Zakir Musa dispels doubts: Will continue fight against India'

Srinagar: Militant commander Zakir Musa who is in the midst of a political controversy after he threatened to chop the heads of separatist leaders off for calling the Kashmir ‘struggle’ as a political movement on Monday apparently in order to dispel doubts over his 'integrity' said he would continue to fight against Indian forces.

He said on Monday that India "won't be allowed to take undue advantage" of the differences that have surfaced over the nature of the separatists' campaign in Kashmir.

“All Mujahideen (holy warriors) believe in Sharia (Islamic canonical law based on the teachings of the Quran and the sayings and traditions of Prophet Muhammad) and Shahadah (martyrdom). We will continue to pursue them”, he said in a short audio uploaded on social media. He also took a dig at two outfits Harkat-ul-Mujahedin and hitherto unknown 'Kashmiri Taliban' which had in separate statements declared their support to him. "I haven’t heard about outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Kashmiri Taliban. If they exist in Pakistan, I want to tell them that I don't need support from outfits working under un-Islamic regimes. Allah is sufficient for me.” He added, “If they are intelligence agencies, I want to tell them that you won't be able to befool us." He also thanked Al Qaeda for its “pledge” of “Shariat and Shahadat” during the Afghanistan war.

An alliance of key separatists leaders had last week said that the ongoing “freedom movement” in Kashmir had nothing to do with ISIS and Al Qaeda-like organisations. They also said that there is no role for these groups in “our movement” which was “indigenous” and aimed at seeking freedom for 15 million people of the State and that the same is not driven by religion.

While responding to it, Musa, who was named as the successor of his close associate and Hizb-ul-Mujahedin’s Internet-savvy commander Burhan Wani after he was killed by security forces in July last year, had in an audio which went viral on social media threatened to behead the separatist leaders and hang them at Lal Chowk, Srinagar’s historic central square, if they do not stop calling what he believes is a movement for establishing Sharia in Kashmir as a political movement. He also asked them not to interfere in militants’ affairs and remain within their “dirty” politics. The Hizb was quick to react to Musa’s open threat to the separatist leaders.