Geelani resigns as Hurriyat chief

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 19

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday resigned as the chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. Geelani held the position for 18 years.

Senior Hurriyat leader Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai replaced Geelani as the chairman of the party.

The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Geelani today held a meeting at its office in Srinagar and elected senior member Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai as the party chairman, said a spokesperson.

Sehrai is a longtime associate of Geelani and hails from north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

Geelani has been viewed as a key separatist leader in the Valley and has been vocal on advocating Kashmiri separatism.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah has long blamed Geelani for the rise in militancy and bloodshed in Kashmir Valley, while Omar's father and former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah has urged Geelani to follow a path, which would "save Kashmiri people from further destruction".

A three-time MLA from the Sopore constituency (1972, 1977 and 1987),  he was earlier a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, but later found his own party in 2003.  With ANI inputs