Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 29: The chairman of hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, today quit the separatist amalgam citing prevailing situation within the forum.
In an audio message, Geelani said he was announcing his resignation from the Hurriyat Conference because of “the current circumstances” in the amalgam.
“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 an audio message in Urdu released this morning.
The 90-year-old, who had led the separatist movement in Kashmir valley since the 1990s, was a lifelong chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference. He has mostly been under house arrest for last one decade. Click here to watch video
Geelani released a two-page letter in which he accused constituents of Hurriyat Conference of inaction after the scrapping of Article 370.
“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,” he wrote.
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,” said the letter.
“The lack of discipline and other shortcomings were ignored and you did not allow a robust accountability system to be established over the years but today, you have crossed all limits and indulged in rebellion against the leadership”, he wrote.
This marks a major development for separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir after the Government ended its special status under the constitution’s Article 370 in August last, split it into two Union Territories and enforced massive restrictions in movement besides jailing scores of leaders.
Earlier, in 2003 Geelani parted ways with Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and formed his own Hurriyat Conference. He also quit Jamat-e-Islami and formed his own party Tehreeq-e-Hurriyat Kashmir.
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