Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahidin (), is a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organisation that has been engaged in the Kashmir insurgency since 1989. It aims to separate Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan, and is thus one of the most important players in the region as it evolved the narrative of the Kashmir conflict by steering the struggle away from nationalism and towards jihadism.

Founded in September 1989 as an umbrella group of Islamist militants, Hizbul Mujahideen quickly came under the control of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir; it is considered to be the military wing of the organisation. It was supported, since its inception, by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and was established through an effort initiated under erstwhile Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. and also has liaison offices in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan's political and military capital cities, respectively.

The organisation has claimed responsibility for multiple armed attacks in Kashmir. It has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, India, Canada, and the United States. It remains a lawfully-operating organisation in Pakistan.

Foundation

Origins

The efforts for the creation of the Hizbul Mujahideen go back to 1980, when Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq called the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami in Azad Kashmir, Maulana Abdul Bari, and asked for assistance in raising an insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir. Zia said that he would be able to divert funds and resources from the Afghan mujahideen for a conflict in Kashmir.

Bari travelled to the Kashmir Valley and met with the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir. Protracted negotiations continued for three years when finally, the founding amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, Maulana Saaduddin Tarabali, was invited for a meeting with Zia ul-Haq in May 1983. Saaduddin wanted complete operational control of the insurgency, with Pakistan's role limited to military training and financial support. Pakistan agreed albeit reluctantly, and a deal was struck. Maulana Saaduddin sent his own son as part of the first group of volunteers for military training.

However, the progress with Jamaat-e-Islami was sluggish. The ISI got frustrated with it and started looking for other options. It made contact with Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in 1984 and struck a deal with it in 1986. According to scholars, JKLF was only a short-term expedient for ISI, a means to spur Jamaat-e-Islami into action.

Some 10,000 militants were trained by July 1988, operating in fifty units, when an insurgency was launched. Operating under the JKLF banner were also a number of Islamist jihadi groups that owed loyalty to Jamaat-e-Islami: a group called "Zia Tigers" operating since 1987, "Al-Hamza" since 1988, "Hizbul Ansar" led by Muzaffar Shah, a largest and best organized group called "Ansarul Islam", and a subsidiary of it called "Al-Badr". According to Arif Jamal,

"this vast network of jihadi groups worked within the JKLF for many months; they were among the most active members of the insurgency."

In August 1989, the Jamaat-e-Islami of Azad Kashmir sent a commander called Masood Sarfraz

to bring the various Islamist groups together and create a serious organisation parallel to the JKLF. "Hizbul Mujahideen" ("Party of holy warriors") was his chosen name for the new umbrella group.

While his efforts were under way, Ansarul Islam, which was under pressure from the Indian security forces, had also changed its name to "Hizbul Mujahideen". The two organisations operated in parallel for a few weeks, but merged in October 1989. Muhammad Ahsan Dar was chosen as the leader of the united group in this meeting, but Hilal Ahmed Mir (alias Nasirul Islam) of the former Ansarul Islam is said to have been elected as its amir later.

Jamaat takeover

thumb|right|[[Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a vocal champion of armed militancy]]

The launch of insurgency by JKLF in July 1988 alerted the members of the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir to the fact that "a new game has started". Informal relationships with the militant groups were strengthened, with various Jamaat members taking direct roles. The senior leadership of the Jamaat did not get involved, except for Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who worked with Muhammad Ahsan Dar in his personal capacity.

The ISI and the Jamaat-e-Islami of Azad Kashmir were intent on bringing Hizbul Mujahideen under the control of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir. A meeting was arranged in Kathmandu on 14 January 1990, with participants from the Jamaat organisations from Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and the Kashmir Valley. The Kashmiri Jamaat was resistant to direct involvement in the insurgency, saying that it would destroy the organisation and open it to Indian assault. But Syed Ali Shah Geelani dramatically appeared when the negotiations stalled and pushed the Jamaat into supporting the insurgency.

