aish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the two leading Pakistan-based terror groups active in Jammu and Kashmir, are firmly linked to Al Qaeda and are unlikely to end their offensive against India, says a new book.The US-based Lawrence Ziring writes in "Pakistan: Democracy, Development and Security Issues" that leaders of Jaish and Lashkar were also connected with the Harkat-ul-Ansar.
"Both the Jaish and the Lashkar are part of the same terror network, nor can they be separated from the Al Qaeda of bin Laden," says Ziring, the Arnold F. Schneider Professor of political science at the Western Michigan University.
His chapter in the book, "Terrorism in Historical Perspective", says: "In the vernacular of the Islamists and leaders like Maulana (Masood) Azhar, the jehadis will not end their operations against the Indian government unless (Jammu and) Kashmir is liberated.
"More recently, even that objective is reported to be limited. India itself is targeted, symbolised by Azhar's call to rebuild the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya."
Ziring adds: "Links between Jaish and Lashkar and the Binoria Madrassa in Karachi also ties the jehadis to the Taliban in Afghanistan and to Al Qaeda worldwide."
After extensively studying Lashkar literature, Ziring - who served as an adviser to the Pakistan Administrative Staff College and taught at Dhaka University - says in the book published by Sage that Indians and Pakistanis as well as foreigners can be found in jehadi ranks.
"There can be no mistaking their declarations to undo India on the one side and the US on the other.
"Lashkar proudly declares that its goal is to return India to Islamic rule."
While the Lashkar and several of its frontal organisations have been active in Jammu and Kashmir for over a decade, the Jaish was formed by Masood Azar after India freed him and two other terrorist leaders in exchange for the passengers of a Indian Airlines jet hijacked in 1999 from Nepal to Afghanistan.
Both groups are currently at the forefront of the insurgency in the Kashmir Valley and the Lashkar has also been blamed for attacks in other parts of India, including the terror strike on the Indian parliament in December 2001.
In the largest context, Ziring warns that there is every possibility of Pakistan itself getting Talibanised - as it gets sucked into Islamist ideology.
"The Talibanisation of Pakistan remains a distinct possibility even if the means of achieving that objective are subject to debate," he says.
Ziring also underlines Pakistan's role in the growth of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Islamic student militia whose regime was eventually overthrown by the US after 9/11.
"Lest it be forgotten, 100,000 Pakistanis, more or less, served in Afghanistan as mujahideen.
"Pakistan was the only actor capable of organising the Taliban movement, staffing it, paying it, training it, equipping it and deploying it.
"Moreover, Pakistan was the only country with a direct interest in drawing Muslims back to Afghanistan from the Arab states."