I was rather shocked to see stories about a religious leader in Bangladesh named Mr. Ahmadullah Ashraf, who grabbed a religious school (Madrassa) in Dhaka with the help of armed hooligans and continuing to use illegal electricity and gas connections by denouncing local laws. He reportedly is also continuing questionable personal life, which certainly goes beyond the minimal standard of dignity of any person having firm faith in God. Yes, it is unfortunately true to some extent that few people in our societies are using religion as a garb to cover their misdeeds and crimes, and the case of Mr. Ahmadullah Ashraf is just one such example.
According to report, published in Dhaka only anti-Islamist newspaper, Weekly Blitz, Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf, after being expelled from Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan (BKA), occupied the Madrassa named Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya at Dhaka´s Kamrangirchor area few years back with the help of his own armed cadres. Since then, he has been misappropriating all donations and funds of this religious school. It is also learnt that, sons of Ahmadullah are maintaining armed cadres to guard their illegal occupancy of the Madrassa. Meanwhile, electricity and gas connections in Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya at Dhaka´s Kamrangirchor area were disconnected for non-payments of bills. But, crook Ahmadullah is continuing to use illegal gas and electricity lines in the Madrassa for years, violating law of the land. None of the members from authorities concerned ever visited Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya madrassa to question Ahmadullah Ashraf or his men for violating the law by continuing illegal gas and electricity connections inside the premises. It is further learnt that, sons of Ahmadullah are also running their personal industrial projects within the campus. It is even alleged that, electricity in those factories were provided from the main connection of Madrassa (before it was disconnected).
The report further says that in personal life he is a questioned individual. Presently he has three wives (lately he married daughter of the cook of the Madrassa by force). Being expelled from BKA, Ahmadullah Ashraf joined hands with notorious terror groups like Hizb Ut Tahrir (HUT) and Wahabi groups led by Moulana Muhiddin Khan. According to information, HT is already using the campus of captured Madrassa of Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf for training their cadres. Earlier, the campus was also allowed for use by several notorious militant groups including banned JMB. Mufti Abdul Hannan is a close aide of Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf, who was regularly visiting the campus at the invitation of Ashraf and his sons.
May of my readers may not have ever heard the names of either Ahmadullah Ashraf or Moulana Muhiuddin Khan. Before going much into details of this article, let us first try to know their identities. Ahmadullah is the eldest son of late Hefezzi Huzur, a religious leader who contested in Presidential pole in Bangladesh couple of decades back. He told his followers that, prophet of Islam came in his dream and instructed to participate in the election. Everyone although questioned the reason of running in the election against the dictator Hussain Muhammed Ershad, who was at that time holding Presidency by force, many argued saying such participation by Hafezzi was a token protest against dictatorship.
After his death, his elder son grabbed most of the properties left by his father and continued to deceive remaining members of the family. At this point, Ashraf got into intimate relations Moulana Muhiuddin Khan through Ashraf´s brother-in-law Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini. Mufti Amini is already known in Bangladesh as an extreme materialist and opportunist having close links with various Islamist militancy groups. On the other hand, Muhiuddin Khan, who is under special ´blessings´ from the Saudi Wahabi rulers is one of the channels to finance various Islamist terror groups, including Jagrata Muslim Janata, Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Harkatul Jihad, Harkatul Mujahedin, Khelafat Majlish and lately Hizb Ut Tahrir. It is even alleged that, notorious culprit named Mufti Hannan made confessional statements to law enforcing agencies giving name of Moulana Muhiuddin Khan as one of the patrons of his group. But, due to Saudi interference, Bangladeshi law enforcing agencies never arrested or interrogated this hidden kingpin of Islamist terror.
Mufti Hannan belongs to Harkatul Mujahedin. It is a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, has been in existence twice in the history of that country´s involvement in cross-border terrorism. In the interim between the two phases, it continued to exist, but under the name of the Harkat-ul-Ansar [HUA].
