With several mid-ranking and veteran separatists gravitating around Syed Ali Geelani, the aging pro-Pakistan politician is overshadowing moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Geelani’s position strengthened last week when three senior separatists, who have been associated with anti-India politics for more than two decades, announced their decision to join his hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference. Since the split in the region’s main separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference in 2003, the moderates had remained more acceptable to Pakistan than Geelani’s hardline camp, which is now reversing. The entry of Shabir Ahmad…
Read MoreHardline Geelani eclipses moderate Mirwaiz
