This post-2014 nervousness among them is reinforced when in January this year a high level delegation of separatists led by its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq visited Pakistan. The delegates met Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin – heads of their respective militant groups, LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen – and held a meeting with them which was not made public. Both the militant leaders told a delegation of separatists from Jammu and Kashmir that armed militancy would revive in the Valley in 2014.
“Both Saeed and Salahuddin told us that militancy in Kashmir would escalate after the US-led international troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014,” one of the delegates had told a New Delhi based magazine following their visit.
Both Saeed and Salahuddin had further told the Hurriyat delegates that with “the US off their back, the militants would be in a position of command in Kashmir after 2014.”
“They say India won’t bargain sincerely unless armed militancy forces its hands,” the delegate explained to the magazine as to why they think US led NATO forces withdrawal from Afghanistan would led to increase in militancy in Kashmir.
Noted political commentator and professor of law, Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain while opining over the issue of new age militants and Afghan spill over said, “The so called normalcy is not a normalcy, but has a potential of erupting into a full fledged militancy unless the root causes of the Kashmir conflict are addressed and youth are given a sense of achievement.”
He, however said that unfortunately those who matter remained indifferent to this analysis and perceive that the Kashmiri youth have abandoned gun for ever.
Talking about the ripple effects, he said, “Kashmir continued to be an issue when Afghan was not a issue, it would remain an issue when Americans would go away from Afghanistan since there is a deep sense of alienation which makes Kashmir a potential place for violence given the fact that all measures taken to address the issue prove to be hoax or time gaining exercise.”
But a political science professor, Gul Wani disagrees with the view that the educated youth joining militant ranks can be termed as a new phenomenon.
“Just taking few cases of educated youth joining militants does not establish for a qualitative dimension. This is not sufficient sample to establish it as a trend,” Wani said, adding, “It is disturbing though.”
Wani further said that US drawdown in Afghanistan would only have psychological impact not a security one. “It would certainly be a situation of extreme caution since everybody is talking about post 2014 happenings. The Pakistani state has its internal and external problems. So I don’t think it would have any large scale bearing on Kashmir as is being projected,” he explained
Soon after the Hyderpora attack in which eight army personnel were killed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the largest indigenous militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The attack was carried out by special squad of the outfit and our militants reached their hideouts safely,” HM’s operational spokesperson Baleeg-u-Din told a local Kashmiri news gathering agency immediately after the attack. “These special squads would continue to target their targets in future as well.”
This terse and strong statement of Hizb was followed by another warning by United Jehad Council General Secretary Sheikh Jameel Ur Rahman who said that the attack on Indian army convoys is done to liberate Kashmir from the occupant forces.
Rahman said the attacks on Indian forces will continue in future as the United Nations Charter legalizes such kind of attacks.
Not The First Attack When PM Is In Srinagar
Tasavur Mushtaq
There were quite a few visits of the Prime Ministers that did not witness militant violence. But all the incident free visits were to Jammu: April 13, 2005, July 15, 2007, April 26, 2008, and March 4, 2011and it was never the case when it comes to Kashmir.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was preceded by a deadly attack on army convoy in Hyderpora, Srinagar’s uptown area. Army suffered the huge causality as they lost eight jawans, many injured while militants managed to flee from the spot and on way hit Sub inspector of CRPF in Barzulla.
But that was never the case in case of Kashmir. Both Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh visited Kashmir when there was a violent reaction as militants stepped up their activities. Even there was reaction when I K Gujral was in Srinagar. Here are a few dates:
January 1998
In Wandhama, outskirts of Srinagar around 23 Kashmiri Pandits were killed on the eve of I K Gujral’s visit, the then Prime Minister of India.
May 2002
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in town and Abdul Gani Lone, one of the senior Hurriyat leaders was shot dead in Eidgah. Lone had spoken against foreign militants a few days before he was assassinated. He was shot dead while attending the death anniversary of Miwaiz Molvi Farooq.
August 2003
Militants stormed Green Way hotel in Srinagar’s business centre Lalcowk when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was presiding over an inter-state council meeting at SKICC, on the banks of Dal Lake. During the attack, top counter insurgent commander and one time lawmaker Javed Shah was killed.
November 2004
As Dr Manmohan Singh’s aircraft landed, security agencies had a chance encounter with two militants who had placed themselves atop a hillock overlooking the venue wherefrom he was supposed to deliver a speech. Three-hours gun-battle led to killing of two militants as seven persons including four security-men were wounded. During Singh’s visit, 11 persons were killed in different attacks.
April 2005
Heritage Tourist Reception Centre went up in flames as militants carried out a suicide attack in Srinagar city on the eve of Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to flag off Karwan-e-Aman bus service to PoK on April 7, 2005. A few days later, he formally inaugurated the Udhampur-Jammu railway track on April 13.
May 2006
As Prime Minister Dr Singh flew to preside over J&K Roundtable Conference in Srinagar, militants carried out six attacks killing nine tourists as 45 others were injured.
October 2009
Two persons killed in police action when Dr Singh was in Srinagar to flag off Qazigund-Baramulla railway line.
Crispy —OK.
It is not only that ‘education’ concerns Endian establishment. Yeh it may be one of the, but wt concerns them most is steady revival. While this comment is being moderated our mujahid brothers again have engaged Endian establishment in Tral sector. This ‘steady’ revival should have been focus, moreso wt is most astonishing is this that despite hurriyat leaders calling for moderate means {both G+M+KLF}.
Muslim Brotherhood, Mlitancy and Jehad:
The following extracts from the above report show clearly that it is not primarily Kashmiris themselves but the Afganistan-pakistan and foriegn militants nexus which is making life of kashmiris in the valley miserable, besides killing security forces, innocent civilians as well as those who have unfortunately been misguided by their agenda, due to reasons of poverty:
• “The police later told Kashmir Life that Mir was motivated by the ideology of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In November 2010, LeT operative Mohammad Saleem Ganai alias Faisal, a final-year college student, had given a tough fight to security forces before getting killed in an encounter in Kulgam.”
• “Both Saeed and Salahuddin told us that militancy in Kashmir would escalate after the US-led international troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014,”
• “Soon after the Hyderpora attack in which eight army personnel were killed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the largest indigenous militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was carried out by special squad of the outfit and our militants reached their hideouts safely, HM’s operational spokesperson Baleeg-u-Din told a local Kashmiri news gathering agency immediately after the attack. This terse and strong statement of Hizb was followed by another warning by United Jehad Council General Secretary Sheikh Jameel Ur Rahman who said that the attack on Indian army convoys is done to liberate Kashmir from the occupant forces. Rahman said the attacks on Indian forces will continue in future as the United Nations Charter legalizes such kind of attacks.” This is ridiculous statement as UN Charter would never legalise such violence .
• “The total number of militants active in Kashmir must be around 130. Around 50 percent of them are foreigners, rest are Kashmiris,” Mir said.
If I remember correctly, in a press conference, SYED SALAHUDDIN had feigned ignorance about ‘ripple effect of post 2014 affecting Kashmir’ but had said that ‘M’ leaders might had their own sources regarding the issue?