New Delhi: With Zakir Musa’s death, security forces have recorded an extremely important kill in the battle against Islamic fundamentalism in the Jammu and Kashmir valley. The jungles of south Kashmir are now being used to train local youth. Musa, a byproduct of ‘Generation X’, is a neophyte who grew up in turbulence and turmoil and experienced the so-called ‘azadi’ struggle first-hand, but chose the path of ‘sharia’ instead, brainwashed as he was by Wahabi Salafism indoctrination.
Zakir Rashid Bhat or Musa (he was known by both names), 25, was trapped by security forces in a three-storey house in southern Kashmir late Thursday and to flush him out, the house was set ablaze during the operation. Musa, a former commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), the largest of the militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, founded his own group and declared its association with Al-Qaeda in 2017.
Caught between two lovers, one of whom snitched to the intel network which moved with alacrity to pin Musa down and kill him. Apparently poster boy Burhan Wani and Samir Tiger too died because their ex-lovers squealed to police snitches and gave them the exact location of the prey. This is a major downside and new IG Kashmir SP Pani is meticulously using his intel network to nail these terrorists one by one. His next target after Musa’s extermination is Riyaz Naikoo.
Riyaz Naikoo, 33, carries a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head. He now replaces Zakir Musa as the most wanted militant commander in the Valley after Musa’s death. Although he is not affiliated to the Al Qaeda as Musa was, Naikoo is the most senior commander of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen or HM, to which Musa too belonged until he got fed up of the group and dumped it.
Categorised as ‘A++’ level militant, intelligence agencies believe Naikoo is more of a ‘liberal militant commander’ as compared to Musa who settled for nothing except the struggle to establish an Islamic state in Kashmir. Kidnappings of families of policemen attributed to Naikoo forced the police brass during 2016-17 to tell policemen not to visit their families in south Kashmir areas without security and permission from seniors.
But now the local terror network has its hands full with 41-year-old IG Kashmir Pani who is chasing the quarry relentlessly notching up kill after kill. Swayam Prakash Pani, a 2000 batch IPS officer of Jammu Kashmir cadre, was appointed the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Kashmir range, making him the youngest officer to hold the post last February.
Pani, a ruthless hunter who relies on intelligence to manage anti-terrorist operations, served as the DIG of Police, South Kashmir Range. During his tenure, many militant commanders were killed in encounters. While focusing on anti-militancy operations, Pani also relentlessly worked to bring misguided youths to the mainstream and succeeded in bringing seven youths back to normal life. Pani also ensured securing arrests of militants from encounter sites.
As many as four militants were arrested from encounter sites during his tenure as DIG.
Even since 2010 despite sporadic attempts to raise ‘Cain’ in the Valley, Kashmiris had more or less got used to peace realising that ‘Hindustan Chodega nahin’ or Pakistan was no longer an option.
The tipping point came in January 2013 when Afzal Guru was hanged and while the Omar Abdullah administration ring-fenced the Valley from expected trouble, this underling credo of faux peace was shattered and even exacerbated by the BJP going into a coalition with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Immediately after that close to 1,000 mosques sprouted out of nowhere in south Kashmir and as many as 2,000 all over Kashmir. Cultural Islam was being systematically replaced by religious Islam funnelled by Saudi money and a process of Arabisation had begun in right earnest. Madrasas also opened up with clerics from UP and Bihar selling the idea of religious Islam.
IANS