Author: Abdul Wadood Khan
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 3, 2003
Every Muslim knows that animals
sacrificed on Id-ul-Zuha should go to orphans, widows and other needy persons.
There are charity trusts, educational institutions and social welfare organisations
which collect hides and render noble services among the poor. In Pakistan
too the same practice is followed. But it is strange that outfits like
the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) have totally changed the concept of hides collected
on the occasion. It seems that the LeT is all set to deprive the poorest
of the poor.
On Id-ul-Zuha this year, the LeT
appealed to the people to donate the hides to the organisation. According
to its leaders: "Hides are only for the Mujahideen... for the parents,
children and widows of martyrs who waged war in Kashmir and Afghanistan."
Officials say it was the most successful collection yet with the LeT netting
1.2 million hides. It is to be noted how it has been linked to the "mujahideen"
who are killing innocent people in Kashmir. The LeT launched a massive
campaign for collection of hides. It bribed maulvis of mosques to make
announcements in Lashkar's favour. Their propaganda campaign brought good
results. The militant outfit collected the largest number of hides and
earned Rs 710 million. The traditional charity institutions like Edhi Foundation
were far behind this year.
The LeT has thus usurped the rights
of the poor and needy. It has introduced a new interpretation regarding
the utility of animal hides sacrificed on Eid. Writing in the Saturday
Tribune, eminent Islamic scholar Mohammad Shehzad said that to donate the
hides to mosques, seminaries, trusts, charity organisations and even beggars
has been a religious practice amongst Pakistani Muslims. Hides were of
great support to the cause of these entities. The ban on jihadi outfits
after 9/11 totally changed the scenario. LeT cleverly exploited the ban.
It reportedly bribed prayer leaders in every nook and corner of Pakistan.
Although collecting money for jihad is officially banned, collection boxes
have reappeared in shops and tea houses.
Intellectuals in Pakistan blame
General Musharraf, who, they say, is playing a double game. In January
2002, General Pervez Musharraf, under pressure from the US, had banned
the jihadi groups, arrested hundreds of their members, and ordered an end
to infiltration into Kashmir. However, according to a report in London's
Sunday Times, it is business as usual for Pakistan's homegrown terrorists.
After lying low for a while, these organisations changed their names, opened
new websites and shed the ostentatious black balaclavas and heavier weapons
of their bodyguards. Their leaders and activists were freed and are making
inflammatory speeches, recruiting and raising funds.
Now LeT chief Hafiz Mohammad Syed
says "killing Hindus" is the best approach to the Kashmir dispute. The
paper further observed that one reason why General Musharraf may be finding
hard to keep his pledge to reign in the jihadis is that his ISI was instrumental
in creating these organisations in the 1980s. Many believe that the jihadi
leaders, who were arrested after the banning of jihadi organisations, were
freed because of what they might reveal in courts about the ISI. The ISI
is already exposed of its links with extremists.
Pakistan has been isolated completely.
Western nations have already started calling it a terrorist state. Well-known
columnist Shaheen Sehbai has advised the Pakistani think tanks to save
the nation from further chaos. Stressing the need to review the Kashmir
policy in view of the changing scenario in the South Asian region, Syed
Alamdar Reza, in an article in the Nawai Waqt, asked the Pakistani authorities
to use political guts instead of military force to stop infiltration.
The departing US Ambassador to India
Robert Blackwill has already supported India's stand on infiltration and
cross-border terrorism. Similar views have been expressed by the British
Government. Writing in the Friday Times, eminent journalist Khaled Ahmed
reminded Pakistani rulers that the world was less and less willing to pay
attention to the Kashmir crisis. The Kargil intrusion of 1999 turned the
world against Pakistan because Pakistan violated the principle of deterrence.
"Today the world is more concerned about the security of non-Muslims living
under draconian religious laws in Pakistan than the security of the Muslims
in Kashmir. There is a time-warp in Pakistan's policy of 'internationalisation'
because every time the Kashmir dispute has been internationalised, it has
gone against Pakistan," he added.
