Amanullah Khan (JKLF)

Amanullah Khan
Personal details
Born(1934-08-24)24 August 1934
Astore, Jammu and Kashmir, British India (present-day Gilgit−Baltistan)
Died26 April 2016(2016-04-26) (aged 81)
Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
Political party Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front
Alma materSindh Madressatul Islam College, Karachi

Amanullah Khan (24 August 1934 – 26 April 2016) was the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a Kashmiri militant activist group that advocates independence for the entire Kashmir region. Khan's JKLF initiated the ongoing armed insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir with backing from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which lasted until Pakistan dropped its support of secular Kashmiri separatists in favour of pro-Pakistan Islamist groups, such as the Hizbul Mujahideen. In 1994, the JKLF in the Kashmir Valley, under the leadership of Yasin Malik, renounced militancy in favour of a political struggle. Amanullah Khan disagreed with the strategy, causing a split in the JKLF.