...a pak religious party. It is usually part of the govt, never part of the solution...
while the latter group focused its attention on setting up madrasas and developing Deobandi theology.
In the early 1980s, when Pakistain became involved in Afghan jihad, this became another important development in the history of the Deobandi movement. The followers of Usmani joined the war, while the other group kept its distance from it. The gulf between the two factions has been widening ever since Afghan Lions of Islam started drifting closer to the Saudi establishment and Salafism. Although the jihadist Deobandis have been divided into several branches, their principal branch is now led by Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
who is closer to Salafis than to fellow Deobandis. This explains why some TTP splinter groups have readily joined the ISIS. Many others may follow.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
chief, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed addresses a rally | AP
Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed addresses a rally | AP
Then there is another factor. There are three principal jihadist groups in the world which identify themselves as Salafi: Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Isis and Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
. Although Isis and Boko Haram have joined hands, JuD has distanced itself from them as it does not want to jeopardise its ties with the Pak military establishment. Isis and JuD seem to be natural allies as far as their sectarian affiliations are concerned, but they seem unlikely to join forces in the near future.
According to some accounts, a few JuD members have indeed split and joined Isis. If the trend continues, it may provide Isis with part of the human resources it needs to lay its hands on Pak nukes. JuD is the only jihadist group in Pakistain which has sophisticated technical expertise and nuclear know-how. Its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
once patronised a sizeable group of engineering students and encouraged them to join government departments working on nuclear technology. It is not clear if anybody from the engineering branch of JuD has joined Isis in Pakistain. Even if this has not happened so far, it may happen if and when JuD splits from the military establishment -- which is not improbable, given that other holy warrior groups have done just that in the past. Such a split may lead to a strengthening of Isis ranks or the emergence of another Salafi jihadi group not aligned with the military. Either way, the Pak state will find it hard to resist the Salafi jihadi onslaught in case it materialises.