We’ve not entered Kashmir: Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has dismissed the reports that its cadres had entered Jammu and Kashmir, saying that it had nothing to do with parliamentary elections being held in India.

In an exclusive interview with Greater Kashmir, the chief spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban, Haji Muslim Khan, strongly refuted the reports that the Taliban had entered Jammu and Kashmir.

"We fail to understand why India has unleashed a propaganda that Taliban had entered the Kashmir Valley. By such tactics, India wants to harass Kashmiris," he said, adding that they only wanted to enforce the will of Allah (Islam) all over the world.

"If we decide to fight the Indians in Kashmir, no power on earth can stop us," Khan, however, asserted.

"Elections in India are not a matter of Taliban’s interest. We are fighting for a bigger cause. Why should Taliban enter Kashmir to disrupt the Indian elections," he asked.

Khan wondered why Muslims were waiting for Taliban to enforce Islam everywhere instead of rising to the occasion themselves.

He said Pakistani leadership had stopped aiding Kashmiri militants. "But they cannot dampen their faith nor deter their resolve for attaining their right to self-determination. Whether or not Pakistan supports the militants, they should continue their struggle for the cause," he said.

"Fight for territory is not Jihad. The real Jihad is to enforce the divine law based on justice, which breaks the shackles of human slavery," Khan said.

Khan said India and America had been justifying the use of gun for themselves and not for others. "And, when Muslims use it (gun) in self-defence, it is viewed as dangerous," he said.

"If use of gun by India and the US is justified, why not by the Muslims, in self defence," he asked.