Haji Lal fought the militants for a year and then resumed his job in Saudi Arabia. “I am going back as things have subsided.”
Kashmiri men gave up lucrative jobs in Saudi Arabia to return home to fight militants
Forty-year-old Haji Ghulam Hassan had to leave his lucrative job in Saudi Arabia to return to his village in the treacherous mountain ridges of Jammu to fight militants. But he has no regrets.
Haji’s fight started when the ultras killed his uncle and humiliated him in his own village. His house was burnt down and his brother tortured, forcing him to migrate to Surankote town with 10 family members. “I had gone to Saudi Arabia to work as a contractor. But when I returned to my village, I found the area heavily infested by militants. They made people’s lives hell. I was once brutally thrashed by the ultras because I did not buy Pepsi for them from Surankote market,” says Haji.
Though he went back to Saudi Arabia, the disturbing situation at home haunted him. One day, he just decided to return.
Interestingly, the plan to fight militants was finalised in Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. “Five of us met at Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and took an oath to wipe out the zalims (oppressors). We deputed two men to meet army and police officers. Since then, we have not looked back,” says Haji, reflecting the popular mood in this remote village which a few years ago was a base-camp and launchpad of hundreds of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants.
Tahir Fazal Hussain too left his job in Saudi Arabia and came back to avenge his brother Arif’s killing. “I left my job and returned to my village. Then I slit the throat of the militant who had killed my brother. I also picked up a gun and set up the village defence committee, which joined the Army in flushing out militants,” says Tahir.
Likewise, Haji Aslam’s life changed forever after the militants massacred 13 people in Tehili village on one of the ridges of Hilkaka. Aslam left his job that paid 3000 Saudi riyals to come back. His anger stemmed from the fact that the killings were being carried out in the name of Islam. “I felt this was not Jihad. I decided to fight these militants. Today, I see a change because the area has been cleared of militants, though for us, it was a big sacrifice,” he says.
Haji Lal fought the militants for a year and then resumed his job in Saudi Arabia. “I am now going back because things have subsided,” says Hussain, whose brother-in-law has remained untraceable after being kidnapped by the militants.
At least eight men left their jobs in Saudi Arabia to fight militants at home. One of them has become a village numbardar now. Others have become special police officials and earn a monthly salary of Rs3,000. They have also formed the Jammu Peace Mission.
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