Jaish-e-Mohammad front PAFF is now “open to talks”

“The families of killed warriors from all sides deserve closure. We are open to talks if it helps achieve the same”

SRINAGAR: In a totally unexpected development, formidable jihadist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad's Jammu and Kashmir front organisation ‘Peoples Anti-Fascist Front’ (PAFF) has virtually offered a ceasefire with the Indian security forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The PAFF’s social media organs on Saturday posted a picture of a slain militant or security force personnel in combat gear with this bold line: “The families of killed warriors from all sides deserve closure. We are open to talks if it helps achieve the same”.
According to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), PAFF is a “proxy outfit of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). “The PAFF has been regularly issuing threats to Security Forces, political leaders and civilians working in Jammu and Kashmir from other States. The PAFF, along with other organisations, is involved in proactively conspiring both physically and in social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in J&K and major cities in India”, reads the SATP’s description of the PAFF.
It is for the first time since the day PAFF was launched in 2020 that the terror outfit, which claimed responsibility for most of the terror attacks in J&K in the last 5 years, has purportedly given out indications of a virtual ceasefire and reconciliation in Jammu and Kashmir. It emerged after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A in August 2019 which terminated J&K’s Statehood and special status and broke the erstwhile State into the two separate Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The Indian security, Police and intelligence agencies believe that Maulana Masood Azhar’s JeM has been operating in J&K under the front name of PAFF only to give a false impression to the world that it was a group of Kashmir’s own native guerrillas fighting for azadi. The JeM, according to them, has been put under pressure after some terse warnings to Islamabad from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the same is understood to be operating under a different banner after 2020.
The emphasis of groups like the PAFF and the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba backed “The Resistance Front” (TRF) on terminology such as “resistance against occupation”, “fascism” and “fascist forces” stems from a desire to justify their activities using a more secular looking messaging instead of a call for “jihad against infidels” used by their parent organisations in the last 30 years.
The PAFF, along with other terror groups, has engaged in a form of hybrid militancy—a method by which ordinary citizens are recruited into the organisation, and they return to their normal lives after performing their terror tasks. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated PAFF as a terror group on 7 January 2023. The group has established a robust soft power base with messages, statements and videos through social media platforms.
Police and security officials are viewing an unprecedented and unexpected change in PAFF’s aggressive stand on the armed insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from a large number of civilian targets, PAFF and TRF are believed to have conducted most of the attacks, including almost all in Jammu’s three districts in the last four years, against the regular army.

Updated On 12/22/2024 2:10:21 AM