Pakistan always makes new strategies to revive terrorism in India but ends up using its old 80s strategy. Pakistan came up with a plan to use the madrasas on both sides of the border to recruit, train and launch terrorists into India.
Around thirty such madrasas are working in Pak-Occupied Kashmir (POK) districts of Muzaffarabad, Neelam Valley, Hattian Bala and Forward Kahuta. As these districts are closer to the Indian border, it becomes easier for Pakistan to send their newly trained terrorist into Kashmir, according to an article in Islam Khabar.
According to the publication, about 27 madrasas belong to only the Barelvi sector (POK) and are spread across Mirpur, Bhimber and Kotli. This is part of their new strategy since a large number of people in this region are Peeri-Mureedi (disciples of Sufis and saints), often witnessed in the Barelvi sect of Islam.
Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, funds these madrasas to raise a new group of terrorists and are also ideologically different from the earlier groups belonging to Deobandi groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) or Ahle-Hadit group like Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT).
One element which makes the new strategy different from the 80s is to keep their different ideological groups pitted against each other but the fact is that they are dependent upon ISI for sustenance.
Hence, at least four madrasas run by the Taliban and its allies are simultaneously funded. These are the old camps where the returnees from the Afghan battlefield were kept under house arrest before being sent to Kashmir in the early 90s, the article reads.
A large number of terrorists sent to these madrasas in order to revive the terrorist training camps are actually returnees from the Afghanistan battlefield.
They owe allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Tayebba (LeT) and other outfits run by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). These groups have long been patronised by the Pakistan Army.
There are various reports that state that the influence of Jamaat-e-Islami is increasing in the POK region, especially in Bagh and Rawalakot where the intensive camps are launched to recruit the young Muslim men for becoming jihadis, reported Islam Khabar.
After recruiting them, these men were put through intensive physical training like physical drills, swimming, arms training and mountain craft.
These courses are designed by Directorate S of ISI, according to Islam Khabar.
According to the publication, these groups’ influence has increased to such an extent that Ganga Choti, a famous tourist spot of Bagh (POK) has become a jihadi campsite.
The ISI also supports several other groups of terrorists in the POK region like Bagh and Rawalakot. The groups are tasked to become suicide bombers and also train others in the deadly craft, reported Islam Khabar
These groups operate openly under the guise of NGOs and seminaries. These charity organisations are used to gather donations and camouflage for terror activities.
By linking up the radical madrasas with the existing terrorist camp chain in PoK, Pakistan is hoping to revive the religiously driven militants in Kashmir, which is similar to their strategy when it launched a proxy war against India in Kashmir in the late 80s, according to Islam Khabar.