Hurriyat Conference Chapter in PoK behind Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s Resignation
By
Shishir Gupta
Jul 02,
2020
Syed Ali
Shah Geelani, one of the most well-known faces of the Kashmiri separatist
movement, announced his exit from the Hurriyat Conference faction that he
headed for 17 years this week after an intense power struggle within the
Pakistan-backed group including its chapter in occupied Kashmir.
Syed
Ali Shah Geelani, one of the most well-known faces of Kashmiri separatist
movement, stepped down from a leadership role this week(Getty Images)
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As he
stepped down from the leadership role of the group that he had once aspired to
lead for the rest of his life, 90-year-old Geelani and his aides also appeared
to out some of the problems within the separatist movement and the grouping of
around two-dozen separatist outfits..
Like the cross-border narcotics trade, also sponsored by Inter Services Intelligence, that the Pakistani establishment had been running via terrorist groups in Kashmir. This wasn’t the first time that he had flagged the issue. Geelani has been known to occasionally refer to the involvement of Pakistan, or land of the pure, in Kashmir’s drug trade.
The ISI had
been promoting lesser known younger leaders in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
chapter and encouraged differences within this chapter. Geelani did fight back
and nominated Abdullah Gilani to the top post. Abdullah is the brother of Delhi
University professor SAR Gilani who was acquitted in the Jaish-e-Mohammad-led
2001 Parliament attack case that killed eight security personnel and a
gardener.
But the ISI
had Geelani’s directive rescinded and engineered the election of Mohammad
Hussain Khateeb as the PoK chapter’s convenor to embarrass the leading face of
the Kashmiri separatist movement.
A red-faced
Geelani listed a litany of complaints. Geelani had been sore that
representatives of the PoK chapter had been sending their relatives to the PoK
assembly over the last two years, were indisciplined, engaged in rampant
corruption; essentially out of his control.
“The
leaders there were trying to be part of government and ministries. There was
internal bickering, fear of losing posts, financial irregularities, and many
other issues. Recently after investigations, some people were expelled and as
the investigations were going on against other people, the representatives of
your parties started calling separate so-called meetings which led to the
dissolution of the chapter till further orders,’’ Geelani said in a letter
announcing his decision to step down from the Hurriyat conference.
Back in
Srinagar, the ISI wanted to push out the old guard and bring in younger members
of the PoK chapter to assume a leadership role so that they are more aggressive
in challenging India.
The ISI has
been disappointed with the Kashmiri separatist leaders for their inability to
provoke people to hit the streets after the Centre last August scrapped Jammu
and Kashmir’s special status in the Constitution. Geelani pinned the blame for
this lapse on other hurriyat leaders in Kashmir, pointing that he had nudged
leaders to take a lead role but didn’t get a response.
The
Kashmiri diaspora in the UK and Europe has reacted sharply to Geelani’s exit,
blaming the emerging leadership in PoK for conspiring with the Pakistan
government to create the circumstances that led to Geelani’s resignation. There
has also been speculation that some other Hurriyat leaders such as Shabir Shah
of the Democratic Freedom Party were also looking at their continuation under
the banner of the Hurriyat.
Original
Headline: Behind Hurriyat boss SAS Geelani’s exit, a bitter power struggle and
greed
Source: The Hindustan Times
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/hurriyat-conference-chapter-pok-behind/d/122308
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