Former Hizbul commander praises al Qaeda

After revolting against the Hizbul Mujahideen, militant commander Zakir Musa on Monday praised al-Qaeda, saying his struggle will continue for the “establishment of the Shariah (Islamic rule) in Kashmir”. Musa quit Hizbul on Saturday after the outfit asked him not to make threatening statements against separatists leaders.

In a new seven-minute audio clip, Musa thanked al Qaeda “which has in their Navae Afghan Jihad (al-Qaeda magazine) concurred with our slogan: Shariah or martyrdom”. “Our struggle will continue for the establishment of the Shariah in Kashmir,” the militant commander is heard saying.

Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik had in a statement last week said the ongoing “freedom movement in Kashmir had nothing to do with IS and al-Qaeda-like organisations”. Musa, who joined militancy after discontinuing his BTech course in Chandigarh in 2013, however, said that there was no disagreement between different militant factions in Kashmir and “they will continue to work in tandem”.

Reacting to offers from the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and lesser-known Kashmiri Taliban to join their organisations, Musa said, “I want to tell them that I won’t be taking orders from people sitting on carpets in Pakistan and working for Taghoot-i-Nizam (a reference to Pakistan). Allah is enough for me. I am always against the accession to Taghoot-i-Nizam.”

Musa, who is in his early 20s, reiterated the threat he issued on Friday to “secular separatist leaders who are fighting for a political cause, and not an Islamic cause”.