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Name of
Organization |
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Jaish-e-Muhammad
(JeM) |
Formation |
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The
organization was formed in January 2000 by Maulana
Masood Azhar (former General secretary of
Harkat-al
Mujahdeen), soon after he was released during the
terrorists for hostage swap of December 31, 1999,
following the hijacking of the
Indian Airlines Flight IC
814.
The development of the organization was approved by
three religious school leaders,
Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai
of the Majlis-e-Tawan-e-Islami (MT), Maulana Mufti
Rashid Ahmed of the Dar-ul Ifta-e-wal-Irshad and Maulana
Sher Ali of the Sheikh-ul-Hadith Dar-ul Haqqania. No
significant information regarding the three
organizations is available.
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Leadership |
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Maulana Masood Azhar: Founder
Masood Azhar, the founder of JeM was born in 1968 in
Bahawalpur to a Sunni family. He acquired his primary
education from a local Madrassah/religious school in
Bahawalpur. After passing the 7th grade from Rahim Yar
Khan, he went to Karachi and from 1980 to 1989, he
remained in
Binoria Town Madrassah (Home of Deobandi
movement in 20th century). In 1980’s he joined a group
of young Mujahedeen (Freedom Fighters), and became the
member of Harkat ul-Mujahideen and after some time
became a teacher at the same Madrassah. During 1988 he
went to Afghanistan for Jihad and got his training from
there as well. After his return to Pakistan, he started
preaching Jihad in Sindh. In 1994, while he was on a
mission in Jammu and Kashmir, he was arrested by Indian
authorities and was later released during the terrorists
for hostage swap of December 31, 1999, following the
hijacking of the
Indian Airlines Flight IC 814.
Abdur Rauf Azhar: Senior leader
A senior leader of the organization who served as the
acting leader of the outfit in 2007, Azhar is also the
intelligence coordinator and was one of the most senior
commanders in India. In 2008, he organized suicide
attacks on Indian soil. Azhar has been involved with
JeM’s political wing and recruitment of members as well
as their training.
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School of
Thought |
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Deobandi
Deobandi
interpretation states that a Muslim’s first loyalty is
to his religion and then to the country of which he is a
resident or citizen. Its practioners also have an
obligation to go to any country to wage jihad to protect
the Muslims of that country. In other words, a global
understanding of their role. The Deobandi interpretation
of Islam is widely practiced in Pakistan. They also
share the Taliban’s restrictive view of women and regard
Shiites as non Muslims and are also against Ahmadis.
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Structure of
the Organization |
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Jaish-e-Mohammed
is part of the Islamist terror network with its base in
Pakistan. It has offices in different cities of Pakistan
as well as Jammu and Kashmir and all of them serve as
schools of Jihad. Exact whereabouts of these offices are
unknown. It has finance, a military affairs department
as well as the Nazim propaganda Wing, all that are
headed by various members of outfit. Most of the members
of the organization are the former leaders of Harkat ul
Mujahdeen.
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Financial Resources |
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The
organization prior to 2002, acquired charity mostly from
Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. With time, they have
diversified their resources by spending the remainders
of aid from Al-Qaeda in different legal businesses such
as commodity trading, real estate etc. They also acquire
funds through charity (by collecting funds through
donation requests in magazines and pamphlets).
Currently, JeM’s charity arm
Al-Rahmat Trust, carries
out fund raising activities using legalized banking
routes and by seeking donations in the name of building
mosques and carrying out social work.
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Status |
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Disbanded and proscribed in 2002 by Pakistan. Working
under the tag of
Al-Rehmat Trust currently.
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Recruitment
tools & demographics |
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JeM mainly
hires members from semi-urban areas and madrasas in the
hamlets of Pakistan. JeM members have organized several
recruitment rallies throughout Pakistan since 2002,
calling youth to indulge in jihad. Moreover, the outfit
also recruits internationally (Kashmiri and Pakistani
emigrants in Britain) and also has significant number of
Afghani members in the group.
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Ideology |
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JeM is a
Deobandi outfit that seeks to fuse Jammu and Kashmir
with Pakistan. Moreover, JeM also campaigns for the
"destruction" of America and India because it believes
both these Non-Muslim countries are a threat to Muslims
worldwide. In recent years, JeM has also added sectarian
minority groups in Pakistan to its hit-list. JeM
apparently aims at promoting Wahabi ideology through
charity including development of mosques, carrying out
social work and providing relief to imprisoned Muslims
abroad, however on the back end, they have been carrying
out activities that have caused to damage to humanity
worldwide.
