New Delhi: The Jamaat-e-lslami Jammu and Kashmir, banned by the government recently, has established strong links with Pakistan’s ISI and has been maintaining regular contact with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for promoting secessionism in the state, officials said. The most important member of the JeI (J&K) in the Hurriyat Conference is Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was at one point designated as the ‘Amir-e-Jihad’ (head of Jihad) of J&K by the proscribed organisation.
The JeI (J&K) has established strong links with Pakistan’s ISI for ensuring logistics support for arming, training and supply of weapons to Kashmiri youths and its leaders continue to maintain regular contact with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for support, a senior government official said. According to the intelligence inputs, the Jel (J&K) has been using its network of schools to spread anti-India feelings among children in the Valley and encouraging cadres of the Jel (J&K) youth wing (Jamiat-ul-Tulba) to join ‘Jihad’ by getting recruited into terrorist outfits.
It is no surprise the pattern of militancy in the Valley has a strong correlation with the spread of the hardline Jel (J&K) activists in the area, the official said. The Jel (J&K) has been utilising the fear generated by Pak-based Hizbul Mujahideen and leveraging the financial clouts of its members and trusts under its control to mobilise funds glocally and using these assets to consolidate its hold at the grassroot level.
This base is used to provide a fertile ground for the operation of militants outfits in the Valley including motivation, new recruits, shelters and hideouts and couriers. The hardliner elements in Jel have been at the forefront of secessionist activities and were the brain behind the formation of the All Party Hurriyat Conference and Hizbul , another official said.
