Comment on AP Explains: Who is Salahuddin, rebel named terrorist by US?

AP Explains: Who is Salahuddin, rebel named terrorist by US?

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Hours before the United States designated Kashmir rebel leader Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist, he appeared in a video calling for strikes in the Himalayan territory in remembrance of another rebel leader whose killing by Indian forces last July triggered months of deadly protests. Initially, the anti-India movement in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir was largely peaceful, but after a series of political blunders, broken promises and a crackdown on dissent, Kashmiris launched a full-blown armed revolt in 1989. [...] known by his real name, Mohammed Yusuf Shah, Salahuddin and others helped political dissidents unite and contest state assembly elections in Indian-held Kashmir. The resulting Muslim United Front became a formidable force against the pro-India political elite, but still lost an election in 1987 that was widely criticized as rigged. Many militant groups surfaced, with up to 20,000 rebels staging bloody attacks on the Indian security establishment and pro-India Kashmiri politicians. India responded with a massive militarization of Kashmir's cities, towns and countryside, saying it was fighting a Pakistan-sponsored proxy war. Five years later he went back to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, where he led the United Jihad Council, an umbrella group of 13 Kashmiri rebel organizations that is understood to have links to the Pakistani military. The U.S.

 

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