Sunday, January 9, 2000		Article

Portrait of a luxury-loving terrorist
By Jayant Vij

MEET Mohammed Masood Azhar — a big brutal bear of a man, a voracious eater who can easily consume 28 chappatis or five samosas at any one time, passionately loves the luxuries of life, and regards himself as the leader of the jehad. Despite being the son of a schoolmaster, Azhar dedicated his childhood and youth to rebellion and grew into a reckless and an overambitious rebel. The story of Azhar’s atrocities began from the day he entered Jamia Islamia at Karachi. Ambition seized his mind and he began to direct all his energies to bring disaster to innocent people under the garb of religion.

The day Azhar received his fake Portuguese passport, he was extremely happy. But little did he realise that very shortly he would be trapped. He always thought that he was a man who could manipulate things to suit himself and pave his way to glory. After his arrest in the Kashmir valley, he made an attempt to hoodwink the intelligence agencies by making an offer that he was prepared to undertake intelligence tasks in Pakistan on their behalf. His game plan, however, did not work and he realised that he was not in position to escape easily.

Azhar often talks of ‘simple living and high thinking’ but never practises what he preaches. On his way to Kashmir, he stayed at Ashoka Palace and Hotel Janpath at New Delhi and at Hotel Preetam in Dhaka. And then in a rehabilitation centre, he complained that he was not provided with "A Class jail facility".

Azhar has widely travelled across the world and claims that he has been instrumental in motivating the Muslim youth to fight for jehad in Kashmir. How far he has been successful is not known because his personal profile makes it obvious that his aim has never been to promote religion but his own interests. No matter what claims Azhar makes, he is a terrorist fighting for a cause — "Progress at the cost of others".

Masood Azhar born in Bhawalpur, is shot-statured, obese and sports a beard which makes him look much older than his thirty years. His father was a schoolmaster. Azhar attended school up to the eighth class. Since he had five brothers and six sisters, his father was not able to provide sufficient money for his education. He studied up to Class VII in Bhawalpur and attended secondary school in Rahimyar Khan for one year. Later, he attended Jamia Islamia in Karachi to study Islamic religion and teachings. In 1986, Azhar took up the job of Imam at Karachi and, subsequently, he completed his studies with distinction in 1989. As an Imam he received a salary of Rs 3000 per month.

During this period, he came across Maulana FR Khalil, chief of the Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen (HUM), and was motivated to join the organisation. He was convinced that the organisation had a cause to wage jehad in Afghanistan, therefore he decided to report to the headquarters of this group at Mehrashah, near Multan in Pakistan. From there, he was sent to Khost near the Pak-Afghan border and given one-week weapon training at the camp. Subsequently, he was given the responsibility to establish an office of the HUM in Loss Bela, Karachi. It is at this juncture that his life took a turn and he actively got involved in fundamentalistic activities. He continued to do his job as well.

As the head of the HUM office at Karachi, he was assigned the task of publishing a propaganda magazine which would highlight the atrocities committed by the security forces on the Kashmiri people in the valley and write articles to motivate the Muslim youth the world over to come forward and join the HUM group. From Karachi, he started publishing a magazine called Sadaye Mujahid. Simultaneously, he prepared propaganda material pertaining to Kashmir and circulated it in the Arab countries in the form of video and printed booklets. In 1989, he also addressed various rallies all over Pakistan, motivating the youth to come forward and join jehad in Kashmir. During the nineties, Azhar became a prominent figure in Pakistan and was instrumental in sending approximately 500 boys to Khost for training and getting enrolled in the HUM outfit.

Over a period of time, he gained recognition amongst the clergy in Pakistan and other Islamic countries for having authored the following books:

Fazal-e-Jehad ( Use of the holy war)

Taleem-Ul-Jehad (What is Jehad in actual form. The translated version in English was also made available)

Buniyad Fareste (Fundamentalist)

Jehad-Rahmat ya Fasad (Jehad leads to peace or war)

Somalia Aur Pakistani Afwas (Somalia and the Pakistani Army)

With the passage of time, Azhar won over the heart of HUM chief Mulana Fazloo Rehman Khakil, who, in May 1990, asked Azhar to accompany him for Haj to Saudi Arabia and, thereafter, to Zambia. They visited and propagated the Kashmiri cause at Lusaka and collected donations amounting to Rs 22 lakh.

