Now, delegitimise Hizbul in the Valley

The recent designation of Hizbul Mujahideen by the United States as a foreign terrorist organisation is a victory for India’s diplomacy. Indian officials have been striving for over a decade to get the US to declare the Hizbul as a terrorist group, and while Washington had blacklisted the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), it was reluctant to do the same to Hizbul. This was because unlike the LeT and JeM, which are predominantly Pakistani, the HM’s composition is largely Kashmiri. Less than two months ago, the US declared Hizbul’s Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK)-based chief Syed Salahuddin a “specially designated global terrorist”. It has followed up on that move by labelling his entire outfit as terrorist, thus imposing sanctions on it. Its assets in the US have been frozen and American nationals cannot conduct business with it. America’s blacklisting of Hizbul is a sharp rebuke of Pakistan’s continuing material and other support to an organisation that is unleashing terror. The Donald Trump administration has done well to heed India’s concerns. It may well mark a new upswing in India-US relations.

The impact of the US move is likely to be only marginal, however. The Hizbul gets some money from Pakistani nationals and Kashmiri émigré in the US but such funding has reduced in recent years, especially after the US government cracked down on Ghulam Nabi Fai, the chief of the Kashmiri American Council, who was acting as a conduit for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to route funding to Hizbul. Most of the Hizbul’s funding today still comes from the ISI but it is now routed through Kashmiri businessmen and separatists in the Valley. So long as this channel exists, Hizbul’s capacity to carry out attacks will remain strong.

The impact of the US similarly designating the LeT on its ability to carry on its terrorist activity is instructive. Although the LeT was declared a foreign terrorist organisation as far back as 2001, it continues to function. Indeed, its capacity to carry out attacks has increased. This is because it changed its name, set up front organisations, opened new bank accounts under new identities, etc. Hizbul is likely to do the same. Again, India and the US did try to get the LeT and JeM blacklisted by the UN but their efforts were blocked by Pakistan and China. They can be expected to play the same game over the Hizbul. This should not deter India. It must persist in getting the UN’s support for isolating and delegitimising Hizbul. Simultaneously, India must work to delegitimise the group’s violent activities in the eyes of the Kashmiri people, most especially by the example of its own conduct of anti-militancy operations in the Kashmir Valley.