Muslim United Liberation Tigers: India's bane, Pakistan's gain

India's bane is Pakistan's gain. The dreaded ISI of Pakistan has acquitted another person from India called Abdur Rehman who heads the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam. Rehman is currenty in Karachi and his stay over there is causing nightmares for the Indian agencies especially the National Investigating Agency which is fighting a hard battle to wipe out terror in Assam.

Rehman is probably one of the most notorious persons in Assam and has been responsible to consistently stalling peace apart from aiding Bangladesh and Assam based terror groups in furthering violence.

The violence in Assam is something that appears to go on unabated and with the Indian government vowing to fight the menace in North East, the eradication of the Muslim United Liberation Tigers becomes all the more important.

Why has the ISI taken Rehman?

Rehman is a key figure and also heads the MULTA. He is politically well connected and is capable of dishing out communal sentiments in a big way. His support to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh and the ULFA is a well know fact.

Rehman ensured that the battle by the groups in Assam got a communal colour and in this process he helped the vote banks of some politicians and also got several from the Muslim community enter the world of terror.

In Pakistan, he is not just safe, but has been provided a perfect platform to wage a proxy battle in India. The Indian agencies desperately wanted Rehman in their custody, but the ISI moved him out of India smartly and this essentially means he is never coming back.

The ISI needs the likes of Rehman to coordinate attacks in Assam and also pull in locals to wage the battle. The ISI proposes to bring together Assam based groups and Bangladesh militants to aid the Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda is fighting for existence in the sub-continent and with the advent of the ISIS in the form of the Khorasan in Afghanistan, the battle for the outfit becomes harder.

The ISI feels that brining together the Assam and Bangladesh forces would help the Al-Qaeda a great deal and together they could build a formidable force. Rehman with his clout and influence would provide the right platform in this regard for the ISI.

What is the MULTA?

The Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam or the MULTA was founded way back in the year 1996. Stemming out of a group called the All Muslim United Liberation Forum of Assam, the MULTA focuses basically on promoting Islamic terrorism in Assam.

The MULTA was formed specifically by the ISI to further communal tension in the North East. The formation of this group helped the ISI a lot when it came to furthering its cause in the North Eastern part of India.

The MULTA today has some 150 members. Only last month in a major offensive, the Indian agencies neutralized 50 of their members. Despite this the group is strong and continues to pose a major threat.

What the MULTA aim at doing?

The MULTA was formed primarily to fight the cause of the Muslims in Assam. When it was formed at first it proposes to convert the entire North East region into an Islamistan. However when it came in contact with the Bangladesh groups courtesy the ISI, the plan of Islamistan was dropped.

The plan was widened and with the Bangladesh based Jamaat they decided to liberate both Bangladesh and the North East from a democratic rule and set up a Greater Bangladesh.

Providing safe houses for the Al-Qaeda

Post 9/11 a large number of Al-Qaeda men in Afghanistan were given shelter by the MULTA. The MULTA had ensured a safe passage of the Al-Qaeda terrorists from Afghanistan to Assam and kept them in safe custody.

The ISI was extremely impressed with the manner in which the MULTA operated and even offered them millions of dollars to keep their movement going. A dedicated training camp for the MULTA was even set up in the Syleth district in Bangladesh.