AL-QAIDA chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s exhortation to the militants in Kashmir to launch ‘jihad for the sake of Allah’ can’t be casually dismissed by the security apparatus. The extremist religious overtone aims to upgrade the cult of death and destruction in the trademark of the global terror network. Making light of it can prove hazardous, given the backdrop and timing of the terror unit’s sharper focus on Kashmir. Radicalised sections of the youth in Kashmir are being offered a tag-end justification for their acts of self-destruction to destroy others. With more than 120 militants killed this year so far — 93 of them post the February 14 Pulwama attack —terror ranks are looking to surface with a banner. The terms ‘jihad’ and ‘Sharia’ (Islamic principles) resonate with a sizeable section of the youth. Zawahiri has sought to give traction to their thinking by inciting them against the Indian Army and economic interests.

The footprints of radicalisation have been visible for quite some time — in IS banners, and the emergence of Zakir Musa as the face of the Al-Qaida affiliate, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, who was killed in an encounter in May this year. What the Al-Qaida has done now is to reinforce its ideology that holds an appeal for Islamic radicals in the Valley. The Hurriyat Conference — the main voice of the separatists — has denied its presence, using it as an argument to claim that it was India’s ‘design’ to defame their movement for the ‘right to self-determination’ as an extension of the terror network to justify its ‘repression in the Valley’.

The cat, however, sprang out of the bag when the Hurriyat condemned the killing of Zakir Musa and hailed him as a ‘hero’. More curious is the attitude of the Government of India that has said this threat need not be taken seriously, for such threats have been heard before. Zawahiri has spoken for the first time, and his words cannot be taken lightly, for he represents a real threat as he was the mastermind of the horrendous 9/11 terror attack. Ignoring this threat could prove costly.