In 1977, in Chadoora town of Budgam, a child was born into the humble yet devout household of Habibullah Ittoo. They named him Yaseen. Little did they know that this boy would grow up to become a fierce resistance fighter, known as Commander Muhammad Ghaznavi, a name that would strike fear into his enemies’ hearts.

On the 13th of August 2017, Yaseen’s journey culminated in a fierce gun battle in the fields of Awneera, Shopian, where he was martyred alongside his two other Mujahideen, Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq and Umar Majeed Bhat. He was just forty years old. His life was not that of an ordinary man. Since joining the ranks of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in 1996, Yaseen had spent at least thirteen years behind bars, a prisoner of his convictions. Yet, prison walls could not contain his spirit. Upon release, he would rise again, more determined than ever to pursue the cause he had pledged his life to.

Yaseen’s early years were marked by a thirst for knowledge. He began his education at Sheikh-ul-Alam Model School in his hometown of Chadoora, later moving on to Higher Secondary School Nagam, where he completed his twelfth grade. His dream of pursuing higher education remained unfulfilled due to the harsh realities of life. However, during one of his imprisonments, he enrolled at Srinagar’s Amar Singh College and completed his graduation.

His father, Habibullah Ittoo, recalls a movement in 1996 when Yaseen crossed the border into Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It was there that he received the training that would prepare him for the long and arduous struggle ahead.

Yaseen spent two years in AJK, honing his skills and preparing for what lay ahead. Upon his return to the Kashmir Valley, he became active in Bandipora for a few months. However, his path was not without its trials. In November 1998, he was arrested for the first time, only to be released two months later. But freedom was short-lived. Just twelve days after his release, the Special Operations Group (SOG) from Cargo, Srinagar, raided his home in the dead of night. Yaseen was subjected to brutal physical torture right there, within the walls of his own house, before being taken away by the SOG. This marked his second arrest. Several days later, he was dumped outside the Cargo camp in a near-death state. An auto-rickshaw driver found him and brought him back home. His injuries were so severe that he remained bedridden for three months.

After his release from this second ordeal, Yaseen turned to religion for solace. He immersed himself in the study of Islamic books and began leading prayers and reciting Naats at the local Masjid. It was during this time that he also opened a coaching center in Chadoora. According to his father, Habibullah, the center quickly gained popularity, and Yaseen became deeply involved in its operation. For two years, the center thrived, but peace was elusive. Once again, the police and military began to harass him and disrupted the brief calm that had settled into his life.

In 2002, Yaseen once again took up arms and remained active among the ranks of the Mujahideen for seven months. According to the police, he narrowly escaped a deadly encounter in Nowpora, Chadoora, an event confirmed by his father. Habibullah Ittoo recalls how their home became a frequent target of police raids once Yaseen resumed his resistance activities. The house was searched multiple times, with officers resorting to digging through the floors in a desperate attempt to find evidence. Despite the mounting pressure, Yaseen never wavered or compromised; instead, he grew even more determined.

After his arrest in October 2002, Yaseen was released in June 2004. By then, he had fully embraced a life of piety thereby dedicating himself to preaching in Masajid’s. During this period, the Ittoo family established a library in Chadoora, encouraging Yaseen to manage the bookstore attached to it. His brother, Abdur Rashid, recalls, “He worked with us at the shop for about two months. But then, the Rashtriya Rifles camp in Nagam summoned him. We accompanied him to the camp, where he was beaten severely again. Despite the torment, he returned to work at the bookstore.”

In March 2005, Yaseen resumed his resistance journey and rejoined his old organization, Hizbul Mujahideen. This time, he was appointed the district commander for Srinagar and Budgam. In December 2005, he narrowly escaped death during a siege in Gulab Daji, Tangmarg, where three of his comrades were martyred, but Yaseen managed to survive.

However, in June 2006, Yaseen and his comrades were arrested in Pampore while traveling in a private vehicle. This marked his third major and overall fifth arrest. He was detained under the Public Safety Act and transferred to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. During his imprisonment, a jailbreak incident occurred in which several Pakistani prisoners were martyred, but Yaseen miraculously survived. However, he was falsely accused of being involved in the jailbreak.

In the turbulent year of 2010, Yaseen was released after four long years of imprisonment. However, his newfound freedom was fleeting, as Kashmir erupted in agitation against fake encounters. Just a few months later, on September 27, 2010, Yaseen was arrested once more in Hapatnar, Chrar Sharif, alongside Muslim League leader Syed Muhammad Rafiq Raina. While Raina was quickly transferred to Humhama, Yaseen was taken to the notorious SOG camp in Humhama, where he was kept for one month. During this time, three consecutive Public Safety Acts were slapped on him, and he was also implicated in the murder of Abdul Ghani Bhat, the brother of former Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander and Salvation Movement chairman Zaffar Akbar Bhat.

In March 2015, after five grueling years in prison, Yaseen Ittoo was finally released. He officially joined the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and actively participated in its programs. But just nine months later, in December 2015, Yaseen left home for a court hearing in Jammu and never returned.

On January 7, 2016, newspapers suddenly published a statement from Hizbul Mujahideen claiming that Yaseen Ittoo had been martyred in an accident while on a mission near the border. The following day, on January 8, 2016, a funeral prayer in absentia was held for Yaseen in Nagam Chadoora, led by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat General Secretary Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai. His family, too, believed that Yaseen was no more, and a wave of condolences swept through the area.

However, six months later, in June 2016, the Ittoo family was stunned when the Chadoora police summoned Yaseen’s brother to the station and revealed that Yaseen was, in fact, alive. The police believed that Yaseen had deliberately spread the news of his death and arranged the funeral prayer in absentia to evade the occupying authorities, while secretly continuing his work as an active commander for Hizbul Mujahideen.

According to the police, Yaseen played a key role in organizing protest rallies in South Kashmir during the 2016 uprising. He even addressed several rallies and, on August 14, 2016, participated in a Pakistan Independence Day march in Redwani, Kulgam. But exactly one year later, on August 14, 2017, Yaseen met his end, laying down his life in the battle he had fought so relentlessly. May Allah elevate the ranks of this great fighter and all Mujahideen who have been martyred while fighting the fascist Indian military in our beloved motherland.