20 years since Parliament: Pak has done little or nothing to bring Azhar to justice

New Delhi, Dec 13: This day will be remembered always and it was on this day in 2001 terrorists struck at the Indian Parliament.

The attack on Parliament took place two years after the Kandahar hijacking, which was carried out to secure the release of Maulana Masood Azhar. Post his release, he went back to Pakistan and set up the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which later on went on to carry out the attack on Parliament. It was a major announcement made by the ground and since then it has continued to trouble India.

The JeM has had a blow hot blow cold relationship with the ISI in Pakistan. It was propped up in a big way by the Pakistan establishment and nurtured to fight the battle in Kashmir.

However for a couple of years, it did fall out of favour with the establishment after its members attempted the assassination of General Pervez Musharraf. While the group went dormant for sometime, the relation between its chief Azhar and the establishment can be gauged from the fact that no action was taken against him despite him trying to kill the then president of Pakistan.

India has struggled to bring Azhar to justice. Despite sending out proof and demanding action, Pakistan has not acted against him.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, without a doubt the most dangerous outfit, where India is concerned. Headed by Maulana Masood Azhar and run by his brother, Maulana Abdul Rauf Asghar, the outfit is capable of striking big.

The outfit is known for its strike rate not just in Jammu and Kashmir, but in Delhi and Punjab as well. It was this outfit that carried out the high profile attacks on Parliament and Pathankot.

Now, what makes the JeM so lethal? First and foremost, these terrorists are highly trained and have state of the art weapons. The M4 Carbine was first brought into the Valley by this group. The other factor is that the group puts in place a plan before staging an attack. It undergoes the entire process of recruitment, training, reconnaissance and then carrying out an attack.

The JeM which is nurtured by the Pakistan army and ISI has grown in terms of strength. Pakistan has been investing more into this group and with a free flow of funds and access to the best possible weaponry has gone on to become extremely lethal. Moreover the JeM focuses on big operations and attacks at Nagrota and Pathankot are proof of this.