Kashmir Valley�s Internecine Wars

A visit to the so-called ‘martyrs graveyard’ at Eidgah in downtown Srinagar brings back haunting memories of insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). As one steps into the cemetery graves of Maulvi Farooq, the Mirwaiz and Abdul Gani Lone, Peoples Conference leader come in full view. Amidst patches of blue irises, lesser-known citizens are buried in neat rows – cementing a popular belief that all these men and women of the Kashmir valley fell to bullets of police, counter-insurgents, intelligence agencies, para-military forces and the army in covert or overt operations. Since 1989, media, human rights groups and civil society have been fed on this canard by separatists; albeit successfully.

The people of Kashmir have a different take on this tragedy. In public they subscribe to prevailing perception and dutifully observe death anniversaries of leaders, blaming ‘Indian agencies’ for their ‘martyrdom’. But, in private they talk in hushed tones about a mysterious person and a well-knit politico-militant organisation, whose main task is to eliminate ideological dissidence. Every city, town and village of the valley has lost men and women. People refer to it as ‘midnight knock’. The inside story of killings of famous leaders of the Kashmir valley has been an open secret. But the politicians, Hurriyat leaders, local media and militants have always blamed Indian agencies for it.

Insurgency in J&K has claimed about 14,600 civilian lives. While India, Pakistan and separatists accuse each other for the tragedy, fresh inputs from independent sources implicate Pakistan for this genocide. Arif Jamal, a research scientist at New York University in his book Shadow of War: The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir states that in order to retain control over the ‘freedom struggle’ in Kashmir,  the Pakistan Army and the country’s chief spook agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has employed the Jamait-e-Islami, Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba for murdering prominent and common citizens. About 7,000 people have been killed in the valley by Jamait-Hizb-Lashkar henchmen. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leadership and cadre, propagating independence of Kashmir from India and Pakistan, has suffered the maximum. The JKLF was once the dominant player in the valley but was decimated to a minority by 1992.

In 1993, the ISI compelled all political factions to form the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC). The pro-Pakistan leadership under Syed Ali Shah Gilani vied for its control, resulting in assassinations of moderate leaders and a split in the APHC in 2003. This power game, backed by Pakistan has claimed lives of many – leaders, intellectuals, clerics surrendered militants and ordinary citizens; like Maulvi Farooq (1990), Dr. Guru (1993), Prof Abdul Ahad Wani (1993), Qazi Nissar (1994), Prof Mohammad Ramzan (1999), Abdul Gani Lone (2002), Majid Dar (2003), Kuka Parrey (2003), Sheikh Abdul Aziz (2008) and very recently Moulana Shaukat Shah (2011).

In January this year, while speaking in a seminar organised by JKLF in Srinagar, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, ex-chairman APHC stunned the audience by saying that Maulvi Farooq, Prof Abdul Ahad Wani and Abdul Gani Lone were not killed by ‘Indian agencies’, but, by ‘own people’. His statement has created ripples in the Valley, shaming Hurriyat (G) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Gilani, who’s implicit hand in these killings has been always suspected.

Close on Prof Bhat’s revelations, Sajjad Lone, son of Abdul Gani Lone backed him and said, “The truth must prevail and people must decide whom they wish to support – the murderers or murdered.” On 21 May 2002, when Abdul Gani Lone was killed, Sajjad had accused the ISI for his father’s murder. Later, he retracted from his statement. Recently he wrote in an English daily from Srinagar, “Truth however bitter has to prevail. It is never late to speak the truth.” The response of Maulvi Umar Farooq whose father Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq was killed by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in 1990 was muted but he did not contradict Bhat’s statement.

On 8 January, Jamaiat-Ahl-Hadith’s (JAH) president Maulana Showkat Ahmed Shah was killed in a blast near a mosque in Srinagar. JAH is a religious organisation with a large support base in the valley and amongst Muslims worldwide. The killing of the Maulana drew widespread condemnation and public ire. Once again the needle of suspicion points towards a Jamait-Hizb-Lashkar combo. It is not the first time a JAH cleric has been targeted. In 1999, Prof Mohammad Ramzan, then president JAH was killed by militants when he was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers. Last year Maulana Showkat had condemned the stone-pelting and termed it as ‘un-Islamic’, thus incurring wrath of hardliners. He was also in touch with Centre’s interlocutors on J&K.

It was while speaking in a condolence meeting that Moulvi Abbas Ansari, a Shia leader and ex-Chairman APHC hinted that, “killers of Showkat Ahmed Shah were amongst us” – trashing Hurriyat (G) claims that the murder was again a handiwork of Indian agencies. Sensing the prevalent anti-Pak and anti-Gilani mood in Kashmir, United Jihad Council (UJC) chairman Syed Salahuddin stepped in for damage control from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and declared that, “UJC will utilise all available resources to expose the killers.” In retaliation, APHC expelled Maulvi Abbas Ansari on charges that he had held talks with the Centre’s interlocutors on J&K.

Over the years Pakistan has been losing ground and its appeal in Kashmir. “Large sections of people in the Valley may not be for India, but they are not for Pakistan either. Many independent opinion polls conducted during the past two decades of turmoil have established that given a choice between India and Pakistan, huge numbers of Kashmiris on both sides of the divide, would want to be with India. As per a survey by Chatham House in 2010, 98 per cent people in Kashmir and 50 per cent in PoK want to be with India”, observes Colonel Tej K Tikoo, a close observer of Kashmir. Many factors – fragile domestic situation in Pakistan – poor governance, wavering economy, stranglehold of army and ISI, rise in militancy, US intervention, and growing Chinese influence could be attributed to this shift. Failure of armed struggle and protracted insurgency has taken away the patriotic sheen from the Kashmir cause. “People may want to do it through non-violent means, but not through armed struggle any more”, opines Colonel Tikoo. 

The political discourse in the Valley warms up with the onset of summer. What will be the strategy of separatists this summer? Chief Minister Omar Abdullah looks more confident than in 2010, when he nearly resigned due to stiff opposition from political parties and separatists. After all, people have participated zealously in the recently-held panchayat polls registering over 70 per cent polling.

Syed Ali Shah Gilani is clearly on the backfoot due to recent revelations. Re-cranking a hate-India or pro-Pakistan campaign will not be easy for him. However, as more and more people join the chorus against Hurriyat (G), the Valley may witness some more selective killings.

One cannot be complacent as the mood swings of the populace in the Valley are grossly unpredictable. In 2008, agitations against the land allotment to the Amarnath Shrine Board resulted in the fall of the Congress-PDP government. Then, the summer of 2010 was consumed by agitations and stone-pelting claiming many lives.

“Death is a great leveller,” Sufi saints of Kashmir have said. It is an irony that in Kashmir the “murdered and murderer” both are accorded the status of a ‘martyr’.

Col US Rathore (Retd) is a risk and threat analyst and security consultant.

(The views expressed in the article are that of the author and do not represent the views of the editorial committee or the centre for land warfare studies).