Srinagar
Stating that militant groups fighting in Kashmir “had no global agenda”, the United Jehad Council (UJC) and the Lashkar-e- Toiba (LeT) blamed the government of India for creating confusion by delegitimising the “Kashmir movement” and associating it with global extremist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Media on Thursday had reported that an Al Qaeda-linked cell named “Ansar Ghuzwat-Ul-Hind had made Zakir Musa, the erstwhile commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, its head.
In a video issued to the media, the supreme commander of the UJC – a grouping of Kashmir militant outfits – Syed Salahuddin said that the “freedom struggle of Kashmir has no global agenda”, while ruling out any role for ISIS and Al Qaeda in Kashmir.
“Freedom movement of Jammu and Kashmir is indigenous, and it has no global agenda,” the UJC chief said. “There is no space for Daesh, Al Qaeda or others in Kashmir, nor is there any need (for their operations).”
In a veiled reference to Zakir, who separated from the Hizb, he said that some of “our friends play in the hands of our enemy and are harming the unity of the nation and its leadership”.
“We want to make it clear to them that such steps won’t help them. The Kashmir struggle is aimed at freedom from the Indian occupation, with Islam and unity as its motivating factors,” he added.
“The freedom-loving people of Kashmir are being misguided, and confusion is being created among their ranks. It is equal to helping the aim of the enemy,” Salahuddin said, claiming that he UJC had confirmed reports that the Indian state is using “Daesh-like organisations for causing bloodshed in Kashmir, as was done in the case of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan”.
“Such organisations can be propped up to be used as proxies to counter the rebel leadership of Kashmir,” Salahuddin added.