The Harkat ul-Ansar was formed by the merger of two Pakistani groups, Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami and Harkat ul-Mujahedin, and led by Maulana Saadatullah Khan. The merger of these two political groups and its transformation into a militant group came about as part of the Afghan ´jihad´.
With a pan-Islamic ideology, the outfit strove to achieve the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India through violent means and its eventual merger with Pakistan. About 60 per cent of its estimated 1000 strong cadre were Pakistanis and Afghans.
The Harkat-ul-Ansar was termed a terrorist organization by the US due to its association with the exiled Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden in 1997. To avoid the repercussions of the US ban, the group was recast as the Harkat ul-Mujahideen in 1998.
Based in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, the Harkat ul-Ansar has participated in insurgent and terrorist operations in Kashmir, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Kashmir, the outfit had carried out several operations against Indian troops besides attacks on civilian targets. In the process, several of its top leaders including Masood Azhar (General Secretary and top idologue), Sajjad Afghani (Commander of the Harkat ul-Ansar in Jammu and Kashmir) and Nasarullah Manzoor Langaryal (commander of the erstwhile Harkat-ul Mujahedin) were captured by Indian security forces.
With all these arrests, the outfit gradually lost its influence in the State's militancy. The outfit's controlling body, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) also ensured that most of the cadre were transferred to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which gradually enlarged the latter's role in the State's militancy.
Meanwhile, a new organisation termed Al-Faran abducted nine foreigners (in two phases) and attempted to bargain for the release of the jailed Harkat-ul-Ansar leaders. This objective raises suspicions that the Al-Faran is merely a front organisation of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, set up to abduct foreigners and ensure that the hostages' countries of origin would not resort to action against the Harkat-ul-Ansar. The strategy backfired when Indian police arrested two Harkat-ul-Ansar members including Umar Saeed Sheikh, a British student of Pakistani origin, in a successful operation where four hostages were freed.
The US ban made it difficult for the Harkat-ul-Ansar's Pakistani sponsors to continue their support. Fund raising activities in Western countries too were affected. Hence, the Harkat-ul-Ansar was officially closed and a new militant outfit Harkat ul-Mujahideen was formed.
Sajjad Afghani was killed during a jail-break incident in 1999 while he was lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail. Soon after, in December 1999, an Indian Airlines flight, IC 814 was hijacked and in the tradeoff, Masood Azhar and Umar Saeed Sheikh were released along with Mushtak Ahmed Zargar, commander of the Al Umar, a militant group with a predominantly Kashmiri cadre base. The demand for the release of Zargar appeared to be a ploy to convey the impression that the hijacking was conducted for the sake of Kashmiris rather than foreign militants.
After his release, Masood Azhar is reported to have set up a new militant group, the Jaish-e-Mohammad Mujhaeddin E-Tanzeem and is seeking to unite the various militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
With the near total loss of its top leadership, the cadre base and Pakistani sponsorship, the Harkat-ul-Ansar appears to have collapsed and is no longer active in the State's insurgency.
While the first renaming was an outcome of a reorganization effected by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan´s external intelligence agency, among its various sponsored terrorist outfits in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the second renaming was necessitated by a US proscription of the outfit.
The HuA was categorized as a terrorist outfit by the US in 1997 following reports that it was linked with Osama Bin Laden, and his Al Qaeda, a global terrorist network that has struck at several US targets around the world. The outfit immediately adopted the name of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen to escape the ramifications of the proscription.
Despite public knowledge that the HUM was a recast version of the HUA, the US had refused to categories the outfit as a terrorist outfit. However, following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the US, the outfit came under scrutiny of the US government for its extensive links with Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks. On September 25, US President George W. Bush signed an order officially banning the outfit.
The HUM was originally formed in 1985, to participate in the Jehad against Soviet forces protecting the Communist regime in Afghanistan. It was a formed by a group that walked out of another Jihadist group, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI). With the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the outfit turned its attention to J&K, where terrorist violence had been unleashed by Pakistan supported outfits in 1988.
