Death of Harkat-ul-Ansar only led to birth of Lashkar-e-Tayiba

Srinagar, Sept 2: A de-classified report of the CIA states that Pakistan in the late 1990s backed away from supporting the Harkat-ul-Ansar, a terrorist organization which was used as a proxy against India.

While acknowledging the role played by the HuA in various terrorist strikes in Kashmir and other parts of India, the CIA file states that Pakistan provided 60,000 US dollars to the outfit.

The CIA file sure does state that the ISI backed away from supporting the HuA fearing that it may get the terrorist tag. However, the point is, has this backing away made any difference?

The HUA has evolved and is more dangerous:

Ever since Pakistan decided to stop supporting the HuA, things have not improved. In fact, the HuA has evolved and is extremely dangerous even today.

Out of the HuA has emerged the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and also the Jaish-e-Mohammad. It is also said that that a large number of members are part of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

However, the earlier members of the HuA are now operating as the al-Farhan which again has an interest in Kashmir.

History of the HuA:

The HuJi and the HuM were operating independently. However, the two came together and formed the HuA. The decision to merge was taken after it decided that some strong outfit needs to take on the battle at Jammu and Kashmir.

At the time of the merger the outfit had 1,000 members. Soon after its formation, the HuA carried out a series of attacks only to be banned as a terrorist outfit by the United States of America in the year 1997.

After the ban:

Following the ban on the outfit, the ISI carefully distanced itself and stopping aiding the HuA. This was a clear cut strategy and once the aid stopped, the HuA split up and rebranded as the HuM.

The HuM was part of several operations and had also planned a major hijack. The Khandahar hijack was finally carried out which led to the release of Maulana Masood Azhar.

However, following his release, he did not go back to either the HuA or the HuM. He instead floated the Jaish-e-Mohammad which was relevant for sometime in Kashmir before it went into oblivion.

The birth of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba:

The ISI realized that there were too many splinter groups that were being formed. Moreover, many of these groups were not even towing the line of the ISI and this led to the emergence of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

The emergence of the Lashkar witnessed the birth of another splinter group called the al-Farhan. It did carry out some attacks, but did not survive for long. It was after all a splinter of the HuA and the ISI did not back it enough.

Today, the HuA is almost dead. It operates in various names, but the ISI is hell bent upon promoting the Lashkar. The Lashkar leadership has always been subservient to the ISI and will continue to be that way for a very long time.

OneIndia News