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