Having decided to participate in the militancy, states Arif Jamal, the Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir moved to "decisive action, activating a decade of planning".

The constitution of Hizbul Mujahideen was finalised on 10 June 1990, under ISI direction. It allowed Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir to nominate one of its members as the leader of the group, which, according to Arif Jamal, "virtually turned the organization into a subsidiary of Jamat-i-Islami". The Jamaat nominee was to be called the patron, who would nominate an amir, who would in turn nominate a chief commander. Jamaat appointed Mohammad Yusuf Shah, its district chief of Srinagar, as the patron of Hizb. He took the nom de guerre of "Syed Salahuddin", and quickly consolidated total control over the organisation.

thumb|right|300px|Abdul Majeed Dar, who merged his militant group into Hizbul Mujahideen

In a power play, Ahsan Dar announced at a press conference in July 1990 that Hizbul Mujahideen had formed an alliance with Jamaat. This only served to strengthen Yusuf Shah's position and a weakening of his own. Hilal Ahmed Mir, who was Deobandi by persuasion, reacted against the announcement and ended up getting marginalised as well. He quit the group and set up a new one, which came to be called Jamiatul Mujahideen. Masood Sarfraz came again in September 1990 to consolidate the grouping. Tehreek-i-Jihad-i-Islami, another umbrella group formed in 1989, also merged with Hizbul Mujahideen and its leader Abdul Majeed Dar was appointed as the secretary general. After the completion of consolidation, Yusuf Shah alias Salahuddin left for Azad Kashmir, where he managed the group's relationship with the ISI as well as the Jamaat of Azad Kashmir.

By the time of its establishment, the organisation asserted a strength of over 10,000 armed cadres, the majority of whom were trained in Pakistan, with some having received training in Afghanistan during the Afghan Civil War. 21 people were killed in the clashes that ensued.

By the end of March 1991, Hizbul Mujahideen demanded that the local government provides the list of all permanent residence certificates and that all non-residents leave the state within one month. Jamaat also scoped the opportunity and choose to infiltrate Hizbul Mujahideen from within, by installing loyal members at key central positions. Numerous jihadi factions too departed from JKLF and were subsumed within Hizbul Mujahideen.

Soon enough, arrests by Indian forces necessitated a re-organisation of the central command and in the reshuffle, Ahsan Dhar, a moderate leader with an independent mind was asked to step down and Syed Salahuddin, a radical Jamaat loyalist, was appointed instead. Fuelled by resources from Pakistan State actors and Pakistan Jamaat; Hizbul Mujahideen also targeted other militant groups, killing hundreds while neutralising and disarming more than 7,000.

Hizbul Mujahideen also murdered several of the pro-independence intelligentsia with JKLF leanings. Some of these killings included Hriday Nath Wanchoo, a Kashmiri Pandit human rights advocate. Hizbul Mujahideen militant Ashiq Hussain Faktoo was convicted for his killing. Other prominent killings included Dr. Abdul Ahad Guru who was a cardiologist and JKLF ideologue, Mirwaiz Qazi Nisar and Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, Mohammed Maqbool Malik, Prof. Abdul Ahad Wani, Muhammad Sultan Bhat, Abdul Ghani Lone, and Abdul Majeed Dar.

Hizbul Mujahideen was instrumental in preventing the return of Kashmiri Pandits after their ethnic cleansing from the valley, Salahuddin spoke of them being Hindu agents whilst threatening to auction their properties. Several Hizbul Mujahideen members were increasingly displeased with ISI's manners of treating the Kashmiris and with more militants joining mainstream politics, they were pushed to the sidelines. The Pakistani government soon enough ordered its forward posts on the LOC, to abide by a no-shoot first policy. Dar was soon removed from his role of military commander and in May 2002, he was formally expelled from the Hizb along with a number of supporters and commanders whilst being.denounced as an agent of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Dar and several other ex-leaders were assassinated by Hizbul Mujahideen between 2001 and 2003. By 2003, most key leaders of Hizbul Mujahideen were in Azad Kashmir and they were quite inactive in Kashmir; a fragmented Hizbul Mujahideen survived a total collapse but had metamorphosed into a vanguard group.

