{"id":50729,"date":"2009-10-17T21:09:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-17T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.tehelka.com\/?p=50729"},"modified":"2009-10-17T21:09:25","modified_gmt":"2009-10-17T21:09:25","slug":"the-professor-of-terror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/the-professor-of-terror\/","title":{"rendered":"The professor of terror"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed has a strategy and an army full of faithfuls.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Harinder Baweja<\/strong>\u00a0tracks the 26\/11 mastermind<\/em>
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Safe Custody<\/strong> Hafiz Saeed leaves court under police protection after an appearance in a case
Photo: Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAt first sight,<\/strong>\u00a0he easily passes off as a cleric, a scholarly-looking man, a pious elder seldom seen without a walking stick in his hand and a cap on his head. He is a familiar face on Pakistani television screens, but were it not for his acerbic tongue, few would pause to look at him a second time. His is not a face that draws attention, but his views do. Each time this \u2018pious\u2019 man addresses a congregation, he can hold a crowd of one lakh spellbound. The powerful orator is clear-headed about his interpretation of the Koran and believes that killing is \u201cevery pious man\u2019s obligation\u201d and the destruction of non-islamic forces a duty assigned by allah, the almighty.<\/span>
\nThe closest an Indian journalist can currently get to this very pious professor, Hafiz Saeed, the Amir of the Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT), India\u2019s most wanted man are his lawyer, AK Dogar and his son-in-law, Khalid Waleed. Speak to the lawyer and the conversation goes something like this:<\/span>
\nYou\u2019re representing a man the Indian government thinks is the mastermind of 26\/11.<\/span>
\nIf Karl Marx is the mastermind of all socialists, then Hafiz Saeed is a mastermind. He is a masterly religious scholar who runs 140 schools all over Pakistan.<\/span>
\nBut Hafiz Saeed openly calls for jihad.<\/span>
\nI have read books about Mahatma Gandhi\u2026<\/span>
\nAre you comparing Hafiz Saeed to the Mahatma?<\/span>
\nI can\u2019t dare to do that. Muslims have a different point of view. We don\u2019t go by Jesus Christ\u2019s principle of turning the other cheek.<\/span>
\nHafiz Saeed is well known as the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was behind the Mumbai attacks…<\/span>
\nThe Indian government has not a shred of evidence, no tangible proof that Hafiz Saeed was in any way connected to the Mumbai attacks. Jihad is a word that means struggle, even if it done through monetary assistance and charity work. All over the world, there is a feeling that Muslims are terrorists…<\/span>
\nLets talk specifics. Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive has testified to the role of your client.<\/span>
\n[box]
\nMUMBAI CONNECTION<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n1\u00a0<\/strong>Kasab first meets Saeed in December 2007 at Muridke during preliminary training<\/span>
\n2<\/strong>\u00a0Kasab meets Saeed again during advanced training in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir<\/span>
\n3<\/strong>\u00a0Kasab trained to use sophisticated arms and GPS navigation aids over eight weeks by a man referred to as \u2018Major General\u2019<\/span>
\n4\u00a0<\/strong>Saeed personally chooses the ten 26\/11 attackers. Gives Kasab the codename Abu Mujahid<\/span>
\n5<\/strong>\u00a0Kasab and other 26\/11 attackers given sea training. Saeed questions team about training given<\/span>
\n6<\/strong>\u00a0Saeed tells Kasab and other attackers that Mumbai is their target. Along with the \u2018Major General\u2019, conducts final test<\/span>
\n7<\/strong>\u00a0Saeed divides group of ten attackers into pairs. Kasab and teammates are given detailed orders about routes and attack plans<\/span>
\n8<\/strong>\u00a0Saeed tells Kasab that foreign tourists must be targeted and killed, to embarrass India<\/span>
\n9<\/strong>\u00a0Saeed orders the final attack<\/span>
\n[\/box]
\nMy dear lady, such evidence will not even be admissible in an Indian court of law. Any statement made by an accused is not credible evidence\u2026<\/span>
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aftermath<\/strong> Bodies and baggage lie strewn in CST terminus, Mumbai
