New Delhi, July 29, 2025
After making Bangladesh its playground, the ISI is now exploring Nepal and proposes to make it another front against India. There has been a sustained effort to increase the number of Pakistanis living in Nepal, and the larger plan is to convert them into assets who would in turn carry out terror strikes against India.
A report in a local vernacular newspaper, Purbokone, said that an organisation called Alhaj Shamshul Haque Foundation, also known as the Ash Foundation, laid the foundation stone for a Mosque in Nepal in the Inarawa area near Biratnagar of the Sunsari district.
Called the Razzak Mosque, the foundation describes it as a religious hub for the local Muslim population. The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Chairman of the Ash Foundation, Engineer Muhammad Nasir Uddin, on July 18, 2025.
During the ceremony, he said that the Mosque would not just serve as a centre for Muslims, but also as a centre for Islamic dawn or proselytisation among the 95 per cent of Nepal’s non-Muslim population.
“Razzak Mosque is expected to become a spiritual and communal centre for Muslims in Sunsari, as well as an example of inter-community cooperation and development in Nepal. The foundation is committed to supporting religious and educational infrastructure for underserved communities across South Asia,” the Ash Foundation said in a statement.
The Indian agencies suspect that the ISI is backing this initiative covertly. The initiative is also said to have the backing of some Gulf nations and Turkey. In the long run, the Mosque could not just serve as a religious centre, but also as a logistics hub for the ISI-backed terror groups.
The Ash Foundation was formally launched in 2018 and registered as an NGO in Bangladesh in 2022. Prior to this, the foundation had operated as a joint stock company. However, on July 18, the foundation gave a public call for donations to fund the construction of the Mosque and also to expand similar projects in Nepal and other neighbouring nations.
After the Sheikh Hasina regime in Bangladesh fell, the ISI has pounced on the opportunity to set up its playgrounds in countries bordering India.
The Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Muhammad Yunus government has given Pakistan a free hand to operate in Bangladesh. The ISI, which has set up several training facilities in Bangladesh, is attempting something similar in Nepal as transnational Jihadist expansion plan.
Nepal is a Hindu-majority country and has never witnessed any sort of religious terrorism or radicalisation programmes. Nepal has been used as a transit point by the ISI to send terrorists into India. There have been reports that in 2023, terror outfits such as Al Qaeda have been attempting to set up training camps in Nepal.
Terror groups have also used Nepal as a sanctuary to evade scrutiny by various Intelligence agencies. However, the recent developments are worrying, and a clear attempt is being made to demographically change Nepal.
Indian Intelligence agencies worry that such centres could be used to propagate extremism. Further, it could also be a strategy to disturb the majority community in Nepal. It is similar to what the ISI has been trying in the northeastern states and parts of West Bengal, an Intelligence Bureau official said.
The idea has been to infiltrate as many immigrants as possible and make sure that the majority becomes a minority.
In Nepal, the ISI has been following what several terror groups have done in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Mosques and Islamic cultural centres have been set up, and these have operated as Intelligence gathering, radical brainwashing and recruitment units.
The agencies worry that a similar project is underway in Nepal, and if not curbed at the earliest, then this could go on to become a major issue. Clearly, an attempt is being made to undermine a Hindu majority nation with a larger plan of fostering armed conflict and total unrest.(Agency)
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