Opinion | Amir Hamza Attack Was A Symptom. A Deadlier Storm Is Brewing Within Lashkar |
Apr 17, 2026 12:15 pm IST
Opinion | Amir Hamza Attack Was A Symptom. A Deadlier Storm Is Brewing Within Lashkar
There is an ongoing power struggle within Lashkar for the top spot, which may lead to new terrorists wanting to 'prove' themselves. The obvious means? India.
Tara Kartha Tara Kartha Columnist
Tara Kartha Columnist
In the midst of the Iran war and its threatened re-emergence in an even fiercer avatar, some welcome news. Hamza, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was shot by unknown gunmen in Lahore and is said to be currently in critical condition.
The elimination of any terrorist anywhere is to be greeted with a sigh of relief. But the Lashkar is in a category of its own. As American negotiators label Iran as the worst terrorist state in the world, nothing Tehran has in its armoury can match what Pakistan has in its quiver of terrorist groups.
Amir Hamza As A 'Day 1' Node
Available reports say unidentified attackers opened fire on Hamza outside a news channel office in Lahore while he was walking on the streets. Hamza is no ordinary terrorist. A fiery speaker and writer, he was picked up by Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi in 1985, when he was a student at a madrassa in Punjab. This was long before the LeT was even formed. He was taken to meet Hafeez Saeed at his residence, and as a result of these and other meetings, the first 'institution' of the Lashkar, the Markaz Da'wa-al-Irshad (MDI), was established. Its publications division was headed by the enthusiastic Hamza, then in his early 20s. He also edited the monthly magazine Mujallah Ad-Dawah and the Al Jarar, the inflammatory rhetoric of both of which directly led to an increase in the membership of the organisation to more than 10,000 in less than three years. The tenor of these and other publications reveals some interesting aspects other than 'jihad' -........