Jaish Mohammad

Muzamil Jaleel

Top Harkat ideologue Moulana Masood Azhar floated the Taliban-style Jaish Mohammad in 1999 by merging all factions of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen strengthening the jehadi campaign in Srinagar.

Strong Deobandi creed forms the primary religious and ideological base for Jaish as well as Taliban. In fact, the Taliban movement was launched by the students of the very network of 9000 madrasas which the Jaish's (formerly Harkat) parent organisation -- Jamiat-e-Ulemai-Islam -- runs across Pakistan. Masood only knit the ties stronger after his release (Kandhar hijacking in 1999) as he toured Kandhar to secure the blessings of Taliban leadership soon after he planned to launch Jaish Mohammad or the `Army of the Prophet'.

On ground, there are enough signs that Jaish has come up very powerful. There has been a sharp rise in violence-related incidents across the valley and even the group has been exhibiting its presence in Srinagar, thus negating the Government claim of total sanitisation of the capital city.

In fact, Jaish introduced itself in Kashmir with a suicidal attack at the main entrance of the Army's 15 Corps Headquarters at Badamibagh Cantonment, when a 17-year-old local recruit of the outfit attempted to ram an explosive-laden car inside the headquarters. The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which has merged with Jaish, had earlier also shot at girls wearing jeans, branded as ``unislamic'' in Srinagar, besides attacking cable operators and banning their operations. Though the ban was relaxed later, music and entertainment channels like MTV, Channel V and Star Movies are still not allowed.

The Taliban connection is very strong: Religious ideology apart, majority of the Taliban and Jaish leaders/cadre were classmates in the madrasas run by Jamiat-e-Ulemai-Islam (JUI) in Pakistan.

Moulana Azhar Masood, who is emerging as the ultimate leader of Deobandi pan-Islamist militants in Kashmir after his release in last year's hijack drama, has however been directly associated with madrassas, Jamia Abu Yousuf, Madipore Karachi and Jamiat-ul-Uloomi Islamiyah in Binori town of Karachi. The Binori madrassa has around 8,000 students and many a top Taliban leadership is product of this institute. According to Ahmad Rasheed, this madrassa sent 600 students to join Taliban in 1996 alone.

The Taliban connection of Kashmir's pan-Islamist militancy seems an established fact now and as their strength in valley grows, the Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi An al-Munkar (Department of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), whose religious police enforces a strict code of conduct and restrictions on women in Afghanistan, is bound to have influence in Kashmir as well.