During a protest against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, a section of Kashmiri youth were heard raising pro-ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) slogans. Qadri Inzamam, tries to study the effect of this new force, on the already complex dynamics of the crisis in Kashmir.
On 15th March 2014, a graffiti reading ‘JKP we are coming, Taliban’ appeared in Indian administered Kashmir’s capital city, Srinagar. JKP stands for Jammu and Kashmir Police who have been on the forefront dealing with the stone throwing youth in valley since the mass uprising that erupted in 2008 over a land- transfer row.
The 15th March incident was followed by more and more graffiti and ‘writings on the wall’ cropping up throughout the valley’s intersections and walls. On 21st April, Pakistan and Taliban’s flags were hoisted on the Hari Parbat Fort which housed a Central Reserve Police Force camp. The flags were, no doubt, torn down but it sent a very different message across the political spectrum in Kashmir.
There have been a number of such occasions when a section of Kashmiris have sought ‘help’ of foreign Muslim countries or organizations to ‘fight the occupation’ of Kashmir by India. The exit of US from Afghanistan has also been considered to have some implications on the Kashmir issue: A section of Kashmir believes that it might pave way for the Taliban’s arrival to Kashmir.
That was about Taliban. But with the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and the way it has ‘conquered’ the social media it has attracted many admirers in Kashmir as well.
Kashmir, a Muslim majority state, has been churned in the conflict between India and Pakistan who have laid claim over the land ever since these two rival countries achieved independence from the British rule in 1947. Since the late 1980’s, Kashmir has witnessed the violent armed rebellion against the Indian rule. Almost 7 million of Indian troops are believed to be present in the Kashmir valley, thus making it the most militarized zone on the earth. Since the beginning of the armed rebellion in the strife-torn valley, more than 50,000 people have died and thousands have ‘disappeared’.
Seeking the externalization of Kashmir’s freedom movement has time and again been a topic to debate about among the valley’s different school of thoughts.
Debates and discussions on the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter or in colleges and universities over the theological aspect of ISIL and its actions has created a division of sorts in Kashmir: a section supporting ISIL on the religious grounds and the other one condemning it for its violent actions as shown by media.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who heads the Hurriyat Conference (M) and the Ulema Council in early July said in an interview with ‘The Hindu’ that he was concerned by the developments in Iraq and the call from the ISIL to build an ‘Islamic State’ from Syria to Kashmir. ‘The Hindu’ quoted him, “The rise of ISIS, the new breed of radicals is a cause of concern. In Kashmir, we don’t want to be a ground for any movement that would have a different agenda from ours.”
On 27th June, after the congregational Friday prayers, a group of protestors belonging to Shia sect of Islam protested in Srinagar against the ISIL whom they termed as ‘Terrorists’ and described their actions as ‘sacrilegious’. Mujahid Husain, who heads the Ikhwan-ul-Muntazireen, – a local Shia religious body – said that the Government of India should allow them to fight in Iraq. The protesting Shia group castigated the Sunni Muslim clerics of the valley for not speaking against what they called the massacre of Muslims in Iraq.
In July, when Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza, protest rallies and demonstrations were held across the Kashmir valley in solidarity with Palestine and against the Israel’s Operation Protective Edge. During these protest rallies, on the Fridays of Ramadhan Month, outside Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta locality, a group of young people would assemble – with their faces covered – and raise anti-Israel, Pro-Gaza and Pro-ISIL slogans. A flag of ISIL would be hoisted by some youth by the side of the Palestinian flag. These flags had one thing different from ISIL flag: It would read IS JK.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Chairman of Hurriyat Conference – a pro-freedom political party in Kashmir – denies any impact of ISIL on the Kashmir issue. When asked about his views over the raising of Pro-ISIL flags and slogans, Geelani said, “It is just their sentiment that makes them to do so. Wherever the youth finds any new voice, they see in it a hope to get liberated from the clutches of Indian occupation.”
Feroz, a student of University of Kashmir, sees this support for ISIL by youth as ‘desperation’ of breaking the status quo in Kashmir. “A certain section of youth think ISIL or Taliban will break the status quo of past 65 years and thus are welcomed. When India denies Right to Self Determination to people for 65 years, these things are obvious,” he says.
Others see this support for ISIL as ‘horrible’, given the sectarian colour it has attained due its actions in Iraq recently. Adil Langoo, a Business Studies pass-out from the University of Kashmir says, “If media reports are believed true, then imagining ISIL or like-minded movement emerging within Kashmir is horrible. If it attracts more of its admirers in Kashmir, it probably would be more from the deep feeling of hate towards the (Indian) occupation than anything about Caliphate.”