As the organization chart shows, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen merged with another terror outfit, the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI), to form the Harkat-ul-Ansar [HUA] in 1993. This merger apparently failed to form an effective instrument for Pakistan´s campaign in J&K as Indian security forces [SFS] arrested three of its top leaders in quick succession. First, Nasrullah Mansur Langrayal, chief of the former Harkat-ul Mujahideen was arrested in November 1993. Three months later, the HUA´s General Secretary, Maulana Masood Azhar, and its J&K unit Chief Sajjad Afghani were arrested in Srinagar.
The HuA made several attempts to obtain the release of the arrested leaders by abducting SF personnel and foreign tourists and using them as hostages. In the first attempt, made in January 1994, two SF personnel were abducted and subsequently killed when the government refused to release the leaders. A second attempt was made in June 1994 when two foreign tourists were abducted. Following local outcry against these abductions, the hostages were released without any success in their objective. In the third attempt made in October 1994, four foreign tourists were abducted in New Delhi and held in Uttar Pradesh and a demand was again made for the release of the arrested leaders. SFs however, ascertained the terrorist hideout and effected a successful rescue operation and also arrested the leader of the abductors, Umar Saeed Sheikh, a British student of Pakistani origin.
In the fourth attempt, made by a front outfit, Al-Faran in July 1995, six hostages were abducted from various locations. While one managed to escape, the body of the second was recovered in August 1995. The government refused to accept the demands of the abductors and since then there has been no news on the fate of the hostages. It is widely suspected that having failed in their mission, the abductors killed the hostages. These incidents as also reports that the outfit was linked to Osama bin Laden prompted the US government to declare the HUA as a terrorist outfit in 1997. To avoid the repercussions of the ban, the HUA decided to recast itself as the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
Meanwhile, Sajjad Afghani was killed during a jailbreak attempt in June 1999. Subsequently, suspected HuM terrorists, hijacked the Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 from Kathmandu, Nepal, forced the pilot to fly to Kandahar, Afghanistan and with the protection and support of the Taliban regime, successfully obtained the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, Umar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtak Ahmed Zargar, commander of the Al Umar, a militant group with a predominantly Kashmiri cadre base. The demand for the release of Zargar appeared to be a ploy to convey the impression that the hijacking was conducted for the sake of Kashmiris rather than foreign mercenaries. Certain news reports had speculated that Masood Azhar´s brother led the hijackers and his father financed the whole operation.
As mentioned before, the 1993 merger of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the HUJI was not a successful venture. SF sources in India have reported that terrorists claiming allegiance to the three outfits, HUJI, HUM and HUA, have been either arrested or killed throughout the 13-year insurgency in the State.
The HUM's operational capabilities had been severely curtailed by the formation of the Jaish-e-Mohammed [JEM] by Masood Azhar, immediately after his release. News reports from Pakistan suggested that the JEM had weaned away several HUM cadre and other resources. Subsequently, only isolated instances have been reported from J&K where cadres of the HUM have been involved.
Harkat Ul Mujahedin maintains a website till date. The website of this notorious group is available on www.harkatulmujahideen.org. The organization also maintains a weekly newspaper named Al-Hilal to promote its terrorist plans and spread the theory of killing innocent people in the name of Jihad.
In the website, this notorious group says, "Harkat Ul Mujahideen is purely a Jihadi organization. Among many, the prime object of HUM is to provide awareness with regard to Jihad. HUM is determined to clear all doubts and ambiguities.
"The Muslim Ummah has lost its glory, dignity, and respect all over the globe. Jews, Quadiani's, Hindu's have joined hands to establish Jihad as an act of terrorism and horror. In fact disassociation from Jihad is the core reason for Muslims. HUM appraises the world to differentiate between terrorism and Jihad. In terrorism indiscriminate killing is justified, Jihad bans it. Jihad permits arms against arms only. Jihad prohibits indiscriminate killing. Jihad guarantees safety of unarmed women, children, and elderly people irrespective of religion, race or cast. Jihad assures personal or religious rights of non-Muslims until aggressed.
