SOURCE: AFI
In an unexpected and controversial development, a local digital news network in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) has conducted an interview with Shamsher Khan, a high-ranking commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. This organization is designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, India, Canada, and the United States.
The interview, uploaded by JK Bol, features Shamsher Khan discussing the organization’s past acts of terrorism and outlining their future sinister intentions. During the interview, the commander emphasized the significance of Pakistan’s Prime Minister declaring Burhan Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant, as a hero at the United Nations. He also remarked that their objective was to “actively confront the Indian Army and prevent them from being at ease.”
This interview emerges amidst a surge in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, five Indian Army personnel were killed and five others were injured in a terrorist ambush, while nine people lost their lives and 41 were injured in a terrorist attack on a bus traveling to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.
Founded in 1989, Hizbul Mujahideen aims to establish an Islamic state in Kashmir and seeks the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. The group has been responsible for numerous kidnappings, killings of civilians and security personnel, bombings, and targeted assassinations of political leaders and individuals during the 1990s.
Pakistan’s decision to provide a platform for interviews with leaders of designated terrorist organizations like Hizbul Mujahideen is a concerning aspect of the country’s stance on terrorism. This interview demonstrates how Pakistan’s agents allow such groups to propagate their ideologies and activities, potentially influencing public opinion.