SRINAGAR: Even as tension is escalating along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Uri militant attack and Tuesday’s infiltration bid in which 10 militants were killed, renewed attempts are being made by Pakistan-based terror groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiaba chief Hafiz Sayeed to unite the various Kashmiri separatist factions so as to fight for the cause of azadi.
Top sources in the security establishment here disclosed to The New Indian Express that ever since the violent protests commenced in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8, there has been a constant pressure building on various factions of separatists to join hands and speak in once voice to make their struggle more effective.
Though they seem to have entered into an unwritten understanding, ideological differences between them were evident. During protest rallies at some places that are considered the strongholds of separatists like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads a moderate faction of the Hurriyat, and Yasin Malik who heads the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, slogans were raised against Syed Ali Shah Geelani who leads a hardline Hurriyat faction. This was because Geelani, in the initial days after Burhan Wani’s killing, announced protests for only three days.