The majority of the Sunni Muslims of Pakistan follow the Ahle
Sunnat of the Brelvis with its traditions strongly influenced by Islam's interaction with
Hinduism and Christianity in the sub-continent. They venerate sufism, the mystic orders
(pirs), spiritual mentors ("gurus") and saints and have the tradition of
visiting the graves of their mentors, saints and relatives on important occasions.
The majority of the Brelvis are descendants of converts from
Hinduism and belong to poor rural classes. Since they cannot afford to go on Haj to Saudi
Arabia, their tradition allows them instead to visit the graves of their pirs and saints.
These flexible and tolerant traditions had spread in the past from the sub-continent to
Afghanistan , the Central Asian Republics (CARs), Dagestan and Chechnya and to other
countries where Muslims from the sub-continent have migrated..
The Wahabi-Deobandis of Pakistan, who are in a numerical
minority, are the descendants of the original migrants from Central Asia, Afghanistan and
the Gulf. They look upon themselves as the high-born (the "Ashraf") and look
down on the Brelvis as the low-born (the "Alaf"). Power has largely remained in
the hands of the Wahabi-Deobandis, but till 1971 there was no organised, state-sponsored
attempt to force the Wahabi religious traditions on the Brelvis.
The alienation of the people of pre-1971 East Pakistan was mainly
due to the refusal of the Deobandi high-born of West Pakistan to accept the Bengali
Muslims, largely the descendants of converts from Hinduism, as their equals.
The war of 1971 and the separation of Bangladesh and the
subsequent appearance of signs of alienation amongst the Mohajirs of Karachi and other
urban areas of Sindh, who are descendants of converts from Hinduism from northern India,
created fears of another split of Pakistan.
This led to the emergence in the 1980s of a number of Muslim
extremist organisations wedded to the policy of ridding Islam in Pakistan of what they
looked upon as the corrupting influences of Hinduism and making the Muslims of Pakistan
strictly adhere to the Deobandi-Wahabi traditions.
This revivalist movement for the enforcement of Wahabism received
encouragement from the late Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, himself a devout Deobandi. He preferred
Wahabi-Deobandis for recruitment to the Government services and the armed forces, assisted
their madrassas (religious schools) and allowed these madrassas to recruit ex-servicemen
for imparting military training to their students. The students of these madrassas played
an active role in the war against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan and are the backbone of
the Taliban today.
Saudi Arabia, the cradle and citadel of Wahabism, was the main
financial backer of the Wahabi-Deobandi organisations of Pakistan. It financed their
activities in Pakistan to purify Islam and their participation in the war in Afghanistan.
Not only the Saudi intelligence services, but also individual Saudi sheikhs like Osama bin
Laden and his father, the owner of a rich construction company, which has the
responsibility for the repairs and maintenance of the holy shrines in Saudi Arabia,
contributed generously to the funds of these organisations.
Initially a purely Pakistani revivalist movement, with its
emphasis more on religious preaching to make the people better Muslims and on
proselytisation to convert the non-Muslims to Islam, it became a movement for the export
of Wahabism and jehad.
It extended its activities to other countries where, in its
perception, there had been similar corruption of Islamic faith and traditions such as
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Southern Philippines, China, the Central
Asian Republics (CARs), Chechnya, Dagestan, France, the UK, Belgium, the USA, Canada, the
Caribbean, South Africa, Eritrea, Mauritania and Australia.
Its initial objective of ridding Islam of the corrupting
influences of Hinduism expanded to cover ridding Islam of the corrupting influences of
Christianity, Judaism, communism, the secularism of Turkey and the traditions of the Shia
faith. Saudi Arabia and its sheikhs as well as rich Muslim businessmen of Egypt and other
Arab countries have been liberally funding the overseas activities of these organisations.
The Saudi support for these organisations is motivated partly by
religious and partly by strategic calculations. The religious reason is to expand the
influence of Wahabism. The strategic calculation is to counter the influence of Turkey and
Iran in the newly-emerged/emerging Islamic countries.
The increase in the activities of Deobandi-Wahabi groups and
their tremendous political clout in Pakistan despite their being in a numerical minority
have recently led to an attempt by the Brelvis to organise themselves in order to stop the
advance of Wahabism with the help of Saudi money.
