Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who was ailing for some time, passed away in Srinagar on Wednesday evening.
Family members of nonagenarian Geelani confirmed that the senior-most Kashmiri separatist leader passed away at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar at around 10:30 pm. Placed mostly under house arrest since 2013, Geelani, a crowd-puller, was not keeping good health for the last three years.
No one outside the family was allowed to see him for many years now. In the past few years, several times rumours about Geelani’s death had spread panic in Kashmir.
Regional PDP president and former chief minister of J&K, Mehbooba Mufti while expressing grief over his demise tweeted: “Saddened by the news of Geelani sahab’s passing away. We may not have agreed on most things but I respect him for his steadfastness & standing by his beliefs. May Allah Ta’aala grant him jannat & condolences to his family & well wishers (sic).”
Geelani, who was born on September 29, 1929, received his preliminary education at Sopore in north Kashmir and finished his studies at the Oriental College, Lahore (Pakistan).
He contested elections several times and made it to the legislative assembly three times.
Geelani contested controversial elections in 1972 when National Conference founder late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had called for an election boycott.
Justifying his joining the election ray, he once said: “The Plebiscite Front had deviated from the basic stand way back in 1969 when it decided to contest municipal elections. Some Plebiscite Front leaders also informed the people of Sheikh Abdullah’s wavering stand but people did not take note. The Plebiscite Front, therefore, had no valid reason to call for an election boycott. Further, the decision to contest the elections was taken by Jamaat-e-Islami not Geelani.”
Geelani was an important member of the Hurriyat Conference and succeeded Mirwaiz Umer Farooq as its chairman in 1997. However, he parted ways in 2003 to form his own faction of the separatist amalgam.
He severely criticised Pakistan military dictator, General (R) Parvez Musharraf for his ‘Four Point Formula’ on Kashmir.
His stand against what he called 'sell out' won him widespread appreciation and support among extremist circles in Pakistan and Kashmir. Geelani believed in the merger of Kashmir with Pakistan. However, he did not shy away from criticising Islamabad’s policies at times.
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