Hizb rebel Dar shot at Sopore house

Dar and a small group of his loyalists stood by his new peace slogan, leading to his expulsion from the Hizbul in May last year.

A Jamaat-e-Islami activist and a pioneer of Kashmir’s militant movement, Dar had founded Tehreek-e-Jihadi Islami — a pro-Pakistan militant outfit which dominated north Kashmir in the early nineties. He had later merged his group with the Hizbul Mujahideen, particularly since the ideological base of both his group and the Hizbul were similar.

‘‘He had come to say goodbye to us as he was supposed to leave for Pakistan soon,’’ Dar’s brother, Fayaz Ahmad, said. ‘‘He met his mother and other family members and wanted to leave but I forced him to stay longer. I wanted him to have lunch with us. I went to the market and returned after hearing the gunshots.’’

Dar’s niece, Dilshada, witnessed the killing. ‘‘There were two young men, one of them bearded. They knocked on the door and asked for Fayaz. They asked whether there was anybody else inside,’’ she said. ‘‘My grandmother (Dar’s mother) told them there was nobody in there but they forced their way in and opened indiscriminate fire. Three bullets pierced my phiran but I was lucky to have escaped unhurt,’’ she said. ‘‘They opened the door of the room where my uncle (Dar) was sitting and fired a volley. They killed him there. By then a bullet had hit my grandmother in her leg while my aunt had also been shot in her abdomen. They were all lying there in the corridor.’’

The scene at this newly-constructed house, where a few hundred villagers — mostly relatives — had gathered, was gloomy. However, shops in the area remained open and life was normal. ‘‘If this had happened a few years ago, you would have seen angry demonstrations everywhere in Sopore. His image had received a dent in the area because he was seen as close to the government, especially after the Hizb expelled him,’’ said Bashir Ahmad Wani, resident of a neighbouring colony. ‘‘Nobody knows what was going on but a public perception had developed that he had left the movement (separatism).’’ In fact, no separatist leader turned up for Dar’s funeral today. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference didn’t issue any statement but when contacted senior leader and former Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the killing. ‘‘He was a top commander of this movement. He always felt for the Kashmiris from the core of his heart and wanted a settlement to this problem in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,’’ he said. ‘‘I am immensely pained by his killing. It’s a tragedy that all those who think and understand are being mercilessly killed. I don’t know who has done it. Whosoever has done it must be condemned.’’

He said the Hurriyat would meet soon to discuss Dar’s assassination. Dar’s killing has come at a time when Kashmir is preparing for the first peace initiative after Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over the reins of government with the appointment of N N Vohra as New Delhi’s latest interlocutor.

Vohra is yet to launch his parleys and this incident could scare away several dialogue-sympathetic leaders in the separatist camp.