The Brelvis' Ahle Sunnat organised a rally at Islamabad on April
14,1999, to protest against the alleged demolition of the mausoleum of the Holy Prophet
Mohammed's mother, Hazrat Amina, in Saudi Arabia. The initiative for the rally was taken
by Aalmi Tanzim Sunnat, a relatively little known Brelvi organisation based in Gujrat. It
was co-sponsored by the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, the Dawaat Islami, the Sunni Tehreek and the
students of Brelvi madrassas .
The "News" (April 25) of Pakistan reported as follows
on the rally, which was played down by other Pakistani papers and which has not received
the attention it deserves in other countries: " The Brelvis cannot be accused of
being agents of other countries because their belief system is rooted in the sub-continent
and is different from that of most Islamic countries with religious agenda. However, the
disadvantage they are faced with is that they do not have as many madrassas (effectively
training grounds for militants) as the Ahle Hadith (Wahabis) or the Deobandis. Neither do
they have armed outfits.
"In what was perhaps an unprecedented move in Pakistan,
speakers at the public rally accused the Saudi Government of being non-Muslim. They went a
step further. The participants vowed to kill Saudi citizens everywhere in the world to
avenge the demolition of the mausoleum of Prophet Mohammed's mother, if their demands were
not met. At least, one speaker described the Saudis as worse than the Jews.
"Using extremely harsh words against Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif and President Rafique Tarar, the speakers urged the Pakistan Government to stand up
to the blasphemous acts of the Saudi Government and get the sacred mausoleum and others
like it restored.
"The occasion was used to air wrath against the Saudis, who
are seen as determined to eliminate the Ahle Sunnat and their (sub-continental) ideology
from the Muslim world one way or the other. This aim is shared by the Ahle Hadith who want
to put an end to the Ahle Sunnat practices like attending graves and mausoleums.
"The rally demanded that the Saudi Government allow Brelvi
leaders such as Shah Ahmad Noorani to at least perform Haj and Umra. Speakers also asked
the Saudi Government to lift the ban on the Holy Quran translation by Imam Ahmed Reza Khan
Brelvi, a leading Sunni Imam of South Asia, as well as other publications by him.
"The rally indicated that the Ahle Sunnat leaders intended
to raise their voice against and combat Saudi-supported militant parties such as the
Lashkar-e-Toiba. One of the demands at the rally, in fact, was to ban this outfit (the
Lashkar-e-Toiba), which (according to the speakers) has added over 300,000 armed
terrorists in Pakistan, leading the country towards civil war.
"It was probably also the first time that the armed forces
of Pakistan were publicly accused of supporting militant parties which profess to wage
jehad in Kashmir. They denounced the armed forces of Pakistan as a fat sacred cow.
"But the Ahle Sunnat are not in a position to combat what
they perceive as Ahle Hadith and Deobandi threats because they lack trained militant
cadres, organisational structure and finance. In the extremely complex sectarian cobweb,
Shias appear their natural allies with whom they share similarities in religious
practices.
"In pooling their resources and manpower, the Brelvis and
the Shias might find an answer to these problems. This is exactly what may happen, given
the present signs. And the result is likely to be even more bloodshed and terror than we
have seen so far," the "News" report concluded.
ORIGIN AND SUB-CONTINENTAL ROLE OF WAHABISM
What is Wahabism? How did it come to the sub-continent from Saudi
Arabia? What was its pre-1947 role in the sub-continent? To answer these questions, one
could do no better than quote extensively Mr.V.Abdulla, a well-known South Indian Islamic
research scholar.
Reviewing a book titled "The Wahabi Movement In India",
written by Mr.Qeyamuddin Ahmad and published by the Manohar Publishers & Distributors,
2/6,Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi--110002, he wrote as follows in the
"Hindu" of Chennai (October 10,1995):
"The Wahhabi movement---a name they disliked intensely, as
they preferred to call themselves Ahli Hadithi or followers of the Prophet's authenticated
traditions--- was based on the teachings of Muhammad Abdul Wahhab (1703-92) born in Nejd,
now part of Saudi Arabia. The bedrock of their belief was the strict monotheism of
pristine Islam coupled with an abjuration of any intercession of any saint, however holy,
for God's favours.
