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India-Pakistan
Changing face of militancy
2003-04-11
A short piece from a long article:
The Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), one of the biggest militant groups operating in Kashmir, is in the throes of a violent churning. Within the span of a fortnight, two of its senior-most leaders, albeit belonging to rival factions, have been killed. Besides, fighting between the two factions is said to have assumed serious proportions in recent weeks. Last week, Indian security forces killed Saif-ul Islam, the "chief operations commander" of the HM in Indian-administered Kashmir. According to Indian sources, Saif-ul Islam, second in command to the Pakistan-based HM supremo Mohammed Yusuf Shah, alias Syed Salahuddin, was captured by Indian security forces on April 2. Indian sources say that Saif-ul Islam led the security forces to a HM hideout where he was killed in an exchange of fire between militants and the security forces. Separatists contend that Saif-ul Islam's death was the result of torture while in custody.
The rest of us don't care, as long as he stays dead...
Ten days earlier, Abdul Majid Dar, Saif-ul Islam's predecessor as "chief operations commander", was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his home town, Sopore. A "moderate" within the HM who is believed to have been in favor of dialogue with the Indian government, Dar fell foul of the pro-Pakistan leadership of the HM when he announced a unilateral ceasefire in July 2000. He was slowly sidelined, then replaced by Saif-ul Islam (a Salahuddin loyalist) and finally expelled in May 2002. The developments led to a serious split in the HM, with a majority of the Kashmir-based commanders throwing their weight behind Dar. Pakistan's money and weapons, however, went to the Salahuddin faction. The rift between Dar and Salahuddin was more than a mere clash of personalities. They differed on strategy. Dar, the man who was active on the ground in Indian Kashmir, had come to believe that armed struggle was heading nowhere, that the mood in the Valley was pro-peace and that a negotiated settlement with India would prove more rewarding. This shift in strategy was unacceptable to Salahuddin and his mentor-benefactors in Pakistan's Inter-Intelligence Services (ISI).
The "Don't give Peace a chance" crowd.
HM militants active in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are said to be deeply resentful of the way in which Salahuddin issues orders and controls the operations from the air conditioned safety of Muzaffarabad, the capital of "Azad" Kashmir (the part of Kashmir under Pakistan control) while they face the fire on the ground from the Indian security forces. They point to the fact that while hundreds of other Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives for the cause, Salahuddin's five sons are busy carving out careers for themselves in India - none of them joined the militancy. Over the past two years, the Dar-Salahuddin feud is said to have fueled much bloodletting within the HM. Besides, both factions have apparently provided the Indian forces with information regarding each other's hideouts.
Much more betrayal and infighting, read the whole thing.
Posted by:Steve

#1  Isn't it 'interesting' that whilst Pakistan claims to be supporting the indigenous kashmiri people, they also seem to be killing the Kashmiri people. Kashmiri Islam is completely different to the talibani Islam that Pakland is trying to push into the region. What the ISI keeps forgetting to mention is that the puppet Prime-Minister of Pakistani side of Kashmir must agree to accede Kashmir to Pakland. Any one that wants a kashmir independent of both India and Pakland is not even allowed to run for election by PakGov. Also when they keep talking about protecting their fellow muslims they forget to mention the genocide that the Pak army committed against the musims of Bangladesh (then east Pakland) in the 1970s.
Posted by: rg117   2003-04-11 10:11:46  

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