The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has banned a monthly magazine 'Shahadat' owned by the militant organisation Tehreekul Mujahideen, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday.
| Guess it must be time to change the masthead to "Shahadat Times"... |
Sources said it was for the first time that a militant publication had been proscribed by the AJK government during the last 15 years. Tehreekul Mujahideen, led by Sheikh Jamilur Rehman, had been publishing the magazine for the last eight years from Muzaffarabad. The magazine focussed on the Kashmir movement in the Indian-held Kashmir. Tehreekul Mujahideen is member of the United Jihad Council (UJC) and Rehman is the UJC secretary general. Sources said the magazine in its recent issue published a few articles on the recent visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the split in the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the role of Pakistan, India, and the US in starting the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service and had condemned these governments along with the AJK government. The magazine was especially critical of Pakistan's policy on Kashmir. Interior Ministry of the AJK government notified the imposition of the ban on the basis that such articles could promote sectarianism in the region. |