"They abhorred the very idea of Muslims visiting the tombs
of such saints or investing them with miraculous powers. Although Abdul Wahhab initially
enjoyed the local support of the regional Governor who ruled under the suzerainty of the
Ottoman Caliph, his reforming zeal soon incurred the wrath of the establishment.
"He had to take refuge with a powerful local tribal chief
Mohammad Ibn Saud with whom he struck up an alliance which has left an indelible mark on
modern Arab history. The descendants of Mohammad Ibn Saud, who followed the teachings of
Abdul Wahhab, eventually established their authority of what is now called Saudi Arabia.
The austere and puritanic principles enjoined by Abdul Wahhab are still enforced in the
kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"The Wahhabi link with India came mainly through Sayyid
Ahmad (1786-1831), who belonged to a family of saintly renown who were settled down in UP.
He was strongly influenced by the teachings of Abdul Wahhab, of the necessity of going
back to the pristine purity of Islamic tenets. He went a step further and decided it was
necessary to build up an organisation of dedicated followers who should be enjoined to
bear arms, if so needed.
"As it came into being during the period of the decline of
Mughal authority and the erosion of their Imperial power, the Wahhabi movement became
imbued with strong political overtones, resistance to the rising tide of the British
influence being the predominant motive.
"Although Bihar and Bengal had been its base of operations,
it was not long before Sayyid Ahmad decided to migrate to the independent territories of
North-West Frontier from where he could wage war against the British. This fateful
journey, called "Hijrat" or migration, began in 1826 and helped to arouse great
religious fervour and political enthusiasm.
"As the Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh were expanding
northwards from the Punjab, it was natural that they looked upon Sayyid and his followers
with distrust, sometimes leading to skirmishes between the two.
"This gave the impression that the Wahhabis were anti-Sikh,
a notion that was deliberately exaggerated and nurtured by the British to serve their own
purpose. There were many pitched battles between the Wahhabis and the British forces,
fought in the mountainous Himalayan terrain. Though the British forces suffered many
defeats, they were able to take revenge in their clinching triumph in the Battle of
Balakote where the Wahhabis fell fighting to the last, including their leader Sayyid
Ahmad.
"The cardinal aim of the Wahhabis, apart from their
puritanical objectives, was the destruction of British power. They not only attacked the
British openly as in the Frontier, but they also tried infiltrating secretly among the
rank and file of the army in order to sow the seeds of disloyalty. In the course of time,
the British realised what was going on and they decided that Wahhabi influence would be
rooted out altogether.
"The two major conspiracies the British had to face were the
"Mutiny", so-called, of 1857 and the Wahhabi movement which tried to destroy the
very army on which the British relied for support. The Wahhabis had a great deal to do
with the unrest in the army, which resulted in the "Mutiny", though it failed
because it lacked central directive or motive force and dissipated itself in stray
uprisings which spent themselves out."
BACKGROUND OF TABLIGHI JAMAAT
Prominent amongst the Wahabi-Deobandi organisations active in the
CARs, Chechnya and Dagestan are the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM--formerly known as the
Harkat-ul-Ansar), the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad and its militant wing, the Lashkar-e-Toiba.A
detailed paper on the HUM was disseminated on March 20,1999,and on the Markaz and its
Lashkar on July 26,1998.
This paper deals with the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), which is the
mother of all the Pakistan-based jehadi organisations active not only in the CARs,
Chechnya and Dagestan, but also in other parts of the world.
In an investigative report carried by the "News"
(February 13,1995), Mr. Kamran Khan, the well-known Pakistani journalist, brought to light
for the first time the nexus between the TJ and the HUM and their role in supporting
Islamic extremist movements in different countries.
He quoted unidentified office-bearers of the HUM as saying as
follows: "Ours is basically a Sunni organisation close to the Deobandi school of
thought. Our people are mostly impressed by the TJ. Most of our workers do come from the
TJ. We regularly go to its annual meeting at Raiwind. Ours is a truly international
network of genuine jehadi Muslims. We believe frontiers can never divide Muslims. They are
one nation. They will remain a single entity.
