EditorialDangerous portends!

Dangerous portends!

Date:

Dangerous portends!

A six-minute audio clip of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander talked about establishing an Islamic caliphate in has gone viral in the valley and warns separatist leaders of Kashmir not to meddle in the move to set up a caliphate in and Kashmir along the lines of the rule established by the ISIS in parts of Syria and Iraq.

There was no immediate confirmation about the source or authenticity of the audio.

But if the voice is that of Moosa, it may signal a worrying turn in Kashmir's insurgency. The movement so far has largely been about independence or annexation with Pakistan, without emphasising Islam or connecting it to jihad.

In the clip, the speaker asks separatists to either fight along with militants in the field or refrain from making statements about the armed struggle. The clip surfaced after a recent move by Hurriyat leaders to downplay fears of the growing influence of the ISIS in the Valley.

Earlier this week, Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yaseen Malik issued a joint statement in which they claimed that the Kashmir struggle had nothing to do with the ISIS, Al-Qaida and other such organisations.

In a statement today, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Sallahuddin also said there was no place for groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda or the Taliban in Jammu and Kashmir. “This movement is purely local and indigenous. It has no agenda. Al Qaeda, Daesh or Taliban have no involvement or role in Kashmir,” he said.

Last month, two masked gunmen appeared at the grave of a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist in Pulwama during which they asked the gathering to follow the rules laid down by the Taliban and ISIS, and not support or raise slogans in favour of Pakistan.

For over three minutes, they spoke about pan-Islamisation and the importance of having Shariat as a law and fled after firing shots in the air.

Militant outfits including the United Jehad Council, a conglomerate of terror outfits based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as well as separatists were quick to downplay the incident but security officials viewed it with more seriousness.

Security agencies felt that if the growing influence of ISIS was not checked, it could adversely affect the already precarious situation in the Valley.

They said chats and contacts between Kashmiri youth and possible handlers in Syria and Iraq had grown in the last six months.

As per agencies reports, there was no specific information about the Internet users other than the fact that they were from villages in Pulwama, Anantnag, Sopore, Prang and Lar in Kashmir as well as Reasi, Kishtawar and Doda areas of Jammu region.

During the recent protests across the Valley, ISIS flags were waved in some areas. Slogans supporting the banned terror outfit were also up on some walls.

The Indian Army has also been worried about the growing influence of the ISIS ideology on the Valley's youth. A study last year showed that six out of 10 young Kashmiris were watching of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik or other jehadi videos.

 

Northlines
Northlines
The Northlines is an independent source on the Web for news, facts and figures relating to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and its neighbourhood.

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