Adil believes that if ISIL could be seen as a rescue or a savior from the ‘Indian deadly occupation’, one of its consequences is that it would leave Kashmir acutely sectarian.
While Feroz believes that the polarization is already there between Shia and Sunni sects in Kashmir, and says that it is just getting reinforced by people taking extreme positions on the matter. “That is the dangerous aspect of the whole ISIL story. It has already led to polarization at least in Facebook and Twitter conversations,” says Feroz.
But can it be ignorance on part of the youth and Kashmiris to consider the ISIL as a rescue from the ‘Indian occupation’?
Basharat Ali, a student of Peace Conflict Studies at Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi says that the sloganeering and hoisting of ISIL flags in Kashmir represents the poor understanding of international conflicts and the play of ‘non-state actors.’
“Kashmir cannot afford to seek externalization of causes for the resistance. As such ISIL harms Kashmir’s cause by conflating it with terrorism,” Basharat says.
“Kashmir cannot afford a force that is sectarian and kills innocents for power.”
But these ideas are contested by others who identify ISIL as ‘a force that has defeated the falsehood in Iraq’. Junaid Ahmad is another Kashmir university pass-out and says that ISIL acts as a morale booster for the Kashmiri youth, or for that matter, the Kashmir’s struggle for freedom. Though Junaid believes that ISIL cannot arrive to Kashmir (at least not so soon) he believes that the outreach of the ideas of ISIL and the hope of creating an Islamic State makes the Kashmiri youth relate themselves with the ISIL.
Junaid denies that there could be any possibility of Shia-Sunni divide in Kashmir if Kashmiri supported the ISIL. “What is going on in Iraq is not about Shia –Sunni conflict, but it is about the war between the truth and falsehood. And the way American trained armed groups have been defeated by the ISIL, that has given a hope to the Kashmiri youth to get ahead in their struggle for freedom,” he says.
Shahid (name changed), a Kashmiri student studying in Jamia Milia, belongs to Shia sect of Islam. He also believes that it is the poor understanding of International politics by some part of the Kashmiri youth that prompts them to support ISIL and raise its flags and slogans. Shahid is against the extremism and says that if the Kashmiri youth continues to support ISIL in the same way, it might pave way for sectarian tension between Shia and Sunni.
When the armed rebellion erupted in Kashmir, both the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam took part in it. Hizbul Momineen, a Shia militant group founded in early 1990, was active in the early years of armed rebellion. One of the Kashmir based journalist, who wished not to be named, says that if the support for the ISIL grows within Kashmir, the Shia population might distance itself from the Kashmir’s freedom movement. He says that it might create a rift between Shia and Sunni sects in valley on the religious and political lines. “Given the situation in Iraq, how will the Shia population in Kashmir relate itself with the ISIL and expect any good from them for the Kashmir cause?” he asks.
“It is just the ignorance and the misunderstanding of the facts that are leading some of the youth to support the organization like ISIL and show their affinity with it.” He questions the legitimacy of the ISIL’s claim of creating an Islamic state and appointing a Caliphate. “If they (ISIL) are talking about creating an Islamic state, there must be provisions for the minority groups. There has to be a scope for tolerance and dissent, and if it fails on these grounds, it cannot be called as Islamic state,” he says.
Farooq Ahmad, an employee in the IT sector of the valley, says that some of the Kashmiri youth raise slogans in support of ISIL only because they feel desperate about the status quo that has been maintained in the valley during past 6 decades. Farooq says that the rise of an Islamic state in Iraq, as of now, is a good sign for the Muslim world and shall be supported by every Muslim. But he is quick to add that the further strategies of the ISIL needs to be watched and observed carefully for it might have far reaching consequences on the Muslim world.
One of the pro-freedom leaders and religious scholar of the Shia sect of Islam in Kashmir, Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari says that as long as Kashmiris stand united, groups like ISIL will have no implications on the Kashmir’s centuries old brotherhood between Shia and Sunnis.
Maulana Masroor believes that ‘Imported Islam’ has nothing to do with the Islamic teachings and denounces the actions of ISIL in Iraq.
About the admirers of ISIL in Kashmir, Maulana Masroor says, “They are a small chunk of people who support them and hoist their flags. They do not represent the whole Kashmir’s sentiments.”
He believes in the political solution of the Kashmir issue and says that groups like Taliban and ISIL have no role to play here.
Photos by Haziq Qadri