"We try to go wherever our Muslim brothers are terrorised,
without any monetary consideration. Our colleagues went and fought against oppressors in
Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Burma, the Philippines and, of course, India.
"Although Pakistani members are not participating directly
in anti-Government armed resistance in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Jordan, many of the
fighters in those Arab States had remained our colleagues during the Afghan war and we
know one another very well. We are doing whatever we can to help them install Islamic
governments in those States."
The report also quoted the office-bearers as claiming that among
foreign volunteers trained by them in their training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan
were 16 African-American Muslims from various cities of the US and that funds for their
activities mostly came from Muslim businessmen of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the
UK.
The February 1998, issue of the "Newsline", a monthly
of Pakistan, quoted workers of the TJ as saying that the TJ had many offices in the US,
Russia, the Central Asian Republics, South Africa, Australia and France and that many
members of the Chechen Cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, were
workers of the TJ and participated in its proselytising activities. . One of them, merely
identified as Khalil, said: " It is possible that France may become a Muslim state
within my lifetime, due to the great momentum of Tablighi activity there. "
According to the "Newsline", the TJ was started in the
1880s to revive and spread Islam. Its annual convention held at Raiwind in Pakistani
Punjab in November every year is attended by over one million Muslims from all over the
world. This is described by the "Newsline" as the second largest gathering of
the Muslims anywhere in the world after the Haj in Saudi Arabia.
Dr.Jassim Taqui, an Islamic scholar, wrote in the "Frontier
Post" of Peshawar of January 15,1999, as follows:
* The TJ has been able to establish contacts and centres
throughout the Muslim world. (Comment: By "Muslim world" he does not only mean
Islamic countries, but all countries where there is a sizable Muslim community)
* It has thousands of dedicated and disciplined workers who
never question any order from the high-ups. What has helped the TJ to expand (without
creating alarm in the security agencies) is its policy of a deliberate black-out of its
activities. It does not interact with the media and does not issue any statements or
communiques. It believes in human communication through word of mouth. (Comment: It does
not bring out any journals or other propaganda organs to explain its policies and
objectives. All explanations to its workers and potential recruits are given orally).
* During its training classes, it claims to have frustrated
the efforts of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to penetrate it and succeeded in
converting the CIA agents to Islam.
* The TJ claims that it never accepts money from anybody
and that all its workers who volunteer to go on preaching mission have to spend their own
money.
* Even though the TJ claims to be apolitical and
disinterested in political or administrative influence, many of its active members have
come to occupy important positions. Examples are Lt.Gen. (retd) Javed Nasir, who was the
DG of the ISI during Mr.Nawaz Sharif's first tenure as the Prime Minister, and Mr.Mohammad
Rafique Tarar, the President of Pakistan, who has been an active worker of the TJ for many
years.
* "Those who are close to the inner circles believe
that the Tablighis were the brain who bailed out Nawaz Sharif from the constitutional
crisis. Tarar is believed to be the brain behind the Shariat Bill (which could not be
passed by the Senate) and the concept of speedy justice through military courts (the
military courts were declared unconstitutional by the Pakistan Supreme Court). However,
the contacts of the Tablighis had always been with Mr.Mohammad Sharif (father of Mr.Nawaz
Sharif) and not with the son. Mr. Nawaz is well aware of the "tariquah" (the
path advocated by the TJ). He has been with the Tabligh for a fairly long time. He takes
part in their meetings on a regular basis. He donates money to their welfare projects. As
usual, the Tablighis never publicise the donors or the projects or the beneficiaries. All
are committed to remain silent."
Writing in the "Frontier Post" of January 27, 1999, Dr.
Mumtaz Ahmed, another Islamic scholar, said: " Despite its enormous significance as a
mass-based religious movement that has influenced Asian, African, Arab and Western Muslims
alike, the Tablighi Jamaat has received scant attention in the literature on modern Islam.
