Syed Ali Shah Geelani: A life dedicated to Kashmir and its people

By Ruwa Shah It was a frosty February afternoon in the Turkish city of Kayseri. I had just finished my exams, and was hoping to have a rare moment of respite after submitting all my assignments. But before I could heave a sigh of relief and relax, I got a text: “Just heard about your grandfather. I am so sorry.” My grandfather, my “Aba”, is Syed Ali Shah Geelani, one of the most prominent figures in the Kashmiri resistance movement and the leader of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. He is 91 years old,…

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Ailing Syed Ali Shah Geelani Quits Hurriyat Conference

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, 90, has resigned from his faction of the Hurriyat Conference, 17 years after he was chosen as its lifetime head, citing the inability of the leaders of the grouping to raise their voice against the Centre’s move to divest Jammu & Kashmir of its special status in August last year as one reason. He also blamed internal bickering, financial irregularities within the grouping’s Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) chapter, and attempts by its leaders to seek positions of power. In an audio message released…

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Stone-pelting incidents: Pakistan-based JuD using WhatsApp to foment trouble in Kashmir

Seven people including Altaf Ahmed Shah, the son-in-law of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, were arrested on July 24 by the NIA. The National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is probing the terror funding cases in Jammu and Kashmir, has found at least 28 WhatsApp groups that are being administered by members residing in Pakistan, a report said on Wednesday. A report published in ‘The Times of India’ states some cadres of terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawaa are also involved in creating such WhatsApp groups. The sources in the country’s top…

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