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Whose Maulana Is He Anyway?

Masood Azhar's links with the ISI—or is it RAW?—gives him the shadowy contours of a double agent

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Whose Maulana Is He Anyway?
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Maulana Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief, is a much hated man in the Pakistani establishment following the October 1 fidayeen attack on the Srinagar assembly by a four-member squad belonging to his outfit. Many, including some mujahideen outfits here, allege that Masood works for raw and is out to embarrass President Musharraf at a time when Pakistan has joined the US in its fight against terrorism.

Paradoxically, it is hardly a secret in Islamabad that the Jaish operates with the isi's blessings. Though Masood's outfit was quick to back off from its earlier claim of responsibility for the Srinagar attack, reliable sources here claim the attack was planned and aimed to punish Pakistan for betraying Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. According to Pakistan-based diplomats of the Taliban, Masood is deeply indebted to Mullah Omar's regime for the support it extended to him during the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane in December 1999. Masood was freed from an Indian prison in exchange for the passengers on the aircraft.

The Srinagar strike is being seen in Islamabad as a negative move that has bolstered the Indian case that Pakistan-based militant groups are striking terror in Kashmir. It has also brought into focus the training and indoctrination of suicide squads or fidayeen inside Pakistan. The Jaish, one of the most powerful militant groups in Pakistan, runs its own camp in the nwfp. Here it trains young volunteers for jehad. It's at this camp that fidayeen are also groomed.

According to sources in the mujahideen outfits, from every batch of volunteers that comes to the training camp of the Jaish, the most motivated are selected and trained to go on suicide missions. Those chosen undergo arduous training and indoctrination to further raise their level of commitment. Their time-table is such that every hour of military training is followed by an hour of religious indoctrination. The trainees are isolated from the outside world. The potential fidayeen have no access to TV or newspapers.

According to insiders, so rigid is the training that the prospective fidayeen are not even allowed to converse with each other. Instead, in their free time they have to read religious books or recite prayers. The general drift is that they should even renounce their families when they volunteer for the holy war. They are told they will be twice blessed by God after their martyrdom. Those who have lost their lives in the jehad are hero-worshipped and those selected for suicide missions are an elite group among the mujahideen.

The training is so designed that to die in the holy war is the sole ambition of every militant, especially the fidayeen. The young minds are told that their war is against the infidels. They are repeatedly reminded that it is the West which has robbed the Muslims of their past glory and that it is the duty of every devout Muslim to fight for freedom from infidels of all hues.

Life is tough at the training camps. The boys who are selected for the final phase of the guerrilla warfare wake up at four in the morning and train till sunset. The training camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammed are set up in difficult mountainous terrain far away from towns and cities. The training period varies from six months to a year and there are about 100 volunteers in every batch.

According to sources, the training is largely conducted by veterans of the Afghan war and by officers of the Pakistani army and intelligence. By the time the prospective fidayeen complete their training, they are very clear about the battle they have to wage. It is Muslims versus the rest of the world.

For the Jaish, Kashmir is one of the areas it has chosen to 'liberate'. While Pakistan would like Masood to hold his fire while the American operations against the Taliban are on, the Jaish enjoys considerable support from those who are opposed to Musharraf's support for the US campaign. It is also learnt that Masood has drawn up a master strategy for the Kashmir Valley and has set up an elaborate system whereby recruits from the Jaish's jehad factory are sneaked into the Valley by the ISI operatives.

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