Maulana Ilyas, the founder of the Tablighi Jamaat, was of the view that the Tablighi
movement and politically-oriented Islamic groups, although operating in two different
spheres, were complementing each other's work. Hence, there should be no competition and
rivalry between them. " (Comment:Maulana Ilyas was not the founder of the TJ as
stated in this article. He gave it its present organisational structure in the 1940s).
INVOLVEMENT IN PLOT FOR MILITARY COUP
In September-October,1995, the Pakistani army, acting on a
tip-off from the then Maj.Gen.Ali Quli Khan Khattak, who was then the Director-General of
Military Intelligence and who was subsequently superseded by Mr.Sharif in October,1998,
and forced into retirement, arrested a group of 36 army officers and 20 civilians led by
Maj.Gen. Zaheerul Islam Abbasi on a charge of plotting, in association with the TJ and the
HUM, to have Mrs.Benazir Bhutto, the then Prime Minister, and senior army officers killed
and proclaim the formation of an Islamic state.
It was reported that Lt.Gen.Ghulam Mohammad Malik, Commander of
the 10 Corps, who was an active member of the TJ, was prematurely retired by Mrs.Bhutto
because of strong suspicion that he was the main inspiration behind the plotters. He was
replaced by Maj.Gen.Ali Quli Khan Khattak as the 10 Corps Commander with the rank of
Lt.Gen. It was also reported that Lt.Gen.Malik, while admitting his membership of the TJ,
strongly denied any involvement in the plot.
The "Takbeer" of October 27,1995, reported that Lt.Gen.
Ghulam Mohammad Malik, Maj.Gen.Z.A.Abbasi and Brig. Mustansaar Billah, the deputy leader
of the plot, were active members of the TJ centre at Taxila headed by Sufi Iqbal.
In its November,1995, issue, "Herald", the monthly
journal of the "Dawn" group of Karachi, reported as follows:
* The religious indoctrination of the group apparently came
via Lt.Gen.Malik.Over the years, his views had been a source of inspiration for many
officers and other ranks with religious inclinations. He was known to have encouraged
religious activities within the units commanded by him.
* Although no direct link had been established between him
and the coup plotters, most of the arrested officers had idolised him because of his
Islamic beliefs.
* Most of the arrested officers were followers of Mufti
Iqbal (same as Sufi Iqbal), who was also arrested for his involvement in the plot.
Col.Amjad, one of the arrested officers, was related to the Mufti. When Lt.Gen.Malik was
the 10 Corps Commander, the Mufti was regularly invited to preach at the functions held in
the Corps headquarters. The Mufti was an open advocate of jehad in Pakistan and abroad.
* Almost all the arrested officers were members of the TJ,
based in Raiwind. The mainstream TJ followed a policy of non-intervention in politics. It
was for this reason that serving Government servants and military officers were allowed to
join it and the TJ was frequently invited to preach in military functions.
* However, in recent years, a breakaway faction of the TJ,
with its headquarters at Taxila, had been advocating active involvement in politics and
jehad. Unlike the mainstream group, which believed in "jehad bin nafs" (jehad
through conscience) rather than "jehad bis saif " (jehad through the sword), the
breakaway group, which was led by Sufi Iqbal, openly advocated a military struggle in the
name of Islam. All the arrested officers and Lt.Gen.Malik were members of this Taxila
faction of the TJ
* Another religious leader under investigation was Maulana
Akram Awan, who was running a religious centre at Minara, near Chakwal, in Punjab.
Col.Hamid, one of the arrested officers, was close to him.
According to the "Nation" (December 25,1995), the
investigation into the plot had identified the following religious leaders of Pakistan as
closely associated with the plotters: Maulana Qadir Dervi of Dera Ghazi Khan; Maulana
Sheikhullah Khan of Jamia Farooqia, Karachi; Maulana Mufto Mohammad Abdus Sattar, Khairul
Madrassa, Multan; Mufti Manzoor Ahmad, Madrassa Qasimul Uloom, Multan; Maulana Abdul
Hameed, Sheikhul Hadith; Mufti Mohammad Yahya, Nusratul Uloom, Gujranwala; Mufti Mohammad
Rafi Usmani, Darul Uloom, Karachi, Maulana Muhammad Musa, Jamia Ashrafia, Maulana Muhammad
Yaqub, Jamia Rashidia, Quetta; Maulana Muhammad Yousuf Ludhianvi, Karachi; Maulana Rashid
Ahmad Ludhianvi, Karachi; Maulana Qazi Abdul Karim, Karachi; and Maulana Abdul Baqi, Darul
Aloom, Quetta.
