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The Rediff Special/ Sati Sahni'Slaves have no Eid...'
The concluding part of a series on the Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest militant outfit in Jammu and Kashmir. Click for Part 1, Part 2.
He appealed to the Kashmiris to remember the people who sacrificed their lives. He urged them to take the movement to its logical conclusion. The hardcore of the Jamait-i-Islami and the HM leadership were by then having differences of perception and the means to achieve their objective. Salahudin on November 26, 1997 disassociated his outfit from the Jamait-i-Islami. "Our outfit is not affiliated with any particular group. Ours is an armed resistance movement of all the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We have a network from Srinagar to every important capital of the world and our supporters are all Kashmiris and expatriate Kashmiris," he said. Giving reasons for the uprising, Salahudin added, "After 50 years of Indian rule in J&K, the people have been deprived of their political, economic and other fundamental rights. People were made economically bankrupt and politically worse than slaves." In February 1998 reports from Pakistan spoke of Salahudin being displaced from the HM leadership. No confirmation was available in Srinagar, but an incident in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in April 1998 threw new light. On the night of April 27 in Village Samani, some 300 meters on the other side of the Line of Control, in Bhimber district of PoK, 21 villagers were killed. Pakistan authorities were quick to blame India's Research and Analysis Wing for the carnage. Subsequent information, however, confirmed that it was the result of the intense rivalry between two HM groups -- one loyal to Salahudin, a Kashmiri, and the other headed by a Pakistani, Masood Sarfraz, who was deputed by the Inter-Services Intelligence to replace Salahudin. On May 23, 1998, at Qamarwari on the outskirts of Srinagar, a landmine partially destroyed a vehicle. Ruling party legislator and president of Youth National Conference Ghulam Nabi Shaheen was seriously injured. Later his left leg had to be amputated. The day after the blast, the HM claimed responsibility for it. THE HM was bound to react to the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in May 1998. But its reaction was different from that of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference. HM deputy chief Abdullah Nasir in a statement on June 7, 1998 saw a change in the attitude of New Delhi that had opened negotiations with Pakistan. The statement asked Delhi to give up its "50-year-old stubborn attitude towards Kashmir and thus prevent your own disintegration". It congratulated Pakistan "for answering India in the same coin". The HM asked people to celebrate the event. It declared a week of jubilation. In some areas of Downtown Srinagar, militants celebrated Pakistan's nuclear tests by firing in the air and later with fireworks.
In Doda district some activists in far-flung areas had started acting as 'village elders' and were arbitrating between individuals and different groups. This way they also tried to present a different face to the militants. In most of these areas there is no judicial presence and no trace of village panchayats. In some cases 'favourable decisions' were pronounced for monetary consideration. People in these remote areas fall in line because there is no other means of getting any justice. SOME of the HM's senior leaders were in Pakistan, living a life of security and comfort. It was claimed that they were directing and controlling the movement from there. Four of them were known: Syed Salahudin, Er Zaman, Riyaz Rasool and Abdul Majeed Dar. In Kashmir some of its leading commanders had been eliminated. These included Firdaus Kirmani, Manzoor Ahmed Khan and Naseeb-ud-Din Ghazi. The HM leadership in Pakistan was worried about militants wanting to join the counterinsurgent ranks. Plans were made to stem this trend and work out incentives to return those who had already moved out. In an appeal on January 16, 1999 from Pakistan, Salahudin advised the surrendered militants to give up their present path and return to militant ranks. He promised them not only freedom but that they would be given special treatment. The HM leadership was undecided on how to react to the Lahore Declaration following the summit meeting between the Indian and Pakistan prime ministers on February 21, 1999. The HM chief in a statement on March 3, 1999 said that though they were not against bilateral talks, these would not yield any result unless representatives of Kashmiri people were involved. "Neither can Indian sugar change the taste of Pakistani people, nor can Pakistan power provide light to dark hearts till the Kashmir issue is settled," he said. The HM reaction to J&K Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's call to militants to surrender and contest election was strong and direct. A joint statement issued on March 24, 1999 by Salahudin and deputy chief Saifullah Khalid ridiculed the chief minister for making such an offer. They called him a "paid Indian agent", and reiterated that the HM was determined to carry on the struggle for "complete freedom of the state". Concluded Excerpted from Kashmir Underground, Haranand Publications Private Limited, Rs 595, with the publishers' permission.
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ON April 18, 1997, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahudin asked Kashmiris to celebrate with austerity the Idd-ul-Zuha. In a statement he lamented, "Slaves have no Eid and their real Eid is their freedom."
Reports were current in Srinagar about this time that efforts to set up a few bodies of erstwhile secessionists had succeeded. The National Security Organisation floated by Tabrez Hyder was one such. Fearing erosion in the Hurriyat ranks, the HM advised the APHC to keep a close watch on its constituents and have tighter control over its cadres.