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| India-Pakistan | |||
| Ban on Hizbul Tahrir nips future defiance in the bud? | |||
| 2003-11-27 | |||
The governmentâs recent ban on three more Islamist outfits, including Hizb ut-Tahrir, seems to have vindicated analysts who were warning against their approach for sometime now, the most interesting case being that of HuT which advocates khilafa (Caliphate) as the only acceptable system for the Muslim states. Sources say Islamabad was receiving multiple reports from intelligence agencies on the activities of HuT. Although officials concede the group remained non-violent, most estimates declared it dangerous for being aggressive and for creating an atmosphere in which other extremist groups could operate with impunity. The reports mentioned the HuT with particular reference because of the vocal statements issued by its otherwise non-violent leadership.
Split, merge, split, merge The plan could not be succeed because of resistance within HM. The dissent led to a group breaking away from HM and calling itself Harkat-ul Mujahideen Al Aalmi (HMA). HMA is the group responsible for the suicide bombings in Karachi and also two abortive attempts on the life of General Pervez Musharraf. Almost half of its activists and its top leader are presently under arrest. It also has âsome hidden working relationshipâ with the banned Deobandi-sectarian terrorist organisation, Lashkar-e Jhangvi. The HM, instead of merging with JM, decided to reincarnate itself as JuA. It suffered shocks when it was banned in November 2001 and then some of its activists and leaders broke away to form the HMA. Later, it reorganised itself under a new name. The organisation had links, like other groups, with Taliban remnants and Al Qaeda activists. The new organisation came into existence after six-month long negotiations between HM and the breakaway faction of HJI. The leaders of HJI who joined the JuA were Maulana Abdul Samad Sial (patron), Commander Ilyas Kashmiri (commander-in-chief), Doctor Badar Niazi and others. The HM had also approached the Jaish leadership for forming a common group but Masood Azhar shot down the proposal. I believe there might be an ethnic component here, with Masood Azhar and his followers being mostly Punjabis, while the Harkat being mostly Pashtuns. The Hizbul Tahrir cannot strictly be bracketed with these militant groups. It has been working in Pakistan for years but has remained low key unlike its counterparts in Central Asia and Russia where the party has been portrayed as a deadly terrorist organisation. However, its activists have shown a tendency to be aggressive in presenting their viewpoint. Hizbul Tahrir â or âFreedom Partyâ â has its roots in the Middle East of the 1950s. Its original members were mainly Palestinians from Jordan and Syria, the movement quickly found followers in Egypt and North Africa as well. It first appeared in Central Asia in the early 1990s. Experts say its penetration of the region is unclear, and its organisation â based on networks comprising three-person âcellsâ with only limited contact among one other â make it difficult to estimate its size.
Most of the Pakistani Hezb members are actually British Muslims who have gone back to their parentâs homeland. | |||
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |