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Kashmir : Hardliners take control of Hurriyat

	September 22, 2003

Much to the disappointment of the Centre, the All Party Hurriyat Conference has gone back into the hands of hardliners, when there were signs that it could adopt a more moderate and reasonable attitude towards talks with the government on finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. Going by the preceding events, it did not come as a surprise when hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was unanimously elected chairman of breakaway group of the Hurriyat Conference last week. Masarat Alam was named the new general secretary of the conglomerate of the 13 separatist parties, which expressed no confidence against Maulvi Abbas Ansari as chairman of All Party Hurriyat Conference a fortnight ago. This move combined with stepped up violence in the State has caused apprehensions at the Centre, whether the Prime Minister’s initiatives for securing peace in Kashmir had failed. While Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has been bravely asserting that things are in control and he is hopeful that the current phase of militant violence will end shortly, events indicate otherwise. Hardly a day has passed in the last fortnight without a militant strike or encounters with security forces.



Why Geelani stepped out

Geelani developed differences with Ansari’s Hurriyat for not taking action against the People’s Conference of Sajjad Lone for, what he called participating in the Assembly polls held in October last year. The rebel group of about 13 separatist parties besides United Jehad Council and Hizbul Mujahideen supported Geelani in replacing Moulvi Abbas Ansari as chairman of the Hurriyat Conference. The 13 parties, which supported Geelani were — Muslim Conference of Sumji, People Conference of Hubbi, Jammat-e-Islamia, Anjuman-e-Shar-e-Shiyan of Aga Syed Hassan, National Front of Nayeem Khan, Muslim Khawateen-e-Markaz of Yasmeena Raja, Kashmir mass movement of Farida Behanji, People’s League of Rehmani, Muslim League of Masarat Aalam, Democratic Political Movement of Firdous Ahmad Shah, People’s League of G Q Hagroo, Jammu freedom movement of G A Mir and Jammu freedom movement of Tantray.

Earlier, Geelani and Bilal Gani Lone of People’s Conference were put under house arrest by the district authorities. Official sources said both the leaders were put under house arrest to avoid clashes between their supporters at the meetings at their respective residences. Geelani and Lone have been at loggerheads, with the former Hurriyat Chairman accusing the Peoples Conference chief of fielding proxy candidates in last year’s Assembly polls.

Calling his house arrest ‘illegal and undemocratic’, Geelani said there was no proposal to hold any public meeting. According to Abdul Ghani Bhat, former Hurriyat chairman the rebel group led by Geelani was responsible for the horizontal split in the Hurriyat. The former chairman of the 25-party amalgam was quick to add that the breakaway group would not affect the credibility or the strength of the Hurriyat Conference.

The two factions of the Hurriyat Conference headed by Geelani and Abbas Ansari were claiming to be the genuine Hurriyat. Though the Ansari faction did announce some moves aimed at reconciliation between the two sides, the Geelani faction ruled out any such possibility. The former chairman of Hurriyat Conference and chief clergy man of Kashmir Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a bid to reconcile between the two rival groups received a jolt when Geelani demanded the ouster of People’s Conference from the Hurriyat Conference. Mirwaiz, according to sources, refused to remove People’s Conference from Hurriyat.

Terming the split in the Hurriyat a cleansing process, Geelani said the people who were against Hurriyat objective had been rejected. Downplaying the taking over of Geelani as chairman of the breakaway group as ‘inconsequential’, the Hurriyat Conference, said that it will continue efforts for reconciliation between the two groups.

Meanwhile, in a move seen as a jolt to Ansari-led faction, the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) has invited Geelani to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of Islamic countries in New York. In a communication to Jamaat-i-Islami leader Geelani, OIC functionary Abdul Ahad-al-Aziz addressed him as chairman of the Hurriyat Conference and invited him for the meeting. The invitation to Geelani is considered a jolt to Ansari-led faction of the separatist alliance as the Hurriyat enjoys status of an observer in the OIC.



