Daily Star, 18 July 2002
AFP, New Delhi
An Indian minister on Wednesday named six countries, including Britain and the
Netherlands, as having been infiltrated by "terrorist" groups working
to harm India.
In a written reply to a question in parliament, Junior Foreign Minister Digvijay
Singh said "terrorist organisations" had established new bases in
Britain, the Netherlands, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, aside from
Pakistan.
In response to a separate question, Singh said New Delhi had raised with Britain the issue of organisations raising funds there for "terrorist" activities in Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
"There are credible reports of continued fund raising in the United Kingdom by supporters of terrorist organisations operating in India under the garb of promoting humanitarian causes," Singh said.
The minister added the British government had been "sensitised" on the matter.
"The government will continue to pursue this matter at appropriate levels with the British authorities," Singh said.
During his visit to India on July 4, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon acknowledged reports about outfits raising funds for terrorism abroad.
Hoon told reporters in New Delhi that the British government had specifically changed its laws to arm the police and authorities with powers to deal with organisations indulging in such fund-raising.
Singh said six major organisations operating in India, including the pro-Pakistan Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohhamed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, had been proscribed by Britain under the Terrorist Act 2000.
In regards to the Netherlands, Singh said there were reports indicating that various terrorist organisations had been there "for quite some time, each with a well-established front organisation".
Singh said these organisations included NSCN (I-M), a rebel group active in India's northeastern Nagaland state; Babbar Khalsa International, a militant outfit that led a Sikh militancy in Punjab state in early 1980s; Hizbullah, a Lebanese-based Shiite outfit, and the Sri Lankan Tamil militant group LTTE.
"We have been taking up the matter with the Netherlands on a regular basis by expressing India's concerns about the presence of the (above) terrorist organisations," Singh said in his written reply.
Singh also said several separatist outfits responsible for violence in India's restive northeastern states had set up bases in Myanmar, close to the India-Myanmar border.
Singh named a clutch of Islamic militant outfits, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, as having bases in neighbouring Bangladesh.
"These bases have been functioning for some years but since they keep shifting their location, it is not possible to indicate whether new ones have been established," Singh said.
"Our concern over the presence of these terrorist elements has been shared with the government of Bangladesh."