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‘US declaration on Salahuddin may choke his funding’
KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 6/28/2017 11:38:50 AM
NEW DELHI, Jun 27: Welcoming United States move to declare Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist, Union Home Secretary Rajeev Mehrishi on Tuesday said the move would affect the former's funding and movement.
"The United States' stance is correct. He (Salahuddin) is a terrorist, and therefore, he has been declared so. Post declaration, we can expect some impact on his movement and funding. That might help. Otherwise, he is a coward and has fled to Pakistan," Mehrishi told media here today.
Washington yesterday designated Hizbul chief Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin, as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist.'
Commenting on the development, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a statement, "In that sense, we would welcome this notification and also underline strongly that both India and US face a threat of terrorism and are working together to counter this threat."
He added that this move by the US vindicates India's long standing position that cross-border terrorism from Pakistan has been behind the disturbances created in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Salahuddin is the senior leader of the militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. In September 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley "into a graveyard for Indian forces."
Under Salahuddin's tenure, the Hizbul-Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had said in Washington that the designation was “a strong signal coming out of the administration that it is committed to ending terror in all forms.”
“We should take the step for what it is. It is fixing responsibility, highlighting the problem. There is a signalling out of it, it is focusing on a particular group and particular individual. None of us can really miss that message,” he said.
The move by the US State Department came just hours before the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump at the White House.
As a consequence of this designation, US citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin. All of Salahuddin’s property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are also blocked.
Earlier in the day, Mehrishi welcomed the expedition team of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force that he said had successfully climbed Mount Dhaulagiri, an 8,167-metre peak located in Nepal. It is also the seventh highest peak in the world.
The home secretary had flagged off the team for the expedition on March 10 from here.
He praised the “bravery” of two jawans, head constable Narender Singh and constable Biman Biswas, of the 25- member team for “bravely saving and rescuing” their sick colleague when they were close to the summit.
“However, the two jawans lost something of their own,” Mehrishi said, referring to their injuries.
The two men suffered severe frost bite injuries and damage to their fingers while attempting to rescue their colleague Krishna P Gurung.
This was the first expedition of the mountain-warfare trained force to Dhaulagiri. The force has conducted over 200 such successful missions since its raising in 1962.
The ITBP, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, is tasked with guarding the 3,488-km Sino-Indian frontier and its border posts are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000-feet to 18,700-feet.