Image: The Daily Gaurdian
In an audio message that was released on May 1, 2022, purportedly to wish listeners a happy Eid, The Resistance Front (TRF) has asked young Muslims to step up and become part of an armed resistance saying, “You have a duty to fight for Allah.” It has also called for the killing of officials and action against informers.
The entire audio was later uploaded to YouTube by a channel called Team Invictus. Given that the content incites hate and violence, SabrangIndia will not share the YouTube link. Moreover, we have not been able to authenticate the audio ourselves. We must reiterate at this point that while Freedom of Speech is a hallmark of any democracy, hate speech or speech that incites acts of violence and terrorism must be condemned, and should not be allowed to thrive. Additionally, efforts must be made to provide necessary protection to vulnerable minorities like Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus, as well as migrant workers who have been increasingly targeted by terrorist groups over the past few months.
Here’s a summary of the disturbing call to violence in the audio message.
“The freedom movement is going through a rough patch given how Modi’s facist regime abrogated 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir’s status as a state in violation of the UN charter, used and threw away people like Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah, who supported India like tissue paper,” says the speaker, a TRF commander, in chaste Urdu.
“Muslims have no respect in India,” he asserts and goes on to point to some people the group sees as traitors “who still lick India’s feet.” He says, “They haven’t learnt lessons from the past and are instead helping Modi’s regime in Kashmir. Today we give them the message that this treachery will not be tolerated. We will make it impossible for you to live here.”
The speaker then goes on to accuse the Jammu and Kashmir Police of harassing Muslim youth by implicating them in false cases and torturing them in jail. He says they only operate because of the help from informers. He also condemns the role of State Vigilance Officers (SVO) and calls for their killing! “It is important to kill these SVOs because they are the ones who create a network of informers on the ground level,” he says, further warning them, “Reconsider your behaviour and actions. You are serving the enemy, that makes you a traitor!”
He then addresses Indian authorities and says, “This is our land and we will go to any extent to protect it. There’s still time, leave our land, or we will be forced to step up action against you.” He also warns informers, “If you don’t stop, we will act against you.”
He concludes saying, “The purpose of picking up arms is not victory or defeat. We want to show the world that you can cut off a Muslim’s head, but never force him to bow before tyrants. We will never become slaves to cruel rulers and non-believers.” He says, “We’d rather die with respect that live as slaves.”
The audio has been heard at least 13,000 times and has sent shivers down the spine of the union territory’s minority Hindu community. In fact, it was a Kashmiri Pandit who shared it with our team in the first place. Although most Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus were forced to flee the Valley in the late 80s and early 90s, even today as many as 808 Kashmiri Pandit families live in approximately 200 locations across the Valley, often in transit camps amidst squalor and abject poverty. In light of new threats from extremist groups and an increase in violence, the community feels increasingly vulnerable.
Kashmir has seen an increase in violence over the last six months with the killing of many people hailing from the minority Kashmiri Pandit and Hindu community, as well as migrant workers and those who are seen as sympathisers of the Indian government. In fact, in April this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the Rajya Sabha that since 2017, as many as 34 members of the minority communities were killed in the Valley, “in terrorist related incidents”. This included 14 Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus killed in Kashmir Valley after Article 370 was removed in August 2019. Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, responding to a question by Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (SP), Chhaya Verma (Congress) and Ram Nath Thakur (JD–U), said, “The number of Kashmiri Pandits and other Hindus killed by the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir from August 5, 2019 to March 24,2022 stood at 14.” These killings have been reported from “Anantnag, Srinagar, Pulwama and Kulgam districts in the Valley.”
Already, migrant workers have left in droves from the state, and this new threat is also aiming at those within the majority Muslim community who are seen as traitors or informers.
Related:
Kashmir Hindu dies allegedly at the hands of terrorist gunmen
Kashmir: Suspected militants claim another life
14 Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus killed in Kashmir Valley after Article 370 removed: MHA