US declaration on Hizbul Mujahideen chief Salahuddin may choke his funding: Home Secretary
Mehrishi said that Salahuddin is terrorist and has now been declared so and that the US declaration may help impacting his movements
Published: 27th June 2017 02:44 PM | Last Updated: 28th June 2017 07:49 AM | A+A A-
Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi (left) with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
NEW DELHI: Designation of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as ‘global terrorist’ by the US will subsequently help India in seeking a ban on him from the European Union and NATO countries, senior Union Home Ministry officials said.
Categorisation of Salahuddin as a specially designated global terrorist also debunks Pakistan’s stand that Hizbul Mujahideen is running an indigenous campaign in Jammu and Kashmir for freedom and that Islamabad will extend all moral support to the so-called struggle by the outfit.
“Salahuddin’s categorisation as a global terrorist by the US makes it abundantly clear that there is nothing like indigenous struggle for freedom in Jammu and Kashmir and the activities of Hizbul led by its chief is nothing but terrorism that is being perpetrated from Pakistani soil,” a senior Home Ministry official said.
The official said the latest US decision will make it difficult for Pakistan to extend moral and material support to the terror perpetrated by Hizbul in the garb of freedom struggle.
“The categorisation of Salahuddin is also indicative of a major shift in the US policy towards the violence in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first time in nearly three decades that the US has dubbed violence by HM as terrorism,” the official said.
Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said the US government declaring Salahuddin a global terrorist would help in choking his movements and financing. Salahuddin was a “coward” who had “run away” to Pakistan, Mehrishi said.
“What the US did is correct. He (Salahuddin) is a terrorist and he has now been declared so. This declaration by the US may probably help in impacting his movements and funding,” Mehrishi said.
Salahuddin was appointed the Hizbul chief in 1990 and he is also the chairman of the United Jehad Council, both outfits being patronised by Pakistan’s notorious spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence to perpetrate terror in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian hinterland.
The US State Department had on Monday categorised Salahuddin a specially designated global terrorist, hours ahead of the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House.