Again, in 1991 he went along with the vice-chief of the group to Saudi Arabia and collected Rs 8 lakh. On his return, he quit his job as a teacher in Jamia Islamia and got fully involved in the activities of the Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen. In September 1992, Azhar visited the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. While in the UK, he visited Dewsbury, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bradford, London, and Sheffield. He managed to collect Rs 29 lakh from Muslims staying in these areas.

In Dewsbury, a Muslim advised Azhar to obtain a Portuguese passport, as it would provide him free movement in Europe and facilitate the fund collection. This Muslim gentleman took up the task of getting the passport made through his contacts in London. Thereafter, Azhar returned to Pakistan and in 1993 again proceeded to spread the Kashmiri propaganda and collect funds from Zambia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and a few other Muslim countries in Africa. He was able to collect Rs 22 lakh during this trip.

In June, 1993, some Ulemas in Pakistan, namely Maulana Saleemullah, Mufti Rashid Ahmed and Mufti Rahi Usmani, mooted an idea for the amalgamation of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and HUJI to form a new fundamentalist outfit. The chiefs of both these organisations — Maulana Fazloo Rehman Khakil and Mulana Sahadatullaha — agreed to have the merger in December 1993. A new organisation known as Harket-ul-Ansar (HUA) formed with its headquarters in Islamabad but the operational headquarters were established at Muzaffarabad (POK). As a matter of fact this new organisation was the brainchild of the ISI and Azhar was not only instrumental in bringing these two leaders to the negotiating table but also ensuring that the final outcome was as per the plans of the government agency. Due to his active participation in raising the new organisation, Azhar was given a front-line appointment of general secretary of the kitchen cabinet of the Harkat-ul-Ansar. Being a dedicated worker and a good organiser, he became a pivotal member of the group. At the age of 25 years, he wielded authority within the organisation and became a key personality for the ISI functionaries at Islamabad.

Some time in the last week of December 1993 or early January 1994, Azhar received the Portuguese passport and an identity card with the visa of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. On this passport his name was endorsed as Vali Adam Issa, an Indian born person. This prompted him to take on his first mission after assuming his appointment as the general secretary of a terrorist organisation actively involved in waging jehad in the Kashmir valley.

His mission to India was threefold: to visit Kashmir with a view to meet the Mujahideen, organise and co-ordinate the activities of the newly merged groups (HUM and HUJI) under the banner of the Harkat-ul-Ansar and assess the situation prevailing in the valley.

To liaise with the Kashmiri leaders having pro-Pakistani leanings, organise collection of funds so as to create a financial base in the valley.

To meet the Muslim clergy in the selected cities and towns of India in order to prevail upon them to provide active support to the Mujahideen and organise funding within India for the organisation.

Azhar planned his journey to India very systematically. On January 26, 1994, he first flew into Dhaka (Bangladesh) and met his organisation members. Then he visited Jessore and some areas adjoining the Indian border. Possibly, he was interested in finding out the chinks in security for the infiltration of his cadre through Bangladesh. On January 28, 1994, he boarded a flight for New Delhi and after reaching the Capital, he left for a pilgrimage to visit Ziarats at Deoband, Saharanpur, Lucknow and nearby places. He returned to New Delhi on February 8, 1994. With a few militants of his organisation, he boarded a flight for Srinagar. Since his passport was bearing a fake Indian identity, he did not encounter any difficulty at the airport. As soon as he left the airport, he went to a mosque in a car. The next day, he along with Sajjad Khan, alias Afghani, confidently left Srinagar for Anantnag, the hub of HUA activities. On February 11, 1994, while Azhar, Afghani and another terrorist were on their way to Srinagar, they were apprehended by the security forces. Azhar made all attempts to project himself as a servant of God, but his clever move failed .