What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: 22 years after the dreadful event of the Parliament Attacks in 2001, reports have emerged which suggest that Masood Azhar Alvi, who was the mastermind behind the attacks, has claimed safe haven in Islamabad under the protective custody of the Pakistani government.
The 55-year-old terrorist kingpin of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has been celebrated throughout the course of Pakistan’s history, even after its attempt on General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani dictator. The group has, for long, attempted to create terror in India too through the Parliament Attacks, the attack on Ram Janambhoomi temple in Ayodhya on July 5, 2005 and the Pulwama attack on CRPF troopers on February 14, 2019.
Additionally, he had also directed an attack on the Indian Consulate in Balk, Afghanistan, on January 3, 2016. The JeM terrorist is also said to have been a close ally of former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
Alvi has been chargesheeted in two attacks, first in the Parliament Attacks in 2001 by the Delhi Police, while the second instance was noted in the Pathankot airbase attack in 2016 by the Punjab Police. He has been at the forefront of creating tension between the two neighbours, while orchestrating attacks by the JeM on the Indian hinterland.
Presently, it is also his terror group which has been able to seep into Jammu and Kashmir, holding widespread terror campaigns across the Valley.
Alvi’s rule in Pakistan has nearly pushed India to go to war with the country on numerous counts. The most recent instance happened in Pulwama, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government launching a full-blast surgical strike in Balakot against JeM terror camps in 2019. A similar instance could be seen when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government was about to orchestrate an attack in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in 2001, four days after the Parliament attacks.
It was under the Indian threat of war and international pressure that Azhar was designated as a terrorist by Pakistan on January 14, 2002 and Jaish a terrorist group by the then Pakistani dictator Musharraf.
However, Pakistan remains oblivious to his presence, providing him with safety and safe harbour, while his close relatives look after the day-to-day activities of the terror group and its fronts.
Alvi has now ceased making public appearances, making rare visits to his seminary, Markaz-e-Usman-o-Ali, at Bahawalpur in Pakistan.
