JKLF Split After Dissolution Threatens Kashmir-Cause

The split in Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) after the controversial decision of dissolution of the party’s organization poses a serious threat to the Kashmir-cause.

The split in JKLF has come at a time when India revoked the special constitutional status of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) and detained JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik on charges leveled against him three decades ago which is already a blow to Kashmir cause.

India has bifurcated IOJK after the abolition of its special status into two federal territories.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s government granted provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) while planning to grant a similar status to AJK.

However, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq had opposed the anticipated move publicly. He said that changing the status of disputed areas without keeping in view the decision of the United Nations (UN) would weaken Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir issue globally.

How did it begin?

On November 18, Rafiq Dar, who is the spokesperson of JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, told that the party’s general council was dissolved along with all zonal organizations.

It was replaced by a 41-member interim committee that would complete the restructuring of JKLF in a year.

However, the controversial decision invited the fury of the founding members and they set up a parallel interim council and named it as leadership council.

The council would be run by a senior Hurriyat leader and confidante of Yasin Malik, Altaf Qadri, who currently lives in the United States (US).

Interim council meets

In the first meeting of the interim council, the memberships of JKLF Vice-Chairman Saleem Haroon, Assistant Secretary-General Sajid Siddiqui, and Yasin Malik’s spokesperson in Pakistan, Rafiq Dar, were suspended.

It also reinstated all zonal organizations of the liberation front.

The suspended officials have been blamed by the new caretakers for deflecting from the front’s ideology and abuse of authority.

Further, they were charged with receiving an award from AJK President on behalf of Yasin Malik without consulting the award winner.

Convener talks

While talking to News360, the Interim Council Convener Altaf Qadri asserted that the majority of the members of the supreme council were not consulted before dissolution.

He accused that only five members were taken in confidence before the controversial move.

Qadri expressed that the suspended officials misused their powers as they dissolved the general council as well as received an award from AJK president on behalf of the detained chairman.

However, he added that the suspended officials would be given a chance to clarify charges leveled against them.

The official said that Kashmiris on either side of the border wanted to expose their plight to the world.

“Our first priority is to get Yasin Malik out of jail”, he added.

The convener said that they would have to mobilize support from across the world to achieve the purpose.

He hoped that US President-Elect Joe Biden would take notice of Indian atrocities in IOJK and pressurize India to release Yasin Malik.

Qadri urged that all political parties should cooperate with each other to attain the goal of freedom.

Suspended official responds

Subsequently, Yasin Malik’s suspended spokesperson Rafiq Dar refuted assertions that the meeting of the General Council was unconstitutional.

The suspended official told that the interim committee of JKLF met on January 3 in which officials from IOJK, AJK, and different parts of the world participated.

The participants endorsed the decision regarding the dissolution of the general council and zonal organizations taken in the meeting on November 28.

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Dar iterated that the party officials who opposed the decision of the supreme council would be given one last chance to recede or else they would face a disciplinary action.

Dar admitted that some party officials were disgruntled over dissolution.

He accused that the splinter group has been formed by those members of the JKLF who remained inactive for years.

JKLF senior member’s allegations

Another senior member of the splinter group, Muzaffar Raja, raised the question of the timing of the dissolution of the party organizations.

He said that the issue of organizational cessation was raised at a time when Yasin Malik was detained in Indian jails and the party was banned from activities in IOJK. “It is beyond comprehension”, he added.

Raja claimed that when Yasin Malik came to know about the dissolution of the general council through his lawyer, he was ill-informed of it.

He asserted that the detained Hurriyat leader had offered him to run the party until he was released but he turned it down.

Instead, the senior party members constituted an interim council that would be convened by Yasin Malik’s confidante Altaf Qadri.

He added that the head office of JKLF has been shifted to the US from Islamabad due to security reasons.

The political observers say that split in JKLF and allegations of opponents can weaken the case of Kashmir at the international level.