Author: Muzamil Jaleel
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 7, 2001
Contrary to conventional wisdom,
the Jaish-e-Mohammad's suicide attack on the J K Assembly in which 38 people
were killed was as much a warning to Islamabad-for its role in the current
international campaign against the Taliban-as it was a message to New Delhi.
There are several pointers to this:
* This is the first attack in the
12 years of militancy in the Valley where the Pak Foreign Office spokesman
promptly stepped in to condemn it-in fact he used the term "terrorism.
* Of all the suicide attacks in
the Valley, this one killed the highest number of local residents, 23,
who had nothing to do with police or security personnel sparked off across-the-board
outrage in the Valley.
* The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the pan-Islamic
group led by Maulana Masood Azhar, claimed responsibility hours after the
attack. And then in an unusual step, even identified the suicide bomber
as "Wajahat Hussain of the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan."
* A day later, a Jaish spokesman
from across the border denied any role but that denial is believed to have
come under pressure from Islamabad.
Jaish's distancing itself from the
act did not last long. Azhar told Pakistan's leading Urdu daily Jung that
the incident was "a historical success and was a matter related to Kashmir's
freedom struggle." Jung quoted him as saying that the group had "replied
terrorism of the Indian Government with terrorism" and "it has no relation
to the developments regarding Afghanistan."
Facts suggest otherwise. The attack
comes at a time when Pak President General Pervez Musharraf has opened
up virtually all his flanks to support the US-led coalition against the
Taliban. It's well-known that Jaish and Taliban share the umbilical cord
with the Jamiat-e-Uamai Islam in Pakistan and thus Jaish represent the
sentiments of anger witnessed on the streets of Pakistan against Musharraf's
alliance with Washington.
These groups don't buy Musharraf's
logic that joining the anti-Taliban coalition will help the Kashmir cause.
They see no difference between the "future of Kashmir's freedom struggle
and the survival of Taliban."
This view is shared by many hardeners
in the Valley as well. "Pakistan's ties with Taliban are based on Islamic
brotherhood and it's this relation that binds them with Kashmir too. If
Musharraf is ready to sacrifice Taliban so that he ensures nothing goes
wrong on the Kashmir front, what is the guarantee that he doesn't get ready
to sacrifice even our struggle on some more important issue related to
Pakistan's national interest?" a separatist leader belonging to a religious
party said.
Sheikh Showkat Hussain of Kashmir
University, however, makes another point. "Pakistan has a mills rule and
it is really difficult to organise such massive protests when the army
is in control," he said.
"There is every likelihood that
Pakistani establishment is allowing these demonstrations with a purpose.
They use it as a bargaining chip with the Americans and the West because
it shows how difficult a decision Musharraf has taken by aligning with
the West."
It is, however, interesting to note
that unlike Jaish, the Lashkar-e-Toiba which is much more powerful m Kashmir,
has taken a low profile.
Lashkar, which introduced suicide
attacks here, has not conducted a single such attack since September 11.
"Lashkar does not enjoy a strong
relationship with the Taliban. In fact they have a better understanding
with the Pak military regime," a senior security force officer said. 'And
unlike Jaish, they (Lashkar) seem to be co-operating with the Pak Government
at this point of time. "
Jaish's relations with Taliban go
back a long way, much before its launch in May 2000. Azhar, the founder
leader of Jaish, freed by the Government in return for the passengers of
the hijacked IC-814, was the general secretary of Harkat-ul-Ansar (the
armed wing of Jamiat-e-Ulemai Islam Pakistan) when he was arrested on April
13, 1994 from south Kashmir. Days after his release on December 1999, as
Azhar and the Taliban leadership share the same ideological base, he soon
travelled back to Kandahar and got support for his newly launched group.