Fighting militancy : Top aide of slain Jaish leader too shot

After the killing of top Jaish operative Gazi Baba, causing a severe setback to the militant outfit, Kashmir Police have claimed that they have eliminated another top commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Srinagar. Mohammad Aslam Awan alias Ansar, resident of Dumail Attock in Pakistan, was involved in more than twenty killings, the police disclosed. Ansar was killed in an encounter with the police and Border Security Force personnel.

“Ansar was number two in the Jaish-e-Mohammad hierarchy after Sehrai Baba was nominated the commander of the outfit. His killing is a big blow to the Jaish,” the police chief said.

Meanwhile, photographic evidence available with the Army indicates that terrorist camps in the Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are back in business. According to the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Shantonu Choudhury, intelligence reports indicate that there was no let up in infiltration level, which was the same as last year. On the rise in artillery and mortar fire from across the LoC, he said these were usually a cover for infiltration attempts by Pakistan-based terrorists.



Winning back the trust

The series of terrorist incidents in Kashmir, observers say, leave little doubt that the gun is once again in the ascendant. If credible steps are not taken to reverse the situation, what the people of the Kashmir Valley did by taking courage to go out to vote in large numbers in the assembly election a year ago would be undone. The Kashmiri on the street could have done no more. It is up to the government to do the rest to neutralise the foreign terrorists who have been entrenched in Kashmir’s towns for more than a decade.

Several days of heightened violence recently seems to have ended the early summer euphoria generated by Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed’s ‘Healing Touch’ agenda. The killing of Kuka Parrey, the reformed former terrorist, in rural Baramullah is a further blow to the peacemakers’ morale. With Islamists and centrists in the All Party Hurriyat Conference splitting, the Central Government’s efforts to initiate a dialogue with secessionists seem bogged down. The levels of violence before May this year were similar to those of last year; the escalation being witnessed follows the same pattern. The guns had fallen silent for some time chiefly on Islamabad’s signal which probably hoped that quiet US persuasion might encourage New Delhi to commence negotiations with it on the ‘core’ issue. The waiting period and Pakistan’s partial restraint now seem to be over.

After their success in eliminating Ghazi Baba, the security forces have had to sacrifice several senior officers and other ranks in the stepped-up militant activities. What is going to rankle for a long time is the gunning down of Kuka Parray. His murder may affect the counter-insurgency movement greatly, considering that his group of about 500 counter-insurgents called Ikhwanis had succeeded in eliminating around 1,000 militants and their harbourers. Terrorists have openly said that Parray has been killed in retaliation for the gunning down of Ghazi Baba and have threatened to kill two more prominent persons. Worse, the murder may send out the message that the government cannot protect those who switch over to its side. Another counter-insurgent, Javed Shah, was killed in Srinagar on August 27. It is one thing for officials to say that the spurt in violence indicates that the terrorists are frustrated but quite another to explain this to the victims.

The mandate of the Assembly elections showed that the people demanded security more than anything else so that they may go about their lives in relative peace. This cannot be attained by military action across the Line of Control or by engaging the jehadi elements in forest regions alone. A crucial element of the fight for democracy in Kashmir involves exposing and suitably dealing with jehadis nesting in urban centres. Cutting off their funds with which they subvert the society, interrupting their supply lines and putting them behind bars are tasks that brook no delay.

Militants have upped the ante not only in Jammu and Kashmir but all over the country, be it in Mumbai or in Delhi. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is not disclosing anything new when he says that this violence is part of a bigger gameplan. The obvious aim is to foment communal trouble in the country.

Observers say by now, it is quite clear that the war against terrorism cannot be won only through pious slogans. Militants taking their cue from Pakistan are not going to listen to voices of reason and will consider all talk of healing touch as a sign of weakness. That Pakistan has no intention of closing training camps in occupied Kashmir is clear from the revelations made by two Kashmiri youths who ran away from one such camp. Their assertion that Kashmiris are being kidnapped to join such camps should open the eyes of world leaders.



