The issuance of travel documents to hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani has sparked a divide between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.
While the BJP maintains that octogenarian separatist leader should acknowledge he is an Indian and “apologise” for his anti-national activities before the passport is issued to him, the PDP says the issue should not be politicised.
“Passport cannot be given to Geelani till he apologises for the mistakes he has committed in the past 25 years. Passports are issued to Indian citizens and not to the ones who don’t believe in India and its democracy,” BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir said on Sunday.
“If Geelani wants the passport, he has to fall in line and follow the law of the land.”
However, senior PDP leader and Member of Parliament Tariq Hameed Karra on Tuesday asked the Centre not to politicise the issue of travel documents to Geelani.
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