A breakaway group of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) was formed in 1991. The initiative to form the group was taken by Hilal Ahmed Mir alias Nasirul Islam. He developed differences with Master Ahsan Dar, commander-in-chief of the HM, who wanted to turn the new group into the armed wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Pakistan.
Like many other jihadi organisations, the JuM initially worked with the aim of using violence to separate Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from India and merge it with Pakistan. The outfit is opposed to any negotiations on the Kashmir issue. This is one of the major factors for its opposition to All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which held talks with Government of India on the Kashmir issue.
The organisational structure of the JuM is on the similar lines of the HM. There is a political wing which is headed by an amir. The political wing amir looks after the political affairs and management of the organisation. The military wing is headed by a commander-in-chief, supported by four divisional commanders, area commanders and district commanders. The military wing has also specialized wings such as Al Jabbar squad.
With the formation of the JuM, Nasirul Islam continued as the chief of the outfit. With his death, Ghulam Rasool Shah alias General Abdullah became the amir. It may be mentioned that in February 2000, Ghulam Rasool Shah escaped from Srinagar jail and crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK). He is believed to be directing militant operations in Kashmir from there. Other important leaders of the outfit are Ghulam Nabi Shah, general secretary, Abdul Malik, commander-in-chief, Ghulam Mohammad Butt, launching chief, and Jamil Ahmed, spokesman of the outfit.
At the time of the formation, it was decided to have its cadres from among the local Kashmir youths. With the killing and arrest of its leaders, the outfit was forced to recruit Pakistanis into the group.2 The present strength of the JuM is less than 100. The JuM mostly conducts operations in Srinagar, Kupwara and Pulwama districts of J&K. Although it has a base camp in Muzaffarabad, its real strength lies in J&K where its cadres are stationed.
The JuM is a member of the United Jihad Council (UJC). Its amir, Ghulam Rasool Shah, is head of the Kashmir Resistance Group comprising four other members of the UJC. The four other members are Muslim Janbaz Force, Al Jihad, Al Fateh and Hizbullah. After joining the UJC, it has established close links with the ISI of Pakistan. The JuM had also reported to have operated with the ISI in Kathmandu in Pakistan Embassy. It had opened a shop in Kathmandu in 1996 where a satellite communication centre was set up to facilitate conducting operations in Kashmir.
Besides ISI, JuM has been getting substantial amount of funds from expatriate Kashmiris, such as World Kashmir Freedom Movement, United Kingdom, and from Kashmiris and Pakistanis in PoK, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It was also involved in extortion in the Kashmir Valley to raise its financial capacities.
In the initial years of its formation, the JuM was in the forefront in the jihadi activities in J&K. But with the killing of large number of its cadres and commanders the outfit was weakened. Moreover, it also faced competition from other jihadi outfits. It remained dormant for years and showed its muscles on 11 December 2011 when its specialised squad, Al Jabbar, made an abortive attempt to kill a J&K state minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar, in Srinagar. It alleged that the attack was in retaliation to National Conference President Farooq Abdullah’s advocacy for reopening liquor shops in the Valley. Similarly, the JuM also claimed responsibility on an attack in Lal Chowk, Srinagar, in January 2010.
The mouthpiece of the outfit, Mahaz-e-Kashmir, is being published on a regular basis and through this magazine, the JuM has been trying to influence the youth to join the outfit.