Dhiren Barot's Conviction: Are the Rules of the Game changing?
19 Nov, 2006 · 2151
Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay argues that Barot's conviction indicates how serious the British judicial system is on terror-related cases post-7/7
Last week a British court awarded the life sentence to Dhiren Barot, an important Al Qaeda operative in Britain. Those who have observed the terror scenario unfolding in Europe and the responses of national governments in the last few years will find Dhiren Barot's case interesting, ever since he was first arrested in London in August 2004. There are several media reports on this highly publicised case, not only because of the scope of the attacks which he intended to carry out on both the sides of the Atlantic, but also for his personal background. Barot appears to be an exception to the high profile European radical Islamic extremists involved in various parts of the globe. His long sentence of forty years is also indicative of the seriousness with which the British judicial system currently attaches to terror-related cases post-7/7.
The young European militants found participating in terrorist activities in different conflict zones and terrorist attacks at home are predominantly from the diasporic Muslim communities in Europe or studying in Europe. In some cases youths from Christian backgrounds were found to have converted and become radicalised to adopt the extremist path. But Dhiren Barot is the first Hindu and ethnic Gujarati who converted to Islam and reached an important position in the Al Qaeda hierarchy. His association with the terrorist network since 1995 and ability to plan attacks in the UK and US singles him out as a tactician and strategist. So far, the radical Islamic extremists found in Europe were generally foot-soldiers radicalised and recruited in Europe to conduct terrorist attacks. Barot proved to be a jihadi theorist who penned his experiences of fighting the Indian forces in Kashmir in his book "The Army of Madinah in Kashmir".
Dhiren Barot resembles another high-profile British jihadi, Omar Saeed Sheikh. In the nineties Omar Sheikh, a London School of Economics (LSE) alumnus, was assigned the task of kidnapping Western tourists in India. He was arrested and jailed in India, but was later exchanged for the hostages of the hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft 814 in 1999. Omar Sheikh is now facing a death sentence for the abduction and gruesome murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002. Both Omar Sheikh and Barot were not merely the executors but the masterminds of terror plots, who were recruited in the nineties by terror networks from the South Asian diaspora in Britain, radicalised and then attained high ranks in the complex, interlinked terror networks.
An obvious query arises about the British government response and its present visible trend. In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings in London, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that 'the rules of the game are changing' and laid down stricter measures regarding immigration, extradition of extremists and suspected terrorists, and prohibition of the activities of some radical Islamist organisations. Blair's message was directed against known extremists who had been charged in other countries for terrorist and subversive activities, but were exploiting the liberal asylum and refugee policies available in Britain. Aggrieved countries had been continuously chiding this British tolerance of extremists and radical indoctrinators as characteristic of a 'Londonistan'. One year after 7/7 Blair's proposed measures have not been realised. The tougher measures have either faced legal obstacles or had to be abandoned after considering their other repercussions.
Nonetheless, it seems the British authorities are not taking any chances considering the terrorist bid against Heathrow airport in August. Some counterterrorism experts have questioned the operational feasibility of terrorist attacks aboard by using a liquid chemical (as suspected in the Heathrow plot); however the imposition of restrictions by airport authorities and the financial losses incurred have underscored the hindrances and challenges in pursuing successful anti-terrorist operations. But as Elizabeth Manningham-Buller, the chief of the British security service, has recently warned Britain is tracking thirty terror plots at present involving some sixteen hundred suspects; hence stricter anti-terror measures could be in the offing. The conviction of Dhiren Barot may be considered an indicator of what would ensue in future.
POPULAR COMMENTARIES
