Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been the reigning patriarch of separatist politics in Kashmir for close to two decades now. For Delhi, Geelani b...
Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been the reigning patriarch of separatist politics in Kashmir for close to two decades now.
For Delhi, Geelani became the “hardliner” who refused to join talks on the government’s terms. For much of the Kashmiri public, Geelani gained stature as the only political leader who refused to compromise with the government.
Since the mass protests of 2008, he has been under house arrest. Shut into a high-walled house in Srinagar, he became an almost mystical figure in Kashmir. Even as the Hurriyat Conference crumbled around him, he remained the revered “Geelani saab”. On June 29, the ailing 91-year-old announced he was going to “part ways” with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Geelani faction), also known as Hurriyat (G). He is, however, still part of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, the party he founded in 2004.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference was formed in 1993, an umbrella body for various groups, aimed at providing a political platform for Kashmiri separatism. A youthful Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was appointed chief of the conglomerate. Geelani left the original group in 2003, and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference was split into two factions – Hurriyat (G) and Hurriyat (M). But since 2008, at least, almost all separatist politics in...
