Bharat at 14:59, 14 February 2024

2024-02-14T14:59:51Z

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{{Short description|Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020|cs1-dates=ly}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Abdul Majeed Dar
| image = File:Abdul Majeed Dar 1.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Sopore]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu & Kashmir]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[Hizbul Mujahideen]]
| branch =
| serviceyears =
| rank = Former Chief Commander
| commands = Hizbul Mujahideen till 2001
| laterwork = Politician, Peace Activist
}}

'''Abdul Majeed Dar''' was a former chief commander of the militant group [[Hizbul Mujahideen]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu & Kashmir]] till 2001.<ref name=nara>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE3-2/narayanan.html |title=BHARAT RAKSHAK MONITOR: Volume 3(2) |accessdate=2014-03-28 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109055407/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE3-2/narayanan.html |archivedate=2009-01-09 }}</ref> He later gave up violence and sought to restore peace in Kashmir.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/insights/insight20030324a.html|title=The Assassination of Hizbul Leader Majid Dar|first=Md.|last=Sadiq|website=www.jammu-kashmir.com|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502104038/http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/insights/insight20030324a.html|archive-date=2015-05-02|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=heraldDar/>

He was a Politician by profession. Dar originated from the town of [[Sopore]] where he worked with the Muslim league during 1970's.<ref name=heraldDar>{{cite web|url=http://www.kashmirherald.com/profiles/sallahuddin.html|title=Syed Salahuddin and Abdul Majid Dar|website=www.kashmirherald.com|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921070135/http://www.kashmirherald.com/profiles/sallahuddin.html|archive-date=2014-09-21|url-status=live}}</ref> In this period, he was involved with [[Syed Ali Shah Geelani|Syed Ali Geelani]] and went to jail several times.<ref name=med>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediamonitors.net/ershadmahmud8.html|title=Mystery of Majid Dar's killing - Media Monitors Network (MMN)|date=2 April 2003|publisher=|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704015421/http://www.mediamonitors.net//ershadmahmud8.html|archive-date=2010-07-04|url-status=live}}</ref> In the late 1980s, after the [[1987 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election|rigged 1987 elections]],{{cn|date=March 2023}} he became a militant along with his friend [[Fazl-ul-Haq Qureshi]]. By 1990, he was the leader of the organization ''Tahreek-e-Jihad-e-Islami'' (TJI) along with Bashir Ahmed Regoo alias Bashir Reagan who was given the name Reagan for his intelligence. In 1991, Dar merged this group with the Hizb, bringing in several thousand followers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipcs.org/article/jammu-kashmir/mohammad-ahsan-dars-arrest-end-of-the-road-for-hizbul-2780.html|title=IPCS - Institute Of Peace & Conflict Studies|website=www.ipcs.org|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319221418/http://www.ipcs.org/article/jammu-kashmir/mohammad-ahsan-dars-arrest-end-of-the-road-for-hizbul-2780.html|archive-date=2015-03-19|url-status=live}}</ref> In the following years, rivalries developed within the Hizb, culminating in a killing of 21 people in an [[Azad Kashmir]] village in near the border in 1998.<ref name=nara/>

==Visions of peace==
[[Praveen Swami]], citing friends of Dar, has written that soon afterwards, he went for [[Hajj]], and had a revelation standing in front of the Kaaba, and where saw "a vision of the suffering that a decade of terror had inflicted on Jammu and Kashmir."<ref>Praveen Swami; ''Indian Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: The Covert War in Kashmir, 1947-2004'' Taylor & Francis, 2006, {{ISBN|0415404592}}, p. 189</ref> Eventually, after the much-maligned [[Chittisinghpura massacre]] of March 2000, several voices within the Hizb joined Dar in seeking a return to more peaceful approaches. In July 2000, Dar, along with four other Hizb commanders, declared a unilateral ceasefire in a declaration from the outskirts of Srinagar.<ref name=rediff/> The ceasefire was ratified by the [[Azad Kashmir]]-based commander [[Sayeed Salahudeen]], but was criticized strongly in the Pakistan media.<ref name=nara/> It was withdrawn by Salahudeen by September.

At the time, Dar had said, "we want to show the world that we are not hard-liners and we are flexible in the search for a solution."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/sept/kashmir-talks.htm |title=Kashmir - Why the talks failed |accessdate=2015-05-06 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119092800/http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/sept/kashmir-talks.htm |archivedate=2008-11-19 }}</ref>

Unsubstantiated rumors claimed that Dar been in touch with the Indian nodal intelligence agency [[Research and Analysis Wing]] (RAW) and also the Intelligence Branch (IB),<ref name=nara/> and that Hizb had elected him operational commander in order to declare the ceasefire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15112001/26.htm|title=The Milli Gazette|first=The Milli Gazette, OPI, Pharos|last=Media|website=www.milligazette.com|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516073114/http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15112001/26.htm|archive-date=2008-05-16|url-status=live}}</ref> Though the move was immediately endorsed by the Hizb leadership,<ref name=dawn/> it led to deep divisions between the followers of Dar and Salahuddin. After this incident he also had refused to participate in then held assembly elections or even to support any party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1911/19110190.htm|title=The Hizbul meltdown|website=www.frontline.in|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111080033/http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1911/19110190.htm|archive-date=2016-01-11|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Abdul Majeed Dar with jklf founder Amanullah Khan.jpg|JKLF founder Amanullah Khan with Abdul Majeed Dar
File:During a meeting.jpg|Abdul Majeed Dar after attending a conference
File:Abdul Majeed Dar in a meeting in Iran.jpg|Abdul Majeed Dar in a meeting in Iran
</gallery>

==Assassination==
In 2001, Hizb commander and Dar's friend, the moderate Abdul Hamid Tantray, was assassinated.{{fact|date=February 2020}}

In 1997 April, Bashir Reagan (Bashir Ahmed Regoo) Commander in Chief Hizb and Co-founder Tehreek-e-jihad-e-Islami was assassinated at Sopore.

In 2002 May, Dar was expelled from the Hizb along with Asad Yazdani and Zafar Abdul Fateh
.<ref name=dawn>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/31262/hizb-expels-three-top-commanders|title=Hizb expels three top commanders|date=5 May 2002|publisher=|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720191851/http://www.dawn.com/news/31262/hizb-expels-three-top-commanders|archive-date=2015-07-20|url-status=live}}</ref>
Three weeks later, on 21 May, the moderate [[Abdul Gani Lone]] was killed.

In March 2003, as he was coming out of his house in [[Sopore]], Dar was shot dead by two gunmen.
<ref name=rediff>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/23jk.htm|title=Abdul Majid Dar shot dead|website=www.rediff.com|access-date=2015-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720212653/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/23jk.htm|archive-date=2015-07-20|url-status=live}}</ref> No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dar, Abdul Majeed}}
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]
[[Category:Kashmir separatist movement]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in India]]
[[Category:People from Baramulla district]]
[[Category:Kashmiri militants]]

Abdul Majeed Dar - Revision history

Bharat at 14:59, 14 February 2024