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Lashkar-e-Toiba: Spreading the jehad

B. Raman

THE REPORTED claim of a spokesman of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in Pakistan that two of its suicide cadres were responsible for the murderous attack on some Indian Army personnel inside the Red Fort in New Delhi on December 22, is under verification by the Indi an security agencies.

The Lashkar and its political wing, the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad, have, for many years, been calling for extending the so-called jehad to the rest of India from Jammu and Kashmir for creating two independent homelands for the Muslims of South and North Indi a. As a first step in this jehad, it had, in the past, called for intensified activities in Hyderabad and Junagad, which it regards as Pakistani territory. The Red Fort, as the seat of the Muslim rulers of the past, is an important symbol in its percepti on.

While reporting the Red Fort attack on December 22, sections of the foreign media described the Lashkar as a Kashmiri militant organisation. It is not. It is a Pakistani organisation based in and operating from that country. It is a member of Osama bin L aden's International Islamic Front For Jehad Against the US and Israel.

The Markaz was founded in 1987, at the inspiration of Osama bin Laden, by Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of the University of Engineering and Technology of Lahore, and Abdullah Azam of the International Islamic University, (funded by Osama). Abdull ah Azam was killed in an explosion at Peshawar in 1989 and, after his death, Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed have been leading the Markaz while continuing to teach at the university.

The Markaz headquarters, occupying over 190 acres, is located at Muridke, about 45 km from Lahore in Pakistani Punjab. Its vast campus contains a huge Jamia mosque for the construction of which Osama had reportedly contributed Rs (Pak) 10 million, a garm ents factory, an iron foundry, a wood works unit, a swimming pool and three residential colonies for the inmates.

The Herald, the monthly journal of the prestigious `Dawn' group of publications of Karachi, reported as follows in January 1998: ``While the Dawa is involved in various areas, including religious education and social welfare, it is mainly through its mil itant wing that it is well known throughout the country. The Lashkar-e-Toiba provides military training to its members and prepares them to wage jehad. Although the Lashkar was initially involved in Afghanistan as well, its activities are now restricted to Indian Kashmir. Today, it is Pakistan's largest so-called jehadi organisation.''

The Herald quoted an office-bearer of the Lashkar as stating as follows: ``There are many other jehadi groups operating inside Kashmir, but their members are mainly local men (Kashmiris), assisted by fighters from other countries, such as Pakistan and Af ghanistan. Eighty per cent of the Mujahideen in other jehadi groups operating in Kashmir come from that area, but the case with the Lashkar is exactly the opposite. Eighty per cent of its soldiers belong to Pakistan.''

The Markaz and the Lashkar are extremely secretive organisations and take great care to conceal the real identities of their office-bearers except the Amir and their fighters. For this purpose, they emulate the Palestinian organisations in the use of Kun iats, which are Arabic pseudonyms adopted from the Kuniats of the Companions of the Holy Prophet and later Islamic heroes.

Whereas in the Palestinian organisations, the Kuniats die with the holder and the same Kuniat is not allotted to any other fighter, in the Markaz and the Lashkar, the Kuniat does not die with the holder. The same Kuniat is allotted to another fighter. It is not unusual to come across two individuals with the same or similar Kuniats.

The Muridke complex has a guest house, initially built by bin Laden as a house for his stay during his visits to Pakistan, but, after 1992, the Pakistani authorities do not allow him to stay in Pakistani territory for fear of annoying the US, Saudi Arabi a and Egypt. He has, therefore, converted it into a guest house for his associates from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, visiting Pakistan.

While Osama no longer attends the annual gatherings of the Markaz and the Lashkar at Muridke, he addresses them over the conference phone. Till 1995, he used to address the gathering from his hide-out in the Sudan and, since 1996, he has been doing so fr om Afghanistan.

The Markaz, an Ahle Hadith organisation of Wahabi orientation, was initially very close to Saudi Arabia, but seems to have developed differences with it because of its proximity to Osama and of its contention that even Saudi Arabia does not have an ideal Islamic society. Its criticism of the stationing of the US and other Western troops in Saudi Arabia also contributed to this. It describes the Hindus and Jews, in that order, as the main enemies of Islam and India and Israel as the main enemies of Pakis tan. Its Amir, Prof Saeed, is a strong opponent of Western-style democracy.

The Amir said in an interview to The Herald: ``Democracy is among the menaces we inherited from an alien government. It is part of the system we are fighting against. Many of our brothers feel that they can establish an Islamic society by working within the system. They are mistaken. It is not possible to work within a democracy and establish an Islamic system. You just dirty your hands by dealing with it. If God gives us a chance, we will try to bring in the pure concept of an Islamic Caliphate.''

The Markaz and its Lashkar say that ``the notion of the sovereignty of the people is anti-Islamic. Only Allah is sovereign.'' Prof Saeed is categorical that there is no Islamic government in the world. Not even in Saudi Arabia, where, according to him, t he system is closer to Islamic teaching, but still not fully Islamic. He looks upon the Taliban Government in Afghanistan as almost an Islamic Government.

Though the Pakistani authorities are concerned over the impact of the organisation on Pakistani youth which could, in the long run, lead to the Talibanisation of Pakistan with a Pakistani version of the Taliban possibly getting its finger on the nuclear button, they continue to use the Markaz and its Lashkar in their proxy war against India.

When the Markaz was started in 1987, its objectives were to assist the Afghan Mujahideen and to rid Islam in Pakistan of what it projected as the corrupting influence of Hinduism. It continues to wage a sustained campaign against what it sees as the evil influence of sufism and Kashmiriyat. As it looks upon the latter as the expression of the evil Hindu mind, many of its operations in J&K are directed against the Hindus.

Addressing the Lahore Press Club on February 18, 1996 Amir Saeed said: ``The jehad in Kashmir would soon spread to entire India. Our Mujahideen would create three Pakistans in India.''

In an interview to Takbeer of Pakistan (October 9, 1997), he said: ``We feel that Kashmir should be liberated at the earliest. Thereafter, Indian Muslims should be aroused to rise in revolt against the Indian Union so that India gets disintegrated.''

The Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan and the CIA made full use of the Markaz against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the CIA cut off its links with the organisation, but the ISI has been continuing to u se it to instigate acts of terrorism not only in Kashmir, but also in other parts of India. The Markaz's objective of radicalising sections of the Muslim community in North and South India and setting them up against the Hindus and the Union of India sui ts the operational aims of the ISI.

In its eagerness to achieve its objectives against India, Pakistan, through the ISI has, thus, been following contradictory policies. It seeks US support for the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue, but has been arming groups, which vow to attack A merican targets, in order to use them against India. It describes Saudi Arabia as its closest Islamic ally, but has been sheltering groups which are carrying on a campaign against the Saudi ruling family and the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia.The ease with which suicide cadres of the Lashkar have repeatedly been penetrating high-security areas speaks poorly of the state of physical and infrastructure security in J&K and elsewhere. There is an urgent need for a second look at security arrangements in all the sensitive nuclear, space and other establishments and at the diplomatic missions of the US and Israel to identify and remove gaps.

(The author is former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.)