British Muslims are believed to have donated more than pounds 2 million last year to one of the Kashmiri terrorist groups accused of carrying out December 13 attack on the Indian parliament, in which 14 people were killed.
Sources inside Lashkar-e-Toiba (Army of the Pure), have revealed that the British are their second-largest foreign benefactors, after Kashmiris living in West Asia. Britain and America recently declared Lashkar a terrorist organisation, banning it and freezing its assets.
“We receive millions of pounds from Britain,” said a senior Lashkar member. “British Kashmiris are very patriotic. Some is for charity but the rest is used for attacks against military targets.”
All the main Kashmiri militant groups have fund-raising networks in Britain, often based in mosques. Leading figures from Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammed, another militant organisation, have visited Britain to raise funds.
According to an Indian intelligence report, Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar, the brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder and head of Jaish, has visited Britain at least once. Jaish confirmed that Azhar had travelled to Britain but would not disclose how much money he had raised. He is accused of taking part in the hijacking of an Indian airliner in 1999 and is among 20 Pakistan- based extremists wanted by the Indian government on charges of terrorism. During the hijack, the Indian government gave in to the demands of the terrorists and freed his brother.
“Jaish, like other militant outfits,” says the Indian intelligence report, “has become a significant recruiter and fund-raiser in the UK for the sustenance of militancy in Kashmir, particularly from the Birmingham area (in central England), which has become the focal point for the recruitment of Muslim youths to various jehadi organisations.”
Last year Indian intelligence gave
its British counterparts a confidential document detailing the fund- raising
activities of militant Kashmiri groups in Britain and a list of alleged
donors. Among them was Nazhir Ahmed, from east London, who according to
the Indians sent up to pounds 15,000 a month abroad. This weekend, Ahmed,
who is facing deportation, said he had raised small amounts of money, but
strictly for welfare work. “I had been collecting money for widows and
orphans - just pennies really,” he said. “Sometimes people gave me money
at religious festivals. I sent it to my brother in Pakistan, who gave it
to the poor.” He denied he had raised money for fighters, saying he was
opposed to violence. There are 600,000 Kashmiris in Britain, the majority
from areas of Kashmir that are under Pakistani control. Many retain strong
links with their homeland, often keeping property there and visiting relatives
regularly. (Copyright - The Sunday Times, London)