IT IS NO secret that Pakistan actively encourages and even supports terrorist training camps on its soil and areas under its control. But in a significant breakthrough, Indian intelligence agencies have gathered vital evidence to prove how terror camps are being run in various parts of Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir ( PoK).

Operatives working for Indian intelligence have managed to procure photographs that expose the network of terror camps inside Pakistan and PoK run by organisations such as Lashkare- Tayyeba ( LeT) and Jaish- e- Mohammed ( JeM).

Shockingly, at least one of the camps operated by LeT at Shawai Nullah Camp in Muzaffarabad comprises only woman recruits, many of whom are being trained to become part of fidayeen squads who would target key installations even as they themselves get killed.

These pictures formed part of a dossier on militancy in Kashmir, a document that was discussed at length during the recently concluded conference of directors-general and inspectors-general of police in the Capital. Along with the pictures, the dossier provides graphic details such as satellite images of the jihadi factories operating across the border. -- Rajneesh Sharma, Mail Today

Armed men claiming to be al-Qaida members address a crowd in Yemen’s southern Abyan province. The market at Jaar, a small city in Abyan province in southern Yemen, is on a filthy, dusty road strewn with garbage, plastic bottles, cans and rotten food. Plastic bags fly on the hot wind and feral dogs sniff around the vegetable stalls. Minibuses and donkey carts jostle for space on the crowded street.

Standing in the middle of the chaos is one of the jihadi gunmen for whom the town has become famous. Thin, short, with a well-groomed beard and shoulder-length hair, he is dressed in the Afghan style: shalwar kameez, camouflage vest and an old Kalashnikov. He is either a bandit imposing a protection racket on the merchants or a rebel protecting them from the corrupt regime – and most probably a bit of both. -- Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

Like the Taliban, Maulana Ammar is also a Deobandi, but unlike the Taliban and numerous pro-Taliban Deobandi clerics, he does not appear to regard the war being waged by the Taliban in Afghanistan as an Islamic jihad at all. Daring to differ from the Taliban in this regard, Maulana Ammar issued a fatwa earlier this month to this effect. The fatwa is a reply to a question put to Maulana Ammar by an unnamed questioner. ‘If someone travels to Afghanistan and joins his Muslim brethren there to seek to expel the foreign occupation forces by joining the ongoing war’, the questioner seeks to know, ‘can it be said that this person is engaged in jihad or Islamic war (islami jang), or is it the case that for a war to be called an Islamic war other conditions are also needed?’

Maulana Ammar’s reply, issued as a fatwa, is concise and well-argued. He begins by pointing out that for any war between Muslims and non-Muslims to be considered a legitimate Islamic jihad according to the shariah, it is essential that the underlying or basic cause must not be an act on the part of the Muslim party involved the conflict that is immoral or objectionable from the point of view of the shariah. If the provocation of the war is indeed such an action then the war that follows from this act cannot be said to be a jihad. After clarifying this vital point, thereby clearly suggesting that not every war involving Muslims and non-Muslims can be considered to be a jihad, the fatwa goes on to discuss the case of the current war in Afghanistan.  -- Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com

Irshad Zargar had an explanation for the neat, bound file in his home with the names, addresses and photographs of 740 Srinagar residents: they were aspirants, he told investigators after his arrest in February, for start-up bank loans for local artisans.

But as their investigation moved forward, police say, it became clear that the dossier was in fact an organisational chart of one of the multiple Islamist networks that had spearheaded the violence in Kashmir towns this summer. -- Praveen Swami

The deaths in the drone strikes of many Al Qaeda leaders such as its No. 3 Sai’d al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in May, and Saleh-al-Somali from Somalia on December 8, 2009, have not weakened the capability of Al Qaeda to plan and mount terrorist strikes. The successful ones have been in the Af-Pak area, Somalia and Uganda and the unsuccessful ones in the UK, the US and Norway.

Along with Saudis, Egyptians and Yemenis, the Somalis have been among the important components of Al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden had earlier used them for the terrorist strikes outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam in August 1998, and in Mombasa in October 2002. The Yemeni and Somali wings of Al Qaeda have exhibited a certain operational autonomy which enables them to mount terrorist strikes on their own. While Al Shabaab has extended its operations to Africa, the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been trying to extend its reach to South-East Asia.

