Renowned terror expert and author Stephen Tankel believes Indian intelligence agencies know more about Pak-based terror groups than it knows about indigenous Indian Mujahiddin. Also, LeT and other outfits might revive their terrorism against India post-2014. Aziz Haniffa reports.
'Lashkar clearly poses the greatest danger to India,' says Stephen Tankel, author of a book on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
'When one speaks to Indian intelligence officials, they will tell you "We actually have a better understanding of Pakistani groups than we have of our own indigenous networks".'
Asked if Narendra Modi as prime minister or for that matter the advent of a BJP government would lead to a different approach in dealing with the jihadi threat in India, Stephen Tankel, one of America's leading experts on terrorism in South Asia felt it is "highly unlikely because of the lack of coordination between intelligence agencies and inter-state police cooperation, as states zealously guarded their authority and prerogatives".'
In an interview to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Stephen Tankel, who is currently in India to study home grown terror, talks about Headley, co-accused Tawwahur Rana and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.
Stephen Tankel, author of the book Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba, says that the bounty announcement validates India's repeated assertions that the LeT is a dangerous group and that Saeed plays a strategic role in guiding it.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba, expert Stephen Tankel believes, is capable of operating on a large scale and some of its operatives have suggested that the organisation benefited in terms of recruitment following the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
In his book Lashkar-e-Taiba, From 9/11 to Mumbai, author Stephen Tankel points out that the 60-hour terror siege on Mumbai had catapulted the LeT to international notoriety.
The outlawed terror group Indian Mujahideen is more lethal and resilient because of the support it receives from Pakistan, according to a new report by an American think-tank.
A new report says Indian jihadis, including the Indian Mujahideen, are significantly more lethal as a result of external support, primarily from Pakistan. Aziz Haniffa reports.
'The Lashkar-e-Tayiba has always been sensitive about how it is perceived internationally,' says Stephen Tankel, discussing PRISM, the Lashkar's presence in Myanmar and Mohammad Saeed's recent dare with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
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