Srinagar: Post Masarat Alam rally, protesting residents accuse Mufti of flagging separatists' agenda

Protesters on Thursday took to the streets sharply to express their anger and anxiety over Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam and his supporters raising pro-Pakistani slogans and waving Pakistani flags on Wednesday.

"As the BJP and PDP coalition government is formed, Mufti is talking and taking the agenda of separatists. The way the anti-national rally was conducted in Kashmir, it is not acceptable," said one protestor.

"Yasin Malik, Masarat Alam and securities of other separatists should be suspended. They should be arrested soon. Jammu and Kashmir is the integral part of India and will always remain so," he added.

On Wednesday, Alam sparked a fresh controversy by raising anti-India slogans to greet separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The incident has led to widespread criticism over Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's move to release Alam, a political prisoner, from the Baramulla prison, as there were no criminal charges against him.

Alam is the chairman of Muslim League, a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani and is widely seen as the latter's heir apparent.

He had been convicted for organizing anti-India protests resulting in the death of 112 people in stone pelting across the Valley in 2010.