Photo: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nWaleed, the son-in-law, is not as glib, perhaps because of his close proximity to the pious professor, the Amir of the Lashkar, also known as the Army of Allah. Waleed admits, now, as he did a few months back when he escorted me through the sprawling Muridke complex just off Lahore \u2014 known worldwide as the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba \u2014 that the Amir\u2019s message to this Army of Allah on the issue of Kashmir, at least, is very clear: they don\u2019t respect the Line of Control, they are working towards the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan and for that they actively help the LeT with propaganda, money and arms.<\/span>
\nBut ask Waleed about Hafiz Saeed\u2019s link to 26\/11 and he is quick to dismiss it as \u2018Indian propaganda.\u2019 He refers to the 60-year-old Saeed as \u2018bazurg\u2019 (an older man) and in chaste Punjabi says,\u00a0\u201cBazurgan nu badnaam kita hai India ne\u00a0<\/em>(India is besmirching the reputation of the old man. The Indian Home Minister asking for Saeed\u00a0saab<\/em>\u00a0to be investigated and sent to Mumbai for trial is like Pakistan asking that Narendra Modi be brought here because he masterminded the killings of so many Muslims in Gujarat.\u201d<\/span>
\nANY THAW<\/strong> in India-Pakistan relations, which went into deep freeze after 26\/11, now hinges on the progress India expects its neighbour to make on the terror investigation. Hafiz Saeed lies at its core. Home Minister P Chidambaram and his counterpart in South Block, Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna have been vociferous in demanding that Hafiz Saeed be interrogated and prosecuted on the basis of what National Security Advisor MK Narayanan calls, \u201cGrade One evidence.\u2019\u2019<\/span>
\nChidambaram, in fact, is leading the campaign against Hafiz Saeed and believes the government has shared enough information \u2014 through six dossiers \u2014 with Pakistan. What exactly is the government\u2019s case against Saeed and what details do the dossiers contain?<\/span>
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Reaper<\/strong> Prime accused Ajmal Kasab at CST terminus during the attacks
Photo: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nA lot of the \u2018credible evidence\u2019 has been garnered by senior officers of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) through elaborate and detailed hours-long conversations with Ajmal Kasab. Kasab, who opened fire at Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium and then at Cama Hospital, was subsequently also responsible for killing former ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and his colleagues Kamte and Vijay Salaskar before the Mumbai Police overpowered him. What IB, RAW and the Mumbai Police have been able to piece together is the back-end story of the planning and training that went on for a whole year prior to the attacks on 26\/11. According to Kasab, Hafiz Saeed masterminded the entire conspiracy and paid individual attention to the finest detail, choosing the ten who eventually landed at Badhwar Park, overseeing their target practice, dividing them into pairs and overseeing the hijacking of an Indian trawler, the MV Kuber.<\/span>
\nIn the dossiers, Kasab implicates Saeed with specific details of time and location:<\/span>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0Kasab first met Saeed at Muridke during the course of the 21-day Daurae- Sufa (preliminary training) between December 2007 and January 2008, where a batch of thirty recruits was explained the meaning of jihad. The batch was introduced to Hafiz Saeed and the operation commander Zakiur- Rahman. Saeed addressed the batch: \u201cYou mujahideen have to fight to liberate Kashmir,\u2019\u2019 and Lakhvi said,\u00a0\u201cAb jihad ka waqt aa gaya hai\u00a0<\/em>(the time for jihad has come). Our group has been fighting in Kashmir for the last fifteen years, but Hindustan is not freeing Kashmir. We now have to wage a war to get Kashmir. Are all of you ready for this battle? We are planning to target big cities to weaken India.