Jul 03, 2026 14:40 pm IST

Opinion | How Texas Became Hub Of A Terror-Link Kashmiri Outfit's Activities

Across the state, a collection of terror networks and their Islamist partners are using US politicians, institutions and nonprofit infrastructure to advance violent, radical ambitions.

Sam Westrop Sam Westrop Columnist

Sam Westrop Columnist

In 2022, Yasin Malik, the leader of a Kashmiri group declared by a US federal appeals court as a terrorist organisation involved in killings, bombings and kidnappings, was sentenced by an Indian court to life in prison. While Malik continues in principle to be re-elected as chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) while incarcerated, JKLF's actual operations have since been managed and supported by a network of radical Kashmiri and Pakistani activists thousands of miles away - in Texas. 

For many years, until May 2026, Dallas-based Raja Muzaffar served as JKLF's "acting chairman". Through his organisations, the Kashmir Global Council and the South Asia Democracy Watch, Muzaffar partnered with Texas institutions, policymakers, Islamist groups and radical activists across the state. 

At a JKLF conference in Dallas in 2024, organised by the group to "highlight the struggle" of its terror leader Yasin Malik, guests included city councilors, along with state representatives and a federal lawmaker.  

Following a partnership with Dallas-based Southern Methodist University, in 2025, the Dallas leader of the JKLF terror movement appointed "Dr. Rick Halperin, a renowned Human Rights Advocate and Director of the Human Rights Program at Southern Methodist University" as "Head of the 'Justice for Yasin Malik Campaign'." 

Most commonly, however, Muzaffar and other JKLF leaders partner with Islamist operatives. In 2025, Muzaffar and other JKLF leaders organised a joint event from Dallas with Ghulam Nabi Fai of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum to honour the late terrorist leader and JKLF founder Amanullah Khan.  

Decades ago, Amanullah Khan oversaw a terror campaign against Indian targets, carried out, as admitted by Khan himself, by "militants" trained at terror camps in Pakistan in collaboration with the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's terror-tied intelligence agency. Later, in 1984, Khan reportedly kidnapped and murdered an Indian diplomat in the British........

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