The statement proclaiming the establishment of an Islamic state,
which the plotters were to read out over radio and TV after murdering Mrs.Bhutto and the
military chiefs, had been drafted by Maulana Qadir Dervi.
The "Nation" of October 18,1995, had earlier quoted the
"Washington Post" as reporting that Pakistani officials investigating the plot
had "found evidence that the religiously-motivated officers had strong personal
connections " with Lt.Gen. (retd) Javed Nasir , former Director-General of the ISI,
who was removed from his post in 1993 under US pressure because of his alleged
non-cooperation in the US efforts to re-purchase the unused Stinger missiles from the
Afghan mujahideen.
The "Nation" further quoted the "Washington
Post" as reporting that another reason for the removal of Lt.Gen. Nasir in 1993 was
because " he was providing covert military support to Muslim rebels in about a dozen
countries" and that after his removal Lt.Gen. Nasir had been travelling worldwide
preaching militant Islam.
ACTIVITIES IN THE US
Amongst the organisations in the USA with which the TJ is closely
associated are the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Youth of North
America (MYNA).The President of the ISNA is Sheikh Abdullah Idris Ali, an American
immigrant of Sudanese origin, who is also the Pesh Imam and Khatib of a mosque in New
York.
The annual convention of the ISNA held at Columbus, Ohio, from
September 11,1995, was addressed, amongst others, by Mr.Hamza Yusuf, an American citizen
of Greek origin, who, after embracing Islam, had lived for six years in Mauritania to
study Islam and then work as a TJ preacher, Mr. Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat
Stevens, the famous pop singer, who embraced Islam after coming into contact with the TJ
in Pakistan, Dr.Saghir of Algeria, and Dr.Israr Ahmed, the Amir of the Tanzeem Islami of
Pakistan and a worker of the TJ.
Addressing the convention, Dr. Israr Ahmed said: "The
process of the revival of Islam in different parts of the world is real. A final show-down
between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world, which has been captured by the Jews,
would soon take place. The Gulf war was just a rehearsal for the coming conflict." He
appealed to the Muslims of the world, including those in the USA, to prepare themselves
for the coming conflict.
The convention was told that the ISNA had a US $ 100 million
budget for spreading Islamic education in the US through the publication of text-books,
setting-up of week-end Islamic schools and a weekly cable TV programme called
"Onsight" which would be available in all the States of the US.
Amongst the alleged members of the TJ in the Muslim community in
the US is Mr.Louis Fara Khan, the Black Muslim leader. The TJ operates in the US and the
Caribbean directly through its own preachers deputed from Pakistan and also recruited from
the Pakistani immigrant community in the US as well as through front organisations such as
the Jamaat-ul-Fuqra founded in the 1980s under the leadership of Sheikh Mubarik Ali
Gilani, who generally lives in Pakistan, but travels frequently to the US and the
Caribbean.
The annual report on the Patterns of Global Terrorism during 1998
issued by the Counter-Terrorism Division of the US State Department states as follows of
the Jamaat-ul-Fuqra: "Seeks to purify Islam through violence. Members have purchased
isolated rural compounds in North America to live communally, practise their faith and
insulate themselves from Western culture. Fuqra members have attacked a variety of targets
that they view as enemies of Islam, including Muslims they regard as heretics and Hindus.
Attacks during the 1980s included assassinations and fire bombings across the US. Fuqra
members in the US have been convicted of criminal violations, including murder and
fraud."