"Jihad is not terrorism it strongly condemns terrorism. In fact terrorists condemn Jihad because Jihad is the biggest obstacle in achieving terrorist´s ulterior motives.
"Jihad is a symbol of peace, prosperity, equity, progress and strong tool for propagation of Islam as laid down very clearly in the Holy Quran.
"To achieve above-mentioned objectives Jihad strongly advocates adherence of latest technology, preparation of arms, provide help to suppressed etc. under guidance from Quran.
Let the world not be misguided by the propaganda against Islam and Mujahideen. History of Europe, Africa, and South East Asia should remain a guiding factor and an eye opener for anti Mujahideen propagandist that non-Muslims preferred living under Muslim Laws and when Muslim Mujahideen conquered their territories. Therefore HUM is determined to liberate suppressed humanity through out the world and eliminate discrimination, injustice, terrorism and Kufr no matter what comes their way."
It also states, "Five people established Harkat Ul Mujahideen in 1985, but in a very short span of time HUM became a very strong & effective Mujahid Force. During Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, HUM was one of the front liners and stood like a rock besides the rest of the Mujahideen groups. HUM's Mujahids shed their blood on every corner of Afghanistan during Jihad and also rendered valuable contribution against international conspiracies and to neutralize propaganda against Afghanistan, especially the Jew's Geneva conference.
"HUM always enjoyed very cordial relations with all Afghan leaders from the day of interception, especially with Hazbi Islami, Younus Khalis, Harkat ul Inquilab etc.
Afghanistan was made a center of international conspiracies soon after the down fall of Soviet Union. Afghanistan was deliberately pushed into civil war between pro and anti factions of Hikmatyar and Rabbani groups. HUM's sincere efforts went in vain to bring both groups to an acceptable solution. To maintain peace & Harmony in Afghanistan many people tried to make a solution to the matter, including, the Imam of Holy Ka'ba, but unfortunately to no avail. As it turns out, the failure to bring peace to the war ravaged country was due to the regular intervention of those groups and countries that had much to gain from the destabilization of Afghanistan.
Then came a unique revolution in Afghanistan in the form of Taliban. HUM strongly seconded and supported the Islamic Revolution, which resulted in the immediate equity, restoration of peace & implication of real Islamic Laws. This was not to the liking of the western satanic groups, of which the Zionists are on the top, as it did not at all serve their interest."
In Bangladesh, Harkatul Mujahedin was led by Mufti Hannan under the direct patronization and direction of Moulana Muhiuddin Khan and Mufti Shahidul Islam, while Harkatul Jihad (HUJI) was led by Moulana Abdus Salam. Both parties preached Jihad as holy obligation and promotes killing of innocent people in the name of religion as sacred task.
After HUJI came into focus of the international community, it was banned in several countries and lately it was lifted by the US government as a notorious terror group, Moulana Abdus Salam and his followers abandoned HUJI and formed another group named Islamic Gono Andoland (IGA). Most of the members of IGA are Afghan ´Mujahids´. According to information, this group claims to have more than two hundred thousand members. The party is yet to be in the mainstream politics in Bangladesh, while its ideology is yet to be known by international community. But, it is clearly understood that IGA is continuing to be a supportive force of Talibans, Al Qaeda and holds anti West sentiments in mind. The organization also considers Jihad as holy obligation. Presently the organization is facing severe financial crisis, which once again leaves strong alarming signal for all of us, as any vested interest group may ultimately hire this organization and use it in any type of illegal actions. According to Bangladeshi intelligence reports, IGA leader Moulana Abdus Salam is till now having clean report and only despite the fact of him being a former fighter against Soviet Union in Afghanistan, he personally is not yet connected with any doubtful activities. But, only point here is, Salam is a pal of Talibans and Al Qaeda.
Whatever the fact may be, it is quite openly understood that, most of the Islamist and Islamic leaders around the world, including Bangladesh are bearing a kind of special feelings for Al Qaeda, Talibans and Osama Bin laden. They personally feel delighted when a suicide bomber kills any innocent individual anywhere in the world, in the name of jihad. And, importantly, such tendencies of Islamist and Islamic leaders are greatly damaging the reputation of Islam.
