Hizb commander Riyaz Naikoo on Sunday appeared in the funeral of slain militant Shariq Ahmad at Takuna and addressed the gathering of thousands of people.
Asking people not to fall for tricks, he said that efforts are being made to defame the Kashmir freedom struggle.
Without naming Zakir Musa who was recently named head of Al-Qaeda wing in Kashmir, Naikoo said that all the people holding the flag of Islam “are not necessarily our own”.
“Pakistan flag is our flag. Linking our struggle with Al Qaeda and ISIS is a ploy to defame it,” he said.
Naikoo asked people not to support those “who oppose Pakistani flag and our freedom struggle from India”.
Before leaving the venue, Naikoo raised pro-Pakistan slogans like ‘teri jaan meri jaan Pakistan, Pakistan’ and ‘Pakistan se rishta kya la ilaha illallah”.