How Jamaat is driving militancy while shaping politics in Kashmir

ANANTNAG/NEW DELHI: Over a month after the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing, a young PhD student was one among the six militants arrested for an abortive terror strike on a CRPF convoy along the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Hilal Mantoo, pursuing doctoral studies, was an active member of Jamiat-ul-Tulba (JuT), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the pro-Pakistan religious organization which got banned in a crackdown following the Pulwama attack.
Mantoo’s political affiliation surprised few in Kashmir. “It is a given that every native militant would have either a direct or an indirect link with the Jamaat. Hizbul Mujahideen, after all, is the armed wing of Jamaat even as it has never been officially admitted. Slain Hizb commander Burhan Wani was also raised in a Jamaat household,” a senior police officer in Kashmir told the TOI.
Officially, JeI has only 5,600 members. It is regarded mostly a south Kashmir network, but its influence in the Valley, with a population of around seven million Kashmiri Muslims, is wide and deep. Incidentally, around 2,500 or about 45%, of the members are from the northern district of Baramulla.
“Jamaat believes in the rule of Sharia and Kashmir’s right to be part of Pakistan. It has shaped the separatist narrative and radicalized youth to the extent that they are readily available cadre for militant organizations today,” a CPM activist in Anantnag told TOI.
Kashmir’s JeI was established by Sa’aduddin and Maulana Ahrar, a year after Maulana Maududi founded Jamaat-e-Islami in Lahore in 1941. Historically, Kashmir’s JeI has been aligned with Pakistan’s JeI, which is separate from Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, though all claim to be extensions of Maududi’s Jamaat.
The bond between JeI Kashmir and JeI Pakistan, according to Pakistani journalist Arif Jamal, strengthened in 1983 after secret meetings in Kashmir, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In his book, Shadow War, Jamal mentions that at the behest of Pakistan’s military dictator Gen. Zia ul Haq, JeI amir of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), Maulana Abdul Bari reached out to JeI Kashmir’s founding ‘amir’ (chief) Sa’aduddin for his support to wage a proxy war against India.
The outcome of this strategic partnership, led to the formation of Muslim United Front (MUF), an umbrella group of Kashmiri Islamists, including Jamaat who fought the 1987 assembly elections on the plank of right of Kashmir to secede from India.
Only five independents backed by MUF won out of the 44 contested seats but the vote share of Jamaat rose to 31.9 per cent from a mere 6.6 per cent in previous polls. This coincided with NC’s vote share declining to 49 per cent from 59 per cent.
However, MUF alleged that the elections were rigged.
Data scientists estimate that MUF candidates, including Jamaat, wouldn’t have bagged more than 17 seats in any scenario. But the controversial election became the raison d’être for Kashmiri Islamists and separatists to take up arms against India in 1988-89.
“Jamaat in Kashmir grew steadily despite repression perpetrated against it by Sheikh Abdullah and his party. But it became powerful because its militant arm, Hizbul Mujahideen, decimated the pro-independence militant group JKLF,” a JKLF activist in downtown Srinagar said.
Jamaat ‘rukun’ (members elected after a rigorous process) work quietly and through a broad network of its 350 mosques, 400 schools and 1,000 seminaries across the strife-torn state. “Hundreds of Jamaat members and supporters are employed by almost every governmental institution,” a civil servant in J&K secretariat said.
Local politicians say Jamaat became more powerful after the PDP led by the Muftis came into existence. “The PDP, which was essentially formed by the former Congress leaders and cadre in Kashmir, pandered to Jamaat and Hizbul to fight the elections. From symbolism like Mehbooba Mufti wearing green scarves and abaya to the ‘healing touch policy’ for militants, PDP did everything to get Jamaat’s vote share,” an NC politician in Srinagar said.
Some PDP members privately admit that the politics of reaching out to Jamaat turned out to be a pyrrhic victory. “In the last 20 years, PDP tried to mainstream Jamaat but the reverse happened. JeI infiltrated into the entire state machinery and made it impossible for the PDP to function as a mainstream party. Often requests came from JeI network to drop cases against militants, their ground workers and stonepelters. The alliance with the BJP caused widespread anger after it became apparent that Modi’s approach was divergent from that of Vajpayee’s BJP. There was little room for accommodation of each other’s interests,” a PDP leader in Anantnag said.
The consequent eruption of new age militancy brought Kashmir to a standstill after Hizb commander Burhan Wani’s killing in an encounter in 2016. South Kashmir, the bastion of Jamaat, has remained the hub for all terror groups since. “After the PDP-led coalition government fell apart due to BJP’s withdrawal, the Modi government intensified the crackdown against Hurriyat and Jamaat. As a result the participation in the parliamentary elections was at a record low,” a former PDP worker from Tral said.
Out of JeI’s 600 office bearers, around 500 were “bound down” and then released. The remaining 100 were arrested under UAPA law and PSA, a senior police officer said. Though most have been bailed out, some remain in police or judicial custody. “Yet, they remain operational on the ground,” he said.
However, most people in Kashmir’s security establishment believe that the crackdown will decrease Jamaat’s sphere of influence and erode Hizbul’s strength. “There have hardly been any protests against the arrests of Jamaat members. Common Kashmiris are not complaining against the crackdown on terror funding and Jamaat network,” a Kashmiri IPS officer said.