Chapter 3 continues…

The “Allah Tigers” claimed that, the present struggle would continue until the goal of establishing an Islamic Caliphate was achieved.

An immediate consequence of the cry for the unification of Ummah was the liquidation programme of central government officials, the uprooting of Kashmiri Pandits, the decimation by assassinationsof nationalistMuslimintellectuals,terrorizingliberal activists, a sense-less programmes of genocide described as necessary by the terrorists to “cleanse” the valley of its “un-Islamic” elements. Cinema-houses, beauty parlours, wine shops, bars, video centres, use of cosmetics, etc. were declared as “banned.” Al Barq, for example, issued a ban order on selling of even cigarettes. Another outfit, the Peoples League, demanded that Kashmiri girls not to take part in any cultural programmes outside the Valley.

TheAllahTigersthreatened to throw bombs on houses where women would refuse to wear veils. They even sought to coerce local newspapers to highlight their activities and play down national news activities. The Hizbul Mujahideen went a step further imposed a ban on the circulation of national and even Jammu newspapers in the Valley. This was “Talibanism”ahead of Taliban regaining Afghanistan.

Thus, the Islamic hue of insurgency in Kashmir became more obvious with Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat- ul-Ansar, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Markaz Dawa-ul-Irshad embarking on a religious “crusade” against the non-Muslim minorities in the state and publicly owning responsibility for killing Hindus in the name of jihad. Through a press release dated 14 April 1990, an ultimatum was given to the Hindu community, demanding that they leave the Valley “within two days” or face death. About 1,000 Hindus were brutally murdered as an example, and thereafter about 500,000 left the state to become refugees in their own country.

This community is scattered in squalid camps in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of India. Moreover, nearly 30,000 houses belonging to Kashmiri Pandits, hundreds of their business establishments, educational, cultural and religious institutions have been either confiscated or destroyed.

To be continued…