In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-E-Tayyaba

321 Pages·2019·4.362 MB·English

by  C Christine Fair

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

C. CHRISTINE FAIR
In Their Own Words
Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
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1
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Copyright © C. Christine Fair, 2018
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ISBN: 9780190909482
CONTENTS
Dedication vii
Acknowledgements ix
1. I ntroduction 1
What’s in a Name? 4
Overview of Pakistan’s Contemporary Militant Landscape 10
Data and Methods 16
Plan of the Book 17
2. The Genesis of the Indo-Pakistan Security Competition 21
Summoning A Muslim Zion in South Asia 24
The Origins of Pakistan’s Kashmir Obsession 27
Three Obdurate Princes 28
Rending the Punjab 31
Military, Mullah, Militant Nexus: The Army and the Ideology of
Pakistan 32
Pakistan Repeatedly Tries to Change Maps through War 37
Implications of this History 42
3. Pakistan’s Creeping Jihad and Expanding Nuclear Umbrella 45
Twinned Histories of Proxy Warfare and Nuclear Coercion 47
Jihad in Afghanistan and India Under Expanding Nuclear Umbrella 55
Pakistan’s Jihad in Afghanistan 56
Pakistan’s Jihad in India 60
Conclusions and Implications 65
4. What is the LeT? A Critical Examination 67
Situating LeT within South Asia’s Salafis 67
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CONTENTS
Early History of MDI, JuD and LeT 74
Organizational Structure 82
Key Leadership 89
Financing the Army of the Pure 94
Training Soldiers in the Army of the Pure 98
The Nascence of the Milli Muslim League 102
Conclusions and Implications 106
5. Who Are the Soldiers in the Army of the Pure? 111
Introduction to the Dataset on Slain LeT Activists 112
Characteristics of the Soldiers in the Army of the Pure 115
Why They Fight: Motivating the Fighters in the Army of the Pure 127
Recruiting the Families of the Fighters: Mothers May Matter Most 130
Conclusions and Implications 147
6. The Domestic Politics of LeT 149
Key Sources for this Chapter 152
Why Wage Jihad and Under What Circumstances? 158
Defending Jihad against the Myriad Excuses against Jihad 168
Why Not Wage Jihad in Pakistan? 172
Muslims among Non-Muslims in Pakistan 185
Christians Among Muslims 188
Friends with Benefits: Symbiosis with the Deep State 189
Conclusions and Implications 193
7. Dealing with LeT and Escaping Pakistan’s Nuclear Coercion 197
Option 1. Maintain the Status Quo: American Cupidity and Indian
“Strategic Restraint” 198
Option 2. Leadership Decapitation: What Happens if LeT Heads Roll? 204
Option 3. Escaping Pakistan’s Coercion Strategy 207
There Are No Good Options. Just “Less Bad” Options 213
Appendix 1. Notes on Transliteration and Translation 215
Appendix 2. List of Acronyms 219
Appendix 3. Glossary of Non-English Words 221
Notes 227
Select Bibliography 291
Index 301
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DEDICATION
Dedicated to the victims of terrorism and their families everywhere.
May they find peace and justice.
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