Protests in J&K Over Nasrallah's Killing Alarming, Kashmiri Youth Seen Visiting Iran's Qom in Recent Years: Sources | EXCLUSIVE

Protests have broken out in Kashmir after the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike. According to top intelligence sources, the protests were “alarming” and there could be legal action under UAPA against those who protested post Nasrallah’s killing.

Former Chief Minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti and senior National Conference leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi also called off their election campaign to condole the killing of the Hezbollah leader.

Sources said that Hezbollah is a proscribed organisation and the Indian government is evaluating the situation before taking any legal action with Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections underway. Sources say posturing, slogans and distribution of pamphlets is an offence under UAPA.

Meanwhile, agencies are on alert after these protests with concerns over possible links in Kashmir with Iran associated groups.

Sources added that Shia sleeper cells could be involved in terror activities in Kashmir, even though there is no data available on these. “Our data base is mainly on Sunni terror associates and we have never worked on Shia associated terror groups. Shia terror attacks hardly have any data base and cases go unresolved like the Israeli Embassy attack in Delhi only because of lack of data base,” sources said.

Sources have said that after Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi centres in Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen, terror organisations may look for new groups in India. “We are concern about these possible linkages in future and we are warned by foreign partners also recently. We have recently seen boys from Kashmir and Kargil going and visiting Qom province in Iran,” sources said.

The city is the largest centre for Shia scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage, with around 20 million pilgrims visiting the city every year.

Sources, however, added that the city is considered to be the place of radicalisation for Shia youths.

According to sources, in Qom, these youths are hired by Iranian Intelligence Agency Quds and remain on their payroll. “They make their sleeper cells in India after return and we hardly get to know,” sources said.