Author: Praveen Swami
Publication: Frontline
Date: October 26, 2001
In India, Mohammad Masood Azhar's
name first hit the headlines after the December 1999 hijacking of Indian
Airlines Flight IC 814, when he was released from jail in return for the
lives of people who were held hostage on the plane. More than a year later,
after the bombing of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, his name has resurfaced.
Who is this man Union Home Minister
L.K. Advani is demanding that Pakistan extradite? After his arrest in 1994,
Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Azhar provided fascinating insights into the
world of Pakistan's religious right. Masood provides a graphic account
of the use of seminaries as factories that produce cadre for the wars in
Afghanistan, Jammu and Kashmir, and several other regions.
Frontline has obtained a copy of
one of Azhar's interrogation reports, which reveals the story of the making
of the man running one of the most-feared terrorist organisations in Jammu
and Kashmir.
"I WAS born at Bhawalpur on July
10, 1968. My father worked as the headmaster of the government school in
Bhawalpur. I have five brothers and six sisters. My father had Deobandi
leanings, and was extremely religious. One of my father's friends, Mufti
Sayeed, was working as a teacher at the Jamia Islamia at the Binori Mosque
in Karachi. He prevailed upon my father to admit me in the Jamia. Accordingly,
after Class VIII, I studied at the Jamia Islamia and passed the almia (Islamic)
examination in 1989.
A number of Jamia Islamia students
were under the influence of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) leaders who had
been students there. I was also influenced by the work of the HuM in the
Afghanistan jehad. Jamia Islamia had on its rolls Arab nationals, Sudanese
and Bangladeshis, apart from Pakistanis. All of them believed in the Deobandi
ideology, and many were recruited for the Afghan jehad. I was also sympathetic
to the cause, and when I met Maulana Fazal-ul-Rahman Khalil, the Amir of
the HuM, he invited me to participate in tarbiat (training) at Yavar, in
Afghanistan. Partly because of my poor physique, and also because of my
literary skills, I did not complete the mandatory 40 days of training.
Rahman-ul-Rahman instead asked me to bring out a monthly magazine for the
HuM.
From around August 1989, I started
bringing out Sada-i-Mujahid (Knock of the Mujahideen). I used to bring
out about 2,000 copies and most of these were distributed free at public
meetings, Friday prayers and so on. We used to carry news of our activities
in Afghanistan, our functions, and the opening of new offices. By 1990,
the HuM had offices in almost all important cities, including Karachi,
Hyderabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Lahore. The HuM in theory
allowed anyone to join, if they completed arms training in Afghanistan,
were not affiliated in sectarian organisations like the Jiye Sindh Movement
or the Mohajir Quami Movement, and had a full beard. However, we did not
recruit Shias, or even non-Deobandis.
In 1993, 400 United Arab Emirates
nationals and other militants were arrested by the Pakistan government
at Peshawar. Because of international pressure, they were expelled from
Pakistan. Some of the Arab governments, expecting trouble, did not want
them back in their own countries. As such, a majority of them went to Sudan
and Somalia, where they joined the ranks of the Ittehad-e-Islami. These
people continued to correspond with us, describing the plight of the Muslims
in Somalia. They told us that Pakistani troops under United Nations forces
had been placed at the central positions of trouble, guarding the life
and property of Americans. If one American vehicle moved, its armed guards
were Pakistanis.
As such, the Ittehad-e-Islami was
in a dilemma about when they should engage the Americans, who are the biggest
enemies of Islam, because they also faced their brothers. In the attack
on the Adib Radio Station by Pakistani troops, many persons of Ittehad-e-Islami
lost their lives. As such, the Pakistanis, who until now were champions
of Islam, found themselves unwelcome. I published these letters, and also
organised for a team of journalists to meet these militants in Nairobi.
After our return, a number of news stories appeared, condemning the role
of Pakistani troops in Somalia. I also brought out a booklet on the issue,
and distributed 5,000 copies.
Meanwhile, in January 1993, I was
asked to come to Islamabad where I accompanied Maulana Rahman-ul-Rahman
and Maulana Farooq Kashmiri to Bagh, Abbaspora and Rahim Yar Khan to meet
the families of our militants who died in Kashmir. Sajjad Afghani also
accompanied us on this trip. It was then he was told to take up command
of the organisation in Kashmir. He was told to go via Bangladesh, since
there was heavy snow on the India-Pakistan border. I travelled along with
Sajjad Afghani by an Emirates flight to Dhaka. While Sajjad Afghani was
handed over to some people for his crossing into India, I returned to Karachi.
After the formation of the Harkat-ul-Ansar
by merging the Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HuJI) and HuM, a number of messages
were sent to the chief commanders of both outfits in Kashmir to join hands.
We did not, however, receive any confirmation of our orders. In January
1994, it was decided that I should visit the Kashmir valley. In the event,
we learned that our orders had been implemented, but my travel plans went
ahead as planned so I could ascertain the ground position, boost morale
of our cadre, and resolve any differences between HuJI and HuM. I arrived
in Delhi by a Bangladesh Biman flight that arrived from Dhaka early on
the morning of January 29, 1994. I used a Portuguese passport, and the
duty officer at Indira Gandhi Airport commented that I did not look Portuguese.
However, when I told him I was Gujarati by birth, he did not hesitate to
stamp my passport."
(Masood Azhar was arrested in February
1994, after travelling to Srinagar from New Delhi.)
