Electing Freedom

To those monitoring the tussle within Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir's most prominent militant group, it didn't come as a suprise when its Muzaffarabad-based 'supreme commander' Syed Salahuddin expelled the Valley-based commander Abdul Majid Dar with two of his colleagues. Predictably, the extreme step only widened the latent cracks, with many field commanders supporting the expelled leader, who shot into the public eye last year with his fated ceasefire talks with New Delhi.

Although Dar says he does not intend to participate in the October assembly elections, observers here believe he will nevertheless play a crucial role in the run-up to the polls. Separatist leader and Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah has indicated that Dar might participate "if elections are held in a free and fair manner". Though Dar denies this, reports suggest that he was contacted by Shah with an offer to join his party. Besides, some emissaries from New Delhi are in touch with Dar, trying to motivate him to participate in the elections.

The buzz is that Dar is going to float his own political party. One of his close friends, Fazal Qureshi, has confirmed this. According to him, Dar may even join the Hurriyat. Says Qureshi: "Dar is a capable man and has got a golden chance to work for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue and he believes in hammering out a political solution."

Though separatist groups have chosen not to air their views in public, privately they say Dar's expulsion from the Hizb will change the very face of militancy. Says a senior Hurriyat leader: "Hizb was the only credible militant group in Kashmir, with a majority of its boys hailing from the Valley. The latest development will weaken the group. Most of the boys are expected to side with the expelled Majid Dar."

According to sources, Dar has even contacted some senior Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in Srinagar, seeking their support. The Jamaat itself is riven by dissent—with the party's political head Syed Ali Shah Geelani on one side, and chief G.M. Bhat on the other.

Serious differences between the Hizb commanders surfaced soon after Dar, the then chief commander of the group, announced a ceasefire in July 2000, and stated his willingness to talk peace with Delhi. This didn't go down well with the PoK-based Salahuddin, who first made Dar's truce conditional and later called it off. Ever since, the two have not been working in tandem.

To show that his writ still runs in the Valley, Salahuddin stripped Dar of his chief commander status and replaced him with one of his confidants, Saiful Islam. Three of Dar's close lieutenants were also unceremoniously removed from their posts. However, Dar and his men ignored the directive from across the border.

Things took a more serious turn when a few months ago its top-ranking commander in Kashmir, Assad Yazdani, in a statement, hinted that the Hizb may turn political and categorically rejected any role for foreign militants in resolving the Kashmir dispute. Yazdani was relieved as the Hizb spokesman and his statement was denied by Salahuddin.

Trouble continued to simmer as one more Kashmir-based commander, Zaffer Abdul Fatteh, questioned the Muzaffarabad-based central command's action against Yazdani. With dissent brewing, Salahuddin called an emergency meeting of the group's 'command council' at which the decision to expel Dar, Yazdani and Fatteh was taken. However, reports from Muzaffarabad suggests that there were sharp divisions among the Hizbul commanders over Salahuddin's action. Four senior members of the council walked out of the meeting in protest.

That the decision was not unanimous was confirmed by Abu Obaid, a senior Hizb commander of north Kashmir. Obaid, in fact, declared it as "an unacceptable, unfortunate and hasty step". In a statement, he disclosed that when he contacted the Muzaffarabad leadership, he was told that there had been no consensus on the need to expel Dar.

Meanwhile, the Hizb has also expelled Obaid and Kupwara commander Asgar Ibne Rehman for opposing Dar's expulsion. The open divide in the Hizb is a shot in the arm for those trying to broker peace in the Valley. Should Dar come in from the cold, then those pursuing militancy will be further marginalised.