Syed Ali Shah Geelani

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Syed Ali Shah Geelani (29 September 1929 – 1 September 2021) was a separatist leader active in separatist insurgency of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref><ref>"Syed Ali Shah Geelani emerging as most powerful separatist in Kashmir " Template:Webarchive. indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref><ref name="IT 201022">Template:Cite news</ref> A pro-Pakistan separatist,<ref name="Sumantra Bose22">Sumantra Bose, Syed Ali Shah Geelani: The man who fought for Kashmir’s freedom Template:Webarchive, BBC News, 2 September 2021. "First, he made it clear that although a proud Kashmiri, he considered his national identity to be Pakistani. Second, he was implacably hostile to the idea of an independent Kashmir.... The JKLF leader's amused reaction made light of a deadly schism the two views of freedom - the majority view favouring independence and the minority pro-Pakistan view - had produced in the Kashmiri movement."</ref><ref name="IT pro-Pakistan22">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Jamal jihad22">Template:Harvp</ref> he is regarded as the father of the Kashmir resistance movement.<ref> The 'father of jihad' in Kashmir, led separatist politics for 3 decades...A chapter ends with the death of Ali Shah Geelani, PressWire18, 2 September 2021. Template:Webarchive. Quote: 'Former RAW chief and Officer on Special Duty to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, AS Dulat, in his book on Kashmir, had called Geelani the “father of jihad”.' </ref><ref name="Amir-e-Jhad">PTI, Why India banned Jamaat-e-lslami and the 'Amir-e-Jihad' Geelani connection Template:Webarchive, Business Standard, 9 March 2019.</ref><ref name="Praveen Swami">Praveen Swami, The Sunset of Kashmir's Jihadist Patriarch, Syed Ali Shah Geelani Template:Webarchive, News18, 29 June 2020 (updated 1 September 2021).</ref>

He was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir since 1953, and was regarded as one of its most significant leaders. Geelani was also a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Sopore constituency, elected on a Jamaat-e-Islami ticket in 1972, 1977 and in 1987.<ref> "Sopore Election 2014, Results, Candidate List and winner of Sopore Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) Constituency, Jammu And Kashmir" Template:Webarchive. elections.in. Retrieved on 23 July 2016. </ref><ref name="Masarat">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Geelani was born in 1929 in a village called Zurimanz, in the Aloosa tehsil, in the Bandipora district of North Kashmir into a Syed family.Template:Efn He was the son of a landless labourer in the canals department. Geelani was educated partly in Sopore and the rest in Lahore. He studied in a madrasa attached to the Masjid Wazir Khan and later enrolled in the Oriental College. He completed Adib 'Alim, a course in Islamic theology.Template:Sfnp<ref name="Praveen Swami" />Template:Sfnp

Career

Returning to Kashmir after studies in Lahore, Geelani became active in the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He was appointed the secretary of the party unit in Zurimanj. In 1946, during the Quit Kashmir movement of the National Conference, he came in contact with Maulana Sayeed Masoodi, the general secretary of the National Conference, who took a liking to him and made him a reporter to the party newspaper Akhbar-i-Khidmat.Template:Sfnp<ref name="Praveen Swami" />

Maulana Masoodi also sponsored further studies for Geelani, who completed an adib-i-fazil course in Urdu and other courses in Persian and English. After this, he took a job as a school teacher, first at Pathar Masjid and later at Rainawari in Srinagar.Template:Sfnp Here he came in contact with Saaduddin Tarabali, a follower of the Jamaat-e-Islami founder Maulana Abul A'la Maududi. Maududi advocated a hardline Islamist ideology, whereby Islam had to be the foundation of the entire political order.Template:Sfnp<ref name="Praveen Swami" /> Geelani had borrowed a book of Maududi from the local book store, which made a deep impression upon him. He was to later say, Maududi had "beautifully.. expressed the feelings that lay deep down in my own heart".Template:Sfnp The National Conference headquarters, Mujahid Manzil, where Geelani apparently stayed, soon began to be seen as "a den of Pakistanis".Template:Sfnp

