Author: Intikhab Amir/Herald
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 20, 2006
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/10980.html
Introduction: Massive sums have been siphoned off in the name of jihad
Billions of rupees have been spent to extend “moral and diplomatic” support to the people of Kashmir, while millions of dollars have also been raised through donations by Pakistanis and Kashmiris living abroad for the same cause. This has allowed some enterprising men to make fortunes in the name of jihad and in the effort to publicise the cause of Kashmir at the international level. No wonder then over the years, this cause has become associated with comfortable living, luxury cars and multi-million rupees assets in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Except for some cases in which security agencies acted against those who betrayed Pakistani state agencies, many have pocketed money out of the funds lavished on them by private fund-raisers living in the US, Britain and the Middle East and reportedly the official agencies for pushing forward Islamabad’s Kashmir agenda.
In one such incident in 2004, one of the country’s major intelligence agencies arrested Bilal Rahi, chief of al-Barq Mujahideen, a Kashmiri militant organisation associated with the People’s Conference (PC) of the slain Kashmiri leader Abdul Ghani Lone. Even before Rahi was put behind bars the intelligence personnel recovered from his possession 45 million Pakistani rupees that he had siphoned out of the funds he was supposed to have passed on to his party’s leadership in Kashmir.
Rahi managed to escape, along with other prisoners, when the Muzaffarabad prison building where he was lodged collapsed in the October 8 earthquake. He crossed over into Indian Kashmiri and surrendered to the local authorities there.
Khurshid Mir Gantmula of Baramulla district, who was based in Islamabad for some time, returned three years ago to Indian Kashmir after siphoning off funds intended for the jihad in Kashmir. Before embarking upon his political career with Sardar Qayyum’s Muslim Conference In Pakistan, Gantmula was associated with National Conference. Apart from a hefty bank balance, Gantmula owned a house in Islamabad. He had also been arrested by Pakistani authorities on charges of corruption.
There have also been cases in which money was recovered from individuals though no one was charged for any wrongdoing. A Kashmiri militant leader based in Muzaffarabad and associated with the Jamiatul Mujahideen was allegedly released by intelligence personnel only after the coughed up, in 2002, about 25 million Pakistani rupees that he had amassed out of the funds his party provided him for a series of operations. He and his elder brother reportedly own some prized land at Wadorra in Indian Kashmir, in addition to a house in Srinagar and some commercial property in Kupwara.
“There are good and bad people everywhere,” says Yousuf Nasim, convener of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Pakistan. “People may have misused the political movement of Kashmir because it is not always possible to ensure the just utilization of all the money donated abroad as there is no system of carrying out audits.”
Kashmiri circles says that the funds that were distributed over the years came from various sources. Other than the money provided by the Kashmir Liberation Cell (KLC) — an entity of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir government which operates a secret fund — millions of dollars have also come in as donations from overseas Pakistanis and Kashmiris. It is not known how these funds were utilised.
The APHC was established in 1993 and since then all component parties of the APHC have appointed separate representatives to look after their respective militant wings and their activities in Muzaffarabad. A majority of Kashmir political figures who represent these political parties and their militant wings in Pakistan come from humble backgrounds, yet today some of them are extremely rich.