Muhammad Ahsan Dar

Muhammad Ahsan Dar
Born1952 (1952)
Sariwarpora Pattan, Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Other namesMaster Ahsan Dar
OccupationEx-School-Teacher
Known forFounding the Hizbul Mujahideen
Children4

Muhammad Ahsan Dar (Kashmiri: محمد احسن دار; born 1952) is a Kashmiri Islamist[1] militant[1] separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir.[2][3][4][5] He was the founder of an Islamist militant group called Ansarul Islam in mid-1980s, which later became the core of Hizbul Mujahideen.[1] Formed in September 1989, Hizbul Mujahideen was an umbrella group of a dozen Islamist groups in the Kashmir Valley and was sponsored by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and Jamaat-e-Islami.[6][7] Ahsan Dar served as the head of the united group for a few years, but was marginalised the Jamaat-e-Islami patron Syed Salahuddin. He later founded a new group called Muslim Mujahideen in 1992, which operated for a few years. It was eventually neutralised by Hizbul Mujahideen and Indian security forces, and Ahsan Dar retired from militancy.[8]

  1. ^ a b c Arif Jamal, A Guide to Militant Groups in Kashmir, the Jamestown Foundation, 4 February 2010.
  2. ^ Staniland, Networks of Rebellion (2014), p. 77
  3. ^ "Hizbul wiped out JKLF before dominating Valley militancy - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Founder of Hizbul Mujahideen, Master Muhammad Ahsan Dar, released". Kashmir Watch. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Kashmir–Deciphering Islamabad's Signals". www.vifindia.org. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  6. ^ Riedel, Deadly Embrace (2012), pp. 39–40: "As many as 180 groups had sprouted up to fight the Indians. By setting up an umbrella group, Hizbul Mujahedeen, to unite the pro-Pakistan elements, the ISI gradually isolated the JKLF, cut off its aid, and took control"
  7. ^ Jamal, Shadow War (2009), pp. 140–141: "In August 1989, the Jamat-i-Islami of Azad Kashmir sent Masood Sarfraz, an articulate and intelligent guerrilla commander, across the line of control in an effort to raise a serious organization parallel to the JKLF. Sarfraz was accompanied by another militant, Muzzaffar Shah. Their plan was to form an umbrella organization for Islamist militants."
  8. ^ Biberman, Gambling with Violence (2019), pp. 83–84.