Syed Salahudeen (born 18 February 1946), born Syed Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen movement in Kashmir, whose goal is to join Pakistan through self-determination.
Biography[]
Syed Mohammed Yusuf Shah was born on 18 February 1946 in Soibugh, Badgam in the Kashmir region of British India to a middle-class family. He originally wanted to study medicine, but he later became a public servant. While studying at the University of Kashmir, he joined Jamaat-e-Islami and stopped studying civil service, which he came to see as traitorous towards Kashmir. He became an Islamic preacher at a madrassa and became the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, a group of Kashmiri Muslim fighters who seek to become a part of Pakistan. Shah became known as "Syed Salahudeen" and fought for union with Pakistan, and threatened to attack Pakistan if they stopped supporting jihadist groups in India.