The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) advocates independent Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) comprising all Kashmir territory that is presently under the control of India, Pakistan and China.
It was founded by Amanullah Khan, a native of Gilgit Gilgit–Baltistan PoJK and Maqbool Bhat, who hailed from Trehgam village of Kupwara district, in Birmingham (the United Kingdom [UK]) on 29 May 1977.
It was Maqbool Bhat who had first formed the Kashmir Independent Committee, which was merged into Sheikh Abdullah’s Plebiscite Front, and then, in 1965, he formed the National Liberation Front.
Ever since its formation in 1977, till 1994, JKLF remained an active terrorist organisation with branches in the UK, Europe, the United States (US) and the Middle East. In the 1980s, it also opened branches in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and J&K.
Its major terrorist acts include the hijacking of Indian Airlines plane to Lahore in 1971, and again in 1976, and the killing of Indian diplomat, Ravindra Mhatre, in Birmingham in 1984. The JKLF militants kidnapped, in 1989, Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Indian Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was released in the exchange of five JKLF militants.
In the UK, Amanullah Khan was charge sheeted but he was acquitted by the British court. However, he was deported to Pakistan by the British authorities, where he re-established contacts with the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to internationalise and intensify militancy in J&K by setting up training camps in PoJK and encouraging Kashmir youth to cross over and receive training at these camps. Emboldened by these steps, Amanullah Khan went a step further and announced the formation of provisional government of the independent state of J&K in 1990. Meanwhile, Farooq Haider emerged as a centre of power in the group. This led to Amanullah Khan retaliating by expelling him from JKLF, which led to a vertical split in the group.’
Alarmed by the public support for independence, the ISI cut down its assistance to the JKLF and propped up the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and in some instances provided intelligence to security forces against JKLF.
It is estimated that about 600 militants of JKLF were killed and many of its senior leaders including Mohammad Yasin Malik, Abdul Hamid Shikh and Kaka Hussain were arrested. It was then Yasin Mallik announced unilateral ceasefire in 1994 and pursued political agenda under the APHC. Faction led by Ammanullah Khan also made similar decision in 1997.
In September 1995, Yasin Malik and some his associates revolted against Amanullah Khan, who retaliated by expelling Yasin Malik from the outfit. Hence, two factions of the JKLF were formed, one led by Amanullah Khan and the other, by Yasin Malik. However, both the leaders agreed, in principle, to work together to strengthen the movement to achieve the objective. This development took place in August 2011. It is important to mention that in 1995, Yasin Malik had decided to renounce violence, which had led to the split.
Politically, the organisation strives for an independent and sovereign J&K.
The organisational structure of the JKLF includes central office bearers, central executive committee (CEC), standing committee, policy and planning committee and subcommittees. The central office bearers of the JKLF include a chairman, a senior vice chairman and three vice chairmen. Similarly, the CEC includes all the central office bearers, chairman and the secretary general of Jammu Kashmir Students’ Liberation Front (JKSLF), the student wing of the JKLF, and 15 other members. The CEC is the chief decision-making body of the organisation.
Key leaders of the JKLF, led by Yasin Malik, are Basheer Ahmed Bhat, Sabir Ansari, Parveiz Iqbal, Mohammad Rafiq Dar, Shiekh Abdul Rashid, Basheer Ahmed Kashmiri, Baker Ahmed Rather (Boya), Mohammad Latif, Noor Muhammad Kalwal, Showkat Ahmad Bakshi, Muhammad Siddique and Gayasuddin. Amanullah Khan also has a team of leaders, namely, S.M. Afzal, Sardar Sageer, Hafeez Anwar Samwai, Amnzoor Ahmed Khan and Rafiq Ahmed Dar.
The JKLF is active in Srinagar city and some other district headquarters of Kashmir Valley. The head office of JKLF is located at Yasin Malik’s residence in Maisuma in Srinagar. Amanullah Khan has set up his network in almost all the districts of PoK and in Gilgit, Diamer and Skardu districts of Gilgit and Baltistan and in some cities in Pakistan. The JKLF has its branches in foreign countries like Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It has also a base in the US.
As JKLF was the first militant outfit to start a violent movement in Kashmir against India, according to the available sources, the ISI of Pakistan is believed to have supported the organisation both financially and in terms of providing arms and weapons in the initial days.5 However, the ISI’s financial support declined in the course of time as the popular support of the JKLF escalated.
It also received funds from Saudi Arabia. Didar Singh, who used to fund the World Sikh Organisation, was also suspected to have funded the JKLF.