The outlawed terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) is more lethal and
resilient because of the support it receives from Pakistan, according
to a new report by an American thinktank.
The
report 'Jihadist Violence: The Indian Threat' by the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars underlines that the Indian jihadist
movement constitutes an "internal security issue with an external
dimension."
"The Indian jihadist movement
formed organically and as a result of endogenous factors, specifically
communal grievances and a desire for revenge, but is more lethal and
more resilient than it otherwise would have been, thanks to external
support from the Pakistani state and Pakistan and Bangladesh-based
militant groups," said the 100-page report.
The
decentralized IM network has a loose leadership currently based in
Pakistan, but moving between there and the United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia, said the report authored by noted South Asia security
expert Stephen Tankel.
"External support was a
force multiplier for Indian militancy rather than a key driver of it.
Although the IM receives support from LeT, it should not be viewed as an
affiliate within the same command-and-control hierarchy. This
distinguishes the IM from some of the other LeT cells or operatives
active in India," it said.
The report is based
on research conducted over twenty months from January 2012 to September
2013 and draws on primary and secondary source material as well as on
field interviews conducted in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.