and have become the perfect place of recruiting needs of the terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba – which is responsible for Mumbai attacks.
We must not forget, it was Saudi Arabia (and the US) who had funded Taliban, Al Qaeda and their force of Mujhahiddins in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in order to defeat the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the late 80s. After defeating the Soviet Union, their next target was India and they began it from Kashmir in 1989.
The Taliban are the strict followers of Wahhabi Islam. Their suppression of the women and minorities, open beheadings, and destruction of Bamiyan Buddhha– during their control of Afghanistan- is still fresh in our minds. The fact of the matter is that Saudi Arabia was the only second country – after Pakistan- in the world that had recognized Taliban rule in Afghanistan and it still covertly and overtly supports the Taliban and their leadership.
It’s high time India realized the real intentions of Saudi Arabia vis-Ã -vis Pakistan and Kashmir.
Why Saudi Arabia is supporting Kashmir separatism?
According to Kashmir-Information.com, they are supporting it to suit their purpose of creating their so called promoted and propagated Muslim Ummah or Muslim brotherhood in the region. This brotherhood- when achieved- will be used for their political motives. This is the reason they helped create Pakistan out of India and this is the very reason they want to separate Kashmir from India. Millions of dollars are being spent for this purpose both in Pakistan and India.
Most of the Kashmir based terror organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jammat-ud-Dawa, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hijbul Mujhahiddin, and Harkat ul Mujhahiddin receive majority of their funds from Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.
India must realize now that it is Saudi Arabia which is the real problem, probably even more than Pakistan.
How to stop Saudi Arabia?
Practically it is almost impossible to stop the flow of money if it wants to come for the spread of Wahhabism in India or anywhere in the world. However many things have been tried by the US government to keep in check the flow of money to radical organization but unfortunately with little success.
Pakistan, ironically, could just be a player in the big game and is being used by the big powers of the world for their own strategic and economic interests. The government of India must now press Saudi Arabia to stop its illegal activities in India and it must start addressing local community based problems immediately.
The Indian Muslim community- due to lack of care and support of the government- still remains the most vulnerable community to an external influence. We must try to address their concerns so that the external powers don’t get an opportunity to take an advantage of their grievances. We must do it now before it’s too late.
Information also gathered from Independent.co.uk, one of UK’s premier journalism outfits.
Image courtesy: http://occident.blogspot.com/2008/07/princetons-bernard-haykel-on-role-of.html