PM Narendra Modi chairs a meeting on security in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)The dossier handed over to Pakistan with “specific details of JeM complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan” contains details of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s anti-India speeches and claims of attacks by Jaish on security forces in the past two years, official sources said.
On the Pulwama attack, New Delhi shared evidence linking the suicide attacker, Adil Ahmad Dar, and his suspected aide, Sajjad Bhat, to JeM.
Besides Pulwama, India also presented nine specific instances when JeM conducted rallies and religious congregations in Pakistan “right under the nose of the Pakistan government” to indoctrinate and recruit men by instigating them against India.
In the latest dossier, New Delhi reiterated that JeM carried out these activities even though it was placed under ban by the Pakistani authorities in 2002. “The information about these activities of JeM are available in open source platforms like blogs, websites, Facebook and Twitter. Many of the posts openly declare association of JeM with terror attacks in India,” said a top government official who reviewed the dossier.
In a recent post on its website Al-Qalam, JeM had eulogised 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 9, 2013. The dossier, citing Al-Qalam, said that its “Mujahideen” carried out a “suicide attack” on February 10, 2018, at the Army’s Sunjwan camp in Jammu, where five Army officers were killed. It claimed that the attack was a gift for the “Modi government” on the occasion of the death anniversary of Afzal Guru and for keeping its chief Masood Azhar in captivity.
The dossier said the JeM claimed on its website that “revenge’ operations launched by the Afzal Guru Shaheed Squad continue in Kashmir. “On February 20, 2018, JeM concluded a six-day congregation in Lahore when its ‘Shoba-e-Taaruf’ (Department of Introduction) delegation held 13 interactive sessions in which 700 people, including 65 ‘Ulemas’ (Religious Scholars), participated. During these interactions, around 30 people expressed their desire to take part in JeM training course — Daura-e-Tarbia. The participants showered praise on organizational activities of JeM and the role played by its chief Masood Azhar,” it said.
Citing another instance of March 27, 2018, the dossier listed a four-day congregation organised by JeM in Sialkot district spanning 17 sessions in which 1,500 people, including 50 Ulemas, participated.
New Delhi has also provided a list of infrastructure and patronage enjoyed by Masood Azhar, his family and cadres of JeM.
A South Block official said, “We have provided evidence to Pakistan on JeM. This is after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted evidence. It is time for him to walk the talk.”
