The Markaz and its Lashkar: The Markaz Oawa al Irshad (MOI) was founded in 1987, at the inspiration of Osama bin Laden, by Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed of the University of Engineering and Technology of Lahore and Abdullah Azam (a Palestinian) of the International Islamic University, which had been funded by bin Laden. Abdullah Azam was killed in an explosion at – Peshawar in 1989 and, after his death, Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed have been leading the Markaz while continuing to teach at the University.
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The headquarters of the Markaz, occupying over 190 acres of land, are located at Muridke, about 45 kms from Lahore in Pakistani Punjab. Its vast campus contains a huge Jamia mosque for the construction of which bin Laden had reportedly contributed Rs 10 million, a garments factory, an iron foundry, a woodworks factory, a swimming pool and three residential colonies for the inmates. A big Islamic University was also coming up.
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The Herald, the monthly journal of the prestigious Dawn group of publications of Karachi, reported as follows in January, 1998: “While the Dawa is involved in various areas, including religious education and social welfare, it is mainly through its militant wing that it is well known throughout the country. The LET provides military training to its members and prepares them to wage jehad. Although the Lashkar was initially involved in Afghanistan as well, its activities are now restricted to Indian Kashmir. Today, it is Pakistan’s largest so-called jehadi organisation.”
“¦the Lashkar was initially involved in Afghanistan as well, its activities are now restricted to Indian Kashmir. Today, it is Pakistans largest so-called jehadi organisation.”
It quoted an office-bearer of the Lashkar as stating as follows: “There are many other jehadi groups operating inside Kashmir, but their members are mainly local men (Kashmiris), assisted by fighters from other countries, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Eighty per cent of the Mujahideen in other jehadi groups operating in Kashmir come from that area, but the case with the Lashkar is exactly the opposite. Eighty per cent of its soldiers belong to Pakistan.”
The Herald added: “The Lashkar prefers not to reveal the exact number of men it has currently deployed in Kashmir. The Amir (Hafiz Mohammed Saeed) decides how many Mujahideens should be sent to the (Kashmir) Valley. The decision depends on the number of deaths that have taken place. It also depends on the requirement and capacity of the organisation inside Kashmir to absorb the new fighters. What is known, however, is that the Lashkar recruits and trains many more men than it actually requires to fight in Kashmir at any given time.
“Compared to other similar organisations, the Lashkar has proved to be a resounding success. Since its inception, it has managed to attract thousands of committed young men to its fold. The driving force behind its massive success in recruitment is deceptively simple. It uses its impressive organisational network, which includes schools, social service groups and religious publications, to create a passion for jehad.”
“¦organisations main interest in Pakistan was to pick people and train them to wage jehad in countries where an un Islamic government was in power.
According to the Herald, the Lashkar organises two kinds of military training – a 21-day basic course called “Daura Aam” and a three-month advanced course called “Daura Khas”. The entire advanced course is geared towards guerrilla warfare, with training in the use of arms and ammunition, ambush and survival techniques. Other Pakistani press reports after the arrest of Ramzi Yousef had also revealed that in the past some volunteers were also trained in aircraft-hijacking.
The Markaz and the Lashkar are extremely secretive organisations and take great care to conceal the real identities of their office-bearers except the Amir and their fighters. For this purpose, they emulate the Palestinian organisations in the use of “Kuniat”, which are Arabic pseudonyms adopted from the “Kuniats” of the Companions of the Prophet and later Islamic heroes.
Whereas in the Palestinian organisations, the “Kuniat” dies with the holder and the same “Kuniat” is not allotted to any other fighter, in the Markaz and the Lashkar, the “Kuniat” does not die with the holder. The same “Kuniat” is allotted to another fighter. It is not unusual to come across two individuals with the same or similar “Kuniats”.
Amir Saeed said: “˜The jehad in Kashmir would soon spread to entire India. Our Mujahideen would create three Pakistans in India.”
Bin Laden had reportedly contributed a large sum of money for the construction of a special guest house inside the Muridke complex. This guest house was initially built by him as a house for his stay during his visits to Pakistan, but, after 1992, he converted it into a guest house for his associates from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere visiting Pakistan.
It was reported that this guest house was also used as a hide-out for Ramzi Yousef, involved in the New York World Trade Centre explosion in February, 1993, and Mir Aimal Kansi, involved in the murder of two CIA officers outside their office in Langley, Washington DC, in January, 1993, before they were arrested by the Pakistani authorities and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US in the 1990s.
There are some distinguishing characteristics about the operational methods of the Lashkar militants. They do not shave or have a haircut and allow their beards and hair to grow long and are taught to employ extremely cruel methods such as beheading and disembowelling their victims from the security forces and non-Muslim communities. Like the fighters of many other jehadi organisations, they generally wear salwars, which do not cover the ankle.
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As regards ideology, the Markaz, an Ahle Hadith organisation of Wahabi orientation, was initially very close to Saudi Arabia, but seems to have developed differences with it because of its proximity to Osama bin Laden and of its contention that even Saudi Arabia does not have an ideal Islamic society. Its criticism of the stationing of US and other Western troops in Saudi Arabia also contributed to this. It describes the Hindus and Jews, in that order, as the main enemies of Islam and India and Israel as the main enemies of Pakistan. Its Amir is a strong opponent of Western-style democracy.
“¦”These jehadi groups cant function and survive without official patronage. Is there a single militant training centre in Pakistan which can operate without the consent of the Pakistan Army? All militant groups are created and run by Pakistans secret agencies.”
The Amir said in an interview to the Herald: “Democracy is among the menaces we inherited from an alien government. It is part of the system we are fighting against. Many of our brothers feel that they can establish an Islamic society by working within the system. They are mistaken. It is not possible to work within a democracy and establish an Islamic system. You just dirty your hands by dealing with it. If God gives us a chance, we will try to bring in the pure concept of an Islamic Caliphate.”
