Jammu and Kashmir unit of Jamaat-e-Islami launched campaign in US to discredit India on Kashmir

A sinister campaign was launched by two Islamic organizations in 2019 in the USA which led to hearings and resolutions on Kashmir in the US Congress. After the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and Helping Hands for Relief and Development (HHRD) launched a campaign in the US to discredit India around the world. ICNA and HHRD are affiliated to Jammu and Kashmir unit of Jamaat–e-Islami which was banned by Indian government in 2019 on the grounds that it had relations with terror group Hizbul Mujahideen which has killed thousands of innocent civilians in past.

Document accessed by Zee News clearly establishes  a major plot to discredit India at international level on Kashmir issue. Both ICNA and HHRD along with other Islamic groups ran an anti-India campaign under the banner ‘Stand with Kashmir’ and organized a protest in front of consulate General of India in New York and Los Angeles. These groups also campaigned to replace their social media profile with pictures of red dots to show solidarity on Kashmir.

‘’On August 16th, the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a lobbying umbrella group of islamist organizations, held a D.C. rally for Kashmir in front of the Indian embassy. The rally was cosponsored by ICNA and MAS, along with the extremist mosque Dar al-Hijrah  and the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC). WikiLeaks emails revealed that TASC coordinates closely with regime figures from the authoritarian Turkish government.’’ Said Oren Litwin is his article 'Islamists are Exploiting The Conflict in Kashmir' published at The Daily Wire.

Islamist originations mainly funded by Pakistan have become very powerful in the US in recent months. Last year in the month of October-November hearing by US Congress reflected the strong presence of these groups in the US,  A convention of more than 25,000 Muslims from the United States and Canada was held in Chicago in December 2019 under the banner of ICNA ,which debated a session on Bangladesh & Kashmir: Democracy, Human Rights and Religious Freedom.

''ICNA is  openly affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami.The Jamaat-e-Islami is a South Asian Sunni revivalist movement that has provided an ideological platform and recruiting base for the US designated  U.S. terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), which has perpetrated  several terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. ICNA, based in Queens, N.Y., strongly advocates for Kashmiri self-determination, and its conventions feature high-profile U.S.-based Kashmiri separatist leaders and activists. The conventions excoriates India for "state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir." Said Abha Shankar in his article American Islamist’s Double Standards on Kashmir.

As per some reports, President of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) Sardar Masood Khan soon after, urged “Muslim across the world to stand united” and “relieve Muslim Ummah of agonies” and asked ICNA and United States Coalition of Muslim Organisations (USCMO) to engage “lawmakers in encouraging hearings on Kashmir in the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and initiate debates on Kashmir in the Congress.”

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of Jamaat-e-Islami is the main organization responsible for propagation of separatist and radical ideology in Kashmir valley. A sizeable section of cadres of the group overtly worked for terrorist orgazations especially Hizbul. Its cadres are actively involved in subversive activities of HM by providing hideouts ,ferrying arms.

An Indian Home Ministry note accessed by Zee News suggest JeI is responsible for formation of Hizbul, the biggest terrorist organization active in Jammu and Kashmir. The roup under its pro secessionist and pro-Pakistan agenda has been providing ideological and logistical support to separatist and terrorist elements in Kashmir for anti-national activities. JeI was founded by Maulana Maududi in 1941.

Surprisingly,American Islamist group remained silent on Pakistan's involvement in several terror attacks in Kashmir.