'Jamaat’s work fueled by radical politics'
By Priyamvada Tyagi
Uri: The banned Jamaat-e-Islami, Kashmir’s largest Islamist organisation, faces a significant pushback from the Indian army both ideologically and politically.
The Jamaat, banned under theUnlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), however, continues has got around the draconian provisions of the UAPA, through its charitable work via numerous trusts.
24-year-old Abdul Rehman, a resident of Awantipora, district Pulwama, who owns an apple orchard, and is a follower of the Jamaat, refuted charges of any link with Pakistan.
Instead, he told ToB in an interview, that, ‘as an organisation it is involved in a wide range of charitable, welfare and service activities including health care, education, emergency and orphan support. It has provided us with a lot of help.’
Brig. Mukesh Tiwari, commander Chinar Brigade, however rubbishes Rehman’s claims instead, “Jamaat’s modus- operandi involves the use of persuasion, threat, violence and intimidation," he told the Times of Bennett. It is because of the fear of Jamaat, that people in rural areas refuse to cooperate with the government and the army.
But it is not a fight the army and the Government can win easily.
Much of Jamaat’s charitable work is based on proceeds of ‘Zakat’- an obligation to pay a portion of one’s income mandated by Islamic law- that allows collection of funds for religiously approved charitable works.
The Jamaat, during a calamity or death in a family, collects Zakat for the family, and also urges the villagers to contribute liberally to the family”, says 24-year- old Abdul.
It provides medical facilities to the poor and needy through Al Huda charitable organisation that has a network of hospitals in various districts. They provide affordable medical facilities and ambulance services. Although these are not state of the art hospitals, they have basic treatment facilities and nominal consultation fees.
The Jamaat-run- schools focus on Quranic teachings in Arabic language and are an affordable alternative for parents who cannot afford the prohibitively expensive private schools. According to Rehman, these schools impart low-cost education to the rural folk and women especially in the remote areas and among deprived sections.
He underlines the tremendous work done by the Falah-e-Aam Trust founded in 1972 that aims to provide education to Kashmiri Muslims.
Presently, the Falah-e-Aam runs 318 schools recognised by J&K State Education Board. This includes 115 High schools, 150 Middle Schools, 53 Elementary Schools. Approximately one lakh students benefit from it. It has teaching staff of 4,200 with 3,780 males and 420 females. The schools provide free admissions to the poor and needy.The staff members and the teachers are expected to follow and spread the ideology of JeI, although they themselves may not necessarily be a member of the Jamaat, says Rehman.
But Brigadier Tiwari counters, ‘There are fears that the Jamaat’s overground work is largely a front for gathering intelligence for militant organisations. Those who are seen as cooperating with the army are ‘dealt with stealth and violence,’ says the Brigadier.
Brig Tiwari also revealed that Indian Army uses different tactics to deal with the influence of Jamaat. One of the ways is to ‘counter their radical ideology by supporting other sects.’ There are other sects in the Kashmir like the ‘Etkhadis’ and ‘Hanafis’, who abhor this form of radical Islam and have strong belief in Sufism as well as Kashmiriyat.These sects are now being empowered by the army to spread the narrative against Jamaat and divert youth from radical Islam, he adds.
But much of the Jamaat’s charitable work has been obfuscated because of its politics- its deep affiliation to Pakistan, its support to various separatist groups and its role in the now defunct Hurriyat. It has also unsuccessfully contested elections twice. This is the fourth time the Jamaat has been banned since independence.
This story was first published in the The Times of Bennett print edition (February 2021), a student-run initiative of The Times School of Media, Bennett University.
(The writer is a first year student of BA (Journalism and Mass Communication) of The Times School of Media)
Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University
Uri: The banned Jamaat-e-Islami, Kashmir’s largest Islamist organisation, faces a significant pushback from the Indian army both ideologically and politically.
The Jamaat, banned under the
24-year-old Abdul Rehman, a resident of Awantipora, district Pulwama, who owns an apple orchard, and is a follower of the Jamaat, refuted charges of any link with Pakistan.
Instead, he told ToB in an interview, that, ‘as an organisation it is involved in a wide range of charitable, welfare and service activities including health care, education, emergency and orphan support. It has provided us with a lot of help.’
Brig. Mukesh Tiwari, commander Chinar Brigade, however rubbishes Rehman’s claims instead, “Jamaat’s modus- operandi involves the use of persuasion, threat, violence and intimidation," he told the Times of Bennett. It is because of the fear of Jamaat, that people in rural areas refuse to cooperate with the government and the army.
But it is not a fight the army and the Government can win easily.
Much of Jamaat’s charitable work is based on proceeds of ‘Zakat’- an obligation to pay a portion of one’s income mandated by Islamic law- that allows collection of funds for religiously approved charitable works.
The Jamaat, during a calamity or death in a family, collects Zakat for the family, and also urges the villagers to contribute liberally to the family”, says 24-year- old Abdul.
It provides medical facilities to the poor and needy through Al Huda charitable organisation that has a network of hospitals in various districts. They provide affordable medical facilities and ambulance services. Although these are not state of the art hospitals, they have basic treatment facilities and nominal consultation fees.
The Jamaat-run- schools focus on Quranic teachings in Arabic language and are an affordable alternative for parents who cannot afford the prohibitively expensive private schools. According to Rehman, these schools impart low-cost education to the rural folk and women especially in the remote areas and among deprived sections.
He underlines the tremendous work done by the Falah-e-Aam Trust founded in 1972 that aims to provide education to Kashmiri Muslims.
Presently, the Falah-e-Aam runs 318 schools recognised by J&K State Education Board. This includes 115 High schools, 150 Middle Schools, 53 Elementary Schools. Approximately one lakh students benefit from it. It has teaching staff of 4,200 with 3,780 males and 420 females. The schools provide free admissions to the poor and needy.The staff members and the teachers are expected to follow and spread the ideology of JeI, although they themselves may not necessarily be a member of the Jamaat, says Rehman.
But Brigadier Tiwari counters, ‘There are fears that the Jamaat’s overground work is largely a front for gathering intelligence for militant organisations. Those who are seen as cooperating with the army are ‘dealt with stealth and violence,’ says the Brigadier.
Brig Tiwari also revealed that Indian Army uses different tactics to deal with the influence of Jamaat. One of the ways is to ‘counter their radical ideology by supporting other sects.’ There are other sects in the Kashmir like the ‘Etkhadis’ and ‘Hanafis’, who abhor this form of radical Islam and have strong belief in Sufism as well as Kashmiriyat.These sects are now being empowered by the army to spread the narrative against Jamaat and divert youth from radical Islam, he adds.
But much of the Jamaat’s charitable work has been obfuscated because of its politics- its deep affiliation to Pakistan, its support to various separatist groups and its role in the now defunct Hurriyat. It has also unsuccessfully contested elections twice. This is the fourth time the Jamaat has been banned since independence.
This story was first published in the The Times of Bennett print edition (February 2021), a student-run initiative of The Times School of Media, Bennett University.
(The writer is a first year student of BA (Journalism and Mass Communication) of The Times School of Media)
Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University
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