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Areas of
Operation |
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Jaish-e-Mohammed
has mostly limited its operations within J&K. The few
recorded cases of its operations outside J&K have been
the December 13, 2001,
Parliament attack in New Delhi
and the
assassination attempts on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in 2003. However, in recent times,
elements inside JeM have widened the group's targets to
officials of the Pakistani state and Western existence
in Pakistan. Evidences suggest that Jaish-e-Muhammad was
behind the kidnapping and the murder of Wall Street
Journal reporter
Daniel Pearl in January 2002.
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Linkages |
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JeM is alleged
to have links with
Al-Qaeda,
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)
and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
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Tools |
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Print Media:
From the information acquired they have utilized books,
newspapers, magazines and pamphlets for promoting their
activities. All the information regarding these
publications
Is available at
www.rangonoor.com and
all other websites of JeM available on internet.
Audio:
Poems by Abu Jandal
Sermons
Other poems
Speeches for women
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Audio / Video:
Not only are they using publications to achieve their
agenda, but are using multimedia as a tool as well.
Various songs, speeches, sermons, conferences and column
(Audio and Video) related to Jihad are Available at
www.rangonoor.com
Social
Media:
JeM is highly active on social media. They are using it
as a tool to spread their ideology, market their
publications and sermons (both audio and video) as well
as to acquire donations in form of charity. They have
various pages on Facebook, all that are monitored
actively by the members of the organization.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jaish-E-Muhammad/316955705074240
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jaish-e-Muhammad-SAW/476242039064007
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jaish-e-muhammadsaw/345438695544879
https://www.facebook.com/fathuljawwad313
https://www.facebook.com/MasnoonNamaz
https://www.facebook.com/onlinealqalam
https://www.facebook.com/MusalmanBachay?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/maria.barina89
https://www.facebook.com/banaateayesha
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Molana-Masood-Azhar/537845172893206
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moulana-Masood-Azhar/170634509634662
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moulana-Masood-Azhar/180434858701989
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Assalamualaekum/274659599328960
https://www.facebook.com/Nisbah.deoband1
https://www.facebook.com/pages/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%-88%D8%B2Al-Qalam-News/122856314573032
https://www.facebook.com/mabsns786
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Islam/117616965090203
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Madrassa-banat-e-ayesha/141050316047345
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web site |
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JeM has
various websites on the internet. While few of them have
been banned by the State for obvious reasons, other
still continue to function. Below is the list of both
(proscribed) and (active) websites of the organization.
Websites (proscribed):
http://www.jhuf.net/
http://www.sadaaeislam.com/
http://www.pasbane-haram.com/
http://www.voice-of-islam.co.cc
http://www.jaish-forum.tk/
http://www.thelalmasjid.com/
http://www.youtube.com/thejaishmedia
Websites
(working links)
www.alqalamonline.com
www.musalmanbachay.com
www.rangonoor.com
www.banateayesha.com
www.fathuljawwad.com
www.youtube.com/user/MrGhaziBaba1
http://jaish-forum.webs.com/
http://www.rangonoor.com/ihyaesunnat/index.html
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Service
Delivery |
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According to
the available information, JeM, with the help of
donations from charity and other businesses they are
running, have erected more than 300 mosques in Pakistan
and have been providing relief during the recent natural
calamities. Moreover, it claims to be funding around
850-900 homes of the martyrs and Muslims imprisoned in
India and other countries.
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Name
Variations |
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Following are
different name variations that the group is referred to:
• Army of Muhammad
• Al-Rehmat Trust
• Army of the Prophet
• Jaish-e Muhammad Mujahideen-e Tanzeem
• Muhammad’s Army
• Jamaat-ul Furqaan
• Tehrik-ul Furqaan
• Khuddam-ul Islam
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Who they are
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is an
Islamic extremist terror organization that functions mostly in Jammu and
Kashmir region. The outfit, like other terrorist groups in the region, has
been using violence to affect a withdrawal of Indian security forces from
J&K. It is an organization that is manned and controlled in Pakistan. Since
its inception in January 2001, it has carried out several attacks in the
form of “suicide attacks” on the Indian forces present in Jammu and Kashmir.
