Tributes for hated spy chief known as ‘father of the Taliban’ ratchet up tensions

The controversial leader of Pakistan’s feared intelligence service which stirred up Islamic unrest throughout the region has died. Lt Gen Hamid Gul, who was 79, died from a brain hemorrhage at the hill resort of Murree near the capital, Islamabad. Tributes poured in on Sunday, words bound to infuriate Pakistan’s neighbors Afghanistan and India, where he was reviled for promoting Islamic militancy and known as the “father of the Taliban”. Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif “has expressed his heartfelt condolences” while other political figures described him as a “great man”.

The prime minister prayed eternal peace for the departed soul and said that may God bless the deceased.

Nawaz Sharif’s spokesman

Gul worked closely with U.S. and Saudi officials to strengthen Afghan fighters against the Soviet military when he headed the Inter-Services Intelligence, from 1987 to 1989. Some of those fighters later joined the Taliban insurgency. Towards the end of his posting, officials began diverting men and guns from the Afghan war towards budding militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, founded in 1990 as a separatist movement in Indian Kashmir. After Gul retired, he frequently went on television to defend the Taliban and Kashmiri militants and blame a Jewish conspiracy for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.

His brain could not take the amount of hatred he was feeding it. So it got swollen and killed him.

Typical social media reaction in India

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