The Maulana menace: From a journalist, how Azhar became a dreaded terrorist
New Delhi, Feb 19: In the year 1994, the Indian agencies detained a 26 year old in Srinagar who claimed to be a journalist. He had with him a Portuguese passport and at that time, none knew that one day he would turn out to be one of the world's biggest terrorists.
That was Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has gone on to wreck havoc in India. He was sent to India to oversee the operations of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He had no outfit of his own back then.
The ISI was however aware of his skills and it was his powerful oratory and convincing skills that made him such a favourite of the Pakistan spy agency. An officer, who has tracked Azhar tells OneIndia that he was a powerful speaker and could draw large crowds. He was a good organiser and this is what made him a favourite of the ISI.
Why getting JeM chief's nephew and Pulwama mastermind is crucial now
After
spending
5
years
in
custody,
he
was
infamously
released
following
the
Khandahar
hijack.
His
brother
Mohammad
Rauf,
who
currently
runs
the
outfit
plotted
the
hijack
with
the
help
of
the
ISI.
After
much
drama,
he
was
finally
released.
After
he
returned
to
Pakistan,
he
launched
the
Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The
outfit
made
an
announcement,
when
it
attacked
the
Indian
Parliament
in
2001.
His
relationship
with
the
ISI
has
been
blow
hot
blow
cold.
The
JeM
chief
had
a
falling
out,
when
his
outfit
attempted
to
assassinate
former
Pakistan
president,
Pervez
Musharraf.
He
fell
completely
out
of
favour
with
the
establishment
back
then.
However
the
establishment
never
seriously
pursued
the
investigation
and
all
those
part
of
the
incident
went
away
scot
free.
The differences between the establishment in Pakistan and Azhar witnessed a thaw in late 2017. However the ISI did not immediately use him in Kashmir. In those years, the ISI extensively used the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Valley.
While the JeM terrorists were present in the Valley all along, they were never a front outfit. However towards the later half of 2015, the JeM was used extensively. The outfit was sanctioned a major attack at Pathankot in Punjab. Following that, the outfit has been involved in a series of major strikes that include the ones in Uri, Nagrota and now Pathankot.
How the Jammu-Srinagar highway became a hub of Jaish-e-Mohammad activity
With the Pulwama attack, the focus is back on the JeM and its chief Azhar. While Pakistan had claimed that it had detained him following the Pathankot attack, sources tell OneIndia that he is hospital and is battling a kidney ailment. While he continues to be the ideological head of the outfit, the show is being run by his two brothers, Mohammad Rauf and Athar Ibrahim. In fact it was Ibrahim who sent his son, Mohammad Umair to Kashmir last year. Security agencies believe that it was Umair who masterminded the Pulwama attack.