| Syed Salah U Deen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 February 1946 Badgam, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Spouse | Nafisa |
| Children | 7 Sons |
Syed Salahudeen (born 18 February 1946) or Syed Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen, a key Pakistan-supported terrorist group in Kashmir and head of an alliance of Kashmiri militant organizations, the Muttahida Jihad Council, that supports the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. Salahudeen regularly asserts that "the practical mechanism to solve Kashmir dispute is by accepting the right to self-determination".[1]
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Born as the last seventh child of middle class parents at Soibugh, Budgam, a village in the Kashmir Valley. His father worked in the Postal Department in the government. Mohammed Yusaf Shah initially became interested in studying medicine, but later on decided to become a civil servant. While studying Political Science at University of Kashmir, he started to become influenced by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, and become a member of its branch in the Kashmir Valley.
At University, he got involved in persuading Muslim women to veil themselves and also took part in processions in support of Pakistan. After university, he decided not to join the civil service, as he regarded this as traitorous to the cause of Kashmir, but instead he became an Islamic preacher at a Madrasa.
He is married, with 5 sons. His oldest son, Shakeel Yousuf, works as a medical assistant at Srinagar's Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, second son Javed Yousuf works in the Education Department as computer operator, while Shahid Yousuf is an agricultural technologist, who trained at the prestigious Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology. Shah's fourth son, Wahid Yusuf, studies in Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Government Medical College, after he was given non-merit based entry to the College, which led to vociferous objections by other applicants. Mueed Yusuf, the youngest of Shah's sons, is presently pursuing MCA. The apparently "normal" lives led by his family members in Jammu & Kashmir have long created speculation that Shah is considered a "reconciliable" player, as seen by India, in any future negotiations.
In 1987, Mohammed Yusaf Shah decided to contest J&K assembly election on the ticket of the Muslim United Front, a coalition of extreme separatist political parties in Srinagar's Amirakadal Constituency. He came second after Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah of the moderate National Conference won the seat, amidst allegations of "rigging and bogus polling". Mohammed Yusaf Shah was arrested and put in jail, allegedly for "agitation against rigging by National Conference with the help of the Central Government".
After his release in 1989, he was allegedly threatened by the National Conference with "dire consequences". This convinced him that "armed struggle was the only solution to the Kashmiri problem". He then joined an terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar alias "Master" with the help of Ashraf Dar, Sheikh Waheed, Maqbool Illahi, & Abdullah Bangro. Ahsan Dar who later parted from Hizbul Mujahideen was replaced by Muhammad Yousuf Shah who then adopted nom de guerre "Sayeed Salahudeen", named after Saladin, the 12th century Muslim political and military leader, who fought in the Crusades.
He received terrorist training in Pakistan and crossed the Line of Control many times to conduct terror attacks in the Kashmir Valley. Since 1993, he has been living openly in Pakistan under the patronage of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency of the Pakistani Military.
Most Wanted Profiles of Terror by K.P.S Gill, ISBN 81-7436-207-X