NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (1995) – A Moslem separatist group has issued a “death sentence” against a prominent Kashmiri Moslem leader for his reported criticism of militants in the troubled Indian state, a newspaper said Tuesday.
The outlawed Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen issued “shoot-on-sight” orders Monday against Abdul Gani Lone, a senior leader of the Moslem separatist All Party Kashmir Freedom Conference, the Huriyat, The Indian Express said.
The Muslimeen, which advocates Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, passed the death sentence after Lone reportedly denounced the emphasis on the gun in the Kashmiri Moslem separatist struggle, the daily said.
Lone, who is undergoing medical treatment in New Delhi, has since disowned the statement, but the rebel group still accused him of not being faithful to the separatist campaign, the Express added.
Most Moslem militant groups fighting for Kashmir’s secession want the disputed Himalayan region to join Pakistan. The other groups want Kashmir to become independent.
The Huriyat is an umbrella organisation of some 30 Moslem groups which back the separatist drive. The secession campaign has left more than 10,000 people dead since 1989 in Kashmir, India’s only Moslem-majority state.
