'Azamgarh' and anxiety in Bihar

It has taken Bihar some real hard work to change from a basket case of lawlessness to one of the fastestgrowing states in India. In the past five years or so, Bihar has got used to good news. But bad news shook the state last week. After the Special Cell of Delhi Police bagged five men from north Bihar for their alleged involvement in multiple blasts across the country, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official reportedly said that the area was turning into "another Azamgarh" - a reference to the eastern UP town which security agencies like to call the "terror nursery" of India.
Though the people of Azamgarh, who maintain they are innocent as "no one from the district has been convicted for terrorism" , kept quiet, it was north Bihar - from ordinary folks to politicians, who protested the IB's alleged premise. The claim was met with disbelief. "Every place has some black sheep. For a few people's fault, it is incorrect to see the whole state as nursing terrorists," says Nusrat Jahan, a teacher from Purnea.
It's not just people who are upset with the terror tag, politicians, too, even from the BJP, have objected. "Those making such remarks should understand that men who have been caught from Bihar were involved in activities outside the state, over which the local administration has no control," says state's deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
The country's premier intelligence agency, says politicians, has made undue haste in calling the region the "new Azamgarh" , if they have called it so. "It is a sensitive issue and even targeting one district in UP as a hub of terrorists is condemnable," says Shivanand Tiwary , the national general secretary of JD(U). Even Bihar's top cop, Abhyanand calls the arrests a 'routine exercise' . "The Delhi police got a tip off from IB and they just followed it up," says the DGP, adding that the whole episode was blown out of proportion.
There can, however, be no denying the fact that Bihar is an easy target for the terror groups and ISI, being on the border. Poverty and unemployment among the youth does feed the movement , who can be lured to work as couriers of intelligence, arms and money, agrees Amit Lodha, SP Purnea. "Bihar's location does make it a suitable transit point," says Lodha.
Investigators who cracked the Indian Mujahideen (IM) network in Chennai, Delhi and elsewhere are convinced that north Bihar is now an important point in the nationwide terror network. Additional DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav of Delhi Police Special Cell who led the raids in Bihar, says, "We have information that IM has established its base amongst youths in the state. Terrorist outfits are known to scout religious places and educational institutions in the bordering districts for recruits."
The network, according to the officer, is built around 'kinship ties' rather than a binding ideology. "It's not only difficult to detect them but also helps them command immense resources of their people who have migrated to other parts of the country. They can shack up with one of their kins, who may not even realize what purpose they are there for," says Yadav. "Suspects now in police custody for Delhi's Jama Masjid shooting, Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts and Pune's German Bakery blast last year had stayed in different cities but all had a Bihar connection."
This, the cops add, indicates IM may have established more than seven sleeper cells in the area. But it's a 'fact' and 'evidence' the people of north Bihar are not yet ready to accept.
'Intelligence agencies have got it all wrong'
Anisur Rahman Quasmi of Imarat Shariah, an NGO, says there are no terrorists in Bihar
How active are terror cells in Bihar?
There are other states where Indian Mujahideen operatives, named in the home ministry's list, figure prominently . Then, why are investigating agencies singling out Bihar? There are powers that do not want to see a progressive Bihar. These are means of creating fear among the Muslims as its youth now want to surge ahead in every field.
But investigating agencies have traced a terror network to Bihar?
We have lost faith in such agencies. It clearly proves the inefficiency of the police department and central investigating agencies, which make false accusations and arrests people to hide their own incompetence. Look at what happened in the Mumbai, Jaipur and Hyderabad blasts cases. Many of the accused have been acquitted because there was no evidence against them.
So, there is no terror network?
The recent arrests in Bihar seem to be fake. If all the terror operatives belong to Bihar, why aren't any violent incidents occurring here? - PK