Arif Jamal - Shadow War: The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir

SHADOW WAR

SHADOW WAR

The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir

ARIF JAMAL

A MELVILLEHOUSE

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

To Nadia

and Vali

whose time 1 stole to write this book

SHADOW WAR

2009 Arif Jamal

Melville House Publishing

145 Plymouth Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

www.mhpbooks.com

ISBN: 978-1-933633-59-6

First Melville House Printing: April 2009

Map courtesy of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Cartographic Section: Map No. 3953 Rev. 3, October 2005.

Book design: Kelly Blair

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009925116

6 Map

7 Principal Characters

11 Preface

21 The Making of a Dispute

59 The Politics of Plebiscite

105 Prelude to Jihad

131 The Rise Of Hizbul Mujahideen

161 How the Jihad Was Waged

179 War in the Open

205 Jihad and Diplomacy

241 A Political Face

273 Notes

FAROOQ ABDULLAH, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, 1982-1984; 1986-1990; 1996-2002.

SHAIKH MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH, the lion of Kashmir, and arguably the most important political figure in modern Kashmiri history. Early member of the Reading Room Party, the All India Kashmir Muslim Conference, and the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. Later head of the Emergency Administration, prime minister, and chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. ASIYA ANDRABI, leader of Dukhtaran-i-Millat.

MAULANA ABDUL BARI, founding amir of Jamat-i-Islami of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

HILAL AHMED BEG, the head of Jammu and Kashmir Students Liberation Front, the JKSLF.

MAQBOOL BHAT, an early Kashmiri fighter with the JKLF. AHSAN DAR, an early militant who founded Hizbul Mujahideen.

ABDUL MAJEED DAR, chief operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

SAADUD DIN, the founding amir of the Jamat-i-Islami of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

MIRWAIZ UMAR FAROOQ, a moderate leader of the Hurryyat Conference.

SYED ALI SHAH GEELANI, an important Jamat-i-Islami member and the undisputed secessionist leader in Jammu and Kashmir. DR. FAROOQ HAIDER, vice president of the JKLF and the NLF. AMANULLAH KHAN, leader of Plebiscite Front (for Azad Kashmir and Pakistan) and the founder of the JKLF.

ABDUL GHANI LONE, a moderate leader of the Hurryyat Conference. YASIN MALIK, a JKLF fighter and chief of his own faction of the JKLF.

HILAL AHMED MIR, founder of Ansarul Islam.

HAKEEM GHULAM NABI, appointed amir of Jamat-i-Islami of Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1988; retired in 1995.

GHULAM NABI NOWSHEHRI, vice amir of the Jamat-i-Islami of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

MASOOD SARFRAZ, an early Jamat-i-Islami member and a founder of Hizbul Mujahideen.

YUSUF SHAH, alias Syed Salahuddin, amir and then supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

HARI SINGH, the last ruling maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

GHULAB SINGH, acquired the Valley of Kashmir from the British in 1846, adding it to his other territories, which included Ladakh, Jammu, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

ABDUR RASHID TURABIB, amir of the Jamat-i-Islami of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

BENAZIR BHUTTO, prime minister, 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.

ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO, foreign minister, 1963-1966; prime minister, 1963-1966; and president, 19711973.

ZAFARULLAH KHAN JAMALI, prime minister, 2002-2004. MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH, first governor-general of Pakistan, 1947-1948.

COLONEL AKBAR KHAN, later a major general, architect of the 1947 jihad under his nom de guerre of General Tariq. His plans for jihad in Kashmir are still used by the ISI.

AYUB KHAN, commander in chief of the Pakistan Army, 19511958; prime minister October 1958; and president, 1958-1969. LIAQUAT ALI KHAN, the first prime minister of Pakistan, 19471951.

YAHYA KHAN, commander in chief of the Pakistan Army and president, 1969-1971.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, chief of the army staff 1998-2007; chief executive 1999-2002; president 2001-2008.

NAWAZ SHARIF, prime minister, November 1980-April 1993; May-June 1993; and February 1997-October 1999.

MOHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ, chief of the army staff, 1976-1988; president 1978-1988.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, the first prime minister of India, 19471964.

LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI, prime minister, 1964-1966.

V.P. SINGH, prime minister, 1989-1990.

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE, prime minister of India, May 1996-June 1996; March 1998-May 2004.

On the evening of November 26, 2008, dinghies carrying at least ten men landed in Mumbai, India. The men were carrying large backpacks, each stuffed with dried fruit, grenades, an AK-47 rifle, some 200 rounds of ammunition, and a satellite phone. Four days earlier, the group had departed from the harbor of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. Two of them, Mohammad Amir Ajmal Qasab and Ismail Khan, the leader of the group, landed in the Budh-war Park neighborhood of Mumbai. They calmly walked past a crowd of fisherman, but few noticed themeveryone was busy watching a cricket match. There, the men hailed a cab and traveled to central Mumbai, to the VT rail station, where they arrived at approximately 9:20 p.m. Once inside the rail station, they opened fire, aiming precisely but shooting randomly, killing fifty-eight people and injuring more than one hundred.

Qasab and Khan then left the station, in search of hostages and other targets. They entered the Cama and Al-bless Hospital, but, finding no hostages, quickly left. As they were leaving, they encountered a police car containing three senior police officials. Shots were fired, and Qasab was wounded in the hand. But Khan shot and killed the three officers, and the two took off inside the police car. Sometime later, they were stopped at a police checkpoint. Khan was killed in a shootout that followed, but Indian police apprehended Qasab.

The two were part of a sophisticated series of attacks: Their group had struck eleven targets throughout Mumbai, including the Taj and Oberoi hotels. Members of the group held the hotels hostage for nearly sixty hours, eventually setting them on fire. In all, they killed 183 people, including twenty-two foreigners, in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Indian history.