Salahuddin leads jehadi rally, spews venom against India

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Sep 4 (PTI) Kashmiri militant commander Syed Salahuddin on Thursday joined the growing number of terrorist leaders who have re-emerged in Pakistan after the resignation of former President Pervez Musharraf, addressing a large gathering of jehadi groups in Muzaffarabad.

Speaking at a "defence of Jammu and Kashmir conference"
in the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Salahuddin urged
the Pakistan government to end all ties with India and to
break off the ongoing peace process as it had "failed to
produce any results".

Salahuddin, who is "supreme commander" of the banned
Hizbul Mujahideen and chairman of the United Jehad Council,
also said the governments of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir should set aside a sizeable part of their budgets for
the "freedom movement" in Jammu and Kashmir.

He accused India of not being serious about the peace
process.

Salahuddin, who had been lying low along with other
jehadi leaders during Musharraf regime, also called for the
opening of all trade routes between the two parts of Kashmir.
This will allow people from both sides to trade freely and
interact, he said.

T.V. news channels aired footage of Salahuddin addressing
a large gathering and leading a rally through the streets of
Muzaffarabad. A total of 40 jehadi groups and political
parties attended the conference.

Since Musharraf resigned on August 18, several jehadi
leaders and groups, including the Lashker-e-Taiba and
Jaish-e-Mohammed, have stepped up their activities in
Pakistani cities like Karachi.

Lashker-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who now
heads the Jamat-ud-Dawah, led a "Kashmir solidarity rally"
from Rawalpindi to Islamabad on Sunday.

Saeed also issued a number of statements on the situation
in Jammu and Kashmir and announced that he would cooperate
with Kashmiri separatist leaders like Yasin Malik. PTI