Tailing pro-Pakistani separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani helped the Jammu and Kashmir police in nabbing dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen militant Abdul Aziz Dar alias General Moosa from Srinagar on Saturday.Dar, popularly known as General Moosa among separatists, had been on the run since last year, after he was found actively involved in anti-national agitations. He later allegedly indulged in liaising between Geelani and the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Saturday's shutdown followed the Baramulla march call given by Geelani on Friday over the recent rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir's Shopian town. Authorities had imposed strict restrictions on Friday to foil the proposed separatist march.
Owaisi said, 'Srinagar is a ghost town. Yeh kya kar diya hai (What have they done)? The people are very angry. It moved us to see that people were searching for milk. We were told that since last three months children were not going to school, medicines or proper food have been in short supply. They said they were being tormented.They can't bear the torture of their youth."
Asiya Andrabi, the woman separatist leader who is on the Kashmir police's most wanted list, speaks to Rediff.com's Krishnakumar Padmanabhan in an exclusive interview.
The hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday threatened agitation 'in case the annual Amarnath yatra is not restricted to the original 15 day schedule.'
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has denied news reports that appeared in a leading national paper saying that he did not want travel documents to be issued to rival APHC group chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani when an AHPC delegation visited Pakistan in 2005.
Geelani also criticised porous borders, self-governance and other formulas being put forth by the Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf, to meet India midway in resolving the Kashmir dispute.
Life in Kashmir was in Tuesday paralysed in view of a strike called by the hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the conviction of six Kashmiris in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case in New Delhi.
Three persons were injured, two of them with rubber bullets in post Friday prayer protests in north Kashmir's Sopore town.
The team of Pakistani journalists called on separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
A delegation of members of Parliament and civil society members, who are on a "fact-finding" tour of Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday asked the Centre to start a dialogue process for resolution of Kashmir issue and include separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani in it.
A little-known Kashmiri separatist leader is spurring the stone-throwing protests against security forces in the Kashmir Valley with tactics such as YouTube recruitment videos and protest calendars published in the local media.
The hard-line faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has issued a curious 11-day protest schedule asking people of Kashmir to carry out normal activities from dusk to dawn on strike days. As per the schedule, only two days -- September 19 and 22 -- have been exempted from strikes and protests by the Geelani-led Hurriyat faction, which is spearheading the ongoing agitation in the valley.
In a related development, protests continued for the second day in north Kashmir's Kangan town, where protesters shutdown markets and blocked the highway leading to the Baltal base camp of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
Hardliner Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday said that fulfilling election promises will be a test for the new government but added that the 'struggle for freedom' in the state will continue.Those who were elected have made promises to the people, Geelani said & added that while people voted for the mainstream politicians on the promises of better civic amenities and jobs, the separatists continue to represent the real sentiment.
The separatists left no stone unturned in making their differences obvious
A prominent separatist leader, Shabir Shah, was on Tuesday evening released after months of detention after the Jammu and Kashmir government revoked his detention under the stringent Public Safety Act. Shah was arrested in June this year during protests against the rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir's Shopian town.
The separatists termed the state government's appeal for help to restore normalcy as "childish and illogical".
In a confidential report, the Jammu and Kashmir police has accused moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Shabir Ahmed Shah of having links with Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Tayiba. In the report to the state Home Department, the police have suggested some pro-active measures to curb the anti-national activities of separatist leaders and also slapped the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
An amalgam of various religious organisations has called for a shutdown on Tuesday to protest against the anti-Islam film made by an American filmmaker. Hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front have lent their support to the strike call.
Life in the Kashmir valley was affected on Monday by a protest shutdown against the killing of two youth in firing allegedly by the army on Sunday.
Moderate Hurriyat leaders Abdul Gani Bhat and Lone brothers -- Sajjad and Bilal, who have been critical of terrorists recently, stayed away from Pakistan National Day celebrations where People's Democratic Party leader Maulvi Ifthikhar Hussain Ansari was a surprise guest. Both moderate and hard-line factions of the Hurriyat Conference were represented by their chairmen Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively at the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Defying Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's diktat to Kashmiris against joining police service in the Valley, thousands of youths have opted for the job of special police officer.
A separatist sponsored shutdown affected normal life in Srinagar and other towns Saturday.
Rajnath came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
About half a dozen senior leaders of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference were on Monday put under house arrest to prevent them from participating in the scheduled demonstrations against the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. However, police raided the Hyderpora residence of chairman of the breakaway HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani several times, who had already left for some undisclosed place.
A shutdown against the issuance of Dogra certificate to the residents of Jammu called by the hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani affected normal life in capital Srinagar and other towns for the third day running on Monday.
Kashmiri separatist groups have welcomed United States President Barack Obama's statement that Jammu and Kashmir was 'a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan which the two neighbours must resolve'.
A shutdown called by hardline separatist Hurriyat Conference to protest against the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to shift prison inmates from the Valley to outside jails affected normal life in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Protests broke out in several areas in Jammu on Thursday against raising of Pakistani flags and pro-Pakistan slogans at the rally held by separatist leaders in Srinagar on Wednesday.
Curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir Valley, a week after it was imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. "Curfew has been lifted from all the ten districts in the Valley," a police spokesman said.
As curfew and severe restrictions continue to hinder public movement in Kashmir, internet has emerged as the new choice of communication with separatist and militant leaders who are using the medium for spreading their message.
Apprehending law and order problem in Anantnag where a youth was allegedly killed in firing by security forces on August 30, curfew remained in force in the town, official sources said.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir imposed curfew in most parts of the Valley on Saturday, following which, all the shops closed down and streets were left deserted.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in Srinagar and other towns on Thursday evening to scuttle Friday's proposed separatist march to Eidgah grounds in the city.
Life across Kashmir valley was badly affected on Friday by a protest shutdown called by hard-line separatist leader and All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani.The strike had been called to protest against the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.Although authorities didn't impose any restrictions in the old city, security across Srinagar has been beefed up to maintain law and order.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances