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Masood Azhar emerging as prime mover of insurgency in Kashmir

Maulana Mohammad Masood Azhar, now reportedly in police custody on unspecified charges, is fast emerging as a key figure in organising and fuelling the insurgency in Kashmir.

The former Harkat-ul Mujahideen ideologue was released by India on New Year's eve to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. Little was known about him till the hijackers demanded his release from six years of captivity, but a clearer picture has now emerged about the man and his plans for the future.

The soft-spoken, simply dressed Pakistani cleric, who prefers to describe himself as a journalist, would not draw a second glance but for his security cordon that never fails to attract a crowd of curious onlookers.

Azhar undergoes a stunning transformation as he faces up to a microphone and launches into one of his trademark no-holds-barred vitriolic speeches, extolling the virtues of Jihad (Holy war). He is not a firebrand orator, and his speeches, expectedly, are high on rhetoric and low on content. But that does not keep him from moving the audience to hysteria as he describes in detail the alleged 'atrocities of the Indian forces on the hapless Kashmiri people'.

Ever since his release on December 31, 1999, the short and stocky Azhar criss-crossed the country guarded by dozens of menacingly armed young men, consulting top religious and militant leaders, and addressing congregations from the pulpit, inviting the youth to join the 'jihad (holy war) to liberate Kashmir.'

His flight was finally halted by the police but his brother Abdur Rauf, who serves as a confidant, denies that Azhar is in custody. ''He is busy in consultations with religious and Jihadi leaders somewhere near Islamabad."

However, sources in the Dar-ul-Ifta, Azhar's provincial headquarters in Karachi, say he was arrested for moving around with guards carrying unlicensed weapons but is expected to be released within the week. His arrest is believed to be a signal to the United States, ahead of President Clinton's visit to India, that the military government will not allow the militant organisations a free run of the country.

After five weeks of consultations at top levels, Azhar finally came out with his plans, announcing the formation of Jaish-i-Mohammad, an umbrella organisation that will attempt to bring together all militant groups fighting the Indian forces in Kashmir.

Azhar broke ranks with the Harkat as he was unhappy with the progress of the 'mission in Kashmir' where the militant organisations had lost sight of the larger goal and begun fighting among themselves.

Predictably, he has invited all militant organisations to sink their differences and come together for Jihad under his leadership. "The next six months under a unified command will be crucial," he thunders in speech after speech.

Azhar is a great admirer of Taleban chief Mulla Mohammed Umar and takes inspiration from the exploits of the student militia which now controls most of Afghanistan. He labours to drive home the point in every speech that Muslims should accept Umar as the Amir-ul-Momineen (chief of the Muslim world) whose word should be accepted without question. Along the same lines, he wants the militant organisations to fall in behind him.

UNI

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