[Pak Daily Times] The Pak Islamic hardliner blamed for an attack on India's parliament that brought the nuclear rivals to the brink of war has resurfaced after years in seclusion, setting off alarm bells in New Delhi.Twice since the end of December, Indian authorities have issued an airport security alert, warning of an attempt by members of a Pakistain-based krazed killer group called Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally
Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf
bannedthe group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
, or Army of Muhammad, to hijack a plane, with smaller airfields most at risk. Indian officials have said the alerts followed reports of increased activity by Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the outlawed krazed killer group.
Azhar was named by an Indian court as the prime suspect in a 2001 attack on India's parliament aimed at taking top politicians hostage. Fifteen people were killed, most of them security guards as well as the five men who stormed the complex.
Tensions between the old enemies spiralled after the attack and up to a million troops were mobilised on both sides of the volatile border. Pakistain refused to hand over Azhar to India.
The portly and bearded holy man has remained mostly confined to a compound in his home city of Bhawalpur in Pakistain's Punjab province for years, but three weeks ago, he addressed supporters and said the time had come to resume jihad, or holy war, against India.
"There are 313 fidayeen (fighters who are ready to die) in this gathering and if a call is given the number will go up to 3,000," he told the rally held in the city of Muzaffarabad by telephone. A Rooters journalist who was present said a telephone was held next to a microphone which broadcast his comments to loudspeakers.
Flags of Jaish, inscribed with the words "jihad", fluttered in and around the venue of the gathering. Azhar spoke from
Indian intelligence analysts have described Azhar's resurgence as part of a change in tactics in Pakistain as US forces withdraw from Afghanistan this year, and as Islamabad tries to clamp down on Islamic forces of Evil who oppose the Pak government.
The Indians say Pakistain's military establishment is bringing Death Eaters like Azhar out of cold storage, with the promise of helping them fight India, while trying to stamp out the gunnies they can't control.
Talat Masood, a retired Mighty Pak Army general, said: "It is very dangerous that the Pak establishment is giving space to him. They are playing with fire and the fire will engulf them."
A former fighter for Jaish, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, said Azhar remained in command of the group, operating from his Bhawalpur base.
"His speech via telephone should not be a surprise for people involved in jihad, he has been controlling the organization very actively," the man said.
The security alerts in India occurred just days before Azhar spoke. They were not publicised but two officials, one from the domestic Intelligence Bureau and the other from the Central Industrial Security Force, said authorities had increased checks on airport staffers to ensure nobody with forged passes gained access. Security had also been increased in Delhi's suburban rail system, where commuters go through metal detectors, are patted down and have their bags checked in x-ray machines.
Staff of the Central Industrial Security Force now work 10-hour shifts in the metro system, so there were more guards at any point.
Azhar was enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in Indian Kashmire in 1994 while travelling on a forged Portuguese passport. India freed him and two other locked away
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
Pak Death Eaters in 1999 in return for 155 passengers held hostage in an Indian Airlines aircraft that was hijacked to southern Afghanistan.
One of the other freed Death Eaters was British-born Omar Sheikh, a close associate of Azhar who was later convicted in the 2002 abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal news hound Daniel Pearl.
After his release, Azhar set up the Jaish to fight Indian forces in Kashmire, the Himalayan region claimed by both countries and the trigger for two of their three wars.
"Jaish has an obsession with India that transcends Kashmire. They had so many plans. Any reactivation of Masood Azhar is cause for deep concern," said AK Doval, a former head of India's Intelligence Bureau and one of the foremost experts on krazed killer groups in South Asia.
Other officials in India said the rally in Muzaffarabad and Azhar's address wouldn't have been possible without state clearance, a charge Pakistain strongly denies.
"He addressed a rally, but steps will be taken to ensure he doesn't do it again," said Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for Pakistain's foreign ministry.
"It is not possible we would allow his group to cause terrorism elsewhere when it is banned for causing terrorism in Pakistain."
She said independent investigations had often shown that attacks in India were blamed on Pakistain but sometimes caused by domestic politics or rogue members of the Indian security services.
"There's a tendency in India to hyperventilate without finding out all the facts," she said.