Kashmiris flock to pay respects to India’s ‘most wanted’ militant
THOUSANDS of people have attended the funeral of a militant leader killed in Indian-administered Kashmir, as security forces cut internet access to stop protests flaring as a result of his death.
Indian forces surrounded Zakir Musa on Thursday evening and blew up his hideout when he refused to surrender. The influential 25-year-old, who was described as the most wanted man in Kashmir, split from one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule in the region and declared his allegiance to al-qaeda in 2017.
His killing immediately triggered protests, with fears they would stoke wider unrest in an area that three months ago took India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
Authorities cut off the internet on mobile phones to hamper anti-india protests and discourage the spread of protest videos. They also imposed a curfew across much of the Kashmir Valley, including in the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of more clashes. Schools and colleges were told to stay closed.
Mr Musa dropped out of his engineering course in 2013 to join Kashmir’s largest militant group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) fighting Indian rule. He later became part of a group led by charismatic militant Burhan Wani, whose death in 2016 sparked outrage in the territory and rekindled a militant movement that had previously withered.
More than 100 civilians died in clashes after Mr Wani’s death and Mr Musa took his place.
However, the leader then broke away to form Ansar Ghazwat-ul-hind, which officials say was an offshoot of al-qaeda in Kashmir.
Mr Musa regularly issued audio messages declaring Kashmir’s struggle to be an Islamic one and nothing to do with nationalism.
The message reflected a shift in ideology for a region where militants have mainly fought for either independence of Indian-administered Kashmir or a merger with Pakistan.
The former princely state is now divided between the two countries by a heavily militarised line of control, but both India and Pakistan claim to own the whole territory.