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018If Karl Marx is the mastermind of all the world\u2019s socialists, then Hafiz Saeed, too, is a mastermind,\u2019 says his lawyer, AK Dogar<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0The batch was then inducted for the Daura-e-Khas (advanced training) at a fortified Lashkar camp in Muzaffarabad, where Kasab and the others were trained to use Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, pistols and grenades. They were also familiarised with the use of GPS navigation devices and map-reading and were given survival training \u2013 how to stay hungry and how to climb mountains while carrying heavy backpacks. During the course of this training, an unknown man was also present. At that time, Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi came there and met and hugged the unknown man, who was referred to from then on as \u2018Major General\u2019. The Major General supervised the eight-week long training during which Kasab says they were converted into \u2018pucca jihadis\u2019.<\/span>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0Kasab and others then met Hafiz Saeed at the Beit-ul-Mujahideen (Home of the Mujahideen) camp, where they were shown CDs of\u00a0fidayeen<\/em>\u00a0attacks in Kashmir.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chidambaram wants Pakistan to do more: investigate locations pinpointed by Kasab, examine LeT operatives\u2019 call records<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0According to the dossier, Kasab also revealed that it was Hafiz Saeed who chose the final ten who were sent via sea to Mumbai. Saeed also personally gave them new names. Ajmal Kasab was named Abu Mujahid. Imran Babar from Multan, for example, was named Abu Akash.<\/span>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0The group then came back to Muridke for Daura-e-Ribat (intelligence training) in August 2008. The Major General visited the group again to motivate them and asked Kasab if he knew how to swim. The senior army officer then told Kafa, the course commander, that the group was now ready for sea training\u00a0(\u201cab inko samundari training do\u2019\u2019)<\/em><\/span>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0In September 2008, the group was taken to Karachi by train and kept at a house in Ajizabad locality. After two days, they were taken out to sea in two boats and then transferred onto a motorboat for three days during which they were trained in how to use GPS devices at sea. They were taught how to use fishing nets \u201cso they could pass for fishermen in case they were questioned by the Indian Navy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hafiz Saeed took credit for the deadly attack on Delhi\u2019s Red Fort in December 2000. He still calls for jihad against India<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/strong>On their return, they were taken to the Beit-ul-Mujahideen camp where Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi personally questioned them about their sea training. Here, they were also introduced to three other mujahideen. Saeed told them, \u201cThey are also fidayeen like you and have been similarly trained. They will be accompanying you to India for the attack.\u2019\u2019 He also said,\u00a0\u201cAb jihad ka waqt aa gaya hai\u2019\u2019<\/em>\u00a0and Lakhvi told them that they had decided that Mumbai would be the target and that they would be going to Mumbai via sea. The Major General came to this camp and after hugging Saeed and Lakhvi, took them aside for a private chat. When the trio returned to where Kasab and the others were assembled, Lakhvi said that the Major General wanted to test their preparedness. According to the dossier, Kasab and the group were given a Kalashnikov and a magazine each and the Major General told Hafiz Saeed,\u00a0\u201cSaeed saab, aap\u00a0<\/em>target\u00a0lagao.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Saeed told Kafa (the course commander) to place ten targets and told Kasab and his nine companions, \u201cWhen I say fire, all of you should fire single shots and when I say fire twice, open rapid fire.\u201d As per the cue, all ten of them opened fire and hit the target, except for Imran Babar, who was reprimanded by Hafiz Saeed. When the Major General said \u201cfire\u201d twice, the mujahideen opened rapid fire. The Major General wanted to know who had fired at target number four. Kasab, apparently, earned praise from both the Major General and Hafiz Saeed.<\/span>
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Neighbours good?<\/strong>Prime Ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh at Sharm-el-Sheikh in July 2009<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0The group was then introduced to Zarar Shah, the computer and media expert. Soon after, Hafiz Saeed broke the group of ten up into five pairs and said, \u201cWe now have to hijack an Indian boat to go from Karachi to Mumbai. A lot of foreign tourists come there and they have to be targeted and killed to embarrass Hindustan.\u201d<\/span>
