Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

HuJI in India: An Assessment

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 33; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09700160802518510

1754-0054

T. Khurshchev Singh,

Asian Studies and History

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. ‘Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami’, at http://www.strategicforesight.com/finalsettlement/extremists2.pdf. 2. HuJI was also said to be formed by Osama bin Laden to fight the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War. Subsequently, it is said that the outfit functions under the patronage of the ISI. See ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami’, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harkat-ul-jihad-al-Islami. 3. See ‘Huji Emerged with Open Declaration’, The Daily Star, October 30, 2007, at http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=9521. 4. See Department of State's Public Notice 6117 declared by Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, on ‘Designation of HuJI-B as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist’, at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/08/102878.htm. 5. ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Terrorist Group, Bangladesh’, at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/bangladesh/terroristoutfits/Huj.htm. 6. ‘Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami’, at http://www.strategicforesight.com/finalsettlement/extremists2.pdf. 7. Ibid. 8. See ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)’, at http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=4403. 9. Kanchan Lakshman, ‘Islamist Militants Target the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh’, at http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373899. 10. ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) Terrorist Group, Bangladesh’, at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/bangladesh/terroristoutfits/Huj.htm. 11. ‘Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami’, at http://www.strategicforesight.com/finalsettlement/extremists2.pdf. 12. Ibid. 13. ‘Eastern Disturbance’, Times of India, May 27, 2007. 14. Sudha Ramachandran, ‘Behind the Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami’, at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FL10Df06.html. 15. See ‘Challenges in the East’, at http://www.flonnet.com/fl2301/stories/2006012700620110.htm. 16. ‘Terror Outfits Active Outside J&K’, Times of India, January 2, 2008. 17. ‘In the Spotlight: Harkat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HuJI)’, at http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2374&from_page=./index.cfm. 18. HuJI collects funds from professionals, such as teachers, in Bangladesh. See ‘Terrorist Organizations and Other Groups of Concern, Harakat-ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HuJI-B)’, at http://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/148. 19. See Neila Husain, ‘Armed & Dangerous: Small Arms and Explosives Trafficking in Bangladesh’, at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/Archives/1_13.htm#assessment3. [The author is Research Fellow at Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).] 20. ‘Eastern Disturbance’, Times of India, May 27, 2007. 21. ATS revealed that the fake money is coming to Bangalore from Dubai, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia through Mumbai. Similarly, the arrested counterfeit notes in August in Hyderabad originated from Bangladesh through Kolkata. See ‘Mumbai ATS Team to Visit B'lore’, at http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE120080312230848&Title=Bangalore&rLink=0. 22. See March 3 entry in the ‘India Timeline: Year 2008’, at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/timeline/index.html. 23. B. Raman, ‘The Indian Angle: After HUJI and HUJI (B), now comes the HUJI (I)’, at http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080130&fname=raman&sid=1. 24. ‘. . . While continuing to give financial, training and arms assistance to the LET, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has been encouraging the LET to depend for its operations in Indian territory on Indians only and not to depute Pakistanis for this purpose . . . the ISI has now started following a similar policy in respect of the HUJI, by encouraging it to set up a separate organisation for India consisting of recruits from the Indian Muslim community with no involvement of Pakistanis . . . Al Qaeda itself set up their own outfits or sleeper cells in India consisting only of Indians so that these too could be projected as indigenous organisations of India and not as Pakistani or Arab organisations . . . .’ See B. Raman, n. 23. 25. From the ‘Timelines’ on J&K of the respective years, at http://www.satp.org. 26. HuJI along with the LeT and JeM have been increasingly involved in terror attacks during 2007–2008. Annual Report 2007–2008, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 27. ‘. . . the attack on the security guards outside the US Consulate in Kolkata in January, 2002, was orchestrated by HUJI (B), in collaboration with the JEM and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, under the name the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF). Aftab Ansari alias Aftab Ahmed alias Farhan Malik, the prime accused in the attack, was in touch not only with the office-bearers of these organisations in Pakistan, but also with Omar Sheikh, who had masterminded the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl. Omar Sheikh claimed during his interrogation by the Karachi Police in 2002 that it was he who had asked Aftab Ansari to carry out the attack.’ See B. Raman, ‘US Designates HuJI (B) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation’, SAAG, March 9, 2008, at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers27%5Cpaper2613.html. 28. ‘. . . the liquid explosive meant for use in the “fidayeen” attack at the Special Task Force (STF) office in Hyderabad this past October was smuggled in by Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI) militants from Dhaka in Bangladesh . . . Investigations have also revealed that the conspiracy to target the STF office had been hatched in the Dhaka head office of HuJI, where militants belonging to Hyderabad were involved in providing logistical support to the core strike team, including Pakistan-trained “fidayeen” Motasin Billa. . . . Nafiq-ul-Vishwas, who was arrested under the Arms Act this November at Malda in West Bengal, Sharif, Motasin Billa and Abdul Kalim aka Arshad Khan crossed over to India through the West Bengal border and reached Howrah. . . . Around 12–15 p.m. on October 12, the improvised explos29. ive device expert, Motasin, assembled the bomb and later he and Kalim left for the STF office.’ See ‘“Fidayeen” Attack Explosive Smuggled in from Dhaka’, The Hindu, December 30, 2005. 29. Mastermind of the blast, Wali Ullah and five of his accomplices who all belong to HuJI were arrested on April 5, 2006, in connection with the Varanasi blast in March 2006. Wali had trained with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. HuJI-B area commander operating in India, Jalaluddin alias Amanullah Mandal alias Babu, who was arrested with arms and explosives by UP Police on June 23, 2007, was charged for involvement in the blast. See ‘Varanasi Blasts Mastermind, 5 Accomplices Arrested’, The Hindu, April 6, 2006; ‘HUJI Area Commander Held’, The Hindu, June 24, 2007; ‘HuJI's India Chief Arrested’, Times of India, June 24, 2007. 30. Dhaka based LeT operative Raheel Sheikh who was considered to be the mastermind of 7/11 has direct connections with HuJI, and his associates whom he recruited, Feroze Ghanswala and Mohammad Ali Chippa (who were arrested in Delhi on May 9, 2006) were trained at the HuJI camp in Chittagong. At the same time, Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Arvind Chaturvedi disclosed that the RDX consignment used in the serial blasts was delivered from Bangladesh and hence there was a high chance of involvement by HuJI. In addition, the modus operandi of the blasts in Varanasi, which were allegedly perpetrated by HuJI, had similar modus operandi to 7/11. Explosive devices being used in both the blasts were fit in a pressure cooker. The device and technique were also the same. See ‘7/11 Mumbai Blasts: Police Try to Zero in on HuJI-LeT Links’, Daily News and Analysis, August 6, 2006; ‘Lucknow Arrests Lead to HuJI Hub in Kolkata’, Times of India, June 24, 2007. 31. HuJI-B top element Mohammed Abdul Sahed alias Bilal was not only accused of masterminding the Mecca Masjid blast and the twin blasts in Hyderabad, but also the attack on the Samjhauta Express. Subsequently, the forensic team that examined the samples collected from the blast sites in Malegaon, Hyderabad, and Samjhauta Express explained that the explosive materials used in the three blasts were similar. See Anupam Dasgupta, ‘Terror Has a New Face in Mumbai’, Daily News Analysis, March 14, 2008; ‘Mulayam Accuses Mayawati for Security Lapse in UP Blasts’, at http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/mulayam-accuses-mayawati-for-security-lapse-in-up-blasts_1006588.html. 32. Bilal, who was believed to be the mastermind of the Mecca Masjid explosion, was a resident of Moosarambagh in Hyderabad and said to be associated with HuJI-B. His name came into the picture when a SIM card which was registered in West Bengal in his name was recovered from the mobile phone that was connected to an unexploded bomb on the Masjid premises. Police sources said that the SIM card showed it was bought in West Bengal in the name of Shahed Bilal. See ‘Hyderabad Blasts: Local Ultras Role’, Deccan Herald, May 20, 2007; ‘Poor Mobile Signal Prevented 2nd Blast’, Times of India, May 21, 2008. 33. Investigative agencies in Rajasthan revealed that the attacks were triggered by HuJI-B including its operative in India, Abdul Shahed alias Bilal who was alleged to be the perpetrator of the Macca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in May 2007. A Delhi-based security analyst, Wilson John, in one of his publications expressed the possibility of involving HuJI-B with support from LeT in the blast. See ‘HuJI Suspected Behind Ajmer Dargah Blast’, Indian Express, October 12, 2007; Wilson John, ‘Ajmer Blast: HuJI-LeT Nexus’, at http://india-alert.blogspot.com/2007/10/ajmer-blast-huji-let-nexus.html. 34. The recent serial blasts in UP courts were reportedly carried out by HuJI militants. Bashir Ahmed alias Sabh, HuJI's J&K Chief Commander, shot dead on January 24, 2008, was said to be the mastermind of the November coordinated blasts in UP. At the same time, from the interrogation of HuJI-B's India chief Babu Bhai, who was arrested by the Special task Force of UP police in June 2007, the probability of his outfit to be the perpetrator of the multiple blasts was agreed. See Devesh K. Pandey, ‘U.P. Terrorist Attacks Cause for Concern’, The Hindu, January 3, 2008; ‘HuJI Man Trained Five to Carry Out UP Serial Blasts’, Times of India, January 25, 2008; ‘UP Blasts: Cops Suspect HuJI Hand’, Times of India, November 25, 2008. 35. HuJI elements (including both Pakistani and Bangladeshi based) operating in India are functioning under two chiefs. One is Bashir Ahmed Mir who was basically commanded in J&K before he died. Another is Jalaluddin alias Amanullah Mandal alias Babu who belonged to HuJI-B and operated in other parts of India. He was arrested on June 23, 2007. See ‘HuJI Commander Gunned Down’, The Indian Express, January 23, 2008; ‘HuJI's India Chief Arrested’, Times of India, June 24, 2007. 36. ‘HuJI Man Trained Five to Carry Out UP Serial Blasts’, Times of India, January 25, 2008. 37. When Masood Azhar was serving in HuA, he got arrested and imprisoned. And when he came out of jail he found HuA to be banned; thereafter he founded his own organization, JeM. ‘Formation of Jaish-e-Mohammed’, at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/jaish_e_mohammad_mujahideen_e_tanzeem.htm.