Hizb chief warns Pakistan against withdrawing support on Kashmir

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has vowed to turn the guns on Pakistan if it stops backing jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir who, he claimed, were fighting "Pakistan's war".

"We are fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan," said Salahuddin, who also heads the Muttahida Jihad Council, a grouping of terrorist organisations based in Pakistan.

Salahuddin made the remarks during an interview with Arab News while referring to a reduction of tensions in Jammu and Kashmir following several rounds of talks between India and Pakistan.

He said he was "desperate and agitated" with the new approach adopted by Pakistan in the peace process with India.

The report said the Pakistani political leadership's new approach for normalising relations with India had "stunned" Kashmiri leaders.

"Kashmir has been the key issue but now it has become peripheral as all claims of supporting our struggle politically, diplomatically and morally are nothing but lip service," Salahuddin claimed.

He said he believed that militancy alone is the solution to the Kashmir issues.

"All those who were involved in the so-called peace talks eventually admitted that India is not serious and that it gained more and more time to implement its own design for the region," he claimed.

Salahuddin said he believed the Pakistanis were silent because of the existing dichotomy on the Kashmir issue that has placed Islamabad in a dilemma on whether to support militancy or the peace process.

He said he further believed the Pakistani people must play a vital role in mounting pressure for the Kashmir cause and in forcing the government to withdraw its new approach, which is "hurting the Kashmir struggle".

He contended that the movement could not be wrapped up on the negotiation table.

"Who negotiated for the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan? Were there any talks in Iraq and Afghanistan? The US is compelled by the situation to withdraw its forces in the absence of any negotiation and we would follow the same strategy in Kashmir," he said.

Salahuddin said he believed that normalising trade and business with India would benefit only New Delhi and be counterproductive for Islamabad.

"Pakistan is doing all this without keeping its own interest as prime due to foreign and Western pressures without analyzing its disastrous consequences," he claimed. PTI RHL WAJ 06081217 NNNN