Geelani was soon moved out of Srinagar, and he came to work in the Intermediate College in Sopore. He stayed in this position for six years. During this time, he was reading the literature of Jamaat-e-Islami and conveying its contents to his students in lectures. He also addressed congregations in mosques. He had become a full-fledged member of Jamaat in 1952.Template:Sfnp

Electoral politics

Geelani entered into electoral politics ahead of the 1971 Indian general election. Geelani had claimed that the Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to use it as an opportunity to spread its ideology, keep the Kashmir issue in prominence and protect basic and fundamental rights of the people.Template:Citation needed Geelani contested as an independent candidate but lost to Syed Ahmed Aga,<ref name="Wani">Template:Cite web</ref> with the Jamaat alleging ballot-rigging.Template:Citation needed

He participated in the 1972 legislative assembly election from Sopore. He won from the seat in that year and again in the 1977 legislative assembly election. He was however defeated in the 1983 election due to the sympathy wave generated for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference by the death of Sheikh Abdullah.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Geelani also contested the 1977 Indian general election as an independent candidate due to the banning of Jamaat in 1975, but lost to Abdul Ahad Vakil.<ref name="Wani"/><ref name="Tahir"/>

In the 1987 legislative assembly election, Jamaat-e-Islami candidates including Geelani participated under a coalition of parties called the Muslim United Front (MUF). Geelani won the seat from Sopore, but was expelled from the MUF in 1988.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Geelani resigned as an MLA in August 1989 due to alleged widespread ballot rigging in the 1987 election.<ref name="Tahir">Template:Cite web</ref>

Separatist leader

Geelani was viewed as a key separatist leader in Kashmir.<ref>Indian police arrest Syed Ali Geelani in Kashmir Template:Webarchive, Dawn, 8 September 2010.</ref> Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, blamed Geelani for the rise in militancy and bloodshed in Kashmir, while his father and former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah urged Geelani to follow a path which would "save Kashmiri people from further destruction".<ref name="Farooq, Omar lash out at Geelani">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Farooq asks Geelani to adopt a path which can save people">Template:Cite news</ref>

