ISI activities thriving in 'chicken's neck'

kishanganj: when way back in march, 1995, a group of 12 afghan mercenaries were nabbed near galgalia, along bihar-nepal border, barely 50 km from here, it had created ripples in the backwaters of this highly-sensitive and strategically important district. though language barriers had obstructed proper interrogation by various agencies, incriminating documents and related material from their possession had established that the afghan mercenaries, a new phenomenon during those days, had some sinister gameplan up their sleeves.they had intruded into the indian side after having stayed in kathmandu, the capital of the himalayan kingdom, which was increasingly being used as a conduit for the isi subversives and other such militant outfits. though the afghan mercenaries were gradually bailed out by the local courts, the riddle as to who actually worked for securing their bails and helped them disappear continues to be shrouded in mystery. all that is on record is that they had come from cooch behar and new jalpaiguri areas of west bengal. their isi links were also confirmed. hedged between nepal and bangladesh borders, this tiny district, often described as "chicken's neck" and "corridor between north-east and the rest of the country", has always been a safe haven for the isi operatives, a fact corroborated by indian intelligence agencies, like the research and analysis wing (raw). the intelligence agencies, according to reports, have always been alarmed at the mushroom-like growth of madarsas and other educational institutions, which have generally been transformed into training ground for the isi operatives and similar anti-india outfits. according to the intelligence reports, kishanganj district, with a preponderance of muslim population, has been the hunting ground of these militant outfits, which are now spreading their tentacles in adjoining west bengal, too, and has used the district as their springboard to widen their network. in this context, the report of sp, kishanganj is truly hair-raising, which has riveted its attention towards tanheed education trust at kishanganj, which has just not been in the eye of burgeoning controversy but hogged attention of a investigative agency. the sp in his recent confidential report to the government described the trust as "extremely suspect and mysterious" and said "all those associated with it are afflicted with medieval mindset and are incorrigible obscurantist, fundamentalist and retrograde muslims." in his three-page report, the sp has mentioned how this trust, which come into being in 1988 and since been registered by bihar government, vide letter no.2300/35, dated 25 april 1990, had funded considerably the world muslim congregation -- isthema -- at belwa, 15 km from here from february 27 to march, 1998. the trust also enjoys patronage of influential politicians as well as bureaucrats, says the report and specifically raising a pointing finger at a district magistrate, under whose patronage it firmly established itself. the sp has also mentioned nine-point aims and objectives of the trust, which includes a vigil on anti-islamic activities to meet the challenges of anti-islamic forces. the report, however, says the local muslims, who are known as "surjapuris", look upon the trust with suspicion, whereas the bhatiya muslims extend unstinted support to it. tanheed education trust, which has spawned institutions, like mahad-al-uloom-al-islamia, jamait-tul-imam-al-bukhari and department of initiation towards islam, does not allow transparency and has a rigidly covert system and enforces strict "purdah" on girls. lately, the trust has acquired land worth over rs 26 lakh in adjoining west bengal, too. despite the sp's and other agencies' mind-boggling report, there has not been much action from the government's side on this front. a senior bsf (intelligence wing) officer, on condition of anonymity, said, "how do you expect us to act when everyone knows how mushrooming of madarsas in the area provide sanctuary to foreigners and isi subversives?" of late, however, according to information, joint secretary, union home ministry, has communicated that all foreign aids to tanheed education trust must be intimated before they go into its coffer. the trust, according to intelligence reports, gets on an average donations worth rs 6 crore from the gulf countries. the intelligence agencies are flabbergasted that though they have systematically procured evidences about the spurt in the isi activities through these madarsas, quite a number of which have earned notoriety, top politicians and bureaucrats do not just visit some of them but also shower praises on them and try to legitimise their growth. abdul matin salafi, the founder of tanheed education trust, is away to delhi and therefore, this correspondent could not obtain his views. his representative brother abdul rasheed however, rubbished all these reports and urged this reporter, "write what you see, and not what others talk".