A chargesheet was on Thursday filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Firdous Ahmad Shah, a member of Syed Ali Geelani's Hurriyat Conference, and another person for allegedly receiving money from Europe for use in terror financing.
Life in Kashmir Valley on Saturday returned to normal as authorities lifted the curfew and the hard-line Hurriyat Conference exempted the day from its schedule of protests and strikes. Curfew was lifted from the entire Valley, except Kangan town in Ganderbal district, on Friday night as the law and order situation across the region remained peaceful, official sources said. The sources said restrictions were not eased in Kangan town.
The Jammu and Kashmir police placed several Hurriyat leaders under house arrest and imposed restrictions on the movement of people on Monday to foil separatists' plan to take out a march to express solidarity with the family of a teenager killed during a clash between demonstrators and security personnel last week.
A day after an all party delegation reached out to separatists in Kashmir, moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday accused the Centre of not making a serious effort to address the Kashmir issue saying talks were not possible in a coercive atmosphere.
Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday condemned the hanging of Afzal Guru, saying the latter was not involved in the 2001 Parliament attack and was also not given a chance to defend himself in connection with this case. Geelani said Guru's hanging at the Tihar Jail this morning is a matter of sorrow and pain for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The action follows the sealing of a Srinagar-based property of the founder and self-styled chief commander of the Al-Umar Mujahideen, Mushtaq Zargar alias 'Latram', on Thursday.
Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who recently came out against violence in Kashmir, on Saturday rejected the Centre's dialogue offer.
Efforts of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq to smoothen the relations among the various constituents of the separatist conglomerate fell flat as supporters of the various constituents shouted down each other at the meeting of the executive body on Tuesday afternoon.
"It (JeI's statement) is a very valid thing. Islam seeks such a society where human values are respected, where modesty is upheld, where semi-naked dresses are not worn, where alcohol and drugs are not promoted and where women and men do not mix," Geelani said.
Jilani said Pakistan had not received any "official communication" from the Indian side in this context and described the visit of the Hurriyat delegation as "a positive development".\n\n
The Hurriyat delegation, also comprising Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Lone, was slated to return on January 24.
The Moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference Thursday served a show cause notice on three of its senior leaders for their recent utterances and causing ruckus at a recent meeting of the APHC executive.
Hurriyat in touch with Kashmiri Pandits
A strike called by separatists to protest the attack on senior Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi evoked a partial response in the city on Saturday.
Chairman of the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq intends to visit China after the Eid festival, following his visit to Pakistan.
Accusing the Centre of projecting the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as an excuse to stay away from dialogue with Pakistan, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference on Friday asked both the countries to remove mistrust and resolve all issues, including Kashmir dispute, this year.
The meeting was called to finalise the agenda for APHC's talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A senior separatist Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi was shot point blank in head by suspected terrorists at Soura in Srinagar on Friday evening in an apparent attempt to derail the dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to rediff.com, APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq said 'Moulvi Abbas, by meeting the interlocutors, had violated the conglomerate's policy decision'.
The ruling Congress party on Thursday said the Hurriyat leaders' trip from occupied Kashmir to other cities of Pakistan was in violation of the understanding between the two countries and that the government should take appropriate view on it.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of All-Party Hurriyat Conference, has claimed that on July 13, the country will witness one of the biggest peaceful protests in their struggle for resolution of problem of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has proposed a new concept for resolving the Kashmir issue, United States of Kashmir, in which people would be able to move freely.
"We are not going to attend the April 24 roundtable scheduled to discuss Centre-state relations or developmental issues," Hurriyat spokesman Shahid-ul-Islam told PTI.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was detained along with hundreds of his supporters for staging a protest in Srinagar, coinciding with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. The rally was, however, intercepted by the police at Munawarabad area resulting in clashes. The police had to use tear gas and resort to repeated baton charges to disperse the protest rally.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the hardline faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, on Tuesday demanded the immediate withdrawal of security forces from the Kashmir Valley. Addressing a mammoth gathering of over 1,00,000 people at Srinagar's Tourists Reception Centre Grounds along with fellow leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabbir Shah and Yasin Malik, Geelani laid down its immediate demand: The withdrawal of security forces.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, told rediff.com, "Anyone who indulges in acts of terrorism on either side of the border should be held accountable and should be dealt with in accordance with the law, whether it is Ajmal Kasab or anyone."
Under the Indo-Pak agreement for the launch of bus service, any permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir can travel only between two parts of undivided state on a permit.
"We can't have this high-horse spirit -- that you can speak to the high commissioner of Pakistan, but not to the home minister of India."