The anatomy of a terror organisation

Wilson John’s book, The Caliphate’s Soldiers: The Lashkar-e-Tayyeba’s Long War, is a serious attempt at researching and analysing the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT). The book’s main focus is on the individual, the ideology and the institution. Wilson traces the evolution of the LeT as a terror institution, within the contours of an individual, Hafiz Saeed, and an overarching Islamic ideology. The interplay between the ideology and the individual culminates in an institution whose aims and objectives Wilson has tried to decipher. Wilson profiles the organisational structure and hierarchy of the LeT. The profile reveals a planned organisational and hierarchical structure, put in place to cater to a range of objectives. The book uncovers the vast net laid out amongst different age groups. The LeT, the book suggests, has registered its presence in the form of schools, universities, charitable organisations, literally transcending all sectors of Pakistani society. Wilson provides a graphic account of the financial aspects of the LeT’s operations. By all accounts it is a massive enterprise where hundreds of millions of rupees are collected across the globe through an enviable organisational structure. There is a semblance of organisational structure within the LeT, with proper budgeting procedures. The levels of accountability, however, are suspect given the disproportionate influence exerted by Hafiz Saeed and his family. For all the structures in place, the LeT seems to have a centralised structure with Hafiz Saeed taking the final call on all major decisions. The book goes into detail, explaining the ideological origins of the LeT, the causes of its formation and its objectives. It talks of the multiple ideological influences within the different schools of thought in Islam. However, Wilson has not been able to clearly pronounce the exact ideological evolution, which is of vital importance. The spillover of different ideological brands makes it confusing. Wilson traces the roots of inspiration to revivalist Islamic movement. The source of inspiration to an entity like the LeT will always be a subject of debate. The dividing line between Islam as a justification and Islam as an inspiration is very thin. The rhetoric and rabble-rousing passages quoted from speeches have been taken a bit too seriously. They cannot be made part of an ideological discourse or the course of objectives. The role of the LeT’s Pakistani constituency is clearly to provide sanctuary, funds and an operational base. Thus, speeches made to Pakistanis in Pakistan have no ideological or strategic relevance, if we are to profile the LeT’s objectives. In the case of a secretive organisation one would have to focus on “what they don’t say”, rather than “what they say”. Wilson coins the phrases “universal jihad” and “localised jihad” and insists that the LeT has long-term global ambitions. The book details the early ideological inspiration by foreign nationals, cultivation of foreign nationals by the LeT, and the physical presence of the LeT outside India and Pakistan. It charts out the geographical spread of the LeT across the world, including in the United States, the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. The book further explains the relationship between the Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the LeT. It provides information on retired and re-employed officials of the ISI working in tandem. The LeT comes across as a typical outsource outfit of the Pakistani Army. The book suggests that terror is a part of the military strategy of the Pakistani state and the LeT is an important instrument of that strategy. One of the key questions that emerges is whether Kashmir is a means to an end or an end in itself. Wilson’s repeated assertion is that Kashmir is a means to an end and that the objective is purely global in the long term. It is difficult to sustain this assertion. For all the rhetoric, the LeT is aware of the importance of Pakistan as base. If the LeT is associated with the ISI, the level of autonomy afforded to the LeT is not unlimited. And there is a line that it will never be allowed to cross. The book puts a lot of focus on Hafiz Saeed and his role in creating the LeT. Within the LeT, Saeed may exert a disproportionate clout. But his clout in setting objectives, and global ones at that, is highly debatable. It is not an easy task to profile the structure and objectives of an organisation like the LeT, which is shrouded in multiple veils of secrecy. Yet, The Caliphate’s Soldiers is well-researched. The book has some very minor glitches where the information is factually incorrect. But overall the book is readable and an apt introduction to the world of violence.