The organization received major chunk of its funding from Al-Qaeda and Osama
Bin Laden prior to 2002, and currently it is using charity to acquire
funding. It has been proscribed in Pakistan since 2002, however despite the
ban; it continues to function in different parts of the country.
While, JeM’s main target has
been Jammu and Kashmir, in last few years, elements inside JeM have widened
the group's targets to officials of the Pakistani state and Western
existence in Pakistan. Evidences suggest that Jaish-e-Muhammad was behind
the kidnapping and the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
in January 2002. Moreover, the organization is also believed to be involved
in December 13, 2001, Parliament attack in New Delhi and the assassination
attempts on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in 2003. JeM also campaigns
for the "destruction" of America and India because it believes both these
Non-Muslim countries are a threat to Muslims worldwide. In recent years, JeM
has also added sectarian minority groups in Pakistan to its hit-list.
Since the organization is banned
in Pakistan and throughout the globe, it is now working as Al-Rehmat Trust.
History
The organization was formed on
January 31, 2000, by Maulana Masood Azhar in Karachi after he was released
from an Indian jail following the episode of December 31, 1999, hijacking of
the Indian Airlines Flight IC 814.
The development of the group was
approved by three religious school leaders namely Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai
of the Majlis-e-Tawan-e-Islami (MT), Maulana Mufti Rashid Ahmed of the Dar-ul
Ifta-e-wal-Irshad and Maulana Sher Ali of the Sheikh-ul-Hadith Dar-ul
Haqqania.
The outfit’s
creation can be connected to the fame surrounding Masood Azhar after his
release from India. Maulana Masood Azhar was the general secretary of
Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA) in 1994 and was on an assignment in J&K when he was
detained on February 11 by Indian forces. When he was released, HuA had been
proscribed by US, which forced the group to change its name to
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). However, Masood Azhar instead of rejoining his
old outfit, decided to float the new outfit with the name Jaish e Muhammad.
Organization's Message
Jaish e Muhammad’s aim is to
merge Kashmir with Pakistan and to drive out foreign troops from war-plagued
Afghanistan. Moreover, it also focuses on calling out the Muslims to age
Jihad against the Non-Muslims using violent means.
Target Audience
The
target audience for the activities carried out by the organization is mostly
affluent individuals in Kashmir, Pakistan and Pakistani immigrants living in
UK. With the help of service delivery and rallies, they also encourage
people belonging to all age groups and both genders to join the outfit
Tools
A detailed
study reveals that Jaish-e Muhammad’s tools for recruitment and
disseminating their messages are diverse. These tools can be divided into
two types i.e. offline and online tools. Our research has also pointed out
that the group is quite efficient in use of both types of tools. It is also
important to point out that many of the offline tools employed by JeM are
not accessible by public at large, which decreases the efficiency of these
tools. However, after reviewing the available online tools, it was revealed
that many of the offline tools are reproduced online to increase their
efficiency, effectiveness and outreach. Offline tools include:
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Newspaper
• Magazines
• Sermons
• Jihadist Songs
• Publications
• Posters
• Banners etc
• Relief activities
Online tools include:
• Websites
• Facebook Pages/groups
• Photos/Pictures
• Audio/video
• Online Sermons (Bayanaat)
• Online newspapers/magazines
• Blogs/ Forums
To view tools used by Jaish E Muhammad please
click here to download complete detail
Splinter Groups
Jammat al Furqaan
Name of group |
Jammat al Furqaan |
Splinter group of |
Jaish e Muhammad |
Date of Separation |
2003 |
Status |
Banned |
Banning date |
November 2003 |
Leader |
Abdul Jabbar |
Who they are?
Jammat ul Furqan is a breakaway group of Jaish e Muhammad led by Abdul
Jabbar (alias Umer Farooq). Another splinter called Khuddam ul Islam was
being led by Masood Azhar at that time during 2003, as Masood Azhar expelled
Abdul Jabar and 12 other members who were involved in sectarian killings.
These were banned in Pakistan in November 2003. Abdul Jabar was arrested in
2003 for assassination attempt against Pervez Musharaf but released in
August 2004. A
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References:
Click here
to see all the references
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