ESPITE the feel-good factor in India-Pakistan relations, the road to peace is still mined.Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s pronounced policy against militant outfits and withdrawal of support to them notwithstanding, it has not changed the situation on the ground. Terrorist training camps are still reported to be flourishing in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Militants in Pakistan are active and continuing with their activities. After the imposition of a ban on various terrorist outfits, they have changed their “brand names” and continue to carry on with their activities from mosques and madarsaas.
In an interview with a TV channel, the Indian Army
chief, General N.C. Vij, has also confirmed that terrorist camps still exist in Pakistan and terrorist groups continue to communicate with each other. “I would like to say one thing that the terrorist infrastructure on the other side still exists. There are 80 odd camps, which still exist there. The communication between terrorists goes on. If the infrastructure is there, the capability (for infiltration) is also there”, he added. The General said a correct assessment of Pakistan’s claim of curbing infiltration could be made only after the winter was over.
In spite of the banning of a number of militant organisations, the head of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hafiz Sayeed, and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Azhar Masood remain at large and their followers continue to carry on their activities.
After the banning of these organisations, the militants quickly stuffed their bags with Jehadi literature and money and started mingling with worshippers moving from one mosque to another. According to noted Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed, these militant leaders were not arrested for various reasons.
For example, the Lashkar-e-Toiba was banned again but its founder, Hafiz Sayeed, was allowed to go free and fulminate against the policies of General Musharraf, especially his policy on Kashmir. Sayeed also criticised the SAARC Summit. Similarly, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar should have been arrested but he had reportedly taken shelter for a few days with an adviser of the Punjab government.
The question is why Masood Azhar has not been taken into custody, even though the suicide attack on General Musharraf on December 25 was the work of a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The regime has also not taken any action against Harkat-ul-Mujahideen leader Fazlur Rehman Khalil, whose group was also re-banned recently.
“For jehad, we don’t need a licence from Islamabad or Washington”, says Saiful Islam, spokesman of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad. “The Mujahideen are angry on such bans imposed by our own Muslim ruler (General Musharraf). It can create temporary hurdles but cannot stop us from jehad. The Americans are frightened because jehad is in full swing in Afghanistan and Iraq. They want to cage jehadis with the help of their puppet government”.
