Nothing to do with IS, al-Qaeda: separatists

Distancing themselves from the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and other global terror organisations, separatist leaders on Monday said these groups have nothing to do with Kashmir’s ‘freedom movement’.

“Our movement has nothing to do with the IS, the al-Qaeda and other world-level groups, and they are practically non-existent in the state. There is no role for these groups in our movement,” separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik said in a joint statement to the media.

They said “terrorism and freedom movement are poles apart” and that Indian agencies were trying to influence the  international community by linking Kashmir’s freedom struggle to such terror groups.

“New Delhi has launched a well-planned psychological war against the freedom movement. Last year, the people’s uprising unnerved policy makers in Delhi, and as such they are desperate to overcome their frustration and desperate to sabotage the freedom movement through its agencies,” the statement read.

The separatists’ clarification came a day after the media reported that security agencies were not ruling out the possibility of the IS trying to create a base in the Valley. It was reported that youth in small pockets were trying to get in touch with IS handlers through internet chats.

Though waving of IS flags during protest rallies in Kashmir have been a common feature in the past two years, reports of Kashmiri youth getting in touch with IS handlers have sent security agencies into a tizzy.