\n\u2022<\/strong>\u00a0Hafiz Saeed, Lakhvi and Zarar Shah then took the group to a big hall which Zarar Shah called \u2018the media room.\u2019\u2019 Here, they were shown CDs of CST train station and Malabar Hill. The CDs also contained detailed information of which roads and routes to take to CST from Badhwar Park. This was shown to them on Google Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saeed is an improvised explosive device in the hands of his mentors. His hatred for India stems from religious and personal reasons<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/strong>They then returned to the Bait-ul- Mujahideen camp. There, they were asked to shave their beards. Mobile phones with Indian SIM cards and watches set to Indian time were given to them and they were also asked to tie a red thread around their wrists, so as to pass off as Hindus. The group was ready to set sail for Mumbai and were given identity cards with Indian names. Kasab was dubbed Sameer Chaudhary and given a Bengaluru identity card with Arunoday Degree College written on it.<\/span>
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Local support<\/strong> Supporters of the banned Jamaat-ud- Dawa, an alleged front of the LeT at a rally in Islamabad on August 14
Photo: AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAll of this could well be rejected as a confession forced out of Kasab through third degree torture. Pakistan has been dismissing the dossiers saying they only contain information and not evidence. India, however, believes that if serious, Pakistan\u2019s investigative agencies can visit the places named by Kasab. Chidambaram has been asking for more. He says Lakhvi and Saeed\u2019s phone records should be analysed. The sixth dossier \u2014 which contains the most information against Saeed \u2014 notes: \u201cPakistan cannot continue to remain in a state of denial over the involvement of Hafiz Saeed. Evidence on record together with the evidence that may be gathered in the course of investigations would \u2014 and should \u2014 certainly lead to the prosecution of Saeed.\u201d<\/span>
\nSINCE PAKISTAN<\/strong> is repeatedly rejecting the Indian government\u2019s request, the question that gains relevance is this: Why is Pakistan reluctant to move against Hafiz Saeed? Pakistan was quick to investigate and arrest both Lakhvi and Zarar Shah. Why not the \u2018pious\u2019 professor himself? Saeed, after all, has given open calls for jihad against India and, after it happened, personally took credit for the attack on the Red Fort in Delhi in December 2000.<\/span>
\nHafiz Saeed, according to Pakistan\u2019s own strategic experts, is not just a plain terrorist, but also an asset in the hands of the establishment. Unlike a Baitullah Mehsud \u2014 the Taliban leader who was recently slain by a Predator drone missile \u2014 Saeed neither runs riot within Pakistan nor trains his guns on his mentors within the Army and the ISI. Says Lt Gen Hamid Gul, former ISI Chief, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t India address the issue of Kashmir? People like Hafiz Saeed will remain important till then. The bull will keep charging as long as the red rag is there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Saeed is placed under \u2018house arrest\u2019 for western consumption. The recent FIRs against him have nothing to do with 26\/11<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Incitement<\/strong> Hafiz Saeed addresses a rally of his supporters on August 31
Photo: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nGul is not Saeed\u2019s only supporter. He is just one among many officers from the ISI and the Pakistani army \u2014 serving and retired \u2014 who is a vocal supporter of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. This is endorsed by Ahmed Rashid, well-known journalist and author: \u201cRetired ISI officers are helping the jihadis and have become more Lashkar than the Lashkar,\u201d he says. The core reason why Hafiz Saeed and his fighters have deep linkages and continuing support from the establishment is linked to the battle Pakistan is being forced to fight on its western border. He comes in handy for Pakistan to be able to raise the Kashmir card with the US. As Rashid points out, \u201cMusharraf used to put Hafiz Saeed under house arrest for Western consumption, but little was done to curtail the LeT\u2019s activities within Pakistan. They continue to recruit and train people.\u201d The Lashkar is estimated to have 1,000 offices across Pakistan and Hafeez Saeed\u2019s army now hides under the alias of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Kasab\u2019s arrest is proof of the fact that \u2018non-state actors\u2019 can use Pakistani soil for terror activities, particularly if they are aimed at India.<\/span>