The News of Pakistan (November 23, 1997) reported as follows on the ideology and beliefs of the Markaz Amir as reflected during its annual conference of November, 1997: “The Markaz is trying to take advantage of the growing public discontent with the political system and widespread corruption. Using explicit references to the hardline Taliban in Afghanistan, it is making growing references to ending the democratic system in Pakistan. Prof Saeed calls for a jehad to turn Pakistan into a pure Islamic state.
“He rejects democracy saying that “the notion of the sovereignty of the people is anti-Islamic. Only Allah is sovereign.” The whole venue of the congregation was full of signboards with the slogan “Jamhooriat ka jawab, grenade and blast (the answer to democracy, grenade and blast).” Saeed was categorical in saying that his organisation had no immediate designs in Pakistan, even though the present system in Pakistan was not Islamic.
“He stated: ‘In fact, there is no Islamic government in the world. Not even in Saudi Arabia, where the system is closer to Islamic teaching, but still not fully Islamic.’ He expressed his happiness over the success of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“He said his organisation’s main interest in Pakistan was to pick people and train them to wage jehad in countries where an un Islamic government was in power.”
Irfan Hussain, a Pakistani columnist, wrote: “For years, successive governments have been denying military support for Kashmiri militants while jehadi outfits have been openly collecting funds to buy arms and train infiltrators at camps established in Punjab and Azad Kashmir.”
The paper quoted him as saying as follows: “God has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established. We have no option but to follow God’s order. We continue to support other Islamic organisations in the world. This is a very long battle.”
When the Markaz was started in 1987, it had a two-fold objective: to assist the Afghan Mujahideen and to rid Islam in Pakistan of what it projected as the corrupting influence of Hinduism. It continues to wage a sustained campaign against what it sees as the evil influence of sufism and Kashmiriyat. As it looks upon Kashmiriyat as the expression of the evil Hindu mind, many of its operations in J&K are directed against the Hindus.
Addressing the Lahore Press Club on February 18, 1996, Amir Saeed said: ‘The jehad in Kashmir would soon spread to entire India. Our Mujahideen would create three Pakistans in India.”
In an interview to the Takbeer of Pakistan (October 9, 1997), he said: “We feel that Kashmir should be liberated at the earliest. Thereafter, Indian Muslims should be aroused to rise in revolt against the Indian Union so that India gets disintegrated.”
Amongst other leading office-bearers of the Markaz are Yusuf Taibi, who is in charge of external relations, and Amir Hamza, editor of its journal called Majla Al Dawa, which claims to have a circulation of 70,000 (Rs 12 per copy). The Markaz describes photo cameras, TV sets and movie films as un Islamic. It carries out periodic campaigns for the destruction in public of cameras and TV sets and appeals to the public not to see films.
Lt Gen Mahmood Ahmed, the then DG of the ISI, was reported to have attended the annual conference of the LET held at Muridke from April 13 to 15, 2001, which passed a resolution calling on its cadres in India to emulate the example of Mahmood .Ghaznavi, capture Hindu temples, destroy the idols and then hoist the flag of Islam on them.
“¦”The Lashkar operates six private military training camps in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir where several thousands of cadre are given both military and religious education.””¦
In 2000, Musharraf, under pressure from the Clinton Administration, denied the LET permission to hold its annual conference at Muridke in November. This year, anticipating that there would be no similar pressure from the Bush Administration, he initially allowed them to hold the deferred conference of 2000 in Muzaffarabad in PoK, but subsequently, when the LET insisted on holding it at Muridke, he let it do so and asked the ISI to ensure that no journalists, Pakistani or foreign, was able to have access.
Despite this, some Pakistani journalists managed to have access. The News of April 22, 2001, reported as follows: “The Lashkar operates six private military training camps in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir where several thousands of cadre are given both military and religious education. With more than 2200 unit offices across the country and over two dozen launching camps along the Line of Control (LoC), the Lashkar boasts of the biggest jehadi network in Pakistan… The followers of the Lashkar come from all walks of life from the defence and nuclear establishment to the industrial labour.”
The March issue of Herald, the monthly journal of the Dawn group of Karachi, quoted Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, Secretary-General of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI), Sindh, based in Larkana, as saying as follows: “Why is the Pakistan Army not fighting for Kashmir? Why are they getting our youth killed there? They are using our young men for their own goals… Let’s be clear on one thing. These jehadi groups can’t function and survive without official patronage. Is there a single militant training centre in Pakistan which can operate without the consent of the Pakistan Army? All militant groups are created and run by Pakistan’s secret agencies. They have mobile phones, land cruisers and weapons. Where are they getting the funds from? Surely, it can’t be all funded through public donations. Because if that were so, we would be getting similar donations, if not more.”
Irfan Hussain, a Pakistani columnist, wrote in the Dawn of March 3, 2001, as follows: “For years, successive governments have been denying military support for Kashmiri militants while jehadi outfits have been openly collecting funds to buy arms and train infiltrators at camps established in Punjab and Azad Kashmir. In these efforts, these groups have received more than a wink and a nod from shadowy agencies that have sought to keep the Kashmir pot on the boil while preserving official deniability.”
Najam Sethi, the distinguished editor, wrote in the Friday Times ( May 18 to 24, 2001) as follows: “The Musharraf model seeks to covertly ally with the jehadi groups while overtly keeping the mainstream religious parties out of the power loop. This is to enhance and sustain its covert external agenda, while internally maintaining an overtly moderate anti-fundamentalist stance for the comfort of the international community whose economic support is critical to Pakistan’s financial viability.”
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