SUMMARY
Hizbul-Mujahideen (Party of Holy Warriors) is an insurgent group operating in the Indian controlled Kashmir (the state of Jammu and Kashmir). Formed around 1989 by Muhammad Ahsan Dar, as a military wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, a Pakistani Islamist political party with operations in Kashmir, it became one of the main insurgency groups within Kashmir, forming the core of a number of various alliances. Popular within some areas of Kashmir, its main objectives are the separation of Kashmir from India and its transformation into an associated state, or possibly a province of Pakistan. Further, HM follows a fundamentalist Islamic ideology, demanding the imposition of Islamic law and customs within Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen is considered a terrorist organization by the Indian Government, and is outlawed by it.
Throughout its history, HM’s actions worked on two fronts – on one side contesting the Indian government, while on the other, fighting the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a competing, at points (especially in the early days of the movement) more popular, and mainly secular, insurgency group. Further, internal struggles were common within the group, especially during 1992-1993.
The leadership of the organization is relatively well known, as is the general organization of the outfit. Besides Muhammad Ahsan Dar, the original leader of the group (arrested in 1993), other important actors have been Mohammed Yusuf Shah (a.k.a. Syed Salahuddin, leader of the group since 1993), Ghulam Khan (a.k.a. Saif-ul-Islam, military commander for Kashmir province until his death during a confrontation with the Indian counter-insurgency forces on 2 April 2003) and Ghazi Nasiruddin (military commander for Kashmir province after 2003). The organization is structured around a central core and five territorial divisions, with the main headquarters located in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.
Indian authorities link HuM with Pakistan, claiming it was their creation. The reasoning put forward is that Pakistan attempted to bring the Kashmiri protest movement more firmly into its grasp and eliminate the threat put by JKLF. Further, the Indian Government still claims that Pakistan trains, funds and equips HuM covertly, through its Inter Services Intelligence. What is certain is that at least toleration of various HuM elements’ presence within Pakistan existed throughout the history of the organization. More certain claims exist of linkages to Jamaat-e-Islami , however, the type and strength of these connections is uncertain. Further connections, direct or indirect, may exist with other like-minded fundamentalist groups throughout South Asia, such as the Taliban.
HM has been involved in the state-based (where they are included in the broader grouping “Kashmir Insurgents”) and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
