Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

11 Frontline Pakistan
Major-General-Khalid Mahmood told them. ‘So, you have to stop all
cross-border operations.’ Several of the guerrilla commanders leapt
to their feet, shouting that Pakistan should not surrender to Indian
and American pressure. ‘After ditching the Taliban, Musharraf has now
betrayed the Kashmiri cause,’ said a senior commander belonging
to HuM, one of the largest Islamic militant groups involved in the
separatist war in Kashmir. ‘How can we accept this?’ The commanders
were bitter and vengeful, and left the meeting declining the officer’s
invitation to join him for lunch.
This outburst of anger towards Musharraf and his policies appeared
logical. Thousands of militants had perished fighting Pakistan’s war
in Kashmir. Islamic militant leaders, who had depended for over a
decade on the active support of Pakistan’s army for their crossborder
guerrilla actions, viewed Islamabad’s move as a betrayal of the
Kashmiri freedom struggle. ‘We have lost so many friends, brothers and
relatives in the Kashmir struggle. What was that for?’ asked Amiruddin,
a veteran Kashmiri guerrilla fighter. He reflected the sentiments of
thousands of jihadist cadres trained and armed by the Pakistani military
establishment. ‘We are not going to sit quietly.’
The orders came as hundreds of fresh guerrillas were waiting at
their base camps in Azad Kashmir to cross the border. It was generally
at that time of the year that infiltration took place. ‘The volunteers
are becoming increasingly upset over the delay. They have not been
informed about Pakistan’s ban,’ said the commander. He complained
that the communication link between the guerrilla fighters inside Indian
Kashmir and their base on the Pakistani side had been cut off and that
training centres inside Azad Kashmir had been closed down. ‘Many of
our colleagues are stuck across the border without reinforcements and
supplies,’ he said.
Pakistan’s decision to withdraw support had caused a setback to
the militancy, but did not bring it to an end. The militant infrastructure
remained intact and outlawed groups continued working, either under
new banners, or merged into others. Hundreds of Pakistani fighters
who were inside Kashmir at that point had continued their jihad,
ignoring Pakistan’s policy shift. Most militant leaders hoped that the
restrictions were temporary and still had faith in the army. ‘The army
will always be our ally,’ a senior militant commander told me.
Facing down the jihadists was not going to be an easy task for
Musharraf. Since an indigenous insurrection against Indian domination
broke out in Kashmir in 1989, some 10,000 fighters had crossed the