Hurriyat, young militants are at loggerheads

New crop of militants are openly supporting Pakistan and giving their struggle a pro-Islamic colour.

Zakir Musa, who was heading the Hizbul Mujahideen, quit the militant outfit on Saturday after the group refused to back his statement warning that Hurriyat leaders would be beheaded for calling the Kashmir issue “political”. Earlier, in two audio clips circulated in two days, Zakir Moossa, who is currently heading the Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir after the killing of Burhan Wani, has distanced himself from being in command of the terror organisation. He asserted that he along with his colleagues was only fighting for the freedom for Islam and they are not for making Jammu and Kashmir a secular country.

Zakir said he would now operate without the Hizbul tag. He clarified in the attested audio clip that he was not targeting Syed Ali Shah Geelani but only the secular minded Hurriyat leaders. Earlier Syed Salah-ud-din had said that Hizbul Mujahideen was not behind the recent killing of a young Army officer, while stressing that the present “struggle” was purely for the right to self determination.

The joint separatist leadership of Kashmir, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Yasin Malik, recently made it clear that the Kashmir struggle was political in nature and has nothing to do with global Islamic movements or organisations. Their statement came Zakir said in an audio that they were laying their lives for enforcing Shariat in Kashmir. He said they were spilling their blood for the “glorification of Islam” and not to achieve any political goals.

The Hurriyat leaders, who are feeling marginalised with the growing popularity of teenaged militants in Kashmir, tried to distance themselves from the violent Islamic movements like ISIS and Al Qayeda. Whereas the Hurriyat leaders are desperate to show to New Delhi and Islamabad that they are the real stake holders in any kind of parleys to settle the Kashmir dispute, the Centre has been portraying them as a spent force with no relevance on ground.

“New Delhi wants to paint the Kashmir struggle as an extension of global terrorism and we should not fall in this trap. People of Jammu and Kashmir are fighting for their political aspirations. New Delhi is desperate to paint it as part of global terror and we will not allow it to happen,” an executive member of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat told this newspaper. He said that the young boys who have opted for guns do not have the political wisdom and maturity to understand the machinations of the enemy.

On Friday an audio went viral on the social media in which Zakir warned the Hurriyat leaders of dire consequences. Although the authenticity of the five minute audio tape could not be confirmed, Zakir was heard saying that Hurriyat leaders should explain to the nation why they are using mosques and other religious pulpits for the present struggle. Zakir was heard saying in the audio that if the Hurriyat leaders will continue to interfere, the militants will cut their heads and hang them in Lal Chowk.

Zakir appealed to the people to adopt ways of life that will bring them closer to God. He said that it was unfortunate that the Hurriyat leaders were afraid of New Delhi and were banking on the support of the world community.

Political analysts believe that a silent struggle is going on between the new crop of militants and the Hurriyat leadership. The new crop of militants are openly supporting Pakistan and giving their struggle a pro-Islamic colour. “Crackdown”, as they are locally known in Kashmir, is all set to return in the valley as the Army has decided to make house to house search operations a regular part of its anti-militancy operations.

The Army had virtually given it up 15 years ago and operations aimed at reconciliation, such as Sadbhavana, had taken over.

“All the efforts and the hard work done under operation Sadbhavana by the Army to win over the trust of the locals has virtually washed off, as the Army is now facing hostile local crowds at the encounter sites,” said Dr Aaliya Ahmed, a teacher at MERC, Univer-