Hizbul Mujahideen

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
حزب المجاھدین
Participant in Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

Hizbul Mujahideen Logo
Active 1989-present
Ideology Kashmiri nationalism, Islamism, Islamic fundamentalism
Leaders

Sayeed Salahudeen
Abdul Hanan Baig
Ghazi Nasiruddin

Muhammad Ahsan Dar
Burhan Muzaffar Wani
Area of operations Kashmir
Strength 200
Allies
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Harkat ul-Ansar
Opponents  India

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (Arabic: حزب المجاھدین‎, Ḥizb al-Mujāhidīn, meaning "Party of Holy Warriors" or "Party of Mujahideen"), founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in 1985, is a Kashmiri separatist group. It was designated a terrorist organisation by India,[1] the European Union[2] and the United States,[3] active in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The current supreme commander of the group is a Sayeed Salahudeen.

Divisions in the 1990s, Ceasefire of 2000

In 1991, after the merger with the Tahreek-e-Jihad-e-Islami (TJI), the strength of the Hizbul had reached 10,000.[4] In the following years, rivalries developed within the Hizb, culminating in a killing of 21 people in a PoK village near the border in 1998.[5]

By the late 1990s, several voices within the Hizb including its operational commander Abdul Majeed Dar sought a return to more peaceful approaches. In July 2000, Dar, along with four other Hizb commanders, made a surprise unilateral ceasefire declaration from the outskirts of Srinagar.[6] The ceasefire was immediately ratified by the PoK based commander Sayeed Salahudeen,[7] but was criticized strongly in the Pakistan media.[5] It was withdrawn by Salahudeen by September. In 2002, Dar was denounced as an agent of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).[8] He was expelled from the Hizb along with four divisional commanders.

The ceasefire move, its immediate endorsement and subsequent withdrawal highlighted deep divisions between the more hawkish operatives in PoK and those based in India.[9]

Dar and several other ex-Hizb leaders were assassinated between 2001 and 2003.[6][10] The organization today, under Salahudeen, is viewed as much more hardcore.

Sayeed Salahudeen

Sayeed Salahudeen is at present located in Pakistan. The media often reports his whereabouts in Azad Kashmir or in Northern Punjab. The Indian government has requested the Pakistani government extradite Sayeed Salahudeen. However, in recent times a well known news agency conducted an interview with the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, where the leader claimed that the government of Pakistan would never hand him over to the Indian authorities.

Although Sayeed Salahudeen is a citizen of Indian administered Kashmir, he is known to have resided in towns located around important cities like Karachi and Peshawar, sources claim that this pattern is followed for two main reasons,

  1. Many sources claim that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader maintains continuous contact with the Intelligence agency of Pakistan, ISI. These towns are used as meeting places where important information regarding Kashmir switches hands along with funding required to conduct militant training camps.
  2. The Indian parliament has not sanctioned covert operations across the LOC, because the Indian forces are not capable of doing so. Sayeed Salahudeen moves freely wherever he wants.

Pakistan's support

“ We are fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan, ”
— Sayeed Salahudeen (leader of Hizbul Mujahideen)[11]

In June 2012 in an interview, Salahuddin accepted that Pakistan had been backing Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir.[11] He warned of attacks in Pakistan if Pakistan stopped backing jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir who, he claimed, were fighting Pakistan's war.[11][12]

In September 4, 2013 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Talib Lali was arrested from his native Ajas in Bandipore by security forces.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Archived January 29, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "US adds 4 Indian outfits to terror list". Rediff. 30 April 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Mohammad Ahsan Dar's Arrest: End of the Road for Hizbul? by Amin Masoodi". Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies -. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Archived January 9, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 "Abdul Majid Dar shot dead". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hizb expels three top commanders". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Dar & Co are RAW agents: Hizbul hawks". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Hizbul meltdown". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Praveen Swami; Indian Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: The Covert War in Kashmir, 1947-2004 Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 0415404592
  11. 1 2 3 PTI (Jun 8, 2012). "Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin warns Pakistan against withdrawing support on Kashmir". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Normalization of Indo-Pak ties hurts Kashmir cause: sale chutyie...Salahuddin". Arab News. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Talib Lali arrested in Jammu & Kashmir - The Times of India". The Times Of India.

External links

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