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JAMMU & KASHMIR
Unlike during extended
2016 unrest following
the killing of militant

before August 5 had threatened agitation commander Burhan the militancy and the unrest in the Val-
against withdrawal of Article 370. Wani, Hurriyat has been ley. At the time, the centre only arrested
At the same time, Hurriyat approach the middle-rung leaders, leaving initially
towards Article 370 has been marred by conspicuously absent the top Hurriyat trio — Syed Ali Geelani,
some ideological scruples. The amalgam from the scene. The Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yaseen Malik —
which basically spearheads the move- untouched, albeit it did act against their
ment for freedom for Kashmir occasion- separatist amalgam has close associates and in case of Geelani,
ally fights shy of advocating for restora- his family members too. Similarly, the
tion of J&K’s autonomy under India’s been unable to issue sons of the PaK based supremo of Hizbul
constitution. So, an agitation geared to hartal and protest calls. Mujahideen Syed Salahuddin were also
bring back Article 370 is construed as a targeted.
climbdown from the Azadi bandwagon. Even the leaders who The arrested leaders include Altaf
But, in past, Yaseen Malik has defend- have not been detained Ahmad Shah Funtoosh Geelani (son-in-
ed Hurriyat support for Article 370 on law of Syed Ali Geelani), Ayaz Akbar, Raja
the premise that its withdrawal will pave have stayed short of it Merajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Aftab
way for demographic change in J&K and Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Nay-
hence undermine struggle for freedom. eem Khan and Farooq Ahmad Dar alias
The amalgam has thus always been at the forefront of the strug- Bitta Karate. There were also raids on the kin of separatists and
gle against attempts to tinker with J&K’s special constitutional their sympathisers.
status but in the name of struggle for freedom. It seems unlikely that the centre will rethink the arrest of
The detention of top leaders on August 5 has, however, crip- the separatist leaders in near term. That is, unless the union
pled the grouping’s organizational ability. The effort to reign in government is certain that releasing them wouldn’t adversely
Hurriyat, however, had begun far in advance of the scrapping of impact the existing normalcy in the UT.
J&K’s special status. In mid-2017, National Investigative Agency
initiated probe against separatists for their alleged funding of LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

J&K’s lot with Hindu majority India in
the wake of partition. Sheikh rejected
Muslim-majority Pakistan that asserted
its right to the state, and still does, under
Two-Nation Theory that partitioned
India following liberation from Britain.
Abdullah also came in handy to New
Delhi through nineties to fight off the in-
ternational scrutiny of the human rights
situation in Kashmir. He was gainfully
deployed across the world to defend
India on Kashmir and blame Pakistan
for the turmoil in the state. But now
Abdullah is in jail under Public Safety
Act. His release, if and when it happens
will be the most important development
of the post Article 370 Kashmir.
tions of the release of the mainstream the tallest mainstream leader in J&K Meanwhile, first stirrings of some
politicians, New Delhi seems unwilling but also one of the senior most leaders political activity are in evidence with
to take any such step anytime soon. in the country. He has always stood for the reopening of offices of mainstream
Other than three chief ministers, cen- the country’s cause in Kashmir and for parties. But it will formally restart only
tre’s sweep in Kashmir encompasses which he has always been abhorred by when the top leaders like Dr Abdullah,
many major politicians and civil society separatist groups. Omar and Mehbooba are released and
actors. A former MLA Engineer Rashid Abdullah is important also because of allowed to hold political meetings and
has been slapped with Public Safety Act. who he is in his personal capacity: son of talk to people.
In all this, Dr Abdullah’s arrest has stood Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who was
out as an act of overreach. He is not only instrumental in tying Muslim majority LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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