Jaish-e-Mohammed was involved in the jihad terror attack at the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi in 2001, and may also have been involved in the jihad murder of Daniel Pearl. So why was a speech by its founder playing over mosque loudspeakers? Why didn’t the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims rise up en masse and put a stop to this misunderstanding of Islam?
“Masood Azhar’s speech on Jihad plays on loudspeakers in slain militant’s village,” by Javid-u-Salam, Authint Mail, June 9, 2014:
KISRIGAM — A group of five kids between seven to eight years old with sticks in their hands walk on the pebble strewn, dusty roads of Kisrigam village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama.
These kids – few of them are wearing school uniforms – chase a vehicle as soon as they see it approaching their village. They attack the vehicle with their sticks and hurl abuses at the driver, forcing him to retreat.
Road have been blocked with boulders. These boys don’t want traffic to ply on roads today. The entire village is in mourning, lamenting the death of Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh, a local militant who was killed in an encounter with Indian Army at Reshipora in Pulwama on Sunday evening.
Pointing towards these kids, an elderly villager told me that they were the ‘future of resistance’ in Kashmir against India, “If we didn’t but they (children) will surely succeed in overthrowing the oppressors. They are harsh and don’t fear death,” the old man told me.
“Mudasir bhai used to play with us for hours. He was our friend. He had long hair touching his shoulders and a shiny beard. We used to tease him by calling him ‘Mune Militant’. We didn’t know that one day he will actually become a militant,” one of the boys enforcing shutdown in the area told me.
“I told my parents that I won’t go to school today. After the death of Mudasir bhai, I am feeling restlessness and everything looks boring today,” the boy said.
“What would you do if you don’t go to school?” I asked the little boy.
“This morning, I made it clear to my parents that I will become a militant after I pass matric,” he replied, “I want to die like Mudasir Bhai.”
I walked towards Mudasir’s house. The path leading to his home was dotted with limestone powder. Some youths were distributing cold drinks to visitors who were coming to offer condolences to his parents.
The mosque loudspeakers were blaring a recorded speech on Jihad by Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. Some youths were listening to his speech on their mobile phones.
As I entered into the courtyard of Mudasir’s house, I found a large gathering of people; old, middle aged, boys and some girls. They were listening to Hurriyat leader, Abdul Ahad Parra.
“Mudasir sacrificed his life for Kashmir. He is no more with us but his mission is with us. It is our responsibility to take it to its logical conclusion,” Para told the gathering.
He thanked the people of Kisrigam for boycotting the recently held parliamentary elections.
“Mudasir joined militants two months ago after appearing in his 12th standard examinations. He was an arts student. Only he knew what he wanted to become. We didn’t know that he had joined militants. Even his parents were unaware. We knew it only when his father was arrested for four days by special operations group (the counter insurgency wing of Kashmir police). His parents had lodged a complainant about Mudasir’s missing with police”, one of his relative told me.
“In these months, he neither visited his home nor saw his parents. We wish we could have seen him before his death,” he said.
According to another relative, Mudasir used to tell them that he would join militant ranks but they often took him lightly, “We thought he was joking. He had a revolutionary vision and wished to see Kashmir free,” the relative said.
“Mudasir was very religious person who used to pray five times a day. He used to purchase religious books from his pocket money and gave them to others for reading,” a cousin of Mudasir told me.