Srinagar: Internal rifts are widening within the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in Jammu and Kashmir, as senior leader Ghulam Mohammed Bhat, backed by a majority of the group’s Shoora (advisory council), seeks to regain control of the organisation, officials said.
Bhat, once known for sidelining hardliners like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has re-emerged with the support of 35 out of 40 Shoora members. Analysts see this as an attempt by the proscribed outfit—still functioning covertly—to open channels with the government for revocation of the five-year ban, recently extended.
His return has unsettled elements across the border, given his past efforts to distance Jamaat from Hizbul Mujahideen, the group Pakistan’s ISI projected as indigenous to Kashmir.
The Centre banned JeI in 2019 under UAPA, accusing it of activities against “the security, integrity, and sovereignty of the nation,” and of links to militancy and separatism.
Bhat first drew attention in 1999 when, as JeI chief, he officially separated the group from terrorism. That decision split the organisation and led to the formation of Tehreek-i-Hurriyat (TeH) in 2003 by hardliners Geelani and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai.
The present crisis began when leaders Ghulam Qadir Wani and Ghulam Qadir War contested parliamentary polls on a Justice and Development Front (JDF) ticket. After their defeat, most Shoora members turned against them, forcing them to step down.
Bhat, along with Mohammed Abdullah Wani and Sheikh Hasan, distanced themselves from the JDF faction and formed an interim leadership with majority Shoora backing. They also dismissed 10 district chiefs allied with Wani, creating a parallel power centre within the proscribed outfit. Sources say this faction is keen on dialogue with authorities to seek lifting of the ban.
Meanwhile, the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC), floated in June by People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone along with Hakim Yasin’s People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and the JDF, is already on shaky ground. Critics argue its credibility is undermined by the JDF’s weak standing and lack of support within Jamaat’s core cadre.
For Jamaat, participation in the 2024 assembly polls was seen as a significant ideological shift after decades of political isolation. However, its candidates failed to make an impact, with most losing their deposits. Analysts say this underlines the crisis gripping the group since the Centre’s 2019 crackdown on separatist networks.
Going forward, observers believe Jamaat’s new leadership may craft a clearer roadmap if it again ventures into electoral politics. The outfit had previously regained limited political space during Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s 2002 coalition with the Congress, when its offices, schools, and welfare institutions reopened—until the ban in 2019 brought operations to a halt.
