Hurriyat leader and one of the leading separatist leaders in Kashmir Syed Ali Shah Geelani died late Wednesday (September 2) at his residence in Srinagar’s Hyderpora locality.
Geelani 92, was the most polarising figure in Kashmir and led the secessionism for decades funded by Pakistan. In 2008, he founded his own party which he called Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.
I met Syed Ali Shah Geelani twice in life. Most interestingly when India Today invited me to speak at their 2011 Conclave in New Delhi where I exposed his links with masters across the border in Pakistan and how he supported terrorism. The crowd booed when he tried to respond.👇 pic.twitter.com/oVMv91vrhY
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 1, 2021
An ANI report quoted IGP (Kashmir range), Vijay Kumar, as saying that internet services have been suspended across the Valley as part of a series of precautionary curbs.
Pakistan Prime Minister called Geelani a “Kashmiri freedom fighter”, and announced, “The Pakistan flag will fly at half-mast and we will observe a day of official mourning.”
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the Islamist who pushed hundreds of Kashmiri Muslims into jihadi terrorism for the sake of Pakistan, is dead. He was responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir. He will go down in history as a loser jihadi, whom Pakistan eventually dumped.
— Aarti Tikoo (@AartiTikoo) September 1, 2021
His body will now be taken to his ancestral village in Sopore for burial, family sources said and he would be remembered as the leader who incited the young to take arms against the state while his family enjoyed all the privileges.
Geelani’s death comes at a time when the Centre is contemplating a ban on both factions of the Hurriyat which will be the second most important decision after the abrogation of article 370.
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