Al Qaeda looks upon its continuing jihad against the so-called Crusaders — thereby meaning essentially the US, Israel and their supporters — as a global intifada. Afghanistan, Somalia and Algeria are seen as battlefronts, which will determine the ultimate outcome. Afghanistan is seen as the core of the battle, Somalia as its southern front and Algeria as the western front. -- B Raman

It is precisely people like Shahzad that al-Qaida is now targeting with its new English-language online magazine Inspire, says Jordanian terrorism expert Mohammad Aburumman. It has been launched at a time when the number of al-Qaida sympathisers in the west is rising, he says, "people from western countries are the target group this issue is particularly aimed at." -- Emad M. Ghanim

The magazine contains previously published material from Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu Musab al-Suri and Anwar al-Awlaki. While it also contains new material, this material, especially from al-Awlaki and AQAP leader Nasir al-Wahayshi (aka Abu Bashir), is consistent with their previously published statements. One of the messages by al-Awlaki featured in Inspire, “A Message to the American People,” was previously released to CNN and reissued by al-Malahim on the Internet July 19, almost as if to validate Inspire. Even though the way in which some of the material in Inspire is presented is quite elementary, and could lead some to believe the magazine might be a spoof, we have found no analytical reason to doubt its authenticity. -- Scott Stewart

Ali K Chishti in his article, ‘Punjab: the new FATA’ (Daily Times, June 7, 2010) gave us an eye-opening breakdown of these religious seminaries (Islami madrasas). The escalation in the numbers of religious seminaries happened during the military regime of General Ziaul Haq when they were transformed into ‘warrior seminaries’. They were required to manufacture sectarian jihadists — though the term had yet to be invented — to be used as human fuel for the Afghan War. ... At these warrior seminaries, pupils are taught the Quran and related Islamic teachings. It is important to point out that not all of them are responsible for the uninterrupted supply of armed sectarian terrorists and suicide bombers that has blighted our country over the past few years, but it has been confirmed that over 25 percent of known terrorists in Pakistan have been seminary undergraduates. Today, the so-called jihadists have grown out of the control of their creators and have become a universal menace that needs to be dealt with ‘locally’. A nationwide coalition of democratic and secular forces, including — and this is key — the working classes and the downtrodden is the need of the hour. -- Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza

This policy will not only throw a spanner in any peace talks, but it will also have disastrous impact on people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the LOC. My request to those who have some say in policy making and its execution is, please stop this ‘blood trade’ in name of ‘jihad’. We people of Jammu and Kashmir have already suffered too much. Like anyone else we also want peace, stability and economic prosperity. We also want to live with dignity and honour and enjoy fruits of independence. The kind of jihad you people have imposed on us will only make our lives worse. It provides an excuse to people in uniform to commit human rights abuses. In any case, Kashmir dispute is not a religious dispute. Don’t divide us in the name of religion. This strategy will never win us independence; and we don’t want to be part of any country. Our struggle is for united and independent Jammu and Kashmir which could not be achieved in name of religion. -- Dr. Shabir Choudhry

Anxiety and pessimism have corroded the confidence of US and other NATO soldiers posted in Afghanistan. General McChrystal’s cutting remarks about the US administration were a true reflection of this military mood of cynicism and apprehension. And amid the confusion that pervades US Afghan policy is the declaration that it will leave Afghanistan by mid-2011. Military history doesn’t contain too many examples of a force publicly announcing its date of departure from the battlefield to anyone who cares to listen, including the enemy. This is likely to lead to a wait-and-watch policy by the Talibs or a tease-and-run policy to keep the US forces peripherally engaged while shifting the bulk of the jihadi fighters to other theatres of action...

It is time we recognised the imminent danger of jihadi escalation in Kashmir if confidence isn’t quickly restored. My suspicion is that an unsustainable status quo will be dragged out, with some good weeks and some bad, rather like a sick patient who shuns diagnosis or medicine thinking things will get better on their own. They won’t. The government of India must intervene now, for if it doesn’t, there might come a time when it will look back on mid-2010 not as a time of trouble, but as the time before the troubles. – NAJEEB JUNG

The violence seems driven by despair, not coherent political design. Much of the rioting has taken place in Srinagar's shahr-e-khaas, neighbourhoods which made up the city's traditional trading and artisanal hubs. The protesters consist in the main of what might be described as a lumpen bourgeoisie. The rioters are children of a once-powerful social class that has been in decline for decades.

