DNA Edit: A shocker for Pak

By designating Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist, the US government has put Pakistan on the defensive, while giving a strong fillip to India’s fight against militancy. Salahuddin is a nom de guerre of Yusuf Shah. He was originally the head of the United Jihad Council — a coalition of anti-India terrorist organisations. In 1987, Shah had contested in the J&K assembly elections, only to lose to a moderate National Conference candidate. Subsequently, he was arrested for his role in the Kashmir agitations and upon his release in 1989, Shah joined the Hizbul Mujahideen. For the last 28  years, he has been operating out of Pakistan, and arming a new generation of Kashmiri youngsters disillusioned with the Indian establishment. Several terrorists from the younger generations trace their roots to HM. Slain militants,  Burhan Wani and Sabzar Bhat, have both been trained by HM, and even the new face of insurgency in the Valley, Zakir Moosa, is a former member of the organisation. He was also in the news last year after publicly promising to turn Kashmir into “a graveyard for Indian soldiers”.

Besides, a fair share of terrorist attacks in J&K has his imprimatur. After the death of Burhan Wani, Pakistan had left no stone unturned in fashioning him out to be a martyr who died for the cause of a free Kashmir, ignoring to acknowledge him as a terrorist. But now Pakistan is left eating humble pie as the US administration has shown the world that it is on the same page with India when it comes to viewing Pakistan as a hotbed of terrorists.

Categorising Salahuddin as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ is a welcome move; however, let us not be remiss of the possibility that all this could be a diplomatic bluster, unless the US forces Pakistan’s hand. Consider, for instance, that Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, instrumental in orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has also been designated as a global terrorist. Time and again, Pakistan has followed a tact of ‘arresting’ him, every time pressure comes to bear on it, and then ‘releasing’ him, once the spotlight has shifted. It happened in 2008 after the Mumbai attacks, and then in 2009, when he was put under house arrest by the Pakistani government, which by then was facing international pressure to rein in homegrown terror outfits. Both times, he was released once the international pressure eased. By designating Salahuddin as a global terrorist, the US has helped India in its fight against terrorism.