Separatist leader Shah released from detention

Senior Separatist leader and resident of Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah was on Friday released after being detained for nine months in connection with the mass agitation for the Amarnath land row. 

Shah, executive member of Moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq, was released from Srinagar Central Jail this afternoon, official sources said.

Shah was arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA) on August 22 last year during mass agitation triggered by Amarnath land row. Soon after his release Shah was received by dozens of party activists who straightway drove to Martyrs' graveyard at Eidgah to pay homage to those who lost their lives since the eruption of militancy in the state over two decades back.

"I will not be cowed down by the detention. I will continue to work for the unity of the separatist camp and freedom of Kashmir," Shah told his supporters.

Among various charges, Shah was slapped with PSA.

"Martyrdom and detention is part of the ongoing freedom struggle. Till the achievement of our goal, we will continue the struggle," he said.

He appealed to chairman of Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik to support his efforts.