In a bid to break the current impasse, teams of the all-party delegation to Kashmir on Monday separately met Hurriyat leaders and gave them a patient hearing but the separatists insisted on withdrawal of Army and asked the Centre to take bold decisions instead of being in a "denial mode".
The Indian Army on Thursday asked Kashmiris not to pay heed to the call given by hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to march towards the security forces' camps in the Valley on September 21 to press for demilitarisation of the state.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the Jamaat-e Islami of Jammu and Kashmir talks about the Kashmir conflict and its possible solution in this 2 part interview with Yoginder Sikand.
Leaders of the two factions of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference met in Srinagar on Thursday for the first time after their split in 2003. Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq, accompanied by another senior separatist leader of his group, visited the uptown Hyderpora residence of Syed Ali Shah Geelani for talks, which continued for over six hours.
The stone-pelting was sponsored by the Syed Ali Shah Geelani faction to create law and order problem in Sopore, Abdul Latief Lone, detained under the Public Safety Act, told police, according to DIG (North Kashmir) Munir Khan.
The state government is just a puppet of New Delhi, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the hardline leader of the Hurriyat Conference (G), tells Saubhadra Chatterji.
Ahead of his talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be meeting leaders of various separatist outfits from Kashmir over the next two days.
He has been politically inactive of late, particularly since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year which had far-reaching consequences for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been politically inactive of late, particularly since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year which had far-reaching consequences for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The others named in the PE are Naeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.
"We will take part in the talks, which are meant for resolution of the issue," the firebrand leader said.
In a surprise snub to Pakistan, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani decided to "boycott" the Eid Milan being hosted by Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit in Delhi on July 21, making it the first time that he has turned down such an invite.
Geelani also condemned Pakistan government for accepting moderates as representatives of the Kashmiris.
A photo of Junaid Ashraf holding an AK 47 assault rifle and wearing an armour vest went viral on social media on Saturday.
Behal is also a member of the legal cell of the separatist amalgam led by Geelani and a 'close associate' of the Hurriyat hawk.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has stoked a controversy by paying tributes to 2 militants who were killed in an encounter in Tral area of Kashmir, in which an army commander and a policeman died.
Actress-turned-Congress leader from Meerut, Nagma, put herself in a spot after she confused late Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan with Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Geelani's supporters were demonstrating in front of his house in Srinagar to protest his house arrest.
Hard-line Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has asked Kashmiris to desist from allowing people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to stay with them as tenants.
Geelani was handed the invitation letter from Sharif by Pakistan high commissioner in India Abdul Basit over a dinner at the latter's residence at Tilak Marg in Delhi.
Authorities on Thursday booked hard-line Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under the stringent Public Safety Act and placed moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq under house arrest to foil their planned all-party meet to chalk out the future course of action. "We have booked him (Geelani) under PSA. There are a good number of grounds (for detention) against Geelani. I have signed the PSA warrant against Geelani and as per the orders," said the DM.
Officials said both the factions of the Hurriyat are likely to be banned under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or the UAPA, under which "if the Central Government is of opinion that any association is, or has become, an unlawful association, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful."
Most of the shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and offices were shut in and around the Lal Chowk city centre and in many areas elsewhere in the city, while government offices witnessed thin attendance, officials said.
Among them are Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmed Shah.
Omar Abdullah's rule has been the worst of all, he has proved to be Nero of Kashmir, says Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in this exclusive interview.
Geelani had called for a march on Friday to Tral town in South Kashmir where two youths were killed in an anti-militancy operation on Monday.
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."
Apparently trying to dabble in internal rivalry in the Hurriyat, Pakistan has invited hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani as the 'Chairman' of the amalgam along with six other Kashmiri separatist leaders for a meeting in Islamabad later this month.
Demanding that Jammu and Kashmir be considered a "disputed territory", hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday said that people there should be given the right to "self determination".
SAS Geelani said he would support a dialogue process aimed at resolving Kashmir issue.
Authorities imposed restrictions in certain areas of Srinagar on Saturday to scuttle a protest march called by separatists to coincide with Martyr's Day
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.
Several senior separatist leaders have rejected outright their participation in any such meet at the moment.
Normal life in the Kashmir Valley was severely affected due to a strike call given by hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against the continued arrests of youths.
The residence of Geelani has been converted into an unofficial jail. No one is allowed to enter or leave the premises.
Today, you give away Kashmir, tomorrow you will have to give away Hyderabad and then Coimbatore and then Moradabad and so on.
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