Zakir Rashid Bhat

Zakir Rashid Bhat
Founder and chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind
Succeeded by	Hameed Lelhari
Former Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen
Preceded by	Burhan Wani
Personal details
Born	25 July 1994 Tral, Kashmir
Died	May 23, 2019(2019-05-23) (aged 24) Dadsara Village
Cause of death	Encounter at Dadsara, Tral
Education	Engineering Student
Religion	Islam
Military service
Battles/wars	Kashmir Intifada

Zakir Rashid Bhat or Zakir Musa (25 July 1994 - 23 May 2019) was a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander (2013–17), and founder of an Indian wing of Al-Qaeda called Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind in 2017. Musa split with the political objectives of the Hizbul Mujahideen for Kashmir, in favour of Al-Qaeda's religious objectives of imposing Shariah in the region.

He was killed by Indian security forces at Tral area of south Kashmir in May 2019, as a "wanted militant".

Early life

Zakir Rashid Bhat was born in Noorpora, Tral in South Kashmir. His father was Abdul Rashid Bhat, a senior engineer working with the state government. Musa studied at Noor Public School up to Class 10, and then went to the government higher secondary institution at Noorpora where he passed his 12th in 2011. His father decided to send Zakir Bhat out of the Kashmir Valley so that he remained away from the daily tensions that distract Kashmiri boys and girls from focussing on their studies.

Frequent curfews, restrictions, crackdowns, closure of educational institutions, non-availability of round-the-clock libraries and undependable Internet facility were probably the key reasons for Zakir joining an engineering college in Chandigarh. Musa attended Ram Dev Jindal College, in Chandigarh but left in 2013 due to unknown reasons and joined the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen.

Hizbul Mujahideen

Main article: Hizbul Mujahideen

In 2013, Zakir's best friend Idrees persuaded him to join the militant ranks. He abandoned studies at Chandigarh without telling his family that he was going to take a one-way road to become a 'shaheed'. He found contacts to meet Burhan Muzzaffar Wani who was becoming the poster boy of militancy in Kashmir. Musa joined the Sayeed Salahudeen's group Hizbul Mujahideen in 2013. He became the commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen after the death of Burhan Muzaffar Wani; discontent over Wani's death led to the 2016 Kashmir Unrest. In August 2016, Musa issued his first video in Kashmir. He has been described as "part of a new generation of tech-savvy, well-educated militants" who became involved in the conflict after the 2010 Kashmir unrest.

In 2017, Musa threatened to behead the Hurriyat leaders for calling the Kashmir conflict a political, instead of a religious objective establish Islamic rule; he warned them not to become a "thorn" in the imposition of Shariah in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen immediately disassociated itself from Musa's statement, and Musa, in response, quit the organization.In 2017, he finally left the group after it refused to back his public statements supporting his argument that the struggle in Kashmir was for Islam, and not for political purposes.

Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind

Main article: Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind

In July 2017, the Global Islamic Media Front claimed that Zakir Musa had been named the head of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a newly created cell of Al-Qaeda. After the killing of militant commander Abu Dujana and Arif Lelhari, a statement purported to be from Musa was released. The statement claimed that Dujana and Lelhari had joined Al-Qaeda and helped set it up. Officials stated that the voice of the message matched those of the earlier audio clips by Musa, though the state's DGP S.P. Vaid stated there was no way of authenticating the clips even though there were reports that Dujana and Musa were close at the time. Meanwhile, an audio-clip circulated on media claimed to be the last message from Dujana and Arif during their encounter. Two voices claim allegiance to Al-Qaeda, however, no gunfire is heard and the authenticity of the clip wasn't proven.

It was reported on 12 August 2017 that Musa and his aide evaded an Indian Army and JK Police operation with the locals, pelting security forces with stones in Noorpora village of Tral. In an audio message released on 31 August 2017, Musa attacked Pakistan for "betraying Kashmir jihad." He also stated that the objective of Al-Qaeda's Kashmir cell was to clear it from the Pakistan government, army and their sponsored agents. He also threatened to "liberate India" from the Hindus. Hizbul put up posters in Sopore in September 2017, which held him responsible for helping Indian security forces kill Kashmiris, asking people to chase him to death and calling him an "Indian agent."

Death

Zakir Rashid Bhat, was killed after an 11-hour operation. Musa was killed by Indian security forces in an encounter in Tral, South Kashmir on 23 May 2019.

Fearing an escalation in tensions, the authorities in Kashmir closed down schools, colleges and universities, while mobile internet services were also shut across the Himalayan region to prevent people from mobilising protests.

The Indian authorities closed the internet on mobile phone network to manage anti-India protests; curfews were also imposed across much of the Kashmir Valley, including in the main city of Srinagar, and schools and colleges were closed.

At the time of his death, the BBC News described him as "India's most wanted militant".

External links

• From engineering dropout to militant; The Times of India, 14 May 2017.

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