Fear, the IS is here

The emergence of the militant group in Jammu and Kashmir is a cause for concern

As it has in other parts of the world, the Islamic State (IS) has raised its head in the troubled, disputed Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir which is the bone of contention between nuclear-tipped Pakistan and India. The emergence of the group — even if Indian authorities claim to have killed its last and perhaps the only supporter in an operation, and the claim of setting up a province ‘Wilayah of Hind’ — is a cause for concern in a region which has seen a resurgence of home-grown resistance.

The loose, disaggregated group does not seem to have any unified leadership at the moment with its bastions in the Middle East destroyed. It mostly consists of individuals who voluntarily opt to align with the group and follow its guidelines. Unlike Syria and Iraq, where the group first emerged and where the government had visibly lost control of vast swathes of land and was too weak to enforce its writ before a determined challenger, Kashmir is in virtual lockdown. There are over Indian 700,000 troops deployed in the mountainous state and every move is by and large controlled from New Delhi. Yet, its grip on the state loosened when it erupted after the killing of young militant Burhan Wani in 2016.

The longstanding conflict is the ideal condition for IS, its sympathisers or aspirants to finally rise up. The Indian repression of a large Muslim population is the perfect fuel to draw more supporters. Even as the Indian military claims to have killed the last and only IS member in Kashmir, it is difficult to say how much Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi did to entrench the group in the disputed state — whether he created sleeper cells to rise up when the time is right to take power. However, New Delhi must understand that its reign of terror and violence in the disputed state will only beget more violence — as it has for the past 70 years. To make matters worse, all of it is homegrown.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2019.

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