He was one of the founding members of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an alliance of Kashmiri social and political organisations who supported a referendum for Kashmir, in 1993 and was the initial choice for the position of its chairman. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was however chosen instead due to the secular organisations forming majority of the alliance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Geelani became the chairman in 1998,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was replaced by Abdul Ghani Bhat on 20 July 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He also criticised the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference for fielding proxy candidates in the 2002 assembly election and sought its removal, threatening to launch his own party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2003, the Jamaat-e-Islami removed him as its representative from the executive body of Hurriyat in order to counter hardliners in the organisation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2003 it removed him from the position of head of its political bureau, appointing Ashraf Sehrai in his place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The appointment of Mohammad Abbas Ansari as chairman of Hurriyat precipitated a crisis in the organisation and it split in September 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Geelani formed his own faction within the Hurriyat Conference, called the "All Parties Hurriyat Conference (G)", in September 2003 and was elected as its chairman for three years, replacing its interim chairman Masarat Alam Bhat. It consists of 24 parties. In 2006 he was re-elected for a term of three years despite expressing his desire to step down owing to ill health.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NIEchairman"> Template:Cite web </ref> In 2015, he was appointed as the lifetime chairman of the faction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2004, he sought to form his own party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Jamaat-e-Islami prohibited him from doing so<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and suspended him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In response, he dropped the idea for launching the party and tried to take over the leadership of the organisation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bowing to the pressure, the Jamaat readmitted him in August 2004 and allowed him to form his own party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the same month he founded the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and was elected as its chairman for three years in October 2004.<ref name="NIEchairman"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was re-elected to the position for three year-terms consecutively in 2007, 2010<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017 he was given a year-long extension after the party failed to hold regular elections in 2016 due to the 2016–2017 Kashmir unrest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jammat-e-Islami removed Geelani from its advisory council in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It later started distancing itself from him and stated that he did not represent them, but the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2010 it temporarily expelled him from the organisation due to him defending the freedom of the author of his biography Qaid-e-Inqilab – Ek Tareekh, Ek Tehreek over making derogatory remarks against the party,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but later restored him as a basic member (rukun).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geelani had called for numerous general strikes or shutdowns, in response to the deaths of unnamed suspected militants, local militants and death of civilians in Kashmir.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geelani had appealed to people of Kashmir to boycott the 2014 legislative assembly elections completely, not accepting the proposals for self-rule or autonomy that had been offered by the People's Democratic Party and the then ruling National Conference.<ref name="Tantry">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>"Syed Ali Shah Geelani's J&K election boycott call resonates in his hometown Sopore" Template:Webarchive. in.com. 3 December 2014.</ref> Despite repeated boycott appeals, the elections had record voter turnout of more than 65%, which was the highest in 25 years of history of the state.<ref>"Jammu and Kashmir registers highest voter turnout in 25 years, Jharkhand breaks records" Template:Webarchive . deccanchronicle.com.</ref><ref>"J&K polls: 76 percent voter turnout recorded in the final phase". in.com. 20 December 2014. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref><ref>"Jammu and Kashmir Registers Highest Voter Turnout in 25 Years, Jharkhand Breaks Records" Template:Webarchive. ndtv.com. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref> After record voting percentage in Kashmir, Geelani, along with other separatists, were criticised by Indian media for misleading people of Kashmir and for not representing true sentiments of Kashmiri people.<ref>"J&K polls: Valley opts for ballot over bullet with 71 percent voting in first phase" Template:Webarchive. indianexpress.com. 25 November 2014. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref><ref>"Ballot over bullet: Brisk voting in J&K and Jharkhand showcases faith in democracy" Template:Webarchive. indiatimes.com. 26 November 2014. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref>

Geelani received the invitation to participate in the annual meeting of the foreign ministers of member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Kashmir Contact Group to be held in New York from 27 September 2015.<ref>"Syed Ali Shah Geelani decides to participate in OIC meet in New York" Template:Webarchive. India Today. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref> After the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani and the unrest that followed it, to restore normalcy in Kashmir, Geelani sent a letter to United Nations listing six confidence-building measures.<ref>"Repeal AFSPA, release prisoners for peace and resolution, says Geelani" Template:Webarchive.India Today . Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref><ref>Kashmir unrest: Syed Ali Shah Geelani lists measures for return of peace, Firstpost, 17 July 2016. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>"Separatist leader Geelani asks UN, world to intervene over Kashmir violence" Template:Webarchive. hindustantimes.com. 17 July 2016. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref>

In March 2018, Geelani announced his resignation as chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat citing ill health, being replaced with Ashraf Sehrai. However he remained the chairman of his faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.<ref name="outlookchairman">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NIEchairman"/> In June 2020 he announced his resignation from the faction, accusing it of nepotism and corruption, in addition to misinterpreting his speeches and taking decisions without him.<ref name="ThePrint2020Syed" /><ref name=ThePrint2020Disillusionment /><ref name="Hindufaction">Template:Cite web</ref> It however refused to accept his resignation and did not name a new chairman until after his death.<ref name="Masarat"/>

Sedition charge

On 29 November 2010, Geelani, along with writer Arundhati Roy, activist Varavara Rao and three others,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was charged under "sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (false statement, rumour circulated with intent to cause mutiny or offence against public peace...) to be read with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967". The charges, which carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, were the result of a self-titled seminar they gave in New Delhi, "Azadi-the Only Way" on 21 October, at which Geelani was heckled.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Geelani lived in Hyderpora, Srinagar. He had two sons; Nayeem and Naseem, and four daughters; Anisha, Farhat Jabeen, Zamshida, and Chamshida.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Anisha and Farhat are Geelani's daughters from his second marriage. Nayeem and his wife are both doctors who used to live and practise medicine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, but they returned to India in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Geelani's younger son, Naseem works as a Senior scientist at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Srinagar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Geelani's grandson Izhaar is a crew member in a private airline in India. Geelani's daughter Farhat is a madani teacher in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and her husband is an engineer there.<ref name="tribuneindia">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Geelani's other grandchildren are studying in leading schools of India. His cousin Ghulam Nabi Fai is presently in London.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ruwa Shah, daughter of Kashmiri separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah (SAS Geelani's son-in-law) is a journalist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She previously worked as a journalist in India with organisations including the Al Jazeera, IANS and The Indian Express.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Health issues, passport suspension and house arrest

