Analysis: Ghazwa-e-Hind: Is Only India Threatened?
Intro: Ghazwa-e-Hind as prophesied includes the entire Indian subcontinent which includes Pakistan. Both the countries need to bury the hatchet and come together to face the common enemy.
A sensational story published last week in Daily Mail in which UK revealed the ideological goal of Al Qaeda as Ghazwa-e-Hind— the final battle in India. It also quoted the intelligence agencies revealing that the terror network is making inroads into India and is ‘sowing the seeds of a final war across the country’. It further stated “not only Kashmir groups but Taliban and Al Qaeda groups have stakes in the larger scheme of Ghazwa-e-Hind where India is regarded as the next battleground in the ‘End of Times’ battle.” This ideology is likely to be used to drive Taliban and Al Qaeda affiliates into Kashmir. The larger question now is what is this ideology? and, what does ‘Hind’ mean?
Ghazwa-e-Hind
Ghazwa-e-Hind is a prophesied battle in which Muslim armies would invade Indian subcontinent and would be victorious and will establish Islamic law in the subcontinent. ‘Hind’ does not mean only India but includes Pakistan as well. But anti-Indian Muslims in Pakistan have spin doctored the ideology to mislead the community and create hatred for India. This school of thought is also promoted by the Pakistani Army because it suits its ambition of subverting the supremacy of the elected government. As per them, ‘the concept of Khilafat, armies of greater Khorasan led by Pakistan and invasion and capturing of India in the end times is a mainstream Islamic concept. It would reshape the geopolitics of the present and future world.’ Syed Zaman, a jihadist turned religious scholar and mouth-piece of Pakistani Army says, “The modern geopolitics support this spiritual intelligence as well. India is betting itself with crusader Zionists of the West. History is a witness that it is the armies from Greater Khorasan which have always invaded and destroyed the myth of Hindu power. This will be done once again – for one final time led by the Pakistani Army.”
Some Pakistanis led by the Inter-Services intelligence (ISI) harbour the idea of a ‘Greater Pakistan.’ The envisioned map of Greater Pakistan and the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) Caliphate of Khorasan are almost mirror copies of each other. The idea draws inspiration from the doctrine of Ghazwa-e-Hind. Major parts of India and Afghanistan are included in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or the “Greater Pakistan.” Isn’t this a fantasy? Such fantasies and ideologies were needed to motivate and rejuvenate the Pakistani Army after it suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Indian Army in 1971. By no stretch of imagination Pakistan, even in its wildest dreams, can think to push across India like this. Such visions are fanatical but far removed from ground reality.
What is the reality?
Buoyed by the unprecedented success achieved by ISIS in the recent months, the international jihadi outfits want to expand the conflict zone in order to achieve their cherished dream of World Dominion of Caliphates. In mid- June this year, Al Qaeda released a video titled ‘War should continue, message to the Muslims of Kashmir.’ In this video, Al Qaeda called upon Muslims of Kashmir to follow example of their brothers in Syria and Iraq and revolt against the authorities. In the video Maulana Asim Umar, Al Qaeda’s Pakistani propagandist exhorted Muslims living in India and Pakistan as well as in the two parts of Kashmir to join the global jihadi movement seeking to re-establish an Islamic Caliphate. In another development, the parts of North-West India and the whole of Pakistan were included in the Caliphate of Khorasan, in a map issued by the ISIS. In yet another development, Syed Salahuddin, chairman of Pak based United Jihad Council and Hizbul Mujahedeen supremo has invited Al Qaeda and Taliban and like- minded groups to extend a helping hand to ‘oppressed Kashmiris’. He announced “Jihad on the lines of ISIS in Iraq is the solution to Kashmir.” Are these actions a mere coincidence or ominous warnings to the rulers in India and Pakistan?
Global Jihad
The dark clouds of Jihad are hovering all over. The international terrorist outfits are shifting their focus towards the Indian subcontinent. ISIS has donned the role of premier international terrorist outfit and all others including Al Qaeda appear to have accepted its supremacy. The concept of Ghazwa-e-Hind and the intent of Global Jihad is same. Global Jihad is the campaign under which Islamist terrorist outfits are urging Muslims in India to wage war against their own country with the intention of turning it into an Islamic State. A network of militant Islamist groups stretches from Arabian Sea to Persian Gulf and from the Hindu Kush to Indian Ocean. For them anybody who does not subscribe to their interpretation of Islam is not a Muslim and needs to be killed.
Despite whatever Pakistan Army may say Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) is also a close associate of Al Qaeda. Radicalisation of rank and file in the Pakistan Army is also well known. There are hard line militant sympathisers among senior ranks in the Army. The details about the arrest in June 2011 of Brigadier Ali Khan, a third generation soldier, are already in the public domain. He was linked to a banned terrorist organisation Hizb-ut-Tehrir (HuT) that rejects democracy and calls for the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate. Pakistan therefore can not ill-afford to dismiss the threat to its existence from Islamist jihadi outfits.
The battle cry of Ghazwa-e-Hind is being used by the terrorist outfits to motivate and indoctrinate their cadres. According to my hypothesis, which needs to be confirmed by the intelligence agencies, Al Qaeda has been made responsible for waging jihad in the proposed Caliphate of Khorasan too. The centre of gravity of this jihad is going to be Kashmir and would spread across the entire Indian subcontinent. Al Qaeda to prove its relevance is going to use all resources at its disposal including Taliban and its factions—Pak based terrorist outfits, Hizbul Mujahedeen and Indian Mujahedeen. There are enough indicators to support my hypothesis. It would be in best interest of India and Pakistan to contain these terrorist outfits and prevent their free movement. If we do not fight the international terrorist outfits across the Durand line, we may have to then fight them across the Radcliffe line. A scenario both India and Pakistan would dread.
Conclusion
The concept of Caliphates does not recognise national boundaries. Pakis-tan has to realise that the Global jihad is as dangerous for its existence as it is for destabilising India. Ghazwa-e-Hind as prophesied includes the entire Indian subcontinent. It is for both India and Pakistan to bury the hatchet and get ready to face the common enemy in the form of Islamist terror. For the Indian authorities it would be advisable to take China on board as Pakistan has hurt China also by supporting the Uighur Islamist militants and separatist movement in Xinjiang. China on the other hand may be more than willing to rein in Pakistan if it decides to ignore this sane advice.
-Brig Anil Gupta (The writer served in the Indian Army for 36 years. He is presently a political commentator and
strategic analyst. Contact: [email protected])
