Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

The Conflict Within
responsibility for attacks. Its other source of propaganda was its
publication Inteqam-i-Haq. LeJ activists were divided into small cells
that would dissolve after each action, making it more difficult for the
police to break the network. The militants were taught to die rather
than be captured by the security forces. ‘To become a martyr is the
dream of every Mujahid. It is a gift from God and will send a message
to the enemy that a Mujahid would prefer to die in an interrogation
cell rather than disclose any secret that could harm other Mujahids,’ a
guideline to party activists said.
Every LeJ activist would go through a tough regimen and ideological
training before being sent on a terror mission. He was not supposed
to maintain any links with family members during training or divulge
any information to them about the group: ‘Our relation is with God
and whatever we are doing is for God. All other relationships are
meaningless. Therefore try to avoid making friends and keeping in
close touch with your relatives.’ Police officials said it was never easy
to interrogate people whose dream was to become martyrs. 19
In Afghanistan, Basra became closely associated with the Taliban
militia, which had by then extended its control over a large part of
the strife-torn country. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan gave
the Sunni sectarian groups a new impetus. The rising power of the
armed, battle-hardened zealots became alarming and there was already
talk about the Talibanization of Pakistan. ‘Kabul ke baad Islamabad
… Taliban, Taliban [After Kabul, Islamabad. Taliban, Taliban],’
shouted a group of mullahs who had gathered at the Lahore High
Court in May 1994 soon after Taliban forces had captured Kandahar.
They were there for the hearing of a blasphemy case against two
Christians. ‘Come forward our Taliban to protect Islam in Pakistan.’
The slogans were a manifestation of the heady sense of power generated
among the religious zealots in Pakistan by the success of the
Afghan Taliban. Some of the local militant groups sought to replicate
the Taliban’s sharia-based system in the border areas of the North
West Frontier Province.
The Taliban also helped reinforce the old jihad ties between
Pakistani sectarian groups and drug-smuggling cartels in Afghanistan.
This mutually beneficial relationship resulted in the ‘Islamization of
criminal activities’. Afghanistan became a safe haven for Pakistani
jihadist and Islamic extremist groups. Inspired by a Sunni revolution
and anti-Shia jihad, hundreds of Islamic zealots joined the Talibanoperated
terror training in Afghanistan. SSP and LeJ militants were also