Mufti orders release of hardine separatist leader

Complying with the directives of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, authorities on Saturday ordered release of hardline Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam Bhat. He was serving detention for the last 53 months for organizing 2010 anti-India summer agitation.

More than 100 people mostly youth had been killed during the anti-India protests and stone pelting across the Valley during 2010. 

Sources told Deccan Herald that the order for the release of Bhat has been issued by the state Home Department.  “Technically he is a free man now but it will take some time before he will be handed over to his family from the Baramulla district jail where he was lodged,” they said.

Forty-two-year-old Bhat, who was arrested by the police on October 18, 2010, had become a cult figure among the radicalised youth and hardliners in the Valley during the 2008 and 2010 anti-India protests.  He was arrested by the police after several months hunt and the announcement of award of Rs 10 lakh for information about his whereabouts.

He was slapped Public Safety Act six times since his arrest in 2010 and every Act was quashed by the state high court. However, he was not released.

Bhat is chairman of Muslim League — a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani. A student of missionary, Tyndale Biscoe School, Bhat belongs to a middle-class family in Zaindar Mohalla area in old city. He did his graduation in Science from prestigious SP College in Srinagar and subsequently joined the political movement in 1987. 

He joined the militancy in the early 1990s and became a commander of the Hizbullah militant outfit. Later, he was arrested. Bhat has been jailed for more than 14 years on various charges. He came into limelight during the Amarnath land row in 2008. Due to his hardline stance, he is widely seen as a successor to octogenarian Geelani.

His family comprises mother, sister and wife who live in a modest house amid abject poverty. State Director General Police (DGP) K Rajendra told reporters in Jammu that on the directions of the chief minister, the police have started initiating process of releasing political prisoners who do not face any criminal charges.

In a meeting with the police chief on Wednesday, Mufti had asked him to initiate a process of releasing all political prisoners and prepare a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of former militants.

However, Mufti’s directions on release of political prisoners have not gone well with the coalition partner. “How can he (Mufti) do it without taking us (BJP) into confidence?” BJP general secretary Ashok Koul asked.