Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 2, 2001
Srinagar, October 1: The Jaish Mohammad,
which has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in Srinagar, has been
in the news over past fortnight for another reason: it is, for all practical
purposes, the latest avatar of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, one of 28 entities
banned by the US government following Terror Tuesday. And its leader, Maulana
Masood Azhar, will be a familiar face here; he was one of those exchanged
for the hostages on the hijacked IC-814.
Masood floated the Taliban-style
Jaish Mohammad (meaning 'Army of the Prophet')in 1999 by merging all factions
of the Harkat, strengthening the jehadi campaign in Srinagar. It shares
much in common with the Taliban, including a strong adherence to the Deobandi
creed. In fact, the Taliban movement was launched by the students of the
very network of 9,000 madrasas that the Jaish's parent organisation, the
Jamiat-e-Ulemai-Islam, runs across Pakistan.
Following his release in December
1999, Masood only knit the ties stronger, touring Kandahar - the Taliban's
spiritual base - to secure the blessings of its leadership soon after he
planned to launch the Jaish Mohammad.
The Jaish and the Lashker-e-Toiba
brought a different dimension to militancy in the Valley with their fidayeen
(suicide) attacks. In fact, the Jaish introduced itself in Kashmir with
a suicide attack - undertaken by a 17-year-old - on the main entrance to
the Army's 15 Corps Headquarters at Badamibagh Cantonment.
Like the Taliban, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,
which has merged with Jaish, had earlier also shot at girls wearing jeans,
branded as ''unislamic'' in Srinagar, besides attacking cable operators
and banning their operations.
Though the ban was relaxed later,
music and entertainment channels including MTV, Channel V and Star Movies
are still not aired.
A majority of the Taliban and Jaish
leaders/cadre were classmates in the madrasas run by Jamiat-e-Ulemai-Islam
(JUI) in Pakistan. Masood has been directly associated with the Jamia Abu
Yousuf, Madipore Karachi and Jamiat-ul-Uloomi Islamiyah in Binori, Karachi.
The Binori madrassa is believed to have sent 600 students to join the Taliban
in 1996.
