Who is the ‘rightful’ owner of the guns used by militants in Kashmir? Is it the militant himself, or is it the outfit that he works for? Or is the question of ownership settled by ‘religion’, as many deem the Kashmir conundrum to be a ‘religious struggle’?
These questions are at the heart of a new and dangerous ideological war that has broken out between militant outfits in Kashmir that are affiliated with groups headquartered in Pakistan, and those disillusioned and radicalised Kashmiri youth who are pledging allegiance to global terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.
On 27 June, the body of Aadil Ahmed Das, who joined Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in July 2019 but had recently defected to Islamic State Wilayah Hind, was recovered from an orchard in the region’s southern area of Bijbehara.
Initial reports suggested Das was killed in a nocturnal encounter with security forces. There was no confirmation that the encounter even took place, but J&K Police said that another Lashkar militant, Arif Hussain Bhat, had been captured alive.