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Ultras ape Taliban, target Sufi leaders

For the last few weeks militants have carried out two attacks on the proponents of Barelvi school of thought sending shock waves across the Valley.

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Seemingly taking a cue from Pakistan’s Taliban notorious for attacking mosques and shrines, suspected militants in Kashmir are trying hard to flare up sectarian tension by increasingly attacking moderate Sunni Muslim leaders, who believe in Sufi saints and shrines.

For the last few weeks militants have carried out two attacks on the proponents of Barelvi school of thought sending shock waves across the Valley. It started with firing during the Urs of famous saint Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jeelani near his shrine at Sarai Bala-Srinagar in which a constable was injured. Later, an 80-year-old devotee Peer Jalal-ud-din was shot at and injured near his residence at Batamaloo.

“Jalal-ud-din was fired at when he was finalising Eid -i-Milad arrangements in Batamaloo. The assault on Jalal-ud-din is an attack on our Aitiqaad (faith in Sufi saints). It is a cowardly act aimed at demoralising and threatening people who are believers of Aitiqad (sufi saints and shrines”, said Moulana Alama Naqeeb, chief patron of Dawat-e-Minhaj-ul-Islam.

Police said the attacks on moderate religious leaders are laced with sectarian overtones. “It (attacks) have sectarian overtones. These militants are fascist forces who try to push through their radical agenda”, said SM Sahai, inspector general of police, Kashmir zone.

Kashmir, known as Reshi-vaer (land of sufis), has a rich sufi tradition and majority of its Muslim population is Ahli Atiqaad (believers of sufi saints). “Around 85 to 88% of Muslim population in Kashmir are Ahli Atiqaad”, said Moulana Ghulam Rasool Hami, president of  Karvaan-e-Islami which has over six lakh members.

Majority tag notwithstanding, the recent incidents are part of a series of attacks carried out against the moderate voices in Jammu and Kashmir.

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