New bottle and label, but it's old terror

Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami was Harkat-ul-Ansar in its earlier avatar and is an integral part of al Qaeda's global network

The Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) was launched to fight against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan in early 1980s. The HuJI was formed to run relief camps for the Afghan mujahideen by the Pakistan-based Deobandi religious bodies, the Jamaat-ul-Ulema-e-Islami (JuI) and the Tabligh-i-Jamaat (TiJ) under the leadership of Maulvi Irshad Ahmed. Later on it engaged in recruitment and training for Afghani mujahideens and subsequently developed links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

After the death of Maulana Irshad Ahmed in 1985, the group had two splits by its own commanders - Fazal-ur-Rehman Khalil and Maulana Masood Kashmiri - forming two separate groups namely Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Jamait-ul-Mujaheddin (JuM) respectively.

In 1991, the Deobandi ulemas (religious leaders) of Karachi asked the three splinter factions to reunite. While the merger was formally held in Pakistan, the process was carried out by Maulana Masood Azhar in February 1994 in India. At least, 19 leaders of the HuJI, HuM and the JuM attended the meeting at Matigund, Anantnag district, to discuss the merger and forming of Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA).

The US State Department placed the HuA in the world terrorist organisations list soon after the group kidnapped few American and European tourists in Jammu and Kashmir through its Al-Faran operation in 1995. But, with the arrest of Masood Azhar and Sajjad Afghani, the HuA's J&K 'military chief' and Nasrullah Mansur Langrayal, HuM's 'chief commander' in J&K, the move to reunite the three HuJI factions into the HuA remained unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the HuJI-Bangladesh (HuJI-BD) was established by drawing inspiration from Osama bin Laden and with the assistance of his International Islamic Front (IIF) in 1992. Although it has a separate command structure and leaders, HuJI-BD continued to operate under the guidance of HuJI-Pakistan.

Command Structure & Strength
The leadership of the HuJI has always been ambiguous. According to established reports, the J&K chief of HuJI Gulzar Ahmed Tantrey and his deputy Abdul Rashid Dangar were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Chanjlu in Doda district on December 12, 2001.

There have been no reports thus far on the successors chosen for the slain terrorists. But, the HuJI-BD is headed by Showkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid and Imtiaz Quddus as its 'General Secretary'.

There is no substantial evidence for the actual number of HuJI cadres in India. But, it is estimated that HuJI-BD might have 15,000-20,000 cadres, majority of whom are madaris (religious scholastics) educated in madrassas.

The new recruits receive their training in camps based in Bangladesh and, sometimes abroad, like Afghanistan and/or Pakistan. HuJI-BD recruits not only its own nationals; a significant source for its membership is the huge refugee population of stateless Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

Their main aim
The primary objective of HuJI is to establish the Islamic Hukumat (Islamic rule) in India and Bangladesh. It vehemently opposes liberal and secular societal practices like music, dance, movies and television as anti-Islam, because of the strong influence of Wahabi and Taliban ideologies.

In Bangladesh, HuJI campaigns against the Indian and Western cultural influence, which it projects as the Hindu and Christian cultural influence over the traditional Islamic culture. HuJI's leanings towards Afghan's Taliban ideology is reflected in its slogans like Amra Sohai Hobo Taliban, Bangla Hobe Afghanistan (We will all become Taliban and we will all turn Bangladesh into Afghanistan).

Modus Operandi
HuJI is now active in several parts of India with intricate networks in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.In Bangladesh, HuJI targets people especially progressive intellectuals, academicians, jouranalists and politicians, who are secular and ideologically challenge the militant path of the radical Islamists.

The coastal region in southern Bangladesh stretching from Chittagong through Cox's Bazaar to the Myanmar border is the principal area of operation for most illegal groups in the country involved in piracy, smuggling and arms trading.

The HuJI-BD reportedly has its own arms training camps in Chittagong and Cox Bazaar areas and the cadres allegedly infiltrate frequently into the Indian territories in the East and Northeastern areas, where it maintains close contacts with Northeast insurgent groups.

South India is HuJI's target
In India, the HuJI has formed alliances with the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and other Islamist terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). For funds and other assistance, the HuJI still maintains a close linkage with the International Islamic Front and other terror outfits.

The HuJI has been slowly expanding their influence from J&K to main lands in India. In late October 2005, the police arrested three alleged Harkat terrorists, Hilaluddin Khan (Bangladesh national), Nafiqul Biswas (Kolkata resident) and Mohammad Ibrahim (Hyderabad resident) and all three said their organisation had intended to target Bangalore, Hyderabad and other economic centres.

South India seems to have become an important terrorist target; the region has country's defence, nuclear and space establishments, information technology (IT) and other hi-tech industries.

Dr P G Rajamohan is Research Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies