SRINAGAR, May 5: As the aged-man declared he had joined jehad after his two sons were "martyred" in Kashmir, many among the nearly one lakh audience wiped their tears; some sobbed loudly. The scene at Mundke, a small town 30 miles north of Lahore, was staged on the occasion of annual conference of Markar-e-Dawa Wal Irshad, the largest jehadi organisation in Pakistan sponsoring Lashkar-e-Toiba militants into Kashmir. The organisation has lost nearly 350 mujahids in Kashmir. Thousands of its well-motivated and trained cadres are ready to join the jehad in Kashmir, reveals an article in a Lahore-based magazine, International Herald. The profile of Lashkar-e-Toiba presents it as a fanatic group with plenty of resources and religious motivation to carry on militancy in Kashmir in the name of jehad. Very little is known about it in India except that it's militants are mostly Pakistanis. Lashkar militants, mostly encountered by the army in central and northern Kashmir are known to have burnt a large number of schoolgirls. They are considered the best trained among foreign mercenary groups by the security forces.The Lashkar headquarters, the article says, symbolises its strength and growing influence in Pakistan. Spread over nearly 190 acres of land, the Dawa Wal Irshad complex houses mosques, residential areas, a university, factories, and a swimming pool. The recruits are imparted special guerrilla training in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK). Its militants in Kashmir and the relatives of those killed, interact with those aspiring to join the jehad each year. These gatherings have swelled over the years. Invariably these turn into impromptu recruitment rallies.
The article quotes founders of Markaz -- Zafar Iqb0al and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed -- university teachers who set it up in 1987. The article says the Lashkar is fully engaged in "holy war" in Kashmir. Its recruits for Kashmir even include convicts like killers and drug addicts released on parole. Nineteen of its top leaders are presently languishing in Indianjails.
The Markaz uses the theme of atrocities against Muslims in Kashmir, to arouse passions of young Pakistanis studying in its schools. However, unlike other Pakistan-based organisations like Harkat-ul-Ansar which send mujahids to Kashmir on their own free will, the Lashkar men require their parents' permission to go to Kashmir.
Abu Hamza, a Lashkar militant engaged in Kashmir for three years, says his ten fellow militants were killed by security forces. Interspersing his tenure with brief breaks in Pakistan, Hamza said he would continue to go to Kashmir till he gets martyrdom.
Unravelling the ghastly ideals that tie down the recruits to the holy war, Saeed says Lashkar men were permitted to kill Indian soldiers captured in Kashmir by slitting their throats, beheading or even disembowelling them. One militant, he proudly says, had brought the head of an Indian soldier to Pakistan which was displayed for days at the Markaz headquarters.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
