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.
"India should understand that it cannot resolve the Kashmir issue by keeping pro-freedom groups away from the dialogue process."
Hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had asked the non-Kashmiri work force to leave the valley after the rape-and-murder of 14-year-old Tabinda Jan in Langate area of Kupwara district in which 2 labourers were allegedly involved.
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.
Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah and other six accused Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Shahid-ul-Islam, Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Nayeem Khan and Farooq Ahmed Dar were arrested on July 24 in the case of alleged funding of terror and subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley.
Breakaway Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Friday put under house arrest, official sources said.
Authorities were gearing up to question Geelani following claims made by his aide G M Bhat that the money was meant for Geelani and his Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, an amalgam created as a parallel to Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
The JKSM activists might have drawn inspiration from the mashaal (torch) rally of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front as part of its safar-e-azadi (journey to freedom).
Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq Friday claimed that the initiative of the separatist amalgam for "trilateral talks" with India and Pakistan has been received well in Islamabad.
The Union minister, however, indicated the dates for the talks would be set after a discussion with the Hurriyat leaders.
Mirwaiz Farooq, who is also a Muslim religious head, feels that the Friday meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore has given a fresh hope not only to people of the two nations but to the entire South Asian region.
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.
India boycotted Pak National Day event over invitation to Hurriyat leaders.
Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was on Tuesday put under house arrest, official sources said.
Separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was invited for Pakistan National Day celebrations at the High Commission in Delhi on Monday, will not be attending the event.
Normal life in Kashmir was partially affected due to a strike called by moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference to protest the army's decision to close the Pathribal fake encounter case.
Top Kashmiri separatist leaders on Saturday evening joined the iftar party hosted by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the hard-line separatist leader at his uptown residence.
Suspension of mobile phone and Internet services on Republic and Independence days has been part of the security drill in the valley since 2005 when militants used a mobile phone to trigger an IED blast near the venue of Independence Day celebrations.
'The only way to proceed forward is India-Pakistan, India-Kashmir and Pakistan-Kashmir,' says Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
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.
The meeting is seen as a rebuff to Jamaat leader and chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has been asking Pakistan to stay away from the Hurriyat's moderate leadership.
'Every way ends on the negotiating tableĀ We welcome and fully support the talks between Government of India and Hurriyat Conference,' Mohammad Akbar Bhat said.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had said yesterday that the talks would be held 'within the four walls fo the Constitution'.
New Delhi had suggested April 14 or 15 for a meeting between the APHC and the PM, but Hurriyat Conference representatives will be reaching Delhi only on April 16.
The Hurriyat Conference has said that they will take this step to bring peace into the valley and there must be initiatives by the Indian government.
Hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was released on Saturday after four and a half years of detention, today said the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party government had done him no favour as his release was part of normal judicial process.
Earlier this week, the Centre cleared the decks for people from across the country to buy land in the union territory by amending several laws. Most shops, petrol pumps and other business establishments were shut in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.
PM denies rift over talks with Hurriyat as he departs on his 3-nation tour
In the Kashmir Valley, we need to begin to make a distinction between an insurgent who fights the security forces and a terrorist who murders unarmed civilians, suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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