Hawk Geelani parts ways with Hurriyat

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 29

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, today dissociated himself from the Hurriyat Conference (G), which preaches secessionist ideology in Jammu and Kashmir. Geelani, who was part of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) since March 9,1993, before it split on September 7, 2003, has not specified reasons for his resignation.

Geelani founded his own hardline faction, the Hurriyat Conference (G) on August 7, 2004, and was appointed its life-time chairman on October 12, 2004. The other faction, Hurriyat Conference (M), is led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. In an audio message and press statement, Geelani said, “I have decided to distance myself from the Hurriyat, given the current situation.”

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The resignation has stoked a debate as to how it will alter the political landscape in Kashmir. Geelani launched an anti-India separatist movement in the 1990s and influenced both civilians and militant outfits with his pro-Pakistan ideology. He has been under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar since 2013.

“The era of intermediaries has gone with Geelani’s resignation, leaving it to the youth to deal directly with the government,” said a political observer.