Terror's new face: After Al Qaeda, is it Lashkar?(LeT emerging as Qaida's successor)

Times of India ^ | JULY 06, 2005 | INDRANI BAGCHI & M SALEEM PANDIT

[phoenix_004]

Tuesday’s Ayodhya attack is a deadly reminder of Lashkar-e-Toiba’s core ideology — it goes well beyond opposing India’s sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the Lashkar’s agenda, as outlined in a pamphlet titled, ‘Why Are We Waging Jihad’, includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India.

The terrorist group started out as a wholly owned subsidiary of ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence outfit. But over the years it has grown beyond its creator and is now regarded by many terrorism analysts as the successor to the Al Qaida—not as a monolithic organisation, but as a loosely constructed federation.

It propagates a narrow Islamist fundamentalism that is uncomfortably close to Saudi Wahhabism. It wants to unite all Muslim majority regions . Hence, its presence in Afghanistan, J&K, Chechnya and other parts of Central Asia. The outfit has a history of executing precision attacks outside J&K, the most prominent being its suspected role in the December 13, 2001, attack on Parliament and the 2002 strike on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.

Security sources say, LeT had planned a similar in Ayodhya in 2002, but it fell apart after the militants entrusted with the task were killed in an encounter with the Delhi Police in Tughlaqabad.

BSF’s senior intelligence officer, K Srinivasan, believes LeT operatives are also active in UP and Gujurat besides being spread across Jammu and Kashmir. Srinivasan, who has been involved in anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir since 2000, told TOI that Lashskar’s involvement in the Ayodhya attack could not be ruled out given its track record.

Shahzad Ahmad alias Abu Shamas of Pakistan is the supreme operational commander of the outfit in Jammu and Kashmir. Shahzad resides in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but has a representative, Dr Zaan, stationed in Bandipora, North Kashmir, acting as operational commander these days, Srinivasan said.

The UN took the ultimate step in May of banning the LeT and all its sister concerns for its links with Al Qaida, through UN Resolution 1267 under which all states are obliged to freeze its assets, prevent its entry into or transit through their territories.

The fact that this is yet to find any ground in LeT’s home base, Pakistan, has not escaped notice. Formed in 1990 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Lashkar-e-Toiba is the military wing of the Markaz-ud-Dawawal-Irshad (MDI), an Islamic fundamentalist organisation of the Ahle-Hadith sect in Pakistan.

Its first presence in J&K was recorded in 1993 when 12 Pakistani and Afghan mercenaries infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC).

However, after being banned by the US and at different times, Pakistan, the LeT has been reorganised into two supposedly exclusive bodies — one devoted to preaching of Islam under Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and the other to carry on its violent campaign under the leadership of Kashmiri scholar Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri.

Compared to other terrorist outfits in J&K, LeT has commanded significant attention primarily due to two reasons. First, for its well planned and executed attacks on security forces and second, for the dramatic killings of non-Muslim civilians.

In fact, it is generally noted that LeT cadres prefer death to arrest, pointing to a high degree of motivation. In recent months, LeT has joined hands with other organisations to oppose the Srinagar-Muzaffarbad bus service.

But of greater concern to Indian security agencies has been the tie-up between LeT and India’s most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim, which was used by the US to brand Dawood a global terrorist. The LeT is believed to collect donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and UK, Islamic NGOs and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen. The amount of LeT funding is unknown.

It maintains ties to various religious/military groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to West Asia and Chechnya primarily through the fraternal network of Jamaat ud Dawa, its re-named parent body. Next to Pakistan, where the headquarters of the LeT is located, the second most important base of the outfit is in Saudi Arabia.

[phoenix_004]

oops!!!sorry try this link :-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1161887,curpg-1.cms

[ncountylee]

oppose the Srinagar-Muzaffarbad bus service.

The ROP is now beheading people over bus service? Think of that! Actually cutting peoples heads off because of bus routes!

How can I 'learn' tolerance and understanding towards these things?

[Nathan Zachary]

India was never under complete Islamic rule. Despite being under near constant attack by Muhammadans for nearly 1200 years, and over 100 million Indians killed, they have resisted occupation, until the Brits colonized the place, then carved up part of India and created Pakitan. That was a big mistake, because Islam can never be appeased, the goal is world domination, always was, always will be. They will succeed too unless our leaders wake up.

Qur’an 8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”

Ishaq:324 “He said, ‘Fight them so that there is no more rebellion, and religion, all of it, is for Allah only. Allah must have no rivals.’” Ishaq:208 “When Allah gave permission to his Apostle to fight, the second Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of submission. Now we bound themselves to war against all mankind for Allah and His Apostle. He promised us a reward in Paradise for faithful service. We pledged ourselves to war in complete obedience to Muhammad no matter how evil the circumstances.”

[phoenix_004]

"Qur’an 8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”

Ya so much for the religion of peace!!!!!Thx for highlighting this . By the way how did you get this info?Did you read the entire Qur’an or what?

[Nathan Zachary]

You have to read the Ahadith to make any sense out of the Koran. The koran is a jumbled up mess, that's not in any particular order, So you would have a difficult time trying to understand Islam if you tried to read it.

The Ahadith, which is the life of Muhammad,(Sirat Rasul Allah) was written by Ibn Ishaq in 750 A.D. It was edited and abridged by Ibn Hisham in 830 and translated by Alfred Guillaume under the title, The Life of Muhammad in 1955 by Oxford Press. Referred to as the Sira, or Biography, Ishaq’s Hadith Collection is comprised of oral reports from Muhammad and his companions. It provides the only written account of Muhammad’s life and the formation of Islam composed within two centuries of the prophet’s death. There is no earlier or more accurate source.

The History of al-Tabari, called the Ta’rikh, was written by Abu Muhammad bin al-Tabari between 870 and 920 A.D. His monumental work was translated and published in 1987 through 1997 by the State University of New York Press. Tabari’s History is comprised entirely of Islamic Hadith. It is arranged chronologically. Tabari is Islam’s oldest uncensored source.

Read thosse and you will know more about Islam than most Muslims do. They are undesputable. Tabari puts the koran in order so you know what was said when and under what circumstances, so there can be no misunderstanding of what those verses mean.

If you would like to read alot of what those books contain, you can read this online book, which does an excelent job of explaining what Islam is really all about, as well as putting the koran in order for you. You will find it interesting, although it is quite long, about 1300 pages. You can download it in html or pdf if you like, it's free. http://www.prophetofdoom.net/bibliography.html

[Nathan Zachary]

oops, try this:

http://www.prophetofdoom.net/toc.html

[Nathan Zachary]

And yes, I have read everything there is about Islam, I've studied Islam for many years. Hisham and Tabari's works are huge, 15 volumes for one and ten for the other. Everything that is in the koran is found in those works.
Without these works, the koran is useless, Muslims wouldn't know how or when to do all their pagan rituals without them.
Islam can't exist without them. All the rituals Muslims do are actually from the old rock god worshiping days, Muhammad simply incorporated them into his new, Monolithic (single rock) worshiping religion.

You will learn all this in that book.

[Wiz]

I would say it would be JI that would be the successor of Al Qaida. However, if LeT joins JI, that would be pretty devastating. India should also be aware of the JI spreading out from South East Asia into South Asia.