Banned JKLF was first to raise slogan of 'azadi'

Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, which was banned by the government on Friday, was the first terrorist group to raise the slogan of 'azadi' in the state and among its first targets was a BJP leader, a Kashmiri Pandit, in 1989, officials said.

The JKLF was responsible for a litany of terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir since 1980s.

Raising the slogan of 'azadi', the group targeted Kashmiri Pandits, government employees and ordinary, peace-loving Kashmiri people, a security official said.

The JKLF targeted a Kashmiri Pandit for the first time on September 14, 1989 when it killed Pandit Tikalal Taploo, the state BJP vice president, in front of several people, a security official said.

The terror group was also involved in the blasts at three government buildings, including the Telegraph Office in Srinagar, on August 1, 1988.

JKLF terrorists killed Mohammad Yousuf Halwai, a local leader of the National Conference, in Srinagar on August 17, 1989 and shot dead retired ...