EFL
He was always considered extraordinary. He was an excellent pupil, a good cricketer, a natural student leader, and a popular teacher in the medical career that he chose to pursue. Then he decided on a radical change in direction. He would become a jihadi, undergo a six-month training program, and then die as a martyr in the Kashmir Valley.
On the journey toward the ultimate sacrifice of his life, though, his views underwent another radical change, and what had appeared as reality became an illusion as the bitter realization hit home of how cheap life is in the military games that Pakistan and India play. "You know, the military establishment is flourishing on our revenues. It has consumed our resources, and now it aims to consume the whole of our society in the name of jihad. My problem is, we spend so much of our national budgetary resources on our army, yet it sends young civilian lads to fight in the occupied valley [of Kashmir]. Why don’t they wage this ’jihad’ themselves, for which they get fat salaries and dozens of other benefits which a civilian cannot even dream of?"
| Lessee, here... Ummm... "Too important to the movement"? |
These words were spoken softly by a man with a long beard in the former Karachi offices of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the most active militant groups in Kashmir. The blunt sentiments caught the few other people in the room by surprise, causing the man with the long beard to laugh, and comment that perhaps such words should not echo "in these four walls".
| Stating the obvious is a good way to get yourself dead, isn't it? |
Asia Times Online: How was your life changed?
Dr Ahmed: I come from a Salafi [Wahhabi] family so I was a practicing Muslim to some extent. After completing my medical education I joined a college where I taught. I came close to a few Salafi scholars whose appeal for jihad inspired me. I prepared a program of six months under which I would go to Kashmir and sacrifice my life in the way of Allah.
| That's of much more benefit to society than, say, working on cutting the polio infection rate in Pakland... |
ATol: So what happened then?
Dr Ahmed: Since I was the most qualified person among my group of jihadis, I was soon elevated to the position of provincial commander of Sindh province, where my work was to recruit new people for jihad. I was also taken to the base camp in Pakistani Kashmir for briefings and exposure to jihadi activities. I am still a committed person in terms of the Islamic cause, but that exposure was enough to bring me back from illusions to reality.
ATol: Could you please elaborate.
Dr Ahmed: You are a journalist and roam all around among jihadis and meet people from top to bottom. Have you ever noticed that though Karachi has the largest presence among jihadis, most of them actually come from the rural areas of Punjab? The recruitment of Karachiites is strictly discouraged in jihadi outfits. You know why? Because an urbanite will not follow instructions blindly, and the army establishment needs jihadis with below-average intelligence. It was, I think, in 2002 that I was sitting in the Azad Kashmir [Free - ie, Pakistani-occupied - Kashmir] base camp where a brigadier was giving a briefing on strategy. The brigadier said that a 500-member suicide squad was the need of the hour as India was set to attack. So I asked the brigadier to please explain to me why India would attack Pakistan. He said that since Pakistan supported the freedom struggle in Kashmir, which had "wrecked the nerves of the Indians", retaliation was expected at any time. I argued that this is what Pakistan had been doing for more than a decade, so what was new at this point in time, that India would suddenly need to attack Pakistan, especially at a time when both countries had nuclear arms? The brigadier then replied that the United States wanted to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and when this happened, India would attack Pakistan. I laughed and said, then perhaps you have chosen the wrong enemy - you should shoot the Americans first and kick their bases out from our land. My conversation irritated the brigadier, so he terminated the briefing and left a note that "next time I do not want to see this gentleman".
The next few days in the camp were even more of a strain on my conscience. A batch of teenagers from different, remote, rural places arrived. They were given initial training and were set to launch into the Indian-occupied Kashmir Valley. But the field commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba sent a message that an Indian army unit was on patrol in the area. The Pakistani colonel in charge nevertheless forced the youths to cross the border as he had to report back to his superiors. So despite the objections of the field commander, the youths had to go. They immediately came under siege by the Indian patrol, and many were shot dead. I questioned myself, should they deserve that? Did they really sacrifice their lives for Allah? For jihad? No! My mind and heart said that they were killed in the military game of two armies on both sides of the divide. |