Geelani freed from house arrest after eight years
SRINAGAR : The house arrest of Kashmir’s senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 88, has been temporarily halted, according to a senior police officer. On Friday, the chief of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference offered his afternoon prayers and addressed the congregation at a mosque near his house.
Since 2010, Geelani has been restricted to his house at Hyderpora in Srinagar by authorities. He was allowed to visit hospitals in Srinagar for treatment and even travel to Delhi to escape Kashmir's harsh winters on multiple occasions. At least twice in this period, Geelani had managed to lead rallies in Kashmir.
Leading local English daily Greater Kashmir quoted the director general of state police Shesh Paul Vaid as saying that Geelani, moderate Hurriyat faction chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, were “free to carry out their political and social activities but they have to take the responsibility of not creating any law and order problem”. When contacted by HT, Vaid refused to comment.
However, another senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said that if the separatists were just doing their “normal activity”, then the police would not have any problems. “If any of their activity is prejudicial to the state, we will be forced to review our decision and impose reasonable restrictions,” he added.
Geelani is the only leader to have faced such long bouts of house arrest while Sehrai, Mirwaiz and Malik have faced them intermittently.