Why is Hizbul hiding behind the ISIS in Kashmir?

Srinagar, June 13: Once again ISIS flags have been waived in Kashmir. This is probably the third time that the state is witnessing such an incident. The question to be asked, " has the ISIS entered Kashmir?

The answer is no and the ISIS has so far shown no intent of entering into Kashmir, but there are a good number of people who will use their flag to spread the ISIS ideology.

Caught between the devil and the deep sea

The Hizbul Mujahideen which is a primary player in Kashmir today wants to stage attacks, spread an ideology, but not take the blame. On one hand they want the violence and on the other they want public support as well. They are aware that they cannot survive without both.

The intention the Hizbul is clear. They want to spead violence instill fear and then come out as the saviours. The recent statements by the separatists condemning the attacks on the BSNL employees at Sopore is also a sham.

Even when the attacks on the mobile towers were carried out, the Indian Intelligence Bureau knew all along that this was being done by the Hizbul. However the Hizbul decided to put up posters crediting those attacks to the Lashkar-e-Islam, an outfit that is non-existent today after all its members joined the Tehrik-e-Taliban in the month of March 2015.

Does ISIS have Kashmir on its agenda?

The next question is whether the ISIS has Kashmir on its agenda? The answer is yes, but not immediately. The ISIS is setting itself up in Afghanistan and it is a relatively new outfit in the region.

When the ISIS released a world map in the month of May 2014, it called it the Global Islamic Council. The map had parts of India in it as well which included the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and also Jammu and Kashmir. India is very much present in their scheme of things, but as of now there is no movement at least in Kashmir to initiate any sort of action, IB officials say.

In the name of the ISIS

Sopore in Kashmir has been living in fear since the past several weeks. There have been attacks on mobile towers and employees of telecommunication companies have been killed and threatened. In addition to this there is also a drive by some militant groups to spread panic by implementing harsh laws on the citizens.

The recent orders which the militants have given to the people is quite telling. Tailors were told not to take measurements of women. Petrol bunks were told not to give fuel to outsiders. Those owning houses were directed not to rent to outsiders while shop keepers were warned against the sale of cigarettes.

These are all very ISIS styled directives aimed at creating panic and trying to implement a mindless law. Officials in Kashmir say that this is once again the handiwork of the Hizbul Mujahideen. However they would like to blame another group for these actions as they are aware of their support could dwindle locally if they claim credit for these actions.

OneIndia News