- In its latest charge sheet, NIA has unveiled the threat caused by a new breed of terrorists called ‘Hybrid terrorists’
- ‘Hybrid terrorists’ are your average neighbours who slid into daily lives after finishing their job
- Legal machinery should be provided with more powers to ensure that these hybrids do not end up making substantive gains
Jihad holds a specific distinction in Islamists’ dictionary. It is a doctrine responsible for converting millions of people into dreaded terrorists. However, in Kashmir, the doctrine has taken a new shape. Taking cues from the doctrine, Pakistan is fuelling a new breed of terrorists called ‘Hybrid Terrorists.’
Hybrid Terrorists – A new mechanism of war on India
In its latest charge sheet, NIA has put an onus on Pakistan for creating a ruckus in the Kashmir valley. According to the charge sheet, Pakistan based terror outfits have shed their old strategy of providing full training to Kashmir based loyalists. Instead, they are now training locals without spending much time and money. These locals do not identify themselves as terrorists after they complete their training, rather they live their lives with a minimum fuss around their Jihad goals.
The group of these locals have been termed ‘Hybrid terrorists’ by the security agencies. According to the charge sheet, these groups are floated as ‘indigenous resistance groups’. Their modus operandi is simple. Terrorist organisations firstly radicalise them through Internet and when they become committed to the Jihadi cause, they are provided online training in shooting with simple, effective, and readily available weapons like Pistols.
They are offshoots of banned terrorist organisations
NIA’s charge sheet has named 25 persons for conspiring to hatch attacks against India in both physical as well as cyber domains. According to reports, these small outfits propped up after the Modi government decided to abrogate Article 370. The abrogation made it impossible for terrorists to infiltrate Kashmir. Thus, they were forced to adopt this strategy.
Apprising that these organizations are nothing but a branch of banned organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), a senior NIA officer said, “These (new) organisations have suddenly mushroomed in Jammu and Kashmir, laying claims to various terrorist acts. Our investigation has established that all these pseudo-outfits are in fact offshoots/rechristened versions of banned terrorist organisations based in Pakistan and have been floated under a deep-rooted conspiracy to portray terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir as home-grown insurgency,”
Read more: ‘Raliv Galiv ya Chaliv’ is still a reality in Kashmiri Masjids
Impossible for a civilian to identify a ‘Hybrid Terrorist’
These terrorists can be your average friendly neighbours. They could be anyone playing cricket, selling vegetables, Kirana shop owners or a daily wage labourer. They have the local know-how to support them. They know when a person is alert or when he/she is off guard. They pick their target based on the alertness level of an individual. Moreover, they do not use modern-day heavy weapons. Instead, they use pistols for their purpose.
Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir recently confirmed this. While talking about the martyrdom of Policemen, he said, “There is a new modus operandi of terrorists to kill innocent civilians using pistols. All the policemen who have been killed this year were without weapons at the time of the killing. And most of the attacks were carried out by pistols. It’s very easy to carry and attack using a pistol.”
After successfully implementing their plans, these hybrid terrorists assimilate into day-to-day life as if nothing happened. “After carrying out the attack, such recruits can easily merge with the local population, or get back to their daily life,” a source quoted by ThePrint said.
They have been creating ruckus in the last few months
In October 2021, Zee News reported that Police had recovered 97 pistols from people accused of being a ‘Hybrid terrorist’. It was also reported that 500 people were detained by law enforcement machinery. Investigations also revealed that Kashmiri Pandits are not the only target. Now, these terrorists are being trained by their Pakistani masters to kill minorities, civilians, migrants, government officials and unguarded security personnel as well.
Read more: It took 31 years to bring the ‘Butcher of Kashmiri Pandits’ to the Court
Recently, these trained terrorists tried to stoke another forced exodus by launching a series of attacks. In the last one month, terrorists have killed 2 Sarpanches, one Panchayat member, and 3 security personnel. Various migrant labourers and security personnel were recently attacked in this fashion as well.
Intelligence agencies need to be strengthened
All these attacks were very similar to lone-wolf attacks. Attackers exactly knew the geographical location as well as the mental state of their targets. People were shot from very close quarters. Recently, a woman throwing a petrol bomb on CRPF personnel can also be considered as a part of this pattern.
Read more: Meet the all-women terrorist squad from Kashmir
Terrorists will always find a way to bypass a democratic setup. It is the privacy laws meant to benefit the few elites that these terrorists take advantage of. It becomes undoubtedly difficult to track them. Along with strengthening the ecosystem, our intelligence agencies need to be provided with more stringent powers to eliminate this new threat.
