Kashmiri separatists go in silent mode

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 6

There is absolutely no word about the whereabouts of many separatist cadres, while the known leaders are understood to be under house arrest.

Prominent separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, heading rival factions of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, are silent and nothing is known about their reaction on the scrapping of the special status of the state, though they were among the first to forewarn of the serious consequences if this were to happen.

Their silence can be attributed to the clampdown on the communications network in Kashmir.

Sources said the ailing separatist leader and the loudest pro-Pakistan voice Syed Ali Shah Geelani is under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence in the capital city of Srinagar. He is too infirm, down with multiple health problems to lead street protests, but the potential of his releasing an audio message could cause trouble, especially when he has been constantly claiming that New Delhi’s moves to do away with the special status were aimed at changing the “Muslim majority character of J&K”. He had accused the Centre of repeating Israeli way of settling outsiders in the Valley to change its demography.

The Kashmir valley of more than seven million people is Muslim, and a majority of them are Kashmiri speaking with a sprinkling of Gojri and Pahari-speaking Muslims.

Another separatist leader who doubles as chief cleric of Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, is also under house arrest. He delivers religious sermons at Jamia Masjid or Grand Mosque of Kashmir, and is an influential voice in the separatist forum of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference that he heads. Sources said he had also been confined to his house in Nigeen in Srinagar. He had called for resistance to tinker with the special status, but after the presidential order of scrapping it and its passage in Parliament, nothing is known about his plans.

Most of other separatist activists are already in jail, booked by the NIA.

In the current situation, the whole separatist spectrum might undergo a massive change with Pakistan possibly planning to cause trouble in Kashmir. That would be to incite people to come out on streets and protest to provoke security forces. But the security agencies have worked out strong plans of crowd control.