Letter calling for strikes in Kashmir is fake, says Syed Ali Shah Geelani's family

J&K police warn against circulating fake tweet attributed to ailing separatist leader

Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday rejected a press release under the name of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani calling for strike on August 5 and August 15 terming it as fake.

While August 5 marks the 2nd anniversary of abrogation of J&K’s special status under Article 370, August 15 is Independence Day on which separatists had been calling for a strike ever since the insurgency erupted in 1989.

A police spokesperson, while quoting Geelani's family sources, said the press release on the Twitter handle of the ailing separatist leader is fake and issued by someone from Pakistan.

“Police are taking action against those who are circulating it to instigate violence. Case FIR under relevant sections of ULA (P) stands registered in Police station Budgam,” police said, in a tweet.

This is not for the first time that Geelani, through his family, has disassociated himself from a strike call issued in his name from across the border. Earlier, the police, quoting his family sources, rejected a similar press release under his name calling for strike on July 8 and 13 as fake and issued by someone from Pakistan.

Read | Hizbul chief's sons among 11 employees terminated by J&K government

In April, the family of nonagenarian Geelani also disowned a letter in the name of the ailing separatist leader as fake and not been issued by him. The letter, which appeared to have come from across the border, asking people of Kashmir to observe strike against killings had been doing rounds on social media.

Feeling hurt at being sidelined in decision-making and underhand disparagement of his role within the separatist amalgam, Geelani had resigned as chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference last June. Immediately after the decision, he had disassociated himself from a similar strike call issued from Pakistan last July.

While announcing his decision to sever his association with the Hurriyat, Geelani had said that Abdullah Geelani will continue to work as his representative in Pakistan and overseas.

Sources told DH that the strike calls are being issued by Abdullah Geelani from Pakistan on the directions of Pakistani spy agency ISI. “However, his (Geelani’s) family in Srinagar has no choice, but to disown these strike calls. They know that law enforcing agencies will open cases against Geelani’s sons in the same manner as was done with Pakistan based Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahudin’s children,” they revealed.

Shakeel Yousuf Shah, who was working as a lab assistant at tertiary-care SKIMS hospital in Srinagar and Shahid Yousuf Shah, extension agriculture officer in Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), were recently terminated by J&K government for their involvement in alleged terror funding cases.

Both Shakeel and Shahid were arrested in 2017 and 2020 respectively by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in terror funding cases.