Know the Pak Taliban chief Radio Mullah Fazlullah who ordered attack on Malala

New Delhi: Hailing from the Swat district in Pakistan, Maulana Fazlullah is the first non-Mehsud chief of the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan.He is unlike Baitullah and Hakimullah Mehsud who hailed from the Waziristan region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He is the leader of banned Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist militant group allied to the Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi that aims to enforce Sharia in the country. He is married to the daughter of founder of TNSM. An interesting point to note is: his appointment was made over the telephone. He has succeeded Hakimullah Mehsud after he was killed by US in a drone attack recently. Born in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, area of Swat district, he belongs to clan of the Yusufzai tribe. His real name is Fazal Hayat. This is the first time that the Pakistani Taliban have chosen a leader who does not come from the country's volatile tribal belt - or from the Mehsud or Wazir tribes. He seems to be more ruthless than his predecessor and aims to enforce Sharia law. His mentor cum father-in law Maulana Sufi Mohammad spearheaded the Taliban uprising in Northern Pakistan. They were effectively in control of the scenic Swat valley from 2007 and in early 2009 they gained de facto control of the entire Malakand division until an army offensive ejected them in the summer. Fazlullah got his first taste of frontline combat experience in 2001 when his mentor Maulana Sufi Mohammad took him along with thousands of others to Afghanistan to fight the Americans. Swat valley, PakistanOn his return, Fazlullah was arrested and jailed for 17 months. After his release, he started illegal local FM radio station to spread his message across.He installed several dozen FM transmitters and used them to spread his message throughout the region - possibly the first cleric to put religion on radio. This led to his nickname as ‘Radio Mullah'. He uses radio as the medium to propagate his Jihadist views. He believes music and dance are the biggest sin.His supporters have destroyed shops selling CDs, DVDs and computers. He has threatened barbers not to shave their customers' beard. He had opposed polio vaccination drive claiming it was a conspiracy of the Jews and Christians to keep Muslims impotent. He also opposes women taking part in elections. In 2001 many seats reserved for women in northern Pakistan went unfilled due in large part to the actions of the TNSM.In 2005, Fazlullah was quoted as saying: “We have our tradition that bars women from taking part in the elections and violators will be punished.” He also opposes females going to schools and receiving education. Atleast 10 girl's schools have been blown up by Fazlullah led Taliban in Swat district in 2009.In 2012, he was the mastermind behind the attack on Malala Yousafzai, the girl who led the movement of girl's education in Swat. After the attack on the teenager, he had also threatened to kill her father due to the failed attack on his daughter. His current whereabouts are unclear but many believe he is hiding along the Afghan-Pakistan border, perhaps in Afghanistan's Kunar province or in Nuristan.If he is indeed in this area, it is the perfect hiding place as the isolated mountain hamlets and caves of the region have been used ever since the Afghan mujahideen fighters were battling Soviet troops in the 1980s.Although the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have their own domestic agendas, analysts say the Taliban in Afghanistan believe Mullah Fazlullah was the most likely of all the Pakistani candidates to accept the supremacy of Mullah Omar, the spiritual founder of the Afghan Taliban.Fazlullah has been falsely reported killed numerous times - and has been known to telephone the media to personally deny reports of his death.