In the years after Independence, the shahr-e-khaas saw intense contestation between the traditionalist cleric, Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq, and the National Conference. The struggle represented the conflict between the old bourgeoisie and an emerging new élite of contractors and businessmen. In 1986, though, the two parties allied. Mirwaiz Farooq refused to support secessionism after jihadist violence broke out three years later, and was assassinated in May, 1990. Both Mirwaiz Farooq and his assassin, Abdullah Bangroo, were, ironically enough, buried in the Mazhar-e-Shauhda. -- Praveen Swami

For the first time, though, al-Masri referred to the Pakistan-based jihadist, Muhammad Illyas Kashmiri, as an official part of the al-Qaeda — and made public his role in an attack on India. “I bring you the good tidings,” he said, “that last February's India operation was against a Jewish locale in the west of the Indian capital [sic., throughout], in the area of the German bakeries — a fact that the enemy tried to hide — and close to 20 Jews were killed in the operation, a majority of them from their so-called statelet, Israel. The person who carried out this operation was a heroic soldier from the ‘Soldiers of the Sacrifice Brigade,' which is one of the brigades of Qaedat al-Jihad [the al-Qaeda's formal name] in Kashmir, under the command of Commander Illyas Kashmiri, may Allah preserve him.” -- Praveen Swami

According to Abdullah Ibn Zubayr, a noted companion of the Prophet, the first-mentioned Quranic verse, which deals with God’s reward for those who engage in jihad, refers to acting in the best way on the basis of knowledge. The second-mentioned Quranic verse clearly instructs the Prophet to engage in jihad with the deniers of the truth using the Quran as a weapon. This, obviously, is a peaceful form of jihad, a non-violent effort to convey the message of Islam to others.

The Prophet Muhammad is quoted as having said: ‘The mujahid[one who engages in jihad] is he who, in obedience to God, wages jihad against his baser self, and the true emigrant (muhajir) is he who abandons mistakes and sins’ (al-mujahidu man jahada nafsahu fi ta‘at Allah wa al-muhajiru manhajara al-khataya wa al-zunub). Similarly, according to another hadith report, the Prophet is said to have referred to the jihad against one’s own baser self as the ‘greater jihad’ (jihad al-akbar). -- Maulana Waris Mazhari

One individual who was a deputy minister under the former Taliban regime and who frequently liaises with the Taliban, said that three to seven ISI officials attend the Quetta Shura as observers. He believes that the ISI has responsibility for organising the meetings and that it exerts pressure on individual participants beforehand, especially if major decisions are to be taken. As one commander put it: “We heard that the ISI were on the Quetta Shura, but we don’t follow their orders. They are observers, not making decisions.” An Afghan conflict analyst, with years of experience in southern Afghanistan and contacts with the Taliban, concurred, pointing out that the ISI, “use people who have the same appearance, language, behaviour, and habits as Afghans. They wouldn’t be strange to the Talibs, who seem to them to be Muslims, also fighting infidels.” In fact, both he and other interviewees suggested that the ISI observers could be Afghans, possibly even Taliban leaders who are working closely with, or for, the ISI. -- Matt Waldmann

It would be wrong to draw parallels between Jamaica and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a unique case. It is, in effect, the world’s only narco-state, and as such, it warrants special attention. The lion’s share of revenue in the Afghan economy comes from the production of heroin, the world’s most dangerous drug. The country’s black market is several times bigger than its legal economy. The drug mafia plays a special role in Afghanistan, and it is aided in its criminal activities by the Taliban, Government officials who have business ties with drug lords and the Nato-led coalition which prefers to turn a blind eye to the problem. As a result, the political system that has taken shape in Afghanistan can be described as a form of drug-fueled military feudalism in which real power belongs exclusively to local warlords, who are closely involved with drug trafficking. -- Alexei Pilko

Recent terror attack at Mumbai has reminded us once again that Pakistan Army, or one of its agencies Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at any rate, is determined to change the very character of Islam, turning it into the pre-Islamic religion of the Jahiliya (Arabia in the Dark Ages). It had indeed given us ample evidence of its anti-Islamic character during the Kargil war by reminding us of the Battle of Uhud where a woman of Jahiliya, Hinda, had mutilated the dead body of Prophet Mohammad’s uncle, Hazrat Hamza. The Prophet [peace be upon him] had not only forgiven her but had made it a point to forbid the  practice in every Muslim gathering thereafter for fear that the Muslims, too, might do something similar in retaliation. Blood feud and vengeance was rampant in the Arab world of the Jahiliya. One couldn’t help being reminded of that when reports came that one of the terrorists mentioned vendetta for Gujarat and demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva forces as the justification for the killing of innocents at Mumbai.

 Pakistani “Islam” would indeed appear to be completely unrecognisable as Islam to a Muslim in any part of the world. Slowly but surely what appears to be a completely new religion seems to have caught the imagination of many people in Pakistan.  Its followers don’t, of course, consider it a new religion. Indeed this religion insists that it is Islam; in fact it calls itself true Islam or real Islam. But it can best be described as Jihadism, as its central belief system is based on a wilful misinterpretation of the Islamic concept of Jihad. It can also be called Talibanism, as the Taliban of Afghanistan, who studied in Pakistani madrasas run by the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan are its most avid practitioners.

