An intelligence report has revealed that at a conference organised by Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Okara district of Pakistan on 27 November 2017, the jihadist terror outfit had expressed its resolve to continue the ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ (A Holy War aimed at the conquest of India) against India whatever may the course of India-Pakistan relations, reports Moneycontrol.com.
The idea behind Ghazwa-e-Hind stems from several Hadiths (narrations/traditions of Prophet Muhammad) which predict an Islamic invasion of India before the ‘end of times’ which will lead to the successful conquest of the sub-continent by the attackers. Although their veracity has been doubted by some Islamic scholars, the narrations have been used as an ideological fuel by terror-groups to propagate terrorism against India, particularly in Kashmir. The Ghazwa-e-Hind is used to provide religious inspiration to the youth to sacrifice themselves committing anti-India activities.
The conference in Okara was attended by over 2,000 participants, with the crowd being addressed by JeM supremo Masood Azhar, as well as other leaders of the group like Abdul Rauf Asghar, Md Maqsood and Abdul Malik Tahir.
Asghar had promised in his speech that any progress in India-Pakistan relations and bilateral trade would not mean the termination of Jihad against India, as their were a large number of youths who were willing to die for the cause.
The intelligence report also revealed that the JeM had conducted many other public interactions since the conference, with 13 sessions being held at a six-day meet in February 2018. In a visit to Sialkot district in March 2018, the group’s delegation dozens for Jihad training and Quranic studies.