A UK NGO monitoring developments in Kashmir has reported that a Kashmiri leader in exile with ties to the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) has received an award from the Mayor of Luton in Britain. According to the report:
…. a self exiled Kashmiri leader was “honoured” with the award by the Pakistani Mayor of Luton in Britain for his illustrious services to the Kashmir cause. Ironically, the citation of Muma Kana also mentions “illustrious services”, rendered to India and “cause of Kashmir”. Based in Jeddah for years representing Syed Ali Geelani under the cover of working in the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), this exiled leader Nazir Ahmed Qureshi prefers the sobriquet of ‘safeer-e-kashmir’. But in 2005, the ‘safeer-e-kashmir’ vanished from Jeddah to save himself from confronting his mentor Geelani, who was there to perform Hajj. Hurriyat leader was then out of favour in the Pakistani establishment. Meeting him would have invoked wreath of Pakistani establishment and President Pervez Musharraf. After the death of Dr. Ayub Thakur, Qureshi insisted leaders in Kashmir as well as in Pakistan to appoint him as chairman of World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM) purposely to stay with his sons who had shifted to London.”
In 2008, an Israeli analyst cited other research confirming the link between Mr. Quereshi and WAMY:
K. Santhanam outlines the main Jihad groups in Kashmir, providing a detailed look into their history, objectives, and structure. The following list of organizations is those, which Santhanam describes as having connections to the Saudi Arabian government and their associated charity organizations.
· J&K Jamaat-e-Islami (JKJEI) – The JKJEI is a political Islamic party in Pakistan with links to WAMY through Nazir Ahmad Qureshi. In September 1989, the organization established its militant branch, known as the Hizbul Mujahideen. According to a 1993 US Congressional Report, Hizbul Mujahideen has received funding, weapons and training assistance from JKJEI.[7]
· Kul Jammat Hurriyat Conference (KJHC) – In 1995, the Hizbul Mujahideen were involved in the 1995 Charar-e-Sharif shrine incident in Srinagar, Kashmir, where militants, led by an Afghan mujahideen, occupied the shrine from March until May 1995. The KJHC provided the terrorists with food and organized protests throughout the duration of the incident. Indian security forces eventually burned down the shrine. Following the destruction of the shrine, the KJHC sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss the matter. The Saudi government provided funds for ‘relief and shrine reconstruction’.[8]
Muslim Brothers were instrumental in the founding of WAMY and the organization continues to enjoy close relations with the global Muslim Brotherhood. U.S. government agencies and officials have argued that WAMY has helped spread Islamic extremism around the world as well as sponsoring terrorism in places such as Bosnia, Israel, and India. Numerous previous posts have discussed WAMY’s activities throughout the world.
An earlier post discussed plans by WAMY UK to hold an Islamic Awareness Week.