Daily Times

Since 1985, Hafiz Saeed’s journey from establishing Jamatud Dawa (JuD) the same year to establishing Milli Muslim League (MML)on August 8, 2017 has been an interesting one. His old lieutenant, Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi joined hands with him soon after JuD was established, and Markaz Dawatul Irshad (MDI) was born. There were 17 founding members of the MDI, including late Palestinian religious leaders, Abdullah Yousuf Azzam, who inspired the global Jihad. Azzam joined hands with Osama Bin Laden, and established al-Qaeda for the global Jihad, while was a cofounder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that had connections with the JuD from its infancy. The militants of the LeT were particularly known for their suicide missions in the valley of Kashmir during the 1990s. Since suicide is harshly forbidden in Islam, these attacks were rather branded as Fidayee Hamlay.

None can question the right of peaceful supporters of the MML to have a political voice, but the role it is expected to play is not a secret

LeT’s militants would blow up the Indian Army’s installation here, a camp there, and in those days of media-innocence, the Pakistani Television would aggrandise these acts for the youth like me who were in their early-to-mid-20s: a near-perfect age to become an extremist left or right of the centre. In case of the Pakistani society then, most chose to drift toward the near to the extreme right of centre, as anything on the left was branded as unpatriotic, infidel, and Western. Hence, the famous saying of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) of those days had enough fuel for their claim that Jihad shall continue until the Day of Judgment. Though, this Jihad would almost-always, repeat, always be fought by the youth other than their own family members of the Jihadist leaders. Truthful commitment to the cause indeed!

LeT was already known for violence, but its unfortunate act of attacking the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 was probably what shot it to the pinnacle of militant violence. JuD’s organisational magazine Mujallatud Dawa owned and appreciated the attack. This attack on Parliament drew South Asia to the brink of a horrifying war. When Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpaee mobilised the Indian Army near the international borders, Pakistan responded the same way. A stalemate between both nations continued for ten months. This is how private militancy could destroy nations and regions. Pakistan banned LeT in January 2002.

While the seesaw of successive Pakistani governments failed to take a certain stance on JuD, it was banned by India, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Russia. Under tremendous international diplomatic pressure, Pakistan formally banned JuD in 2015. Earlier this year, the government put Hafiz Saeed under house arrest. This act of the government has been challenged in the Lahore High Court that deferred its judgement on July 3, 2017. Sooner or later, he would be a free man. We have a hunch.

JuD is a thinking, sturdy and creative organisation, and like JI, has cadres of highly educated and imaginative professionals.It has particularly a strong appeal to relatively prosperous Punjabi urban middle class. Although the Central Punjab remains its bastion, but over the past decade, the organisation has strengthened itself across Punjab, interior Sindh and a few areas of KP and Balochistan. It penetrated into the Baloch and Sindhi societies via philanthropy that it carries out via Falahe Insaniyat Foundation.

It has a proactive media house that takes out separate publications for women, children, youth and its followers. Nearly a quarter ago, it started its English monthly titled “Invite,” and now comes the MML with Saifullah Khalid as its President. The party has already fielded Qari Muhammad Yaqub Sheikh as its candidate from the National Assembly constituency NA-120 (Lahore) that earlier elected the deposed Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The MML might not be able to sweep the elections anywhere in Pakistan, but has the potential to emerge as a strong pressure group in local political alliances. The discussion of establishing a political arm started in early 2009 in the JuD, and now it has finally happened. The next elections are too soon to predict the future of the MML, but by 2023 it would be in a position to understand its own appeal to the masses, and would shift its strategies accordingly.

Given Pakistan’s social and political sensitivities to Islam, the smaller religious-political parties have successfully pushed even the popularly elected political parties on the back foot many times. Not too different from the JI in its urban supporters’ base, the party shall have probably the same future: mostly a thorn in the side of the political governments on reformations. None can question the right of peaceful supporters of the MML to have a political voice, but the role it is expected to play is not a secret probably.

The writer is a social entrepreneur and a student of Pakistan’s social and political challenges. Twitter: @mkw72

Published in Daily Times, August 15^th 2017.