LeTting Go Its JeMs

With the naming of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as Foreign Terrorist Organisations by the US, the military regime is moving to deny any jehadi group the wherewithal to operate from anywhere in Pakistan.

Sources in the military establishment say that the much-awaited US ban has in fact provided Gen Pervez Musharraf with an opportunity to increase pressure on the jehadi groups operating from Pakistani soil. Sources maintained that the taming of the jehadi organisations was already on the government agenda and that this has nothing to do with the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament. Going out of his way to deny any Indian pressure in banning these groups, a senior foreign office bureaucrat said: "Why single out Musharraf? No Pakistani government would like to be seen as succumbing to Indian pressure." The official added, "As a matter of fact, Indian statements have undermined our resolve to launch a crackdown on the extremist groups in Pakistan."

Sources say that the renaming of LeT, the stepping down of LeT chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and the continued detention of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar were meant to curtail the jehadis' influence in Pakistani civil society.

Some interior ministry officials, however, maintain that the government plans to adopt a go-slow policy to achieve this "national security objective". "The government is set against a deadly head-on confrontation with a very emotional community," said an official familiar with recent discussions on the subject.

One factor that has strengthened the resolve of the military rulers to curb jehadis are reports of activities of renegade bands associated with jehadi organisations active outside Kashmir in India. These bands are working to increase Indo-Pak tensions. Sources say that when Musharraf was away (in China), a series of measures aimed at curtailing the activities of jehadi groups were discussed at a top-level meeting held under chairman joint chief of staff committee Gen Mohammad Aziz Khan at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi. The meeting was called to make recommendations to Musharraf on the present situation in the region, given the massive Indian troop build-up along the border.

Sources say that Musharraf's absence from the meeting provided his military commanders the latitude to freely discuss the current pressures on the country's security situation and to make independent professional recommendations to him for final decisions. Gen Aziz Khan, who has had some experience of dealing with religious groups during his tenure at the ISI, is now playing a leading role in the government's decision-making on military and strategic affairs.

While Musharraf attempts to deal decisively with the religious extremist groups at home, his government is going an extra mile to impress upon the international community that Pakistani authorities have no role in the alleged activities of some Pakistani groups in Indian cities. "If Americans, French and British can join the Al Qaeda network, no one should be surprised to see some Pakistani extremists confronting India," said a senior military official.

It is learnt that senior government officials have spoken with the top leadership of the jehadi organisations, who have promised cooperation. As for their nuisance value for Musharraf, a senior official said, "A majority of them are already under detention and therefore they are in no position to confront the government".