When Syed Salahuddin deposed Hizbul Mujahideen chief Muhammad Ahsan Dar in 1991 and declared himself the supreme commander, little did the people realise that he was Mohammad Yousuf Shah, who had contested controversial Assembly elections in 1987 from Amira Kadal constituency of Srinagar.
When Syed Salahuddin deposed Hizbul Mujahideen chief Muhammad Ahsan Dar in 1991 and declared himself the supreme commander, little did the people realise that he was Mohammad Yousuf Shah, who had contested controversial Assembly elections in 1987 from Amira Kadal constituency of Srinagar.
The transformation was complete when he crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1993 only to unite different terror outfits under the banner of United Jihad Council (UJC).
Born in 1946 in Soibug village in Central Kashmir's Budgam district, Salahuddin was associated with Jamat-e-Islami, a politico-socio-religious group, from his youth days. After completing his Masters from University of Kashmir, Salahuddin took to teaching besides becoming the Imam of the Exhibition ground mosque.
However, after he was defeated in an alleged rigged election, Salahuddin started flirting with the gun. His main campaigners in the election were Mohammad Yasin Malik, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Javid Mir and others who later crossed to PoK for arms training and started the armed struggle in Kashmir after their return in 1989.
Malik, Sheikh and Javid joined Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front which was calling for independence of Kashmir from Pakistan and India. Salahuddin, however, was in the opposite camp wanting Kashmir to merge with Pakistan. Therefore, Salahuddin along with Ahsan Dar, Mohammad Abdullah Bangroo, Shamas ul Haq and others floated Hizbul Mujahideen which grew rapidly with the support of ISI. Salahuddin, given his political and religious background became its patron in chief, a nominal head of Hizbul. But differences started cropping up after Ahsan Dar went public declaring Hizbul as armed wing of Jamat.
"This was the tipping point and with the result Dar was deposed and Salahuddin declared himself as Supreme Commander in 1991. A year later he crossed into PoK from Kupwara sector. We were assigned the task to lay a cordon and clear the road for Salahuddin to cross into PoK. Since then he has been living in PoK and Pakistan", said a former released commander of Hizbul.
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