Page 346 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu had LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) militants operating in the Tamil Nadu state
until the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. LTTE had given many speeches in

Tamil Nadu led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, Tamilselvan, and other Eelam members. The Tamil Tigers,
now a banned organisation, had been receiving many donations and support from India in the past.
The Tamil Nadu Liberation Army is a militant Tamil movement in India that has ties to LTTE.

1998 Coimbatore bombings

Tamil Nadu also faced terrorist attacks orchestrated by Muslim fundamentalists.

Kerala

For a long time, Kerala was considered as a terror free state and model of tolerance and prosperity.

The wake-up call came in October 2008, when four young Malayalis were killed by Indian security
forces in an alleged jihadi training camp in Kashmir. Last July a different threat emerged when a
group of young Muslims cut off the hand of a Christian professor, condemning him for writing an exam
question they said insulted the Prophet Muhammad. According to Time Magazine, migrants to the
Persian Gulf were taking extremist ideology to Kerala.

Insurgency in Kashmir

The insurgency in Kashmir has existed in various forms. Thousands of lives have been lost since
1989 due to the intensification of both the insurgency and the fight against it. A widespread armed
insurgency started in Kashmir with the disputed 1987 election with some elements from the State’s
assembly forming militant wings which acted as a catalyst for the emergence of armed insurgency in
the region.

The Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan has been accused by India of supporting and training
Mujahideen to fight in Jammu and Kashmir. According to official figures released in Jammu and

Kashmir assembly, there were 3,400 disappearance cases and the conflict has left more than 47,000
people dead as of July 2009. However, the number of insurgency-related deaths in the state have
fallen sharply since the start of a slow-moving peace process between India and Pakistan.

History of the Insurgency

1947–1987

After independence from colonial rule India and Pakistan fought a war over the princely state of
Kashmir. At the end of the war India controlled the most valuable parts of Kashmir. While there were
sporadic periods of violence there was no organized insurgency movement.