Pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's death has brought to an end a chapter of anti-India and separatist politics in Kashmir.
Geelani, who was a member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami and chairman of hardline Hurriyat Conference, had been suffering from various ailments for nearly last two decades.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest since Thursday, was detained on Friday when he tried to defy restrictions to lead a march to the United Nations Military Observers group office in Srinagar. "Geelani was detained and lodged in police station Humhama on the airport road when he tried to come out of his house at Hyderpora to lead a march to UNMOGIP," a police spokesman told PTI.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference has elected incarcerated leader Masarat Alam as its chairman following the death of Syed Ali Shah Geelani last week.
The hard-line Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday said it was willing to consider the offer of talks by Centre-appointed interlocutors, but the Delhi police's restriction orders on Syed Ali Shah Geelani had put a spanner in this direction."Hurriyat had decided to discuss the invitation of the Centre's interlocutors after the return of Geelani from Delhi, but his detention has delayed the meeting, where a decision would have been taken on the issue," Hurriyat spokesman said.
Jamaat-e-Islami has removed the hardline leader in an attempt to moderate the extremist voices in the separatist amalgam.
The action, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a response to the group's involvement in fomenting terrorism and spreading anti-India sentiment within the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Geelani held the post for 15 years since the party was formed following a split in the Hurriyat Conference in 2003.
The Delhi police are expected to question Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani over alleged links with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah were placed under house arrest as the funeral of a youth, found dead under mysterious circumstances in New Delhi, was carried out amidst tight security in Srinagar on Thursday.
In an apparent fall-out of holding funeral prayers for Osama bin Laden, an European Union delegation snubbed hard-line Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani by cancelling a scheduled meeting. "A meeting was initially planned for May 14 with Syed Ali Shah Geelani, but given the latest events, the EU delegation considers it inopportune to hold the meeting," a statement said. It also called off a meeting with members of the Kashmir Bar Association.
In identical public notices published in local newspapers, they distanced themselves from separatist politics.
Dr Sameer Kaul, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's personal physician, speaks about Kashmir's hardline separatist.
Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who recently came out against violence in Kashmir, on Saturday rejected the Centre's dialogue offer.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Thursday placed under house arrest, a day ahead of his scheduled visit to Tral town in south Kashmir Pulwama district.
Sources said the accusation comes after Geelani nominated his close aide Ghulam Nabi Sofi as the leader of the Hurriyat in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, replacing Abdullah Malik.
Geelani, who Islamabad's backing, is understood to have impressed upon Kasuri to do more on involving Kashmiris in the dialogue process.
As schools in Kashmir Valley reopened on Monday after over three months, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatists not to target children because they are going to schools.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led faction of Hurriyat Conference has rejected the invitation for next week's round table conference on the Kashmir issue.
Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was placed under house arrest on Wednesday morning, official sources said.\n
Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was Friday taken into preventive custody near his Rawalpora residence.
Geelani was heading towards Baramulla to address Friday prayers and a public meeting
Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Tuesday put under house arrest, official sources said.
The suspension was preempted to stop him flying to New York for an event where he was likely to have spoken against India, official sources said on Tuesday.
Kashmir observed a complete shutdown on Friday against the alleged desecration of holy Quran by the US troops\nin Guantanamo Bay detention centre, official sources said.
Breakaway Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Friday put under house arrest, official sources said.
In a communication to the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, OIC functionary Abdul Ahad-al-Aziz addressed Geelani as the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, sources close to Geelani told PTI.
Authorities in Srinagar have placed breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest, apprehending trouble in view of his scheduled visit to north Kashmir's Kupwara district, where a teacher was shot dead by soldiers on Friday.
Geelani should be given travel documents on top priority for going to the West for treatment, the Hurriyat said.
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.
Hard-line Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday rejected the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proposed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and demanded a United Nations-appointed factfinding mission to probe the unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir. "We vehemently reject the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as we do not expect justice from the system which is perpetuating human rights violations in the state," Geelani said.
A spokesman said Geelani was to lead a procession in the city in protest against the alleged increase in the Human Rights violations, particularly the killing of a student by security forces at Dalgate on August 9.
The separatist leader was scheduled to attend the funeral prayers of militant commander Manzoor-ul-Islam, who was killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday night, his spokesman said.
He was planning to hold demonstrations against the alleged rape of a woman and her daughter.
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