It’s been a year since the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which carried them out, is unbroken and as determined as ever to pursue its jehadi agenda.
Despite assurances by the Pakistan government that it would break down jehadi groups operating from its soil, nothing has been done to stop the Jamaatul Daawa (JuD), which is a cover for the LeT.
Under pressure from the US and other countries, the Pakistan government had incarcerated a clutch of LeT leaders — founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and chief operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and raided militant camps across the country. All this had fanned hopes that the LeT and its parent body, the JuD, would be dismantled.
However, nothing was done to contain the JuD, and the international media says that the LeT continues to raise funds and recruit cadre to wage war in J&K. Though JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid says it is a peace-loving Islamic welfare organisation, those in Islamabad’s diplomatic circles insist that the JuD and the LeT are one and the same and are working together to further the Kashmir cause. This was confirmed by former JuD spokesman Abdullah Muntazir who said in a recent interview that the LeT is doing its work freely in Pakistan.
Abdullah told Reuters that though the LeT is banned in Pakistan, the government does not take action against it because it is the the only militant group which hasn’t carried out attacks inside the country. “LeT cadre are seen as a kind of civil defence force in the event of war with India. Going after them would create a new enemy for Pakistan, which is not needed,” he said.
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