Back حزب المجاهدين Arabic حزب المجاهدين ARZ হিজবুল মুজাহিদীন Bengali/Bangla Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Catalan حزب المجاهدین Persian हिज़बुल मुजाहिद्दीन Hindi Hizbul Mujahideen ID ヒズブル・ムジャーヒディーン Japanese ഹിസ്ബുൾ മുജാഹിദ്ദീൻ Malayalam हिजबूल मुजाहिद्दीन Marathi

Hizbul Mujahideen

Hizbul Mujahideen
حزب المجاھدین
FoundersMuhammad Ahsan Dar
Hilal Ahmed Mir
Masood Sarfraz
Patron and Supreme CommanderSyed Salahuddin[1]
Operational CommanderFarooq Ahmed Nali (a.k.a. Abu Ubaida) (chief operational commander in the Kashmir Valley, India)
FoundationSeptember 1989 (notional)[2]
Dates of operation1989–present
Split toAnsar Ghazwat-ul-Hind[3]
The Resistance Front[a]
Group(s)Dukhtaran-e-Millat[9][10]
MotivesSeparation of Kashmir from India and its merger with Pakistan[11]
HeadquartersMuzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir
IdeologyIslamism[12]
Jihadism[13]
StatusActive
Part ofUnited Jihad Council
Alliesal-Qaeda
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Al-Badr[14]
Battles and warsInsurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
Designated as a terrorist group by India
 European Union
 Canada
 United States

Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahidin (Arabic: حزب المجاھدین, transl. 'Party of Holy Fighters'),[15] is a Pakistan-affiliated Islamist militant organisation that has been engaged in the Kashmir insurgency since 1989. It aims to separate Kashmir[b] from India and merge it with Pakistan,[16][12][17] and is thus one of the most important players in the region as it evolved the narrative of the Kashmir conflict by steering the struggle away from nationalism and towards jihadism.

Founded in September 1989 as an umbrella group of Islamist militants, Hizbul Mujahideen quickly came under the control of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir;[18] it is considered to be the military wing of the organisation.[19][20] It was supported, since its inception, by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and was established through an effort initiated under erstwhile Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.[21][20] It is headquartered in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir,[22] and also has liaison offices in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan's political and military capital cities, respectively.[23][24]

The organisation has claimed responsibility for multiple armed attacks in Kashmir.[25][26] It has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union,[27] India,[28] Canada,[29] and the United States.[30] It remains a lawfully-operating organisation in Pakistan.[31]

  1. ^ "Who is Syed Salahuddin, and why is he designated as a 'global terrorist'?". The Hindu. 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. ^ Jamal, Shadow War (2009), p. 281, note 40: "Interestingly, Jamat-i-Islami considers September 1989, the day the Hizbul Mujahideen was founded, as the beginning of the insurgency."
  3. ^ Zee Media Bureau (15 May 2017). "With Call For 'Islamic Rule', Zakir Musa May Have Signalled Ideological Split in Kashmir Terrorism". The Wire (Indian web publication). Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ Gupta, Shishir (8 May 2020). "Pak launches terror's new face in Kashmir, Imran Khan follows up on Twitter". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. ^ "'Pakistan trying to securalise Kashmir militancy': Lashkar regroups in Valley as The Resistance Front". The Indian Express. 5 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. ^ Gupta, Shishir (8 May 2020). "New J&K terror outfit run by LeT brass: Intel". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. ^ Pubby, Manu; Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy (29 April 2020). "The Resistance Front: New name of terror groups in Kashmir". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Security Forces Have Eliminated Over 100 Militants in Jammu and Kashmir This Year, Say Officials". CNN News18. 8 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  9. ^ "DeM cadres lead women congregations across Kashmir". Greater Kashmir. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  10. ^ Gul, Khalid (5 August 2016). "Pro-freedom rallies in Pampore, Bijbehara". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  11. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2002). Pakistan: Nationalism Without a Nation. Zed Books. p. 180. ISBN 9781842771174.
  12. ^ a b *Staniland, Organizing Insurgency (2012), "The Hizb, by contrast, represented a less popular Islamist ideology and did not embrace a mass mobilization strategy."
  13. ^
    • Staniland, Insurgent Fratricide (2012), p. 27: "As the JKLF slipped from armed prominence in 1992 and 1993, the arena of combat shifted to pro-Pakistan, Islamist organizations. The most powerful of these was the Hizbul Mujahideen, which combined Pakistani aid with the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party."
    • Gunaratna & Yee Kam, Handbook of Terrorism (2016), p. 271: "The Hizbul Mujahideen is an Islamist separatist group that is bent on liberating the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The group wants Kashmir to be independent and integrated with Pakistan."
    • Fair, Insights from a Database of LeT and HM Militants (2013), p. 265: "HM has historically called for the unification of Kashmir under Pakistani control, but it takes a somewhat subtler line in its public communications."
  14. ^ Pakistan Archived 19 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Mapping Militants. Stanford University.
  15. ^ Kiessling, The ISI of Pakistan (2016), p. 193.
  16. ^ *Staniland, Insurgent Fratricide (2012), p. 27: "As the JKLF slipped from armed prominence in 1992 and 1993, the arena of combat shifted to pro-Pakistan, Islamist organizations. The most powerful of these was the Hizbul Mujahideen, which combined Pakistani aid with the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party."
  17. ^ "Country Reports on Terrorism 2019: Hizbul Mujahideen". United States Department of State. 2019. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  18. ^ *Garner, Chechnya and Kashmir: The Jihadist Evolution (2013), p. 423: "The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), active since the mid-1980s, and its parent political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, were the two most important players in the evolution from nationalism to jihad."
    • Fair, Insights from a Database of LeT and HM Militants (2013), pp. 264–265: "Some analysts believe that JI founded HM on behalf of the ISI while others contend that JI did so on its own initiative but with the assistance of the ISI."
    • Staniland, Insurgent Fratricide (2012), p. 27: "The most powerful of these was the Hizbul Mujahideen, which combined Pakistani aid with the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party."
    • Staniland, Networks of Rebellion (2014), pp. 76–77: "While its rise to dominance occurred after 1990, its mobilization during 1989–1991 through the networks of the Jamaat-e-Islami laid the basis for an integrated organization that persisted..."
    • Jamal, Shadow War (2009), p. 281, note 40: "Interestingly, Jamat-i-Islami considers September 1989, the day the Hizbul Mujahideen was founded, as the beginning of the insurgency."
  19. ^ Behera, Navnita Chadha (2007). Demystifying Kashmir. Pearson Education India. p. 154. ISBN 9788131708460. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  20. ^ a b Kiessling, The ISI of Pakistan (2016), p. 180
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sirrs 177 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Fair, Insights from a Database of LeT and HM Militants (2013), p. 265; Gunaratna & Yee Kam, Handbook of Terrorism (2016), p. 271
  23. ^ Sareen, The Jihad Factory (2005), p 141: "Dar's followers have been trying to seize HM offices in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi and Islamabad."
  24. ^ Staniland, Networks of Rebellion (2014), p. 80.
  25. ^ A sample:
  26. ^ Joshi, The Lost Rebellion (1999).
  27. ^ "Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/2430 of 21 December 2015". Official Journal of the European Union. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  28. ^ "Banned Organisations". Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 29 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013.
  29. ^ "Canada labels the Proud Boys, other neo-Nazi groups as terrorists". CBC. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  30. ^ "US adds 4 Indian outfits to terror list". Rediff News. 30 April 2004. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
    See also
  31. ^ Kiessling, The ISI of Pakistan (2016), p. 183.


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