Asia Security
Monitor
No. 32, June 11, 2003 Militants expand operations on India-Bhutan frontier;
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June 2: Bhutan is raising a militia force to deter the encroachment of outlawed Indian separatist groups – the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), and the Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) – into Bhutan’s southern jungles, reports the South Asia Intelligence Review. This strengthening of Bhutan’s small security force comes in response to strong pressures by the Bhutanese population and the Indian government. Reports estimate that there are about 20 militant camps in Bhutan, with about 3,000 to 4,000 militants moving between India’s Northeast and neighboring countries. Military action could force the displacement of thousands of people and would likely close major trade routes between Bhutan and India. June 3: Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, led by the six-party Islamist fundamentalist party, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), passed a bill introducing Sharia (Islamic) Law in the province, reports the BBC. The bill gives Sharia precedence over secular provincial law. It also calls for the creation of a “department of vice and virtue” patterned after the Taliban’s notorious Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Discouragement of Vice in Afghanistan. The Christian Science Monitor reports that there are fears of a Taliban-style insurgency along the Province’s treacherous border with Afghanistan. The South Asia Intelligence Review reports that soon after the Bill’s introduction in the provincial assembly, MMA party supporters went on a rampage through Peshawar (the North-West Frontier provincial capital) defacing or destroying signs showing women, smashing satellite cable TV equipment, and attacking commercial establishments linked with foreign companies. The new law also calls for education and financial systems to be brought into line with the teachings of the Koran. And the purdah, a headscarf, is now mandatory for all women. The Christian Science Monitor also reports that US and Pakistani officials are increasingly concerned that overt Islamization laws will embolden Taliban fugitives and hamper search operations. President Musharraf has publicly opposed Sharia law, but Islamic leaders have threatened a nationwide anti-Musharraf campaign if Islamabad interferes with their policies. June 4: Pakistan has been negotiating with China to buy at least four F-22 (Jiangwei-II/Type 053H3) frigates to upgrade its navy to enhance competition with India, reports the Times of India. The Jiangwei-II ships will include modifications in the command-and-control systems, weapons, and sensors. Pakistan plans to sign the contract before the end of the fiscal year, with delivery of the first ship from China by 2005. An additional three F-22s are to be built at Pakistan’s Naval Dockyard in Karachi, with the last of these delivered by 2009. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels have rejected a government proposal to resume the stalled peace process, reports the BBC. Although the government has offered the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) greater financial authority over the northeast area, the Tigers are holding out for more political power. Negotiations were stalled in April when the Tigers walked out complaining that the government’s pace of rebuilding in Tamil was too slow. Since then, the LTTE rebels have rejected government proposals for a development body in the northeast. |
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Copyright
© 2003, American Foreign Policy Council.
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