The categorisation of Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist by the United States has generally been a cause for severe disappointment in Kashmir for supporters of the Azadi movement. More than what the designation means for Salahuddin, Kashmiris reckon the move will further damage the global image of the ongoing movement and paint it as terrorism.

“Declaring Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist by the US speaks where we stand after 28 years of armed struggle. Introspect,” Abdul Maajid Banday posted on his Facebook timeline. “Our resistance leaders look towards West and US for the solution of Kashmir problem. This is a huge diplomatic blow for our freedom struggle.”

The reason for this is that Salahuddin is no ordinary militant leader. In fact, he has been the face of Kashmir militancy since its advent in 1989, leading not only the largest militant group active in the Valley but also heading the United Jihad Council, a militants’ conglomerate comprising around 13 outfits.  The terror label on him is, thus, expected to rub off on the armed campaign too. More so, at a time when militancy in the Valley has again returned to the centre-stage.

The US decision came on the day Salahuddin announced a week-long programme on the first anniversary of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani which falls on July 8. The programme includes two hartals, protests and marches.

A video of the announcement went viral on social media. This was after a long time that Salahuddin chose to issue a protest schedule seemingly overriding the Hurriyat’s prerogative to do so. However, Salahuddin added, that the Hurriyat was free to suggest more protest activities which will be incorporated in the programme in toto.

He called on people to visit the families of those who have lost their loved ones during the ongoing turmoil to express solidarity with them. He also said that massive public rallies would be held in Muzaffarabad – capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – and Rawalakote on July 8 and 13 to pay homage to Burhan Wani and the 1931 Kashmiri martyrs respectively.

Hurriyat, on its part, issued a statement on Eid urging the international community and other world human rights organisations to build pressure on Delhi so that “war crimes and unabated rights abuses are stopped forthwith”. The statement, issued jointly by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik also called for an end to the National Intelligence Agency raids on the houses of separatist leaders, warning if this was not done,  “there will be serious repercussions and the entire responsibility will lie on the state government and New Delhi”.

Salahuddin’s programme, however, was a significant departure from the past. Some Kashmir observers saw in it a deliberate attempt by the Hizb supremo to step into the limelight and take command of the militant affairs in view of the seeming attempt by former Hizb commander Zakir Musa to shift the ideological moorings of Kashmir militancy. Musa in his social media videos has sought to disconnect the Kashmir struggle from its longstanding political objective and the allegiance to Pakistan, saying the movement was essentially for the creation of an Islamic state and the implementation of Shariah.

BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir welcomed the US decision. “It was long overdue. Salahuddin has been responsible for motivating Kashmiri youth to pick up the gun and tread the path of violence.” The US decision should serve as an eye-opener for separatists in Kashmir. “If they don’t mend their ways, they too can meet the same fate,” he said.

“The world scenario is fast changing. There is no place for terrorists and terrorism. Kashmiri youth who have picked up arms should realise that people like Salahuddin have ruined Kashmir and have been responsible for Kashmir turning into a graveyard,” Jehangir said.

On the other hand, the PDP and the National Conference have chosen to maintain silence about the designation, knowing a welcoming statement about the US move will not play well in the Valley, their core constituency. A PDP leader, however, bemoaned the fact that a Kashmiri had been declared a global terrorist, hoping, at the same time, that the US move would come as a reminder to the separatist groups in the Valley that the world no longer considers armed struggle a legitimate means to an end.

But the US terror designation has introduced a new factor in the situation. Though the US has stopped short of designating Hizbul Mujahideen a terror group, Salahuddin’s name has become interchangeable with the outfit, both globally and locally.

“It will make some difference vis-à-vis the reputation of Kashmir struggle. But it won’t change much on the ground. Things will continue as they have,” said political analyst and academic Dr Gull Wani. “On the contrary, the US by designating Salahuddin as a global terrorist may have only added to the size of the problem. And that too at a time when the geo-politics in South Asia is in a state of flux and new alignments are fast replacing the old order.”

Wani said that under Trump, the US had yet to flesh out its approach to the region and that it is China which is now “a bigger influence in South Asia than America”.

“So, we have to wait and see how things play out in near future. We have to also factor in China’s anxieties about the growing US-India relationship and its fallout on the region and, in turn, also on Kashmir,” Wani said, referring to the article in Chinese daily Global Times which warned that “assuming a role as an outpost country in the US’ strategy to contain China is not in line with India’s interests” and “could even lead to catastrophic results”.

Academic Rekha Chaudhury, however, said terror designation will have a huge impact on how most of the world looks at the Kashmir movement and more so, on Pakistan.

“Pakistan so far has defended the militancy in Kashmir as home-grown and projected Salahuddin as the face of it,” Chaudhury said. “But what now? When the very face of this home-grown militancy has been declared as a global terrorist, it has delegitimised the local militancy too. How will Pakistan defend it now?”

The US move has also sparked a contentious discourse across social media in Kashmir, with opinion divided about its impact on the Azadi movement.

In his Facebook post, political commentator Gowhar Geelani said the US step could “trigger an ideological shift on Kashmir’s turf, and perhaps make the handful of rebels calling for Caliphate in Kashmir a little more relevant”. The US-India alliance, he wrote, might get Pakistan and China “closer than before as the US appears to be appeasing India with symbolism to halt China’s expansion and influence in the region”.

At the same time, Geelani also reckoned, “Pakistan might be forced to do a rethink on its foreign policy and Kashmir.”

So far, the Hurriyat has maintained silence on the issue, so have militant groups in the Valley in Pakistan including the Hizbul Mujahideen itself, even as Pakistan in a statement said that “the designation of individuals supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified”.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @waniriyaz.

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