Kashmiri Activist Challenges Radical Ideologies Fueled by Pakistan's Strategy

Junaid Qureshi, a Kashmiri political activist, criticizes Pakistan for nurturing radical ideologies among Jammu and Kashmir's educated youth. He calls for Kashmiri Muslims to denounce violence misrepresented as religious acts and highlights Pakistan's role in portraying terrorism as a local struggle, while commending India's counter-terrorism efforts.

Junaid Qureshi, a prominent Kashmiri political activist and Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, has expressed significant concerns over the increasing radicalisation among the educated youth in Jammu and Kashmir. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Qureshi attributed this alarming trend to Pakistan's direct influence in sustaining an extremist ecosystem that threatens to destabilize the region.

Qureshi described the radicalisation of educated professionals, including doctors, as "a deeply worrying trend" and urged Kashmiri Muslims to reflect and take a decisive stand against those who justify violence in the name of religion. He emphasized rejecting individuals who promote such ideologies, noting that Islam prohibits both suicide and the killing of innocents.

He further warned of a resurgence of suicide bombings in the Valley, which mirrors global terror tactics inspired by organizations like Hamas. Qureshi accused Pakistan of shifting its narrative, presenting cross-border terrorism as a local struggle to misguide the international community. He cited the formation of groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Kashmir to illustrate Pakistan's evolving proxy warfare tactics and cautioned against the radical madrasa network in Pakistan as a significant source of extremism.

(With inputs from agencies.)