Although Pakistan during his last days had sidelined the top separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani, after his death in a bid to instigate the Kashmiri youth, is engaged in portraying him as the man “who sacrificed most of his life in Indian jails for the right of Kashmiris to self-determination”.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, his ministerial colleagues and the official Twitter account of the Pakistan Government have after the death of Geelani on Wednesday night been posting Twitter video clips of his anti-India speeches in order to exploit the situation.
The Pakistan government’s official Twitter account on Friday described Geelani as a “Kashmiri Hurriyat leader who emerged as the face of resistance against Indian atrocities in Kashmir…”. Another tweet on the Twitter handle described him as “a metaphor for the struggle of Kashmir’s independence.”
Upset with the Pakistani agencies that betrayed him and sidelined him by interfering in the affairs of Hurriyat, Geelani in June last year resigned from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and in an audio message and two page letter accused the Pakistan based separatist leadership of “nepotism and political corruption”. He also accused the Pakistan based separatists of misinterpreting his speeches and taking decisions arbitrarily without keeping him in the loop. “You people have become part of the conspiracy and lies”, Geelani told Pakistan in the letter.
Geelani was annoyed after he was sidelined following the election of Pakistan backed Mohammed Hussain Khatib, who is based in Muzaffarabad of PoJK, as Hurriyat leader. It was widely believed that Khatib’s emergence has been part of a larger design of Pakistan’s ISI to take control of both the separatist armed struggle and the separatist political platform.
Meanwhile, curfew-like restrictions and internet shutdown continued across Kashmir on Friday after the death of Geelani on Wednesday. Business activity remained shut as markets were closed for the second consecutive day.
Security forces were deployed in strength and barbed wire hurdles were laid on the streets to prevent the movement of people.
Restrictions were more stringent in north Kashmir where Sopore was the home town of Geelani.
The IGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said that lifting of restrictions and restoring internet and mobile phone services would be reviewed this evening.