‘Wani’s death will fuel jihad in Kashmir’: Hafiz Saeed provokes India

Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has stepped up anti-India propaganda following the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani will strengthen the jihad in the state.

Updated on: Jul 11, 2016, 18:37:15 IST

Hindustan Times | By Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi

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Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has stepped up anti-India propaganda following the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani will strengthen the jihad in the state.

Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah has been using social media to push the Pakistan government to play up the unrest in Kashmir. (AFP File Photo)

Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah, declared a front for the LeT by the UN and the US, has been using social media to push the Pakistan government to play up the unrest in Kashmir and to back “freedom-loving” Kashmiris.

Saeed, for whom the US has offered a $10 million bounty, joined Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin for funeral prayers organised for Wani at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Sunday.

Read: Kashmir violence: Death toll reaches 22, restrictions continue for 3rd day

A brief video of Saeed’s speech at the gathering, shared on social media, features him saying that Wani’s death will strengthen jihadi forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

“After Burhan’s martyrdom and the martyrdom of many others, I expect the jihad in Kashmir will rise with strength. The scene will change completely,” Saeed said, speaking in Urdu.

“Allah will help you, and will make your steps strong. Allah is going to kill kafirs and make all their efforts go waste,” he added. Saeed eulogised Wani and warned “many more Burhan Wanis” will wage war against India.

Read: The Kashmir manifesto: Delhi’s policy playbook in the Valley

Saeed, whose group is on a “watch list” of Pakistan’s interior ministry, was more restrained in a three-minute video posted by the JuD on its official Twitter account.

The video, titled “Situation intensifies on martyrdom of Burhan Wani”, features Saeed delivering a message to “Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Muslim brothers and sisters”.

“We ask the Pakistan government and all political parties to take advantage of this situation and immediately declare openly that they will support forces working for Kashmiri freedom,” he said in the video, speaking in Urdu.

Read: Kashmir’s disturbing new reality

“Even if there have been good statements from the Pakistan government and the foreign ministry, the way the movement (in Jammu and Kashmir) has started within a few days, I believe Pakistan should take up the passion of the Kashmiris in the right way,” he added.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office had referred to Wani as a “Kashmiri leader” and described his death as an “extrajudicial killing”.

Read: The Kashmir reading list: 11 books to understand the conflict

Saeed further said in the JuD video: “I appeal to everyone and to justice-loving people to take notice of this problem, to stop the Indian oppression and prevent the actions of the Indian Army, remove it from there so that there is peace in the region and the Kashmir issue is resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”

The LeT, which was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was once one of the most active terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. It sent hundreds of Pakistani fighters to the state.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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