Author: Khaled Ahmed
Publication: The Friday Times
Date: May 20, 2002
Ary Digital TV's host Dr Masood,
while discussing the May 8 killing of 11 French nationals in Karachi, named
one Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami as one of the suspected terrorists involved
in the bombing. When the Americans bombed the Taliban and Mulla Umar fled
from his stronghold in Kandahar, a Pakistani personality also fled with
him. This was Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the leader of Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami,
Pakistan's biggest jehadi militia headquartered in Kandahar. No one knew
the name of the outfit and its leader. A large number of its fighters made
their way into Central Asia and Chechnya to escape capture at the hands
of the Americans, the rest stole back into Pakistan to establish themselves
in Waziristan and Buner. Their military training camp (maskar) in Kotli
in Azad Kashmir swelled with new fighters and now the outfit is scouting
some areas in the NWFP to create a supplementary maskar for jehad in Kashmir.
Its 'handlers' have clubbed it together with Harkatul Mujahideen to create
Jamiatul Mujahideen in order to cut down the large number of outfits gathered
together in Azad Kashmir. It was active in Held Kashmir under the name
of Harkatul Jahad Brigade 111.
Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami and the
Taliban:The leader of Harkat al-Jahad al- Islami, Qari Saifullah Akhtar
was an adviser to Mulla Umar in the Taliban government. His fighters were
called 'Punjabi' Taliban and were offered employment, something that other
outfits could not get out of Mulla Umar. The outfit had membership among
the Taliban too. Three Taliban ministers and 22 judges belonged to the
Harkat. In difficult times, the Harkat fighters stood together with Mulla
Umar. Approximately 300 of them were killed fighting the Northern Alliance,
after which Mulla Umar was pleased to give Harkat the permission to build
six more maskars in Kandahar, Kabul and Khost, where the Taliban army and
police also received military training. From its base in Afghanistan, Harkat
launched its campaigns inside Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya. But
the distance of Qari Saifullah Akhtar from the organisation's Pakistani
base did not lead to any rifts. In fact, Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami emerged
from the defeat of the Taliban largely intact. In Pakistan Qari Akhtar
has asked the 'returnees' to lie low for the time being, while his Pakistani
fighters already engaged are busy in jehad as before.
The Harkat is the only militia which
boasts international linkages. It calls itself 'the second line of defence
of all Muslim states' and is active in Arakan in Burma, and Bangladesh,
with well organised seminaries in Karachi, and Chechnya, Sinkiang, Uzbekistan
and Tajikistan. (The latest trend is to recall Pakistani fighters stationed
abroad and encourage the local fighters to take over the operations). Its
fund-raising is largely from Pakistan, but an additional source is its
activity of selling weapons to other militias. Its acceptance among the
Taliban was owed to its early allegiance to a leader of the Afghan war,
Maulvi Nabi Muhammadi and his Harkat Inqilab Islami whose fighters became
a part of the Taliban forces in large numbers. Nabi Muhammadi was ignored
by the ISI in 1980 in favour of Hekmatyar and his Hezb-e-Islami. His outfit
suffered in influence inside Afghanistan because he was not supplied with
weapons in the same quantity as some of the other seven militias.
According to the journal Al-Irshad
of Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami, published from Islamabad, a Deobandi group
led by Maulana Irshad Ahmad was established in 1979. Looking for the right
Afghan outfit in exile to join in Peshawar, Maulana Irshad Ahmad adjudged
Maulvi Nabi Muhammadi as the true Deobandi and decided to join him in 1980.
Harkat Inqilab Islami was set up by Maulana Nasrullah Mansoor Shaheed and
was taken over by Nabi Muhammadi after his martyrdom. Eclipsed in Pakistan,
Maulana Irshad Ahmad fought in Afghanistan against the Soviets till he
was killed in battle in Shirana in 1985. His place was taken by Qari Saifullah
Akhtar, which was not liked by some of the Harkat leaders, including Maulana
Fazlur Rehman Khaleel who then set up his own Harkatul Mujahideen. According
to some sources, Harkatul Mujahideen was a new name given to Harkatul Ansar
after it was declared terrorist by the United States. Other sources claim
that it was Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami that had earlier merged with Harkatul
Ansar. But relations with Fazlur Rehman Khaleel remained good, but when
Maulana Masood Azhar separated from Harkatul Mujahideen and set up his
own Jaish-e-Muhammad, Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami opposed Jaish in its journal
Sada-e-Mujahid (May 2000) and hinted that 'you-know-who' had showered Jaish
with funds. Jaish was supported by Mufti Shamzai of Banuri Mosque of Karachi
and was given a brand new maskar in Balakot by the ISI.
Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami and Kashmir
jehad:The sub-militia fighting in Kashmir is semi-autonomous and is led
by chief commander Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri. Its training camp is 20 km
from Kotli in Azad Kashmir, with a capacity for training 800 warriors,
and is run by one Haji Khan. Harkat al- Jahad al-Islami went into Kashmir
in 1991 but was at first opposed by the Wahhabi elements there because
of its refusal to criticise the grand Deobandi congregation of Tableeghi
Jamaat and its quietist posture. But as days passed, its warriors were
recognised as 'Afghanis'. It finally had more martyrs in the jehad of Kashmir
than any other militia. Its resolve and organisation were recognised when
foreigners were seen fighting side by side with its Punjabi warriors. To
date, 650 Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami mujahideen have killed in battle against
the Indian army: 190 belonging to both sides of Kashmir, nearly 200 belonging
to Punjab, 49 to Sindh, 29 to Balochistan, 70 to Afghanistan, 5 to Turkey,
and 49 collectively to Uzbekistan, Bangladesh and the Arab world.
Because of its allegiance to the
spiritual legacy of Deobandism, Harkat al- Jahad al-Islami did not attack
the Tableeghi Jamaat, which stood it in good stead because it became the
only militia whose literature was allowed to be distributed during the
congregations of the Tableeghi Jamaat, and those in the Pakistani establishment
attending the congregation were greatly impressed by the militia's organisational
excellence. It contained more graduates of the seminaries than any other
militia, thus emphasising its religious character as envisaged by its founder
and by Maulvi Nabi Muhammadi. It kept away from the sectarian conflict
unlike Jaish-e- Muhammad but its men were at times put off by the populist
Kashmiri Islam and reacted violently to local practices.
In Central Asia, Chechnya and Burma:
The leader of Harkat al-Jahad al- Islami in Uzbekistan is Sheikh Muhammad
Tahir al-Farooq. So far 27 of its fighters have been killed in battle against
the Uzbek president Islam Karimov, as explained in the Islamabad-based
journal Al-Irshad. Starting in 1990, the war against Uzbekistan was bloody
and was supported by the Taliban, till in 2001, the commander had to ask
the Pakistanis in Uzbekistan to return to base. In Chechnya, the war against
the Russians was carried on under the leadership of commander Hidayatullah.
Pakistan's embassy in Moscow once denied that there were any Pakistanis
involved in the Chechnyan war, but journal Al-Irshad (March 2000) declared
from Islamabad that the militia was deeply involved in the training of
guerrillas in Chechnya for which purpose commander Hidayatullah was stationed
in the region. It estimated that 'dozens' of Pakistani fighters had been
martyred fighting against Russian infidels. When the Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami
men were seen first in Tajikistan, they were mistaken by some observers
as being fighters from Sipah Sahaba, but in fact they were under the command
of commander Khalid Irshad Tiwana, helping Juma Namangani and Tahir Yuldashev
resist the Uzbek ruling class in the Ferghana Valley. The anti-Uzbek warlords
were being sheltered by Mulla Umar in Afghanistan.
Maulana Abdul Quddus heads the Burmese
warriors located in Karachi and fighting mostly in Bangladesh on the Arakanese
border. Korangi is the base of the Arakanese Muslims who fled Burma to
fight the jehad from Pakistan. A large number of Burmese are located inside
Korangi and the area is sometimes called mini-Arakan. Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami
has opened 30 seminaries for them inside Korangi, there being 18 more in
the rest of Karachi. Maulana Abdul Quddus, a Burmese Muslim, while talking
to weekly Zindagi (25-31 January 1998), revealed that he had run away from
Burma via India and took religious training in the Harkat seminaries in
Karachi and on its invitation went to Afghanistan, took military training
there and fought the jehad from 1982 to 1988. In Orangi, the biggest seminary
is Madrasa Khalid bin Walid where 500 Burmese are under training. They
were trained in Afghanistan and later made to fight against the Northern
Alliance and against the Indian army in Kashmir. The Burmese prefer to
stay in Pakistan, and very few have returned to Burma or to Bangladesh.
There are reports of their participation in the religious underworld in
Karachi.
Harkat al-Jahad al-Islami has branch
offices in 40 districts and tehsils in Pakistan, including Sargodha, Dera
Ghazi Khan, Multan, Khanpur, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Mianwali, Bannu, Kohat,
Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Swabi and Peshawar. It also has an office
in Islamabad. Funds are collected from these grassroots offices as well
as from sources abroad. The militia has accounts in two branches of Allied
Bank in Islamabad, which have not been frozen because the organisation
is not under a ban. The authorities have begun the process of reorganisation
of jehad by changing names and asking the various outfits to merge. Harkat
al-Jahad al-Islami has been asked to merge with Harkatul Mujahideen of
Fazlur Rehman Khaleel who had close links with Osama bin Laden. The new
name given to this merger is Jamiatul Mujahideen. Jamaat Islami's Hizbul
Mujahideen has been made to absorb all the refugee Kashmiri organisations.
Jaish and Lashkar-e-Tayba have been clubbed together as Al-Jahad. All the
Barelvi organisations, so far located only in Azad Kashmir, have been pout
together as Al-Barq. Al-Badr and Hizbe Islami have been renamed as Al-Umar
Mujahideen.