 By and large, the western-educated liberal Pakistani intelligentsia, as I found out during several visits, hates this religion and is frightened of it. But as one by one all institutions of governance are succumbing to its growing power and its capacity for evil, they are getting scared to death. Some of them are simply planning to migrate to some non-Muslim majority country. No one is really fighting this malignant force, though some journalists and human rights activists still have the courage at least to express their horror and outrage at grave personal risk.  -- SULTAN SHAHIN, Editor, NewAgeIslam.com

Despite serious efforts made by secular, progressive Muslims concerned with SIMI’s radicalism recently, the Muslim Press refuses to introspect and take a clear stand on the issue. It is claimed that there is no evidence against SIMI’s terrorism and the police version cannot be taken seriously. We all know how difficult it is for evidence “beyond a shadow of doubt” to come by. Even the best-equipped police forces in the world are seldom able to collect such evidence. One can even argue as some people do that even the United States with all its resources has not been able to provide clinching against Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda for the evil perpetrated against it on 9/11. But there can at least be no doubt that SIMI has a terrorist ideology. Is it right for Muslim intellectuals, journalists, clerics, therefore, to keep quiet and thus support a terrorist ideology and terrorist ideologues, even if they believe that there is still no evidence against their terrorist acts and thus they cannot be branded terrorists?

NewAgeIslam.com presents below a short collection of articles by Javed Anand, Yoginder Sikand, Praveen Swami, Sultan Shahin, etc. that would leave no doubt in the minds of any objective reader that SIMI has at the very least been pursuing a terrorist ideology for quite some time now. It’s time Muslim Press engaged in serious introspection and correctly reflected the revulsion Muslim community feels against serial terrorist acts possibly perpetrated by people in its own midst. Some mosques have already started expressing this revulsion and asking Muslims to inform authorities about the people among them who may be engaged in such nefarious activities. It’s time the Press also started at least condemning SIMI’s terrorist ideology and exhorting Muslims to help the authorities foil any terrorist plans they may suspect of. It’s only an aware populace and a united one that can save the country from terrorism.

Dr Naik, don’t fool people with these extended logics.  There are so many tools to fight injustices and you belong to a country which won its independence through non-violence in the face of aggressive British imperialism. Had Mahatma Gandhi also felt that terrorism was the only way to get the British out of India, we may have remained confined in the yoke of colonialism as yet.

Dr Naik, communalism cannot be fought with communalism; the only weapon you have is secularism.  Terrorism and extremism, which you justify, has to be fought with reasoning and logic and not by terror.  India, our country is a glaring example of fighting terrorism for well over three decades and yet we maintained our unity, pluralism and identity.

No Zakir Naik. Stop this non sense.  You are living in pluralistic society, a nation which has assimilated so many cultures and has given you the freedom of speech and even allowed your abominable Peace TV on air.  Don’t let it fritter away with your concoction and later self denials. You also live in a world which has now grown into a global village so there are rooms for everyone, every ideology to prosper. A viewpoint article by a Former editor of Delhi Mid Day S A H RIZVI

Perpetrators behind the recent terror attacks in major Indian cities - including Saturday's Delhi bombings that left at least 20 dead and scores injured - are still shrouded in mystery. But the needle of suspicion is pointing towards groups with Muslim names. And if they are indeed to blame, we need to ask what purpose do such acts serve other than damaging the standing of the community in whose name it's all being done. Analysis by by Sarwar Kashani

While Mr. Bush vowed early on that Mr. bin Laden would be captured "dead or alive," the moment in late 2001 when Mr. bin Laden and his followers escaped at Tora Bora was almost certainly the last time the Qaeda leader was in American sights, current and former intelligence officials say. Leading terrorism experts have warned that it is only a matter of time before a major terrorist attack planned in the mountains of Pakistan is carried out on American soil. "The United States faces a threat from Al Qaeda today that is comparable to what it faced on Sept. 11, 2001," said Seth Jones, a Pentagon consultant and a terrorism expert at the RAND Corporation.  "The base of operations has moved only a short distance, roughly the difference from New York to Philadelphia." Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde report for The New York Times. 

LAST night at a dinner party in London, I was seated next to a lady who is soon setting off on a road trip to Gilgit and Hunza in Pakistan, and then on to Kashgar, in western China. She is going with her journalist husband and three children. An 18-year old daughter is planning to teach English at a school in the Northern Areas for six months. Instead of telling her what to see and where to go, I found myself warning her of the dangers and pitfalls that awaited her and her family. A week ago, I tried to dissuade a young Brit, fresh out of the army, from venturing out on a solo trekking expedition to the same area, writes senior Pakistani journalist Irfan Husain in his regular column in Pakistan's most influential newspaper The Dawn.