Muslims around the world need to understand this fact and stand strong in combating rise of radical Islam as well at least identify those who are engaged in anti-Islamist actions and giving Islam a bad name.
According to report, published in Dhaka only anti-Islamist newspaper, Weekly Blitz, Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf, after being expelled from Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan (BKA), occupied the Madrassa named Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya at Dhaka´s Kamrangirchor area few years back with the help of his own armed cadres. Since then, he has been misappropriating all donations and funds of this religious school. It is also learnt that, sons of Ahmadullah are maintaining armed cadres to guard their illegal occupancy of the Madrassa. Meanwhile, electricity and gas connections in Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya at Dhaka´s Kamrangirchor area were disconnected for non-payments of bills. But, crook Ahmadullah is continuing to use illegal gas and electricity lines in the Madrassa for years, violating law of the land. None of the members from authorities concerned ever visited Jamiya-Nooriya-Islamiya madrassa to question Ahmadullah Ashraf or his men for violating the law by continuing illegal gas and electricity connections inside the premises. It is further learnt that, sons of Ahmadullah are also running their personal industrial projects within the campus. It is even alleged that, electricity in those factories were provided from the main connection of Madrassa (before it was disconnected).
The report further says that in personal life he is a questioned individual. Presently he has three wives (lately he married daughter of the cook of the Madrassa by force). Being expelled from BKA, Ahmadullah Ashraf joined hands with notorious terror groups like Hizb Ut Tahrir (HUT) and Wahabi groups led by Moulana Muhiddin Khan. According to information, HT is already using the campus of captured Madrassa of Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf for training their cadres. Earlier, the campus was also allowed for use by several notorious militant groups including banned JMB. Mufti Abdul Hannan is a close aide of Qari Ahmadullah Ashraf, who was regularly visiting the campus at the invitation of Ashraf and his sons.
May of my readers may not have ever heard the names of either Ahmadullah Ashraf or Moulana Muhiuddin Khan. Before going much into details of this article, let us first try to know their identities. Ahmadullah is the eldest son of late Hefezzi Huzur, a religious leader who contested in Presidential pole in Bangladesh couple of decades back. He told his followers that, prophet of Islam came in his dream and instructed to participate in the election. Everyone although questioned the reason of running in the election against the dictator Hussain Muhammed Ershad, who was at that time holding Presidency by force, many argued saying such participation by Hafezzi was a token protest against dictatorship.
After his death, his elder son grabbed most of the properties left by his father and continued to deceive remaining members of the family. At this point, Ashraf got into intimate relations Moulana Muhiuddin Khan through Ashraf´s brother-in-law Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini. Mufti Amini is already known in Bangladesh as an extreme materialist and opportunist having close links with various Islamist militancy groups. On the other hand, Muhiuddin Khan, who is under special ´blessings´ from the Saudi Wahabi rulers is one of the channels to finance various Islamist terror groups, including Jagrata Muslim Janata, Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Harkatul Jihad, Harkatul Mujahedin, Khelafat Majlish and lately Hizb Ut Tahrir. It is even alleged that, notorious culprit named Mufti Hannan made confessional statements to law enforcing agencies giving name of Moulana Muhiuddin Khan as one of the patrons of his group. But, due to Saudi interference, Bangladeshi law enforcing agencies never arrested or interrogated this hidden kingpin of Islamist terror.
Mufti Hannan belongs to Harkatul Mujahedin. It is a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, has been in existence twice in the history of that country´s involvement in cross-border terrorism. In the interim between the two phases, it continued to exist, but under the name of the Harkat-ul-Ansar [HUA].
The Harkat ul-Ansar was formed by the merger of two Pakistani groups, Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami and Harkat ul-Mujahedin, and led by Maulana Saadatullah Khan. The merger of these two political groups and its transformation into a militant group came about as part of the Afghan ´jihad´.
With a pan-Islamic ideology, the outfit strove to achieve the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India through violent means and its eventual merger with Pakistan. About 60 per cent of its estimated 1000 strong cadre were Pakistanis and Afghans.
The Harkat-ul-Ansar was termed a terrorist organization by the US due to its association with the exiled Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden in 1997. To avoid the repercussions of the US ban, the group was recast as the Harkat ul-Mujahideen in 1998.
Based in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, the Harkat ul-Ansar has participated in insurgent and terrorist operations in Kashmir, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Kashmir, the outfit had carried out several operations against Indian troops besides attacks on civilian targets. In the process, several of its top leaders including Masood Azhar (General Secretary and top idologue), Sajjad Afghani (Commander of the Harkat ul-Ansar in Jammu and Kashmir) and Nasarullah Manzoor Langaryal (commander of the erstwhile Harkat-ul Mujahedin) were captured by Indian security forces.
With all these arrests, the outfit gradually lost its influence in the State's militancy. The outfit's controlling body, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) also ensured that most of the cadre were transferred to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which gradually enlarged the latter's role in the State's militancy.
Meanwhile, a new organisation termed Al-Faran abducted nine foreigners (in two phases) and attempted to bargain for the release of the jailed Harkat-ul-Ansar leaders. This objective raises suspicions that the Al-Faran is merely a front organisation of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, set up to abduct foreigners and ensure that the hostages' countries of origin would not resort to action against the Harkat-ul-Ansar. The strategy backfired when Indian police arrested two Harkat-ul-Ansar members including Umar Saeed Sheikh, a British student of Pakistani origin, in a successful operation where four hostages were freed.
The US ban made it difficult for the Harkat-ul-Ansar's Pakistani sponsors to continue their support. Fund raising activities in Western countries too were affected. Hence, the Harkat-ul-Ansar was officially closed and a new militant outfit Harkat ul-Mujahideen was formed.
Sajjad Afghani was killed during a jail-break incident in 1999 while he was lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail. Soon after, in December 1999, an Indian Airlines flight, IC 814 was hijacked and in the tradeoff, Masood Azhar and Umar Saeed Sheikh were released along with Mushtak Ahmed Zargar, commander of the Al Umar, a militant group with a predominantly Kashmiri cadre base. The demand for the release of Zargar appeared to be a ploy to convey the impression that the hijacking was conducted for the sake of Kashmiris rather than foreign militants.
After his release, Masood Azhar is reported to have set up a new militant group, the Jaish-e-Mohammad Mujhaeddin E-Tanzeem and is seeking to unite the various militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
With the near total loss of its top leadership, the cadre base and Pakistani sponsorship, the Harkat-ul-Ansar appears to have collapsed and is no longer active in the State's insurgency.
While the first renaming was an outcome of a reorganization effected by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan´s external intelligence agency, among its various sponsored terrorist outfits in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the second renaming was necessitated by a US proscription of the outfit.
The HuA was categorized as a terrorist outfit by the US in 1997 following reports that it was linked with Osama Bin Laden, and his Al Qaeda, a global terrorist network that has struck at several US targets around the world. The outfit immediately adopted the name of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen to escape the ramifications of the proscription.
Despite public knowledge that the HUM was a recast version of the HUA, the US had refused to categories the outfit as a terrorist outfit. However, following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the US, the outfit came under scrutiny of the US government for its extensive links with Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks. On September 25, US President George W. Bush signed an order officially banning the outfit.
The HUM was originally formed in 1985, to participate in the Jehad against Soviet forces protecting the Communist regime in Afghanistan. It was a formed by a group that walked out of another Jihadist group, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI). With the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the outfit turned its attention to J&K, where terrorist violence had been unleashed by Pakistan supported outfits in 1988.
As the organization chart shows, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen merged with another terror outfit, the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI), to form the Harkat-ul-Ansar [HUA] in 1993. This merger apparently failed to form an effective instrument for Pakistan´s campaign in J&K as Indian security forces [SFS] arrested three of its top leaders in quick succession. First, Nasrullah Mansur Langrayal, chief of the former Harkat-ul Mujahideen was arrested in November 1993. Three months later, the HUA´s General Secretary, Maulana Masood Azhar, and its J&K unit Chief Sajjad Afghani were arrested in Srinagar.
The HuA made several attempts to obtain the release of the arrested leaders by abducting SF personnel and foreign tourists and using them as hostages. In the first attempt, made in January 1994, two SF personnel were abducted and subsequently killed when the government refused to release the leaders. A second attempt was made in June 1994 when two foreign tourists were abducted. Following local outcry against these abductions, the hostages were released without any success in their objective. In the third attempt made in October 1994, four foreign tourists were abducted in New Delhi and held in Uttar Pradesh and a demand was again made for the release of the arrested leaders. SFs however, ascertained the terrorist hideout and effected a successful rescue operation and also arrested the leader of the abductors, Umar Saeed Sheikh, a British student of Pakistani origin.
In the fourth attempt, made by a front outfit, Al-Faran in July 1995, six hostages were abducted from various locations. While one managed to escape, the body of the second was recovered in August 1995. The government refused to accept the demands of the abductors and since then there has been no news on the fate of the hostages. It is widely suspected that having failed in their mission, the abductors killed the hostages. These incidents as also reports that the outfit was linked to Osama bin Laden prompted the US government to declare the HUA as a terrorist outfit in 1997. To avoid the repercussions of the ban, the HUA decided to recast itself as the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
Meanwhile, Sajjad Afghani was killed during a jailbreak attempt in June 1999. Subsequently, suspected HuM terrorists, hijacked the Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 from Kathmandu, Nepal, forced the pilot to fly to Kandahar, Afghanistan and with the protection and support of the Taliban regime, successfully obtained the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, Umar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtak Ahmed Zargar, commander of the Al Umar, a militant group with a predominantly Kashmiri cadre base. The demand for the release of Zargar appeared to be a ploy to convey the impression that the hijacking was conducted for the sake of Kashmiris rather than foreign mercenaries. Certain news reports had speculated that Masood Azhar´s brother led the hijackers and his father financed the whole operation.
As mentioned before, the 1993 merger of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the HUJI was not a successful venture. SF sources in India have reported that terrorists claiming allegiance to the three outfits, HUJI, HUM and HUA, have been either arrested or killed throughout the 13-year insurgency in the State.
The HUM's operational capabilities had been severely curtailed by the formation of the Jaish-e-Mohammed [JEM] by Masood Azhar, immediately after his release. News reports from Pakistan suggested that the JEM had weaned away several HUM cadre and other resources. Subsequently, only isolated instances have been reported from J&K where cadres of the HUM have been involved.
Harkat Ul Mujahedin maintains a website till date. The website of this notorious group is available on www.harkatulmujahideen.org. The organization also maintains a weekly newspaper named Al-Hilal to promote its terrorist plans and spread the theory of killing innocent people in the name of Jihad.
In the website, this notorious group says, "Harkat Ul Mujahideen is purely a Jihadi organization. Among many, the prime object of HUM is to provide awareness with regard to Jihad. HUM is determined to clear all doubts and ambiguities.
"The Muslim Ummah has lost its glory, dignity, and respect all over the globe. Jews, Quadiani's, Hindu's have joined hands to establish Jihad as an act of terrorism and horror. In fact disassociation from Jihad is the core reason for Muslims. HUM appraises the world to differentiate between terrorism and Jihad. In terrorism indiscriminate killing is justified, Jihad bans it. Jihad permits arms against arms only. Jihad prohibits indiscriminate killing. Jihad guarantees safety of unarmed women, children, and elderly people irrespective of religion, race or cast. Jihad assures personal or religious rights of non-Muslims until aggressed.
"Jihad is not terrorism it strongly condemns terrorism. In fact terrorists condemn Jihad because Jihad is the biggest obstacle in achieving terrorist´s ulterior motives.
"Jihad is a symbol of peace, prosperity, equity, progress and strong tool for propagation of Islam as laid down very clearly in the Holy Quran.
