Authorities in India's Jammu and Kashmir region said they had detained dozens of separatists for allegedly attempting to revive a banned militant organization, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
In a statement released late on Sunday night, the Jammu and Kashmir police said the detained individuals were holding a meeting to revive the JKLF, and the Hurriyat Conference -- a conglomerate of multiple separatist outfits -- that seeks the secession of the Kashmir region from India.
Police said a search was conducted on the basis of credible information about the meeting of some former JKLF terrorists and erstwhile separatists in a hotel in Srinagar. "They were brought to Kothibagh Police Station for verification. An inquiry has started, prima facie it came out that they were planning to revive JKLF and Hurriyat,” the statement added.
The JKLF was banned in the aftermath of the 2019 suicide bombing in Kashmir’s Pulwama region that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers. The political activities of the Hurriyat Conference have largely been restricted following a massive crackdown on its activists.
The 2019 suicide bombing was carried out by 22-year-old Adil Dar, a member of the banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad* militant outfit.
The bombing brought India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, close to a war.
Subsequently, JKLF and Jamaat-e-Islami, a socio-religious body accused of sympathizing with militants seeking Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, were banned by the Indian government.
In the late 80s, an anti-India insurgency had erupted in Kashmir with JKLF spearheading it. Malik, a key member of JKLF, renounced militancy in early 90s but continued raising his concerns through political activism.
Last year, JKLF’s chairman Malik was sentenced to life in one of the multiple cases lodged against him for his role in the Kashmiri militancy.
The case against Malik pertains to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba* chief Hafiz Saeed and other separatist leaders’ conspiracy to raise, receive and collect funds domestically and from abroad to back militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
* Jaish-e-Mohammad and Laskhar-e-Taiba are designated as terrorist outfits in India and Russia.