Men on mission

By Rahimullah Yusufzai

A lowdown on the various aides of Fazlullah

Maulana Fazlullah, whose real name is Fazal Hayat, is the public face of the radical pro-Taliban movement in Swat. He is widely known and his reputation as a maverick cleric with unconventional views has now travelled all over Pakistan and even beyond.

However, not much is known about his aides and the other militants leading the armed campaign for enforcement of Shariah in Swat district. Then there are certain militant groups that are only nominally under the command of the Maulana and seem to have a different agenda.

The 32-year old Maulana Fazlullah is assisted by the two shuras, or councils. One is the Ulema Shura with several Swati clerics who advise him about the religious policies of the movement. Another shura comprises some 10 notables and, apparently, military commanders.

His deputy is Maulana Shah Dowran, who belongs to Qambar village in Swat and runs his own FM Radio channel from his madrasa over there. It may be added that there are 33 FM radio channels in Swat, including the most famous one run by Maulana Fazlullah. The well-built, fair-complexioned Shah Dowran grabbed headlines when he announced unilateral ceasefire after claiming that he had been contacted by the caretaker minister in NWFP, Mohammad Ali Shah alias Bacha Lala -- who also belongs to the Qambar village -- PML-Q Provincial President and Federal Minister Amir Muqam.

Another deputy to Fazlullah is Maulana Mohammad Ali Shah Niddar, who looks after the FM Radio and broadcasts religious programmes and speeches. 'Niddar', as the Maulana explained, means a fearless person. On Fazlullah's FM Radio recently, he fearlessly declared that suicide bombings weren't un-Islamic, and challenged anyone to a debate on the issue. He questioned as to why the government hailed trainee pilot Captain Rashid Minhas of Pakistan Air Force as a hero and awarded him Nishan-i-Haider even though he accomplished a suicide mission to prevent hijacking of an aircraft by his Bengali, or East Pakistani, instructor. Niddar is from Bara Banday, sited near Fazlullah's Mamdheray village. Fazlullah in his zeal for Islamisation has renamed Mamdheray as Iman Dheray, Bara Banday as Islam Banday and the adjacent Kuza Banday as Shariat Banday.

Sirajuddin is probably the most important official after Fazlullah in the group. He is a cousin of Fazlullah as their fathers were brothers. He also belongs to Mamdheray and is based there despite the fact that the village has been bombed by gunship helicopters and is located just across river Swat from Mingora. Sirajuddin has emerged as the principal spokesman of Fazlullah, who has gone into hiding, and is accessible to the media. Sirajuddin, who also looks after the group's finances and has been overseeing the construction of the huge Omar bin Khitab mosque-cum-madrasa complex in Mamdheray, had studied in Afghanistan and was once a leader of the leftist Democratic Students Federation (DSF). Now he is a changed and bearded man, championing the cause of Islam after having fought on the side of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Muslim Khan is a member of Fazlullah's 'Shura'. He is one of the elders in the group and was part of the team sent by Fazlullah to negotiate with the government officials and Swat jirga members prior to the recent fighting in the area.

The group seems to have a number of military commanders but two have gained importance and become known. One is Dr Farooq Ahmad, who originally belonged to the banned jehadi group, Jaish-i-Mohammad, and goes by different names such as commander Talha and Khalid. He claimed to have fought for six years on the side of the Taliban in Afghanistan where he met Mulla Mohammad Omar and Osama bin Laden. He isn't a medical doctor but became known as Dr Farooq after completing a course in medicine and treating injured and sick Taliban fighter. The tall, well-built Dr Farooq also claimed that he taught Fazlullah how to fire the Kalashnikov rifle.

The other military commander active in Swat is Akbar Hussain. In a recent interview with the BBC, he claimed to be commanding 500 to 600 trained fighters. If need be, he said his group could call upon the Taliban fighters from tribal areas and Afghanistan for help. He said that the suicide bombers were ready to launch 'fidayee' attacks on security forces involved in attacks in Swat. Denying the presence of foreign fighters in Swat, he claimed that all those putting up resistance were local men.

The Tehrik e Islami Taliban was a mysterious and shadowy group operating in Swat. A CD released by the group showed a young man explaining its objectives in his Pashto-accented Urdu. His face covered, he was seated in front of a huge black banner inscribed with the 'Kalima'. The man claimed responsibility for most of the suicide bombings taking place in the country and threatened with more of such attacks until President General Pervez Musharraf changed his pro-US policies. He said that the group's Fidayeen Brigade had 313 suicide bombers but only 15 had launched attacks until now and 298 were waiting for their turn to strike. He claimed that another 147 'fidayeen' had also enlisted to take part in suicide missions.