Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Fault Lines
carried relief goods, sometimes on their backs, to those remote areas
which could only be reached by helicopters. 4
Jihadist groups could react quickly and remain active in the quakehit
areas for a number of reasons. Their training camps and bases had
operated freely in the North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir
despite the government’s claim of proscribing them. The militants
had well-equipped facilities close to the areas worst hit by the quake.
Hardly anyone was as familiar with the mountainous region of Azad
Kashmir as the militants. They knew only too well the terrain through
which they had been sneaking into Indian-controlled Kashmir. 5
Ironically, American troops were brought over from Afghanistan to
work side by side with the jihadists in bringing relief to remote parts
of Pakistan. The Bush administration was visibly unhappy with such
coexistence; it wanted the Pakistani military to take over control of
the entire relief work and squeeze out those charities and aid groups
that promoted a radical brand of Islam. The US Ambassador, Ryan
Crocker, alleged that the relief work gave the jihadist groups a chance
to promote militant ideas. He called on the Pakistani government
to stop their activities. ‘If the militant organizations are seen to be
delivering the goods, and the government is not, it is going to be in
trouble,’ he said at a press briefing. The White House repeated the
message during Vice President Dick Cheney’s 20 December meeting
with Musharraf.
Though the growing influence of the Islamists might have been cause
for concern, there was little the military government did to stop them.
Musharraf admitted that he was battling to assert the administration’s
competence in the face of stiff competition from the militant Islamist
groups. He said that he could not stop them from relief work, but
warned that they would not be allowed to exploit the situation and
solicit new recruits. 6 In his 20 October interview with CNN, General
Musharraf said, ‘I know that some extremist outfits placed on the
government’s watch list are participating in relief activities in the
quake-affected areas. Their activities are being watched closely and
anyone found involved in extremist acts will be punished. However,
everyone is motivated right now to help the quake victims. And I am
not going to prevent anyone from helping the people.’
With the credibility of the government and the army at its lowest ebb,
it was difficult to contain the Islamists. The success of jihadist groups in
providing earthquake relief had, indeed, strengthened their claims to
legitimacy in Pakistan. While the popularity of the jihadists soared, the
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