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Basharat Peer in Srinagar.
Jailed journalist Iftikar Geelani's father is a bitter man today.
"The government has made Iftikar a political scapegoat. He has been arrested because he is Geelani sahib's son-in-law," Masood Geelani told rediff.com.
He emphasises that Iftikar, who has been working in Delhi as a journalist for around a decade now, does not subscribe to the ideology of his father-in-law, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is a pro-Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami and All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader.
"Iftikar never followed his father-in-law's line of thought. He is an independent professional and has been so dedicated to his work that he would hardly come home. His visits to Kashmir would at most be once or twice a year," he added.
Although shaken by his son's arrest, Masood Geelani, who is a state government official believes that Iftikar's innocence will bail him out.
"My son has become a victim in the political game going on for holding election in the state. But he is innocent and will come out unscathed," he says.
He says that Iftikar had a burning ambition to be a journalist and after completing his graduation from Sopore Degree College left for Delhi in 1988 to follow his dreams.
"It was tough for me to let go my son. But we wanted a great career for him so I did not object. He worked hard and proved himself in his profession," says the father.
At the time of his arrest under Official Secrets Act in Delhi, Iftikar was the Delhi bureau chief of a Jammu based daily The Kashmir Times and worked for the Pakistani weekly The Friday Times.
His father-in-law Syed Ali Shah Geelani who advocated jihad in Kashmir has often been criticised for preaching jihad to others while his own son was a doctor.
"Iftikar was the one to ask his Geelani sahib that question, when he interviewed him for a Pakistani magazine Newsline. Such was his professional commitment," adds Masood.
He said that Iftikar did not know his in-laws and his marriage to Geelani's daughter took place on the insistence of the family.
"He was in Delhi and it was my mother's insistence that Iftikar agreed to marry Geelani sahib's daughter. He came from Delhi a few days before his marriage," he says, adding the family has no affiliations with the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Iftikar's wife is still in Delhi, while his three-year old daughter Kayat and six-month old son Mujadid are in the valley.
"It pains to see his daughter asking about Iftikar. But I hope this pain would end and Iftikar would come back home," he says.
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