Syed Ali Shah Geelani Resigns From All Party Hurriyat Conference

Geelani reportedly said he resigned in view of the present situation.

File photo of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. 

(Photo: PTI)

Almost seventeen years after he floated the amalgam, senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani resigned from the All Party Hurriyat Conference, reported news agency ANI on Monday, 29 June.

According to news agency PTI, a spokesperson for the 90-year-old leader said that "Geelani has announced complete dissociation from Hurriyat Conference forum,” through a four-line letter and an audio recording.

He had led the separatist movement in Kashmir Valley since the 1990s, and was a lifelong chairman of the Hurriyat. He has been largely under house arrest since the summer agitation of 2010.

“In view of the current state of the Hurriyat Conference, I am announcing my complete dissociation from the forum. In this context I have already sent a detailed letter to all constituents of the forum,” said Geelani in the audio message,” reported ANI.

‘All My Efforts Went in Vain’

In his detailed letter, Geelani accused constituents of Hurriyat of inaction after the scrapping of Article 370. He also listed out the reasons for his resignation from the outfit, of which he had been nominated as a lifetime member.

Geelani said the activities of Hurriyat Conference members currently in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir (PcK) were being investigated by the amalgam for various allegations.

“I sent messages to you through various means so the next course of action could be decided but all my efforts were in vain. Now that the sword of accountability is hanging over your heads for the financial and other irregularities, you thought of calling the advisory committee meeting,” PTI quoted Geelani as saying.

The letter accused Hurriyat constituents of hatching “conspiracy and resorting to lies against him” and also teaming up with the Hurriyat chapter in ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir,’ which had targeted him.

“Instead of reprimanding them, you called a meeting in Srinagar and ratified their stand. You people have become part of the conspiracy and lies,” he said in the letter.

“The activities of these representatives were limited now to seeking access to assemblies and ministries for joining the government there (PoK). Some members were expelled while others started holding their own meetings. These activities were endorsed by you (constituents) by holding a meeting here to endorse their decisions.”

Geelani’s letter, as reported by PTI

According to PTI, Geelani said that he had written multiple letters to members of the amalgam after the revocation of Article 370 In Kashmir, but to “no avail.”

Known as a separatist hardliner, Geelani has been at the forefront of the separatist movement in Kashmir Valley since the eruption of militancy in 1990.

In February this year, speculations about the health condition of Geelani had forced authorities to shut down the mobile internet for a day while security forces were deployed outside his residence in Hyderpora, reported PTI.

Geelani is a three-time MLA, having won from Sopore constituency in 1972, 1977 and 1987. He, however, renounced electoral politics following the eruption of militancy Kashmir.