5 august 2019 http://www.openthemagazine.com 39
in prayer. Khateeb accused these two organisations of killing in-
nocent Kashmiris and said that they were not interested in Kash-
mir’s liberation but grabbing its land for Pakistan.
in the 1990s also, during the peak of militancy in Kashmir,
infighting between hizbul and another major terrorist group,
the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), had resulted
in the killing of many cadres of the latter. in his video statement,
iShP’s Khateeb also blamed hizbul for the killing of dreaded ter-
rorist Qayoom najar (he was killed by security forces in 2017) for
his pan-islamist utterings. he called the hizbul’s current com-
mander, Riyaz naikoo, Riyaz “nalaayak” (worthless).
in another statement released by the iShP, the organisation
said, “Our hands will feel no weakness while slaying these en-
emies of islam.” it accused Lashkar and hizbul of unleashing a
reign of terror in the Valley in the last three decades and warned
that their end was close.
After Adil Dass’ killing, hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin also
broke his silence; in a video statement, he ap-
pealed for mutual trust and unity among all
militant ranks. he asked that Dass’ killing be
investigated jointly and punishment meted
out to those found to be involved. Salahud-
din said that there should be no scope for
differences in the ranks of separatists. “Our
great struggle [for secession] has already
suffered irreparable damage [in the past]
because of these differences and inteshar
[conflict],” he said, warning that once again
there were similar “indications of damage
beyond measure”.
it is not clear whether these statements
will lead to any truce. Currently, the separat-
ist movement in Kashmir is going through a tough time, owing
to a crackdown by new Delhi. the Minister of State for home
Affairs, g Kishan Reddy, recently told Parliament that till June
13th, 113 terrorists had already been killed in the Valley. Since
2016, 733 terrorists have been killed. Recently, the national inves-
tigation Agency (niA) attached the house of Asiya Andrabi, the
pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatist leader. the attachment order,
the first from the niA in Kashmir, was issued under the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act.
“Right now, our biggest headache is Jaish, especially after the
Pulwama suicide attack,” says a senior police officer. But he ad-
mitted there was concern about what the iShP could be up to.
in South Kashmir, after a huge consignment of explosives went
missing from a stone quarry, it set alarm bells ringing. the explo-
sives were later recovered from nearby fields.
According to police sources, they are now keeping a watch
on whether more desertions will happen from hizbul and Lash-
kar. “We are also keeping an eye on a few
young Kashmiris who are abroad,” another
senior police officer revealed. in one case, a
Kashmiri man, Adil Ahmed, an MBA from
Queensland, Australia, has been in the cus-
tody of the US-allied forces in Syria for his
involvement with the iS. his father, who
works as a contractor in Kashmir, has now
appealed to the Centre to bring back his son.
in 2016, the niA deported from the UAe a
Kashmiri, Sheikh Azhar ul-islam (24), and
two others on charges of links with the iS.
“After Pulwama, and after Sri Lanka, we
cannot take any chances in Kashmir,” says
a police officer. npro-pakistan
groups in kashmir
have a support
system in the valley
currently that the
the newly formed
pro-islamic state
ones lack
zakir musa,
former chief
of ansar
Ghazwatul hindburhan wani
(centre) with
his GanG