The Hindu : National : Has LeT morphed into new outfit?

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National

Has LeT morphed into new outfit?

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Has the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), considered a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), morphed into a new organisation to beat the ban imposed by the United Nations Security Council

Intelligence agencies believe that a mass front maintained by the JuD along with some other organisations that were banned after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. could be now the new calling address for pro-jihad activists.

The agencies draw their inferences from the grammar at display at a conference organised purportedly by the Tehrik-e-Hurmay-e-Rasool (Movement for defending the honour of the Prophet) on December 21 in Lahore. The event was covered by the Pakistani press and extensively reported upon.

At the ‘All Parties Defence of Pakistan’ conference, speakers protested against the U.N. ban on the JuD, Al Rashid Trust, Al Akhtar Trust and the Al Amin Trust. And the language they spoke appeared to be coming straight out of the propaganda booklets of the LeT.

A joint declaration decided to launch a ‘National Hatred Against India Movement’ was adopted. It urged the Pakistan government to release JuD supermo Hafiz Saeed and reopen the organisation’s offices. Attended by leaders of most religious parties, the convention also wanted an immediate end to the military operations along the border with Afghanistan and closure of supply lines running through Afghanistan for foreign forces in that country. It also assailed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari for “not standing up to outside forces.”

Intelligence agencies here reported the presence of senior JuD leaders Saifullah Khalid, Ateeq Chauhan, Khalid Bashir, Shamshad Ahmad Salfi and Abdullah Muntazir, many of whom demanded the release of Hafiz Saeed, which the intelligence agencies believe, was a giveaway about the actual intent behind this month’s conference in Lahore.

This is not the first time that the shadow of JuD/LeT is seen behind the Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool. Agencies recall that about two years ago, this organisation had organised another convention with the same demand — legalisation of organisations banned after the September 11 attacks.

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