Yet, in 2004 it was still "regarded as one of the most influential groups involved in the conflict over Kashmir." As of 2009, it was supposedly "the brand name of the Kashmir militancy because of being the largest and the most important in terms of its effectiveness in perpetrating violence across Kashmir."

Decline

Since mid-2010s, the organization has suffered multiple losses, and by 2023 it has become skeletal of its former self.

The downfall of the organization started with the killing of its commander Burhan Wani. On 8 July 2016, he along with two other militants were killed by Indian security forces. Widespread protests erupted in the Kashmir valley after Wani's death, causing unrest in the valley for nearly half a year. More than 96 people died while over 15,000 civilians and more than 4,000 security personnel were injured. The violence which erupted after his death was described as the worst unrest in the region since the 2010 Kashmir unrest, with Kashmir being placed under 53 consecutive days of curfews imposed by authorities. After his encounter in 2016, the group suffered severe losses with more than 200 of its fighters killed within the span of next 6 years.

Wani was succeeded by Sabzar Bhat, a close aide of his and member of group within the organization named Wani's boys. Indian security forces considered Bhat effective at using social media to recruit youth towards militancy. Sabzar was a close aide of Burhan and member of a group within the hizbul Mujahideen, dubbed Wani's boys. It was a 11-member group, which had become famous when there photograph become viral in June 2015 as they posed boldly without masks in front of the camera and posted pictures online, in contrast to earlier times when they remained hidden and did not reveal much. The photo had become hugely popular among youth. Bhat was killed in May 2017. His death sparked clashes and a police-imposed curfew, during which a youth was killed in clashes with the Central Reserve Police Force. Internet and phone service across Kashmir was suspended in an attempt to calm the region. A previously unknown militant group, Mujahideen Taliban-e-Kashmir, claimed it had provided information on Bhat to security forces. The claim remains unverified, though some analysts suggested it reflected a growing schism between various militant groups in Kashmir, with members of Hizbul Mujahideen concerned that Zakir Musa may have betrayed Bhat. Within the next 3 years, Wani's entire group was killed in multiple operations by Indian security forces.

On 10 May 2020, Gazi Haider (aka Saifullah and Saif-ul-Islam Mir) was appointed the new chief operations commander. He was formerly the district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Pulwama. Soon after, on 19 May 2020, Ashraf Sehrai's son, Junaid Sehrai, a commander in the organization, was killed by Indian security forces. On 1 November 2020, Ghazi Haider was killed in an operation, in Srinagar by Indian security forces, thus wiping out all the major and important commanders of hizbul Mujahideen. After his death, the organization hasn't been mount any attack and has fell into redundancy.

On 20 February 2023, one of the founder of Hizbul Mujahideen and 2nd-in-command of the organization, after Syed Salahuddin, Bashir Ahmad Peer was shot dead outside a shop in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by two bike-borne assailants. He had also been designated as a terrorist by India in October, 2022.

See also

  • Syed Ali Shah Geelani
  • Kashmir conflict
  • Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Lashkar-e-Taiba
  • U.S. Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Explanatory notes

Citations

General bibliography

  • Top Hizbul Commander Riyaz Naikoo killed In An Encounter
  • The birth of the Hizbul Mujahideen rediff.com
  • Profile: Hizbul Mujahideen GlobalSecurity.org
  • Official Journal of the European Union: Terrorism list
  • Congressional Report: The New Islamist International(from FAS site) Bill McCollum, United States House of Representatives, Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, 1 February 1993
  • BBC Reports:Militants arrested in Bombay
  • ABC Live Reports: Hizbul Mujahideen claimed Blast Left 1 Killed And 22 injured In Jammu Kashmir
  • ISI using c
  • Cross-border trade to fund Hizbul Mujahideen: NIA