Prof M L Raina
At last the cat has slipped out of the bag amidst the raging turmoil in Kashmir which shows no signs of abating. The lately declared Commander-in-Chief of the Pak based Hizul Mujahideen’s chapter in Kashmir, namely Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Zakir Moosa, has spilled beans. He has made it abundantly clear that the violent agitation launched by the armed militants is by no means meant for aazadi, but for the ultimate target of converting Kashmir into an Islamic state, and much more…..
In a twelve minute video, circulated widely on the social media, for the Muslim youth of Kashmir, he said, “Do not pelt stones in the name of Kashmir, but do so in the name of Islam, our struggle is for Islam”. Thus he has ripped open the veneer, covering the motif of the well-orchestrated melodrama of bloody murders open dance of death, vandalism and arson and so forth- all this not for aazadi but something else.
It is pertinent to note that during the long drawn out period of armed insurgency in the valley, many self styled and also appointed commanders of different terrorist outfits were eliminated by the security forces. No tears were shed, except the routine protest-cries and shutdown calls. But the response was entirely different when the Pak-appointed commander-in-chief Burhan Wani fell to the bullets of the forces. A pall of gloom fell suddenly on one and all in Kashmir, including the pseudo nationalists. All cried their eyes out, and beat their breasts. Lamentations were galore. Unexpectedly but understandably Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was cut to the quick. With his almost tearful eyes he gave vent in public to his shock and grief over the killings of his darling poster-boy who, he firmly believed, would, as the only and the last hope, create miracles on the battle field which none had done before. Moreover through his charismatic persona, he would as a master strategist create state of the art manoeuvres of terror and violence and ultimately succeed in handing Kashmir to the eagerly waiting PM in a platter. His illusory dream was dashed to the ground. All that he could do was to eulogise Burhan Wani, the martyr and attend the latters namaze-jinaza. The martyrdom of the lionised terrorist was craftly used to intensify disruption, terror, murder, burning of schools and stone pelting.
Moosa’s strategy seems to be Islamisation of Kashmir in the first place, and thereafter prepare the Islamised valley as a launching pad for the spread of Pan-Islamisation.
This terrorist’s statements may be shockingly surprising for the State and the Central authorities as also some people in general. But for the Kashmiri Pandits, the victims of fundamentalism and violence in the Valley, the statements that have been voiced are on expected lines. The destructive agitation launched in 1990-91 aimed ultimately at wiping out all the footprints of Indian presence from the soil of Kashmir to pave a smooth path for an Islamic rule here. For the votaries of Nizame Mustafa, the bottlenecks on their chosen path included chiefly the Pandits of Kashmir, their religious symbols like temples,shrines and other places of worship, vast areas of land that encompassed these symbols of faith. Thus began the selective killings of the Pandits to scare the whole Pandit community out of the Valley, desecration of the temples and encroachments of their attached lands, loot and arson, murder and maiming, to name only some, and finally the threats that the Kashmiri Pandits must vacate the Valley or be ready for dire consequences. This led to the infamously atrocious ethnic cleansing of these aboriginal inhabitants of Kashmir. The high -voltage hype created by the propaganda machinery, through handbills and words of mouth, left no doubt in the minds of the credulous masses that aazadi from the Indian rule was round the corner which would be followed by Nizame Mustafa.
Time passed by. Changes took place. In course of time different separatist political parties, under the patronage of Pakistan, formed an amalgam, under the name of Hurriyat Conference to fight unitedly for the rights of the Kashmiri Muslims. Soon the Hurriyat Conference split into two factions- one led by the hardliners Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and the other called moderates who were led by rotational leadership. Some among these sofliners believed in peaceful means of negotiating with the Central Government for the settlement of the vexing Kashmir imbroglio. But they changed their stances every now and then. Their stands hardened and they refused to hold any talks with the Centre.
As of now, doors have been closed for any negotiations for settlement by the moderates. Intriguingly the stone pelters have become their darlings. Violence is being encouraged. Have they changed their colours, one may ask.
In the present scenario, it is important to refer again to Zakir Moosa’s declaration that the stone pelters are pelting stones not for Kashmir but for Islam. This undoubtedly is music to the ears of Ali Shah Geelani. This man deserves credit for his persistently unwavering advocacy of Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan and establishment of Islamic dispensation in the Valley. But what about the moderates and their moderation, their slogan of Aazadi for independent Kashmir, for struggle, and that hoax? They receive enormous funds from across the border which they distribute among the stone pelters to kill and get killed. These young people are used,as cat’s paw to draw their chest nuts out of fire. Why are they silent about the dangerous declaration of Moosa’s objective of using Kashmir as a spring board for the universal Islamisation? Does their calculated silence mean acquiescence. If so, they stand exposed.
It is very likely that by his public posturing Zakir Moosa is under the influence of Bagdadi’s ISIS ideology which is a fixated vanishing point beyond which nothing exists sans Sunni Islam no other Muslim sect like Shias, no other faith, no other cult, no other religion…
If the process of radicalisation gets going under the influence of Moosa in the Valley, Jehadi thunderbolts will rain down from the skies, smashing the socio economic fabric of life to smithereens in the Valley. Pakistan, the string puller behind the scene, will get hoisted in its own petard.
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