'There's a desperation for freedom in Kashmir, you need to understand that'
We are in another season of tumult in Kashmir. Violence has been spiralling in the Valley ever since the 22-year-old Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HM) commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, was killed on July 8. More than 40 people have been killed in sporadic clashes with security forces. Miles away from the scene of action, across a forever tense Line of Control, sits Syed Salahuddin, fount of the HM, Kashmir's only homegrown militant outfit - for most, a shadowy figure that drifts between Muzaffarabad, Lahore and Islamabad and looms over Kashmir. Some believe that the seed of the turmoil in Kashmir was planted when Salahuddin - then known as Mohammed Yusuf Shah - fought an election in the state as a candidate of the Muslim United Front from Srinagar's Amirakadal constituency in 1987. His supporters hold that he was winning by a wide margin, but widespread electoral rigging led to his unexpected defeat. The seat was won by Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah of the National Conference. Two years later, he had crossed the border into Pakistan, and launched an armed struggle for the freedom of Kashmir. Salahuddin, who is on the NIA's 'most wanted' list, warns that there's more trouble on the way, if security forces do not stop killing 'unarmed' civilians. And it won't be restricted to Kashmir alone: 'We will hit everywhere and anywhere we like.' Pertinently, at one point the militant also offered himself as a peace mediator between India and Pakistan. Sonia Sarkar spoke to him for an hour over Skype, imo and telephone. Excerpts:
Q. Did you know Burhan Muzaffar Wani?
A. I did not meet him but he was inspired by me. There are thousands of mujahideen in Kashmir whom I have not met, but who follow me and my path.
Q. How do you see the recent spurt in violence after the killing of Burhan Wani?
A. Burhan Muzaffar Wani was not just any man killed by security forces. He is the sentiment of the Kashmir Valley. Every person in the Valley - man, woman and child - all of them are attached to this sentiment. There is a Burhan in every corner of the Kashmir Valley. This sentiment will not go away with the killing of Burhan Wani.
Q. Media reports said that the founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, Hafiz Saeed, and you organised a prayer meeting for Wani in Muzaffarabad. Also, in Lahore, Saeed said that there would be more trouble for Kashmir. What exactly did he mean?
A. I organised the prayer meeting for Wani. I did not invite Hafiz Saeed to come, but he offered to come on his own.
I agree with Hafiz Saeed. More trouble means that when the security forces of India are killing unarmed Kashmiris, we will intensify and escalate our attacks not just in Kashmir but elsewhere. There is no alternative left for us.
We want to stress that it is for the good of the Indian government to understand that the people of Kashmir are asking for their right to self-determination. If they don't, we have to start target-oriented attacks.
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Salahuddin speaking to The Telegraph from an unknown location across the LoC
Q. But the Indian government blames militant leaders like you for encouraging people to come out in protest to the streets, leading to civilian deaths...
A. It is government propaganda that we are pushing the people of Kashmir to come out on streets and protest. Children, doctors, government servants, old men, mothers - they are not coming out on the streets because I asked them to do so. They are committed to their cause.
Q. Aren't you using the bodybags to fuel your movement? How is the Hurriyat helping you?
A. Hurriyat leaders are with us, shoulder to shoulder in the ongoing freedom struggle. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabir Shah - all of them are with us on the same page. They are in touch with us on a regular basis. But I have been cautious and have not spoken with any top separatist leader in the past one week. They are also supporting it (the protest) because the mujahideen and the children, who are getting killed, are their children as well.
Q. Many youngsters are dying in these protests. Don't you think it's your responsibility to stop these children from going out on the streets so that this cycle of death comes to an end?
A. What we are seeing on the streets of Kashmir is a spontaneous public reaction to the killing of Wani. Also, there is pent up anger against the security forces because every day, somebody or the other is being targeted. You must understand that the youths of Kashmir, who are protesting on the streets, are a part of the generation which was born during the armed struggle. They have grown up witnessing unrest, killings and crackdowns. You need to understand their desperation to be freed from India on the basis of the fact that they are attacking heavily armed security forces with stones. It means they have no fear for life and they are not ready to compromise their right to self-determination.
Q. What is your plan of action in Kashmir now?
A. Our armed struggle and political struggle will carry on simultaneously. So far, our effort was to limit our activities to Jammu and Kashmir. If the Narendra Modi government continues to oppress the Kashmiris and if the security forces increase their assault on Kashmiris, I promise that we will hit everywhere and anywhere we like. We will go to any extent. You will see it, we will intensify our attacks.
Q. Several of your family members including your four sons are government employees. What's their part in all this? Did you ever ask your sons to join the militancy movement?
A. I have not asked a single man to join militancy. It is the choice of the person to join it. It could be possible that my sons don't think I am doing the right thing. You should understand that people joining us feel it strongly from within. They think this is the most befitting reply to oppression.
Q. How are you using the social media to recruit young men into militancy?
A. We don't recruit people. Young boys are coming to us on their own because they have been facing assault by the Indian government. If we don't recruit them, then they will pick up stones and protest on the streets. Also, the social media revolution is everywhere in the world. The young and educated Kashmiris do not need to learn from me how to use the social media. They know how to make the best use of it.
Q. Don't you think, your movement has failed because it's been 26 years since the struggle began - and there has been no real outcome? Also, according to security agencies, militancy has decreased in the Valley. Have you lost the war?
A. What has India got in these 26 years, tell me? Have they got Kashmiris with them? Let me tell you, in a freedom movement, a struggle of 26 years is nothing. India's freedom movement went on for 90 years, so how do you even say that 26 years is enough? If there is no militancy and if we have lost the war, where is the need for such heavy deployment of security forces in Kashmir? Let me tell you, everyone in Kashmir is into the freedom movement now.
Q. Why is the Kashmir movement getting Islamised?
A. The Kashmiri movement was Islamised from day one. Why do you think an educated young man, who has a bright future otherwise, is willing to die? Is he mad? Azaadi is not his objective. What will he do with azaadi if he dies during the struggle?
He is into militancy because he knows that if he dies for a noble cause, he would become a martyr, as per Islam. We tell him that he would get into the "real life" after this death and he would get peace. Khuda usse raazi hoga.
Q. Is the ISIS with you?
A. There is no ISIS at all [in Kashmir]. This is fabricated propaganda by the Indian government. There is no support for ISIS, Al Qaeda and Taliban in Kashmir.
Q. Has there been any step by the Indian government to reach out to you? Do you think it would be difficult for you to operate in Kashmir because the BJP government under Narendra Modi has a more hardline approach?
A. [Atal Bihari] Vaj- payee was broad-minded. There is no com- parison of Modi with Vajpayee.
We still believe in peace but subject to one condition - let the Modi government give up dilly-dallying with the Kashmir issue. He should first accept that Kashmir is a disputed territory.
Q. You had earlier accepted that you were fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir. This time, how is Pakistan helping you to fuel the tension in Kashmir?
A. Let India agree to come to the table for our right to self-determination - it is my personal obligation [that I will get] Pakistan to the "peace" table.
