Pakistan lets loose Jaish’s Masood Azhar to foment trouble in Kashmir

Azhar, 51, who was designated a terrorist by the United Nations in May 2019, has been released to plan terrorist operations, “secretly” released by the authorities and told to oversee execution of terrorist operations in Kashmir over the next few days and weeks by his group, say reports.

Azhar, the reports said, has been tasked with the job of creating unrest in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of high-profile meetings of the UN human rights body this week, and the UN General Assembly later this month-end, according to two senior officials in India’s security establishment.

Masood Azhar, 51, according to an input by India’s Intelligence Bureau, had been “secretly” released by the authorities and told to oversee execution of terrorist operations in Kashmir over the next few days and weeks by his group.

Pakistan has been keeping several leaders of the Jaish-e-Mohammed under protective custody after the group claimed responsibility for the Pulwama car bombing in February that killed 40 CRPF troopers. That, however, was to signal to the international community that it was serious about cracking down on terror ahead of a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June.

But now, Pakistan wants trouble in Jammu and Kashmir with people hitting the streets against last month’s move to scrap special status for the state and split it into two union territories.

Pakistan sees the UN Human Rights Council meetings that began in Geneva today, as the last straw to internationalise the Kashmir issue and seek an urgent debate or a resolution at the council meeting citing alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.