Pak’s Kashmir connection: Using Geelani

The successful and generally peaceful conduct of the Kashmir assembly elections was an indication that Kashmir was slipping out of Islamabad’s hands. Without Kashmir, Islamabad would have no reason to exist. A peaceful Kashmir would mean the death of the very idea of Pakistan, Kashmir watchers point out. The counter-offensive began in July. Syed Ali Shah Geelani was sent the message. A rabidly pro-Pakistan religious teacher, he broke ranks and split the Hurriyat. Geelani has always done Islamabad’s bidding, lending vocal support to terrorists and their agenda in the Valley.

During last year’s October elections in the State, it was Geelani who tried his best to derail the process by forcing the Hurriyat to boycott the polls and by running a tirade against the People’s Conference, a Hurriyat component, for tacitly backing the democratic process. The fact his ploy did not make the people budge from exercising their rights left Islamabad in a quandary.

A word or two about Geelani’s connections to Islamabad would not be out of place here. On July 30 this year, two Srinagar residents, Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh and Saifuddin Bhatt, were arrested for their hawala connections. In their confessional statements, they said they were entrusted with the task of passing on Rs 10 lakh to Geelani to help him float a parallel separatist outfit on the lines of the Hurriyat. Sheikh is a known hawala racketeer with a base in Kathmandu where, police officials say, he gets ample support from officials of the Pakistani High Commission.

Evidence two: Geelani got his elder son admitted to a medical specialisation course at the PIMS Institute in Islamabad. Evidence three: During a raid on Geelani’s house on June 9 last year, income tax authorities seized currency worth $ 10000 and Rs 10.2 lakh, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amounts of jewellery, a diamond encrusted watch with the inscription “From Pakistan Government”, and documents about property and vehicles. The seized documents and currency clearly showed Geelani was living well-in fact, beyond his means.

By his own admission, Geelani’s total annual income was Rs 17,100-Rs 7,100 as pension from the State Assembly (he is a former member) and Rs 10,000 as agricultural income. But an assessment made by the income tax authorities showed that Geelani spent close to Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh every month. He employed at least 15 servants and gave Rs 25,000 to his wife (her statement) for kitchen expenses.

These facts and figures, according to observers, show that Geelani’s actions in splitting the Hurriyat were motivated and engineered by Islamabad, where plans are afoot to subvert the peace process and create, once again, an atmosphere of distrust and hatred.

The picture cannot be complete without factoring in the sudden spurt of violence in the Valley. The security forces are on attacking mode again. Serious attempts are being made to revive terrorism by staging fidayeen (suicide) attacks on army camps, triggering blasts in crowded places and causing mayhem on festivals. One military camp has already been attacked. More are on the list.

A quick analysis of the fidayeen attacks on military camps would show that terrorists may soon target a big cantonment or an establishment in and around Srinagar. And in all probability, they would use explosive-laden vehicles (as in the past) to cause maximum damage and terror. Less protected Border Security Force encampments and bunkers could be primary targets. Likewise, sensitive targets in New Delhi are equally vulnerable in the coming festive season.

In the past few weeks, there has been an increase in intelligence chatter about the movements of terrorists and explosives to the Delhi. There could be a serious attempt made to disrupt peace in the Capital and cause a feeling of terror and unquiet in the country. There is a strong possibility Islamabad will exploit communal tensions that are likely to erupt in the north and western parts of India following a renewed call given by fundamentalist organisations like the VHP to launch politically-motivated agitations, like the temple issue.

The recent Mumbai blasts too could be considered an exercise of similar nature, except that they failed to trigger the reaction Islamabad had planned for. The design was to trigger a communal backlash against Muslims in Mumbai and other cities and towns across Maharashtra, which would have effectively shut down India’s business Capital.

The aftermath of the Mumbai blasts clearly indicates that the majority of Muslims do not subscribe to terrorism as an instrument of Islam. There is a growing realisation among them that terrorism is a double-edged weapon; it works against the very community that overlooks the activities of its misguided groups.