In its preachings to the Pakistani immigrants in the US, the TJ
has been stressing the importance of cultivating the African-American Muslims in order to
counter the lobbying power of the Hindus and the Jewish people. The HUM, which works in
tandem with the TJ, has been training African-American Muslims from the US in its training
camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Writing in the "Dawn" of January 12,1996, Mr. Ghani
Eirabie said: " The Ummah must remember that winning over the black Muslims is not
only a religious obligation, but also a selfish necessity. The votes of the black Muslims
can give the immigrant Muslims the political clout they need at every stage to protect
their vital interests. Likewise, outside Muslim states like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and
Pakistan need to mobilise their effort, money and missionary skills to expand and
consolidate the black Muslim community in the USA, not only for religious reasons, but
also as a far-sighted investment in the black Muslims' immense potential as a credible
lobby for Muslim causes, such as Palestine, Bosnia or Kashmir--offsetting, at least
partially, the venal influence of the powerful India-Israel lobby."
Mr.Eirabie wanted the US Muslim community to prepare itself for
the day in the second decade of the next millennium when, according to him, the Muslims
would emerge as the second largest religious group in the US after the Christians.
ACTIVITIES IN THE CARS, CHECHNYA AND DAGESTAN
Since Pakistani Government service conduct rules do not prohibit
serving Government servants from participating in the activities of the TJ, after his
appointment by Mr.Sharif as the DG of the ISI, Lt.Gen.Nasir continued to function
simultaneously as Adviser to the TJ and, after his removal from the ISI under US pressure
in 1993, he took over as the full-time leader of the TJ. After his rehabilitation by
Mr.Sharif last year and appointment as Adviser on Intelligence matters, he continued to
function as the head of the TJ. He is recently reported to have been removed from the post
of Adviser on Intelligence matters by Mr.Sharif following his public criticism of
Mr.Sharif's succumbing to US pressure for the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from Kargil.
It was during his tenure as the DG of the ISI that Lt.Gen.Nasir,
in his capacity as Adviser to TJ, drew up the plans for the revival of Islam in the CARs,
Chechnya and Dagestan in Russia and Xinjiang in China with the help of the TJ workers and
funds from Saudi Arabia.
A large number of Pakistani, Saudi and Jordanian workers of the
TJ were sent on preaching and proselytising missions to these countries and recruits for
clerical posts in these countries were brought to Pakistan for training in Islamic
religious practices. Simultaneously, they were also given arms training in the camps of
the HUM and the Lashkar in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They were also sent on proselytising
missions to other countries with Pakistani TJ workers to expose them to Muslim communities
in the rest of the Ummah. After his removal from the ISI in 1993, Lt.Gen.Nasir himself
frequently went on preaching missions to these countries.
An idea of the tremendous headway made by the TJ under the
guidance of Lt.Gen.Nasir and with Saudi money in promoting Wahabism in these countries
could be had from the fact that whereas in 1991, when the USSR collapsed, there was not a
single mosque in Chechnya and Dagestan, today every village has a mosque, already
completed or under construction. The TJ also organised visits by selected Muslims from
Chechnya and Dagestan to Saudi Arabia on Haj/Umra.
It is stated that a majority of the members of the Chechen
Cabinet had been trained in Pakistan by the TJ and, during their annual vacation, go on
preaching missions for the TJ in Chechnya itself as well as in Dagestan and the CARs.
In the last week of June,1995, the Interfax news agency of Moscow
quoted Mr. Arkady Volski, the Russian peace negotiator for Chechnya, as claiming that
after the incident of kidnapping of 1,500 hostages in the South Russian town of Budennovsk
in early June, Shamyl Basayev, the Chechen commando leader, had escaped to Pakistan where
he had been given asylum. In a statement issued at Moscow on June 27,1995, Mr. Tanvir
Ahmad Khan, the then Pakistani Ambassador to Russia, described the claim as false and
warned that such allegations would damage Russia's relations with Pakistan.
The Russian authorities refuted the statement of the Pakistani
Ambassador and alleged that Basayev had been living in Pakistan since 1991 when he had
fled there after his involvement in the hijacking of a Russian plane to Turkey and that
from Pakistan he had periodically been visiting Chechnya to organise terrorist incidents.
In July,1995, Mr.Sergei Stepashin, who was in charge of counter-terrorist operations in
Chechnya, and Gen. Nikol Ayev, chief of the Russian Border Security Service, alleged in
separate statements that Basayev was amongst a group of Chechen terrorists trained in
Pakistani camps.
