by IQBAL KHATTAK
Things on the ground, however, did not change much after the banning – most of the banned groups restructured themselves and continued to operate under new names. The Sipah-e-Sahaba became the Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan; the Jaish-e-Muhammad now called itself al-Furqan; the Khuddamul Islam and the Tehreek-e-Jafria became the Islami Tehreek Pakistan; and, most well-known of all, the Lashkar-e-Toiba began to operate under the ‘humanitarian’ veil of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. These organisations began to establish roots in Waziristan and other tribal areas, making their tribal hosts believe that they were a ‘good force’. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership seized the opportunity with both hands and used the Punjabi Taliban as a springboard to expand its activities into the non-tribal regions of Pakistan. The support they have became evident when in March 2008, a bearded tribesman handed the late TTP chief, Baitullah Mehsud, a bundle of around 500,000 Pakistani rupees, which he distributed among lieutenants within five minutes in front of two journalists. When asked where he got the money from, Mehsud replied: ‘It makes no difference who gives money to us. What matters is that we get the money which we need for our operations.’
Himal for more