"To achieve above-mentioned objectives Jihad strongly advocates adherence of latest technology, preparation of arms, provide help to suppressed etc. under guidance from Quran.
Let the world not be misguided by the propaganda against Islam and Mujahideen. History of Europe, Africa, and South East Asia should remain a guiding factor and an eye opener for anti Mujahideen propagandist that non-Muslims preferred living under Muslim Laws and when Muslim Mujahideen conquered their territories. Therefore HUM is determined to liberate suppressed humanity through out the world and eliminate discrimination, injustice, terrorism and Kufr no matter what comes their way."
It also states, "Five people established Harkat Ul Mujahideen in 1985, but in a very short span of time HUM became a very strong & effective Mujahid Force. During Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, HUM was one of the front liners and stood like a rock besides the rest of the Mujahideen groups. HUM's Mujahids shed their blood on every corner of Afghanistan during Jihad and also rendered valuable contribution against international conspiracies and to neutralize propaganda against Afghanistan, especially the Jew's Geneva conference.
"HUM always enjoyed very cordial relations with all Afghan leaders from the day of interception, especially with Hazbi Islami, Younus Khalis, Harkat ul Inquilab etc.
Afghanistan was made a center of international conspiracies soon after the down fall of Soviet Union. Afghanistan was deliberately pushed into civil war between pro and anti factions of Hikmatyar and Rabbani groups. HUM's sincere efforts went in vain to bring both groups to an acceptable solution. To maintain peace & Harmony in Afghanistan many people tried to make a solution to the matter, including, the Imam of Holy Ka'ba, but unfortunately to no avail. As it turns out, the failure to bring peace to the war ravaged country was due to the regular intervention of those groups and countries that had much to gain from the destabilization of Afghanistan.
Then came a unique revolution in Afghanistan in the form of Taliban. HUM strongly seconded and supported the Islamic Revolution, which resulted in the immediate equity, restoration of peace & implication of real Islamic Laws. This was not to the liking of the western satanic groups, of which the Zionists are on the top, as it did not at all serve their interest."
In Bangladesh, Harkatul Mujahedin was led by Mufti Hannan under the direct patronization and direction of Moulana Muhiuddin Khan and Mufti Shahidul Islam, while Harkatul Jihad (HUJI) was led by Moulana Abdus Salam. Both parties preached Jihad as holy obligation and promotes killing of innocent people in the name of religion as sacred task.
After HUJI came into focus of the international community, it was banned in several countries and lately it was lifted by the US government as a notorious terror group, Moulana Abdus Salam and his followers abandoned HUJI and formed another group named Islamic Gono Andoland (IGA). Most of the members of IGA are Afghan ´Mujahids´. According to information, this group claims to have more than two hundred thousand members. The party is yet to be in the mainstream politics in Bangladesh, while its ideology is yet to be known by international community. But, it is clearly understood that IGA is continuing to be a supportive force of Talibans, Al Qaeda and holds anti West sentiments in mind. The organization also considers Jihad as holy obligation. Presently the organization is facing severe financial crisis, which once again leaves strong alarming signal for all of us, as any vested interest group may ultimately hire this organization and use it in any type of illegal actions. According to Bangladeshi intelligence reports, IGA leader Moulana Abdus Salam is till now having clean report and only despite the fact of him being a former fighter against Soviet Union in Afghanistan, he personally is not yet connected with any doubtful activities. But, only point here is, Salam is a pal of Talibans and Al Qaeda.
Whatever the fact may be, it is quite openly understood that, most of the Islamist and Islamic leaders around the world, including Bangladesh are bearing a kind of special feelings for Al Qaeda, Talibans and Osama Bin laden. They personally feel delighted when a suicide bomber kills any innocent individual anywhere in the world, in the name of jihad. And, importantly, such tendencies of Islamist and Islamic leaders are greatly damaging the reputation of Islam.
Muslims around the world need to understand this fact and stand strong in combating rise of radical Islam as well at least identify those who are engaged in anti-Islamist actions and giving Islam a bad name.
