Author: Josy Joseph
Publication: Rediff
on Net
Date: December 23, 2000
There was a triumphal
air to their march to freedom -- accompanied, in that sequence, by Research
and Analysis Wing chief A S Daulat, then by Minister for External Affairs
Jaswant Singh and, finally, by Taliban leaders and the hijackers themselves.
And thus they walked,
from captivity to freedom. So what have the fruits of that freedom
really been like, for the three terrorists released by the Indian government
in response to the hijacking of IC 814?
Here is a checklist:
Maulana Masood Azhar
The most high-profile
of the trio, with his small round spectacles and jet black beard and the
Koran as constant companion.
Azhar has flourished
since his release from captivity. Resuming his activities almost
immediately after his release, he took time off to get married on January
17, 2000.
And then, it was back
to business as usual. Just prior to that, Azhar floated the militant
group Jaish-e-Mohammad, with a reported active strength of 400 members,
and a loose confederacy with other militant groups that stretches across
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Azhar's fledgling group also
enjoys the support of the cash-rich Deobandi school acolytes and, of course,
the Taliban.
The group is flush with
funds. Intelligence sources indicate that Azhar has accounts in banks
such as the Karachi branch of ANZ Grindlays and a total corpus estimated
at Rs 17 crore.
Actively helping him
in his efforts is the much-feared anti-Shia outfit Sipah-e-Sahiba -- a
name that spells nightmares for even the Pakistan administration.
Working out of his homes
in Karachi and Babalpur, Azhar has used his network to flood India with
hundreds of thousands of audio cassettes containing the fiery speeches
that are his trademark. Several thousand have been seized by Indian
authorities, but far more are still in circulation.
On another front, Azhar's
outfit has organised training camps at Nikial and Kotli in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir and at Rashkor in Afghanistan.
Intelligence agency sources
indicate that, in a worrying new development, Jaish-e-Mohammad has been
providing intensive arms training to a corps of female militants at the
Kotli camp -- a signal for escalation of violence on another front.
Thus Azhar has, over
the 364 days following the hijack, emerged as a key rallying point for
Kashmiri militants. And his latest claim, that he will not rest content
until he hoists his organisation's flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort,
is being seen in intelligence circles as a sign of nightmares to come.
The other two, Mushtaq
Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Umar Syed Sheikh, have been relatively low key.
The feeling within intelligence circles is that their low profile owes
itself to the awareness that India's dirty tricks department and several
American agencies are on their trail.
Which, however, is not
to say that they have taken a complete sabbatical from their bloodletting
activities.
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar
The recalcitrant Srinagar
kid who emerged as a dreaded terrorist a few years ago is now engaged in
reviving his group, Al-Umar Mujahideen.
Known for his ruthlessness
and his ability to plan stunning strikes, Zargar is the only Indian Kashmiri
in the lot. He grew up in Gani Mohalla of the Jama Masjid area of
Srinagar.
Zargar was motivated
into militancy sometime in 1984, but he became famous during the kidnapping
of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed
Sayeed. He parted ways with Yasin Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front after one of his suggestions was not accepted.
Zargar then formed the
Al-Umer Mujahideen in December 1989. The group went on to earn a
reputation for planning and executing some of the most inhuman strikes
in the valley. His name, along with Azhar's, had figured among the
people whose release was being demanded when the Al Faran group abducted
five foreign tourists.
In an interview that
appeared in an Islamic site, Masood Azhar says about Zargar: "In my opinion
he has two other notable qualities. One is is deep concern for his
mujahideen... He always took the group across the border himself.
If he continues to do so now, the movement will undoubtedly gain.
The second is that all the mujahideen gather around him. Those who,
because of his arrest, have given up jihad or have left for other countries
will now come back again. The movement will thus get a new impetus
and gain momentum."
Intelligence agencies
indicate that Zargar has, of late, joined hands with Dr Hyder, former second-in-command
of the JKLF and the outfit behind the bomb blast at Lajpat Nagar in New
Delhi in 1997.
The notorious Inter-Service
Intelligence has extended patronage to Zargar, encouraging him to build
up the pace and tempo of militant activity in Kashmir. What is most
worrying for India's intelligence agencies is that, though they are aware
that Zargar is in Pakistan, there is no clue about his exact whereabouts.
And this has led to the fear that, in some secret camp, he is refining
his plans before embarking on another reign of terror in the valley.
Ahmed Umar Saeed Sheikh
This British national
of Pakistan origin, and an alumnus of the London School of Economics, is
the most low profile of the troika. The only thing known to intelligence
sources is that he lives a quiet life in Rawalpindi, following the Pakistani
authorities's refusal to permit him to return to England.
The Pakistani authorities,
intelligence sources say, are afraid of the possibility that, if Sheikh
retrusngoes back to England, he is likely to be arrested and deported to
India. Equally worrying for the ISI is the possibility that, if captured,
Sheikh could reveal details of the ISI's involvement in militancy to Western
authorities.
For now, the 27-year-old
Sheikh shows no signs of a return to militancy, preferring instead to live
a seemingly retired life. The black-belt holder in karate, sources
indicate, has in fact come to the conclusion that his militant days are
over.
