Geelani, Alam, Others Booked for 'Provocative Activities'

NEW DELHI: Separatist Masarat Alam has justified the raising of Pakistan flags and pro-Pakistan slogans at a rally organised by him and Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He remained unfazed by the cases slapped against him and the Union Home Minister’s directive to the Chief Minister to re-arrest him.

Masarat Alam had basically organised the rally on Wednesday at Lal Chowk, Srinagar to welcome Hurriyat Conference hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani back to the Valley after several months in Delhi. As the crowd marched through the city, several of them started raising anti-national slogans and waved Pakistan flags.Some miscreants also allegedly pelted stones at the CRPF vehicles.

The Centre took strong note of it with Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh calling J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed last night making it clear that the issue of national security cannot be compromised, demanding “strict” and “immediate” actions against the leaders who were a part of the rally. Soon after, the J&K police registered cases against Geelani, Masarat Alam, Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah and other separatist leaders for “provocative activities and hoisting Pakistani flag in Hyderpora.”

"FIR No 92/2015 under sections 13 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 120-B, 147, 341, 336, 427 RPC was registered in Police Station Budgam and investigation into the matter has been taken up," the police said.

Reacting to the incident and the cases registered, Masarat Alam in an interview to ABP news said that the Indian government should acknowledge the persisting sentiments of people in Kashmir.

“People here have sentiments in favour of Pakistan, they brought Pak flags and I am in complete support of their feelings,” he said, further adding “Kashmiris do not want to live in an Indian administered state. They want freedom and support Kashmir's accession to Pakistan”.

Interestingly, the cases were registered barely few hours after Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had stated that the, “viewpoint of those outside the mainstream needs to be understood”.

Meanwhile, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani urged the Chief Minister to make his stand on the Kashmir dispute clear before claiming to resolve it, by taking all its stakeholders on board.

“Before resolving Kashmir issue and taking everyone on board including separatists and Pakistan, Mufti should make his views public whether he accepts that Kashmir is under Indian occupation and whether people should be given the right to self-determination or not,” Geelani said while addressing the mammoth gathering near his residence on Wednesday.

He said “Mufti recently termed J&K as the crown of India but he must know that Indian forces have killed six lakh people and grabbed the J&K territory by using its military might. Mufti wants status quo but we reject it and make it to clear to him that people of J&K want complete independence”.

Geelani added that the people of J&K reject all bilateral agreements between India and Pakistan and would not accept any solution which goes against their wishes. “The Lahore declaration and the Shimla agreement mean nothing to us. Without including the aspirations of J&K people from all its three regions no solution of Kashmir is acceptable”.

It was after a gap of five years that Geelani and Masarat Alam Bhat were holding a rally.This was the first public rally after the 2010 summer agitation in Srinagar in which over 100 youths were killed. It had witnessed Kashmiris clashing for months with the Indian soldiers and police officers. It was also the time when Alam came into the spotlights, making vitriolic speeches. He was arrested later.