Islam,Terrorism and Jihad *Hafiz Saeed’s release raises fears of fresh terror wave in India <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1439>*
*Lashkar-e-Tayyeba’s intimate relationship with the Pakistani state* Given the Lashkar’s intimate relationship with the Pakistani state, Saeed’s release is no surprise. Pakistan’s military establishment sees the Lashkar as a partner and strategic asset, not a threat that must be crushed. Even as Pakistan fights hostile jihadist elements that threaten it in the west, it continues to patronise groups such as the Lashkar; groups which, like the Pakistan Army itself, see themselves as guardians of the ideological frontiers of the state. - *Praveen Swami* * * *Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a Saudi-trained Islamist* In the early 1980s, Saeed was again sent to Saudi Arabia for higher studies by his university. There he met Saudi sheikhs who were financing or actively taking part in the US-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan against the Soviet troops. It is believed that it was then that Saeed first started associating with jihadis and began identifying with jihadi ideology. In 1987, Saeed, along with Abdullah Azzam, founded the Markaz Dawa-Wal-Irshad, a group with roots in the Jamait Ahl-e-Hadis — a branch of radical Sunni thought which believes that only the sayings and doings of Prophet Mohammed, his followers and family members form the sole basis of Islam. It was this organisation that led to the creation of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba in 1990 with the help of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence to carry out terror strikes in India to capture Jammu & Kashmir. * - Rudroneel Ghosh* *What next? Saeed for Nishaan-e-Pakistan?** - The Pioneer Edit Desk* *The flaw that let Saeed off the hook - **Nirupama Subramanian* * * *India: Pak not serious on terror** - Ramesh Ramachandran* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1439> Radical Islamism & Jihad *What the world is fighting in Af-Pak is a dangerous ideology <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1440>* What is being overlooked, meanwhile, is the fact that what the world is fighting against in the Af-Pak area is a dangerous ideology. The terrorists believe it is their manifest destiny to spread their cult around the globe, and that this agenda can be achieved through terrorism. The US, by proposing the contact group consisting of the European Union, Russia, China, India, Iran, Central Asian Republics and Saudi Arabia, has already acknowledged the global nature of the problem. The contact group could develop a global approach, on the basis of which various nations facing the jihadi threat could offer specific help. India, on its part, has invested a billion dollars worth of aid in the development of infrastructure in Afghanistan and has lost its people to terrorism. The US's staying power in Afghanistan, and its ability to mobilise meaningful international support, will depend on how it conceptualises the global nature of the Taliban threat, and Washington's ability to persuade the Pakistani army to accept such an assessment. While the Pakistani army was responsible to a large extent for nurturing this Frankenstein, the US, too, bears significant responsibility. Today, to save Pakistan, Afghanistan, the rest of the world, and the fair name of Islam, the jihadi threat has to be fought against in a spirit of global cooperation. And in this campaign, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the main battlefields. -- *K Subrahmanyam* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1440> Spiritual Meditations *Spirituality today is definitely the tranquilizer of the rich -- JAVED AKHTAR <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1438>* I used to think that actually spirituality is the second line of defence for the religious people. When they get embarrassed about traditional religion, when it starts looking too down-market, they hide behind this smokescreen of cosmos and super consciousness. But that is not the complete truth. Because the clientele of traditional religion and spirituality is different. ...You see that the clientele (of spirituality) is well heeled, it is the affluent class. All right, so the guru gets power, high self esteem, status, wealth…(which is not that important), power…and lot of wealth too. What does the disciple get? When I looked at them carefully I realized that there are categories and categories of these disciples. It’s not a monolith. There are different kinds of followers. Different kinds of disciples. One, who is rich, successful, doing extremely well in his life, making money, gaining property. Now, since he has everything he wants absolution too. So guru tells him - whatever you are doing, is “niskaam karma” – you are playing a role, this is all “Maya”, the money that you are making every day and the property that you are acquiring, you are not emotionally involved with it. You are just playing a role. You come to me because you are in search of eternal truth.... And what surprises me, and confirms my worst feelings, that today, the enlightened people who know the cosmic truth, none of them stand up against the powers that be. None of them raises his voice against the ruling classes and the privileged classes. Charity, yes, when it is approved and cleared by the establishment and the powers that be. But I want to know which was that guru which took the dalits to those temples which are still closed to them. I want to know which was that guru who stood for the rights of the Adivasis against the thekedaars and contractors. I want to know which was that guru who spoke about the victims of Gujarat and went to their relief camps. They are human beings. -- *JAVED AKHTAR* 3 Comments More<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1438> -- Syed M. 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