MUZAMIL JALEEL

SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 6: CONTRARY to conventional wisdom, the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s suicide attack on the J-K Assembly in which 38 people were killed was as much a warning to Islamabad—for its role in the current international campaign against the Taliban—as it was a message to New Delhi.

There are several pointers to this:

* This is the first attack in the 12 years of militancy in the Valley where the Pak Foreign Office spokesman promptly stepped in to condemn it—in fact he used the term ‘‘terrorism.’’

* Of all the suicide attacks in the Valley, this one killed the highest number of local residents, 23, who had nothing to do with police or security personnel. This sparked off across-the-board outrage in the Valley.

* The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the pan-Islamic group led by Maulana Masood Azhar, claimed responsibility hours after the attack. And then in an unusual step, even identified the suicide bomber as ‘‘Wajahat Hussain of the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan.’’

* A day later, a Jaish spokesman from across the border denied any role but that denial is believed to have come under pressure from Islamabad.

Jaish’s distancing itself from the act did not last long. Azhar told Pakistan’s leading Urdu daily Jung that the incident was ‘‘a historical success and was a matter related to Kashmir’s freedom struggle.’’ Jung quoted him as saying that the group had ‘‘replied terrorism of the Indian Government with terrorism’’ and ‘‘it has no relation to the developments regarding Afghanistan.’’

Facts suggest otherwise. The attack comes at a time when Pak President General Pervez Musharraf has opened up virtually all his flanks to support the US-led coalition against the Taliban. It’s well-known that Jaish and Taliban share the umbilical cord with the Jamiat-e-Ulamai Islam Pakistan and thus Jaish represents the sentiments of anger witnessed on the streets of Pakistan against Musharraf’s alliance with Washington.

These groups don’t buy Musharraf’s logic that joining the anti-Taliban coalition will help the Kashmir cause. They see no difference between the ‘‘future of Kashmir’s freedom struggle and the survival of Taliban.’’

This view is shared by many hardliners in the Valley as well. ‘‘Pakistan’s ties with Taliban are based on Islamic brotherhood and it’s this relation that binds them with Kashmir too. If Musharraf is ready to sacrifice Taliban so that he ensures nothing goes wrong on the Kashmir front, what is the guarantee that he doesn’t get ready to sacrifice even our struggle on some more important issue related to Pakistan’s national interest?’’ a separatist leader belonging to a religious party said. Sheikh Showkat Hussain of Kashmir University, however, makes another point. ‘‘Pakistan has a military rule and it is really difficult to oraganise such massive protests when the Army is in control,’’ he said.

‘‘There is every likelihood that Pakistani establishment is allowing these demonstrations with a purpose. They use it as a bargaining chip with the Americans and the West because it shows how difficult
a decision Musharraf has taken by aligning with the West.’’

It is, however, interesting to note that unlike Jaish, the Lashkar-e-Toiba which is much more powerful in Kashmir, has taken a low profile.

Lashkar, which introduced suicide attacks here, has not conducted a single such attack since September, 11.

‘‘Lashkar does not enjoy a strong relationship with the Taliban. In fact, they have a better understanding with the Pak military regime,’’ a senior security force officer said.

‘‘And unlike Jaish, they (Lashkar) seem to be co-operating with the Pak Government at this point of time.’’

Jaish’s relations with Taliban go back a long way, much before its launch in May 2000. Azhar, the founder leader of Jaish, freed by the Government in return for the passengers of the hijacked IC-814, was the general secretary of Harkat-ul-Ansar (the armed wing of Jamiat-e-Ulemai Islam Pakistan) when he was arrested on April, 13, 1994 from south Kashmir.

Days after his release on December 1999, as Azhar and the Taliban leadership share the same idealogical base, he soon travelled back to Kandahar and got support for his newly launched group.