US must nab Salahuddin and call his bluff

The manner in which Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has claimed that members of the militant outfit have the ability to hit Indian targets anywhere, at any time and that the Hizb had launched many operations against Indian forces in Kashmir, is a virtual dare to the US and India. In an interview with Pakistani TV programme Jirga, Salahuddin declared himself a freedom fighter for the Kashmir separatists and dismissed contemptuously the charge of being labelled a terror mastermind and perpetrator. Salahuddin, who was recently designated as a global terrorist by the US is roaming free in Pakistan and his free movement is a challenge that the Americans can ignore only at peril to their Big Power status. Indeed, US President Donald Trump would be deemed to be a paper tiger if he fails to follow up his designation of Salahuddin as a global terrorist with action. The terror kingpin who has all along had the Pakistan establishment’s backing just as much as Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Saeed, is cocking a snook at India and the US because of the tacit understanding between China and Pakistan.

Indeed, Salahuddin is based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and roams freely between Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad. He also heads the United Jihad Council, an alliance of 13 militant organisations. When asked where he gets the weapons to fight Indian forces, Salahuddin said he purchased them from the international market. He could provide any weapon from the international market if the required money was given to him, he claimed. At a press conference in Muzaffarabad on July 1, Salahuddin had cited the killing of Burhan Wani, a terror leader who was gunned down by Indian forces, as the defining moment in the Kashmir struggle. He said both Pakistan and China morally and diplomatically supported Kashmiris in their struggle for freedom from India. What he left unsaid was that he depends heavily on Pakistani material support which is what fuels his terror machine.