Author:
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: November 30, 2001
Former Inter Services Intelligence
operative in Kashmir Mir Khursheed claims he can organise the surrender
of Kashmiri militants if the Government of India promises them amnesty.
Chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir
Muttahida Mahaz and the Kashmir International Foundation, Khursheed says
there was a time he slept over US $1.5 million tucked under his bed because
he did not have a place to keep the money safely.
An advocate by profession, he also
points out that the ISI is unshaken by United States President George Bush's
threats of punishing countries that finance and train terrorists. "Believe
me, the ISI has not given up its diabolical plan to destabilise India.
It wants to break India," Khursheed told Onkar Singh in a rare interview.
Excerpts:
Recently Sardar Abdul Qayyum [former
prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir] said in a press statement
that Pakistan is encouraging convicts to join the so-called jihad against
India in Kashmir. Is it true?
What he said is true. I am aware
of the designs of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Pakistani jails
are full of convicts [murderers, rapists and drug traffickers] and there
is no place to keep more. Since the administration has to spend money on
them, the ISI hit upon a new idea of roping in convicts, training them
and sending them to Kashmir as jihadis. A large number of them were also
sent to Afghanistan.
What is the deal?
According to the deal with the ISI,
the families of the convicts-turned-jihadis are given Rs 2,500-4,000 per
month. The jail term is written off. The convict is happy because he becomes
a free man and if he dies he is treated as a martyr. He is sent to India
to kill innocent Kashmiris.
Do you think General Pervez Musharraf
can control the ISI?
Nobody can control the ISI. Not
even the president of Pakistan. When Benazir Bhutto was serving her second
term as prime minister of Pakistan, she ordered the arrest of Saudi businessman-turned-terrorist
Osama bin Laden. The ISI got to know about it, smuggled Laden out of Pakistan
and lodged him in a safe house in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's role in Afghanistan has
been totally exposed and now George W Bush says he will treat any country
which shelters, trains or finances terrorists as a terrorist state. Do
you think the ISI will now give up its dubious activities?
Since I worked for the ISI, I know
they will not change. The ISI gives a damn about the American threat.
What is the ISI's agenda?
To destabilise and break India.
They know it is not easy. They have virtually imposed a proxy war on India
without spending money or getting their own men killed. Kashmiri youth
are being used as sacrificial goats. They are trained to kill innocent
people in Kashmir and then get killed themselves.
The Kashmiri youth have now realised
the futility of fighting a war against India. They want to give up violence
and come back home.
What prevents them from coming back
to the mainstream?
They want general amnesty.
If the government announces general
amnesty, can you promise large-scale surrenders?
I can organise large-scale surrenders
if the Government of India announces general amnesty for the Kashmiri youth
who have taken up arms.
How many foreign militants are fighting
in Kashmir in various outfits?
There can be no precise answer.
But it [the number] is substantial. Militants from West Asia, Sudan, Egypt,
Chechnya are also in Kashmiri militant outfits. Like Al Qaeda, a majority
of the outfits operating in Kashmir are full of foreigners. Kashmiri youth
are sick and tired of them because they laugh at them [Kashmiri militants]
for not being strict on religious matters.
When did you join the ISI as an
operative? Who recruited you?
I joined the ISI in 1991 when militancy
in Kashmir was on the rise. General Javed Ashraf, then director general
of the ISI, was dealing with me directly.
What kind of money was given to
you? What was your precise role?
They were looking for a man who
was well read and could communicate with the world. I realised that though
the Jammu & Kashmir militants were fighting the battle, their case
was not properly represented in the international press. I took up this
assignment and joined the ISI. General Ashraf and his successors were in
touch with me on a daily basis. The ISI has a base in Pokhra in Nepal.
I used to travel to Pokhra from Kathmandu before getting in touch with
the ISI chief.
But you still have not specified
your role and what kind of money you were offered.
As far as the money is concerned,
it used to come in gunny bags. I probably never had the time to know how
much it was. It was in crores and crores of Pakistani and Indian rupees.
I remember a night when I slept over one-and-a-half million dollars. I
had no place to keep the money. So I put this money in my bed and slept
on it. My main job was to distribute money to the militant groups in Kashmir.
Did you travel abroad during your
tenure as an ISI operative?
In the last 10 years I have travelled
to 163 countries. I have been in touch with top people in all the countries.
What brought you back to the mainstream?
Realisation that Pakistan was using
the Kashmiris as sacrificial goats. It was waging a war against India without
actually fighting a war. We have lost thousands of innocent Kashmiris during
our so-called struggle for freedom.
How free is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?
It is worse than Indian Kashmir.
This realisation dawned upon whoever became the so-called prime minister
of PoK. Even Sardar Qayyum realised this. The moment he assumed office,
he realised that he was not a free man and had to do what the ISI told
him to do.
There is nothing called Azad Kashmir.
It is all bogus. If at all any struggle for independence should have started,
it should have started in PoK. I am sure it will start there soon.
You also handled money for Sardar
Qayyum?
Yes, I handled money on his behalf
as well. He is one sane person who has a solution to the Kashmir problem.
The Hizbul Mujahideen first announced
a cease-fire in August 1999 and it was withdrawn by Syed Salahuddin [the
Pakistan-based Hizb chief]. Why?
Given a chance Salahuddin will come
back to India. But he is under threat from the ISI. They keep a gun on
his head and make him speak what they want him to do.
Do you think the Hurriyat Conference
has been totally exposed in the Afghanistan conflict?
The Hurriyat is a body of nobodies.
They were totally exposed when they asked the people in Jammu & Kashmir
not to go on a one-day strike against the American bombing of Afghanistan.
Will you contest an election?
I would, provided I get a chance
to do so.
There are two factions in the Hizbul
Mujahideen. One wants to fight elections, the other does not.
I think even the other faction wants
to fight elections in Jammu & Kashmir, but is under threat from the
ISI. Syed Salahuddin too wants to contest elections.
Pakistan wants to wrest Kashmir
from India by force. Is that true?
This is a Pakistani dream, which
will never become a reality. They know it very well. They also know that
they cannot take Kashmir through the use of force. That is why they are
engaging India in a proxy war. The Kashmiris also know that they cannot
merge with Pakistan. India will not let an inch of Kashmir go to Pakistan,
that is the reality and we all know this.
So what do you suggest to the Kashmiri
people?
To realise the harsh realities of
life and start living a peaceful life. They should find peaceful means
for a solution to their problems
