KASHMIRI LEADER SYED ALI SHAH GEELANI DIES

Wed 01 September 2021:

Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has died at the age of 92. The Islamist leader — who has been the face of the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir — had been ailing for long and had resigned from politics and Hurriyat last year.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has spent a life time fighting for Kashmir, and stood tall in the face of endless persecution and abuse.

“Saddened by the news of Geelani sahab’s passing away. We may not have agreed on most things but I respect him for his steadfastness & standing by his beliefs. May Allah Ta’aala grant him jannat & condolences to his family & well wishers,” former Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti has tweeted.

Saddened by the news of Geelani sahab’s passing away. We may not have agreed on most things but I respect him for his steadfastness & standing by his beliefs. May Allah Ta’aala grant him jannat & condolences to his family & well wishers.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) September 1, 2021

Born in a town in the Bandipora area of northern Kashmir on September 29, 1929, Geelani received his preliminary education at Sopore, and finished his studies at the Oriental College, Lahore (Pakistan).

Geelani began his political career in 1950, and has spent, all told, more than a decade in jail. He was first imprisoned in 1962, but has spent several spells in jail (ranging from days at a time to just over a year) from then onwards, with the Indian authorities often arresting him before elections. The JI leader has frequently termed polls held under the Indian government as “sham polls”.

Geelani initially formed the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat in the early days of his political career, but then abandoned that platform to join the more established Jamaat-e-Islami (Jammu and Kashmir). He now uses the name of his original political party (re-formed in 2003) for his faction of the APHC, in contrast with the faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which is known as the “moderate” APHC.

Geelani had helped form the APHC in 1993, along with Farooq, Abdul Gani Lone (of the People’s Conference), Maulvi Abbas Ansari (of the Liberation Council) and Abdul Ghani Bhat (of the Muslim Conference). He succeeded Farooq, the body’s founding chairman, in 1997.

The JI leader was diagnosed with renal cancer in 2007, but from his home in Srinagar, he remains a major force in Kashmiri politics.

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