Reported By:
| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Apr 16, 2015, 11:48 PM IST
Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and separatist leader Masarat Alam were today put under house arrest ahead of their rally in Tral town of Pulwama district on Thursday.
"Geelani has been placed under house arrest. A posse of policemen has been deployed outside the chairman's house at Hyderpora as a preventive measure to maintain law and order," a police officer said, adding that similar restriction has been slapped on Alam.
Coming under attack from all quarters including PDP ally BJP over yesterday's rally by separatists in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed denied permission for Friday's congregation even as he said waving of Pakistani flags and raising pro-Pak slogans were "not acceptable" and "will not be tolerated".
Sayeed directed the police to refuse permission for a rally which was scheduled to be taken from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed allegedly by army while in their custody. Geelani, against whom police has registered a case, issued a statement late in the evening saying that he would not be cowed down by the state government.
Sayeed was called hours after the rally in Srinagar on Wednesday by Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking him to take "immediate and stringent" action against the law breakers. The Home Minister on Thursday again asserted, "We will not tolerate anyone raising slogans like 'Pakistan zindabad' on Indian soil.
"There can be no compromise on national security. Politics cannot impinge on national security," he told Sayeed.
Pushed on the backfoot, Sayeed tried to defend his decision of giving permission to the rally but made it clear that hoisting of Pakistan flags and raising pro-Pakistan slogans "is not acceptable and will not be tolerated." "I think authorities have taken note of that. They have taken a video of what has happened. I think law will take its own course, action will be taken.
"As far as the public meeting is concerned, I think it is okay. As I say, democracy is a battle of ideas. They are free to have their own way, speak their own mind but something which is not acceptable (waving Pakistani flags or raising pro-Pakistan slogans) will not be tolerated." The state Government, in which BJP is an alliance partner, came in for flak over its decision to allow Geelani to hold the rally in Srinagar city which comes after a gap of five years.
During the rally, separatist Alam, released from jail last month, praised founder of Lashker-e-Taiba terror outfit Hafeez Sayeed and asked people to join hands with his outfit.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has registered an FIR against Geelani, Alam and another separatist leader from Hurriyat Conference under various sections of Ranbir Penal Code and Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been put under house arrest, according to reports in the media. It is also being said that Masarat Alam will face house arrest very soon.
The Jammu and Kashmir BJP, which is a part of the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state, had demanded the immediate arrest of both Geelani and Masarat, saying registration of an FIR against them was 'not enough'.
"We have conveyed to our coalition partner especially to the chief minister who holds the home ministry that we are not satisfied with mere registration of the FIR against Masarat Alam and Syed Ali Shah Geelani for their anti-national activities, we want their immediate arrest," J-K BJP chief spokesman Sunil Sethi said.
He said the party was of the opinion that activities of Masarat Alam pose a threat to the national security. However, the hardline wing of the Hurriyat Conference on Thursday had condemned registration of cases against its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Masarat Alam Bhat, saying the outfit will not be "cowed down" by such actions.
"We condemn the registration of an FIR against Hurriyat leaders in strongest terms. We will not be cowed down by such actions. "If seeking the right to freedom is a crime, then we will continue doing such things and no power on the earth can prevent us.
The registration of a case exposes the assertion of (Chief Minister) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that it is the battle of ideas. "His government could not bear even a single peaceful rally organised by Hurriyat," the amalgam said in a statement in Srinagar. The statement was released after a meeting of Hurriyat's Majlis-e-Shoura (advisory board) chaired by Geelani at his Hyderpora residence.
Separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat had on Thursday denied waving Pakistani flag at a rally organised to welcome his senior Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar, but said it was a representation of the feelings, aspirations and sentiments of the people across Kashmir.
A day after being slapped with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for anti-national activities, the hardline Hurriyat leader had come out with clarification saying he did not wave the Pakistani flag and should not be held responsible for that.
"There was a welcome programme for Geelani. Some youth had (Pakistani) flags there. Why should I be held responsible for it?" Bhat, who was released last month after being detained under Public Safety Act for more than four years, said.
"This is a general trend in the state and not one man's doing. To hold one person responsible for it, I do not think is the right thing," he said.
Asked about the FIR against him in connection with yesterday's rally, he said it was nothing new for him. On Geelani's call for march to Tral on Friday where two youth were killed in an army operation earlier this week, Bhat said "we will see who all turn up".
"It is not only Indian administration (officials) who have a right to live in Jammu and Kashmir. We are sons of the soil and we have a right to live here. This is our land ...," he added.
After a gap of five years, Jammu and Kashmir Government on Wednesday allowed hardline separatist leader Geelani to hold a public rally on the outskirts of Srinagar city where his supporters including Alam raised pro-Pakistan slogans and others waved Pakistani flags.
Also read: Waving of Pakistani flags, raising pro-Pakistani slogans 'unacceptable': Mufti
(With PTI inputs)