Another Chechen insurgent leader reportedly trained in the camps
of the HUM in Pakistan and Afghanistan is Salman Raduyev, who led a group of Chechen
extremists on a raid into the Dagestan town of Kizlyar in January,1996, and took 2,000
Russian hostages. After this incident, President Yeltsin alleged that the raiding party
under Raduyev included Pakistani mercenaries.
The Russian press thereafter carried a number of reports
emanating from official sources in Moscow that the extremist elements behind the Islamic
revolt in Chechnya had been trained in Pakistan. Strongly refuting these reports, the
Pakistani Foreign Office said: " These reports do not serve to promote good ties
between Pakistan and Russia which we desire. We hope Russia will also reciprocate our
wishes. "
In a statement on January 17,1996, the Pakistani Foreign Office
strongly denied Russian allegations that Pakistani mercenaries were helping Chechen rebels
indulging in acts of terrorism in Dagestan.
In a statement on January 13, 1998, the Russian Foreign Office
described as inadmissible a statement of Mr.Zafarul Haq, Pakistan's Minister For Religious
Affairs, expressing Pakistan's support for "the noble cause of the Chechen
Muslims". He reportedly made this statement while welcoming a delegation of Chechen
Government officials in his office in Islamabad.
In November, 1998, a high level delegation of the Government of
Chechnya led by Mr.Abdul Wahid Ibrahim in charge of Central Asian and Afghan Affairs in
the Chechen Foreign Office, visited Afghanistan for the first time and reached an
agreement on the establishment of formal relations between the Taliban-led Government of
Kabul and the Government of Chechnya.
During the same month, the Russian authorities expelled from the
Bashkortostan region a delegation of six preachers of the TJ for making anti-Moscow
statements during their preachings. A statement of the Federal Security Service said that
their statements were "aimed at fuelling ethnic and religious hostility and offending
the dignity of other religious groups." The preachers were to go to Chechnya and
Dagestan in January, 1999, but their visas were cancelled and they were expelled.
After the outbreak of terrorist incidents in Dagestan from August
7,1999, the Russian authorities have been repeatedly alleging that the incidents were
organised by a raiding party of about 2,000 Chechens from Chechnya jointly led by Basayev
and a former Colonel of the Jordanian Army called Khattab, that the Chechens were assisted
by a multi-national group of 200 foreign mercenaries led by a Pakistani called Abu Abdulla
Jafar, who is in charge of a training camp in Chechnya, that before the raids the raiders
participated in a special prayer service in Chechnya conducted by three Pakistani Wahabi
preachers called Sheikh Abdul Azim, Junaid Bagadadi and Abdul Omar and that Abdul Omar
also read out to the raiders a fatwa received from a group of Saudi muftis calling upon
them to establish an Islamic state in Dagestan.
Following a denial of these allegations by Mr.Mansur Alam, the
Pakistani Ambassador, who wrote a letter on the subject to "Izvestia", the paper
quoted Gen.Vladimir Rushailo, the Russian Interior Minister, as saying that
"mercenaries from a number of foreign countries, above all Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and
the UAE, have been taking part in the fighting in Dagestan" and that the Russian
security services had concrete information about the involvement of the secret services of
some Muslim countries in the Dagestan violence.
"Izvestia" also identified Abu Abdulla Jafar as a
Pakhtun who had been residing in Chechnya for some years and running a training camp at a
place called Serzhenyurt. The paper also alleged that the activities of the mercenaries in
Chechnya and Dagestan were being funded by Osama bin Laden.
Since President Rafique Tarar, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his
father and Lt.Gen, Nasir have been associated with the TJ which has been instigating and
assisting the extremist elements indulging in acts of terrorism in Chechnya, Dagestan and,
possibly even Moscow, which has been rocked by explosions suspected to have been organised
by Pakistani-backed fundamentalist groups, it is time the international financial
institutions took notice of this and suspended all further assistance to Pakistan till it
stopped assisting these terrorist groups
B.RAMAN
(15-9-99)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet
Secretariat, Govt. of India,and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,
Chennai. E-Mail:corde@vsnl.com )