\nIn India, the US ambassador is politically correct. Timothy Roemer has endorsed the dossiers, saying there is a lot of proof in them. However, the reason why the US is not pushing the case with the Pakistan government is simply because Washington needs the Pakistani Army to fight its global war against terror. Perhaps this is the reason why Pakistan continues to be able to stall the FBI from investivating 26\/11 leads. Hamid Gul puts it bluntly: \u201cIndia has made the childish mistake of hanging the 26\/11 case on one man (Hafiz Saeed) and it is now making a second mistake by trying to push the case through the Americans. They are losing the war in Afghanistan and frankly, the US needs Pakistan more than it needs India.\u201d<\/span>
\n
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Arm\u2019s length<\/strong> Foreign ministers SM Qureishi and SM Krishna before inconclusive talks in New York on September 27<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThis need keeps Hafiz Saeed in business. He, in fact, is an armed improvised explosive device in the hands of his mentors. His hatred for India \u2014 also openly echoed by his son-in-law during our tour of Muridke \u2014 stems from reasons personal and religious. His \u2018cause\u2019 for revenge is linked to his past \u2014 thirty of his family were murdered during Partition when his father, an ordinary landlord, moved from Simla to Pakistani Punjab\u2019s Mianwali district. Saeed himself is a father of two \u2013 a son and a daughter.<\/span>
\nHe grew up on the Koran and pursued religious studies in Saudi Arabia, from where he got a Masters in Islamic studies. The professor, who speaks only Urdu and chaste Punjabi, taught Islamic Studies at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore. Like many in Pakistan, Saeed too participated in the US-sponsored jihad against the Russians in Pakistan. He now asks a difficult question when he appears on television screens in Pakistan: \u201cIf we were not terrorists at that time, then why are we terrorists now?\u2019 Saeed is quick to answer his own question and the answer invariably is, \u201cAllah has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established. We have no option but to follow Allah\u2019s order. The blow struck by jihad does not come from man, it comes from Allah.\u201d<\/span>
\nAjmal Kasab was motivated enough, to follow Hafiz Saeed\u2019s orders. Perhaps more are being indoctrinated, even as India continues to build the pressure on Pakistan to investigate the man who figures as number one on the list of the 35 people \u2018most wanted\u2019 for 26\/11. The Pakistani Establishment, however, continues to shield him. Typical of the schizophrenic manner in which Pakistan operates, the Professor continues to be a free man despite Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani\u2019s recent assertion that he had been placed under house arrest. The PM, in fact, was contradicted by an Inspector General of Police, who vowed that Saeed was a free bird.<\/span>
\nIn the last two months alone, he has given two sermons condemning India and the US, accusing both of masterminding 9\/11 and 26\/11. Two FIRs have now been lodged against him but neither have anything to do with the Mumbai attacks. On both these occasions, Saeed reiterated that \u201cthe time has come to stand united and come forward to take part in the jihad.\u201d His defence no doubt will be that he has not called for an armed jehad but a spiritual one. The pious Professor has an agenda and he is, clearly, still at work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed has a strategy and an army full of faithfuls.\u00a0Harinder Baweja\u00a0tracks the 26\/11 mastermind At first sight,\u00a0he easily passes off as a cleric, a scholarly-looking man, a pious elder seldom seen without a walking stick in his hand and a cap on his head. He is a familiar face on Pakistani television […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":50784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[6789,6790,6791,6792,6793,6794,6795,6796,6797,6744,6798,6799,6800,2853,6751,2746,6801,6755,6802,1573,6803,6804,6805],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

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