Hizbul releases video threatening to behead Hurriyat leaders, hang their heads in Lal Chowk

Key Kashmiri seperatist leaders Yasin Malik (L), Syed Ali Shah Geelani (C) and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq hold hands after addressing a press confrence in Srinagar on November 8, 2016. AFP Photo

NEW DELHI: Hizbul Mujahideen leader Zakir Musa has reportedly warned Hurriyat leaders that their heads will be chopped off and hung in the Lal Chowk if they interfere in the way of the militants. The 5.40-minute long clip, which has gone viral on social media, also warns separatist leaders of Kashmir not to meddle in the move to set up a caliphate in Jammu and Kashmir The clip is shared in form of a slideshow and the person who is heard in the clip is not shown. In the clip, Zakir called Hurriyat leaders “hypocrites, infidels and followers of evil”. He is heard saying: " They must not interfere in our Islamic struggle. If they do, we will cut their heads and hang them in Lal Chowk". "I am warning them. If they again try to become thorns in our way, we will hang them first," he said. "If this is a political struggle then why are you people using the mosque for politics. You should hold a protest on the roads if this is a political struggle. Why are using the pulpits of the mosques for a political struggle?" he can be heard saying. The authenticity the clip cannot be established. But if the voice is that of Moosa, it may signal a worrying turn in Kashmir's insurgency. The movement so far has largely been about independence or annexation with Pakistan, without emphasising Islam or connecting it to jihad. The Hizbul Mujahideen is nearly as old as the Kashmiri militancy which started in 1989. The group is made up almost entirely of local youths, and had always campaigned for joining Pakistan. The clip surfaced after a recent move by Hurriyat leaders to downplay fears of the growing influence of the ISIS in the Valley. Earlier this week, Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yaseen Malik issued a joint statement in which they claimed that the Kashmir struggle had nothing to do with the ISIS, Al-Qaida and other such organisations. (With inputs from PTI)