Geelani resigns as TehreekeHurriyat chief after 14 years
: Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Monday resigned as the chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat(TeH), a constituent party of the hard-line Hurriyat Conference.
Geelani stepped down from TeH chief’s post during the party’s advisory board meet and handed over the reins to his longtime aide and party general secretary Ashraf Sehrai, 72.
“At this age, he (Geelani) needs some rest given the responsibilities of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat as well as Hurriyat Conference that he has had to shoulder. So, he transferred some of his burden on to the shoulders of Ashraf Sehrai,” Hurriyat Conference spokesman GA Gulzar said and added that Geelani, who had been TeH chief for 14 years, would continue to serve as Hurriyat Conference’s chairman.
TeH is part of the composite Hurriyat Conference, which consists of 24 smaller parties, and has been striving for Kashmir’s ‘Azadi for the sake of Islam or its amalgamation with Pakistan’. Another Hurriyat Conference conglomerate is headed by moderate leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. News agency PTI quoted political observers as saying that Sehrai will ultimately succeed Geelani Hurriyat Conference’s head as well.
SRINAGAR CHENNAI:
The Tamil Nadu assembly witnessed a debate on the Cauvery issue on Monday with the DMK asking the ruling AIADMK to support a no-confidence motion in Parliament to pressure the Centre, while the government said it would wait till March 29. “There is still time, we need to be patient and see,” deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam said. In its final verdict on February 16, the Supreme Court had granted six weeks time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award.
Speaking in the state assembly, Panneerselvam said: “We will wait till the end of this month, then take the next course of action... Together all of us will take a good decision,” he said. He said the state has to wait for the six weeks deadline given by the Supreme Court to get over. OPS’ remarks came on a day when AIADMK leaders raised slogans at Parliament House in New Delhi demanding the setting up of the Cauvery board. PTI