Geelani's passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of "anti-India" activities. With the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.Template:Update inline<ref name="Ailing Kashmiri separatist">Template:Cite news</ref> He was diagnosed with renal cancer, and advised treatment from abroad in the same year. On the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention, the government returned Geelani's passport to his son.<ref name="India Daily">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2007, his condition worsened,<ref name="kashmirdispatch">Template:Cite web</ref> although in the early stages of the cancer, it was life-threatening and surgery was advised. Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the United States.<ref name="Cancer-hit Geelani awaits travel documents">Template:Cite web</ref> However, his visa request was rejected by the American government citing his violent approach in Kashmir conflict and he went to Mumbai for surgery. His supporters and family alleged that this was a "human rights violation".<ref name="US visa denial is rights violation">Template:Cite web</ref>

On 6 March 2014, Geelani fell ill with a severe chest infection, shortly after returning to his home in Srinagar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has been under house arrest for most of the time since 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0"/> and was put under house arrest again on his return.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2015, Geelani applied for passport to visit his daughter in Saudi Arabia. The Indian government withheld it citing technical reasons, including the fact that he deliberately failed to fill in the nationality column required in the application.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 21 July, the Government granted him a passport on humanitarian grounds, with a validity of nine months, after Geelani acknowledged his nationality as an Indian.<ref>"Govt issues passport with 9 months validity to Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani – Firstpost" Template:Webarchive. firstpost.com. 22 July 2015.</ref><ref>"Govt issues passport to Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani" Template:Webarchive. The Times of India. 22 July 2015.</ref>

Rumours of Geelani's death

On 12 March 2014, rumors of Geelani's death -- spread by false or inaccurate edits to his Wikipedia article, "a particular Hindi news channel", and Facebook pages -- led the government of Kashmir to suspend internet and phone service, according to some sources.<ref name="hindustantimes">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="kashmirwatch">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="authint">Template:Cite web</ref> However, the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the failures had nothing to do with Geelani's health and were due to a snapped power line as well as an optical fibre cut due to heavy snowfall, which left most of the valley without power. The cuts in Internet service, hours after a statement by Hurriyat that Geelani would be flown to New Delhi for medical treatment, were blamed for spreading the rumours.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

FEMA case

After the 2019 Pulwama attack, India took stronger action against pro-Pakistan separatists including Geelani. The Enforcement Directorate levied a penalty of ₹14.40 lakh and ordered confiscation of nearly ₹6.8 lakh in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act case against him for illegal possession of foreign exchange.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Death

Geelani reportedly developed breathing complications and died on 1 September 2021 at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar due to his prolonged illness.<ref name="IT 2021">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His son Naseem alleged that police raided the house, took the body forcibly and buried it in a graveyard in his Hyderpora locality in the middle of the night.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> According to Naseem, no one from the close family was allowed to attend the burial, but they visited the grave next morning.<ref name=":0" /> Dilbag Singh, the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, however denied the allegations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" />

Restrictions on travel and internet were imposed in Kashmir soon after Geelani's death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 2 September 2021, FIR was registered against his family members under UAPA for clothing his body with a Pakistani flag and for allegedly raising “anti-national” slogans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0"/>

Kashmiri political leaders,<ref name="Firstpost">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as members of Government of Pakistan, condoled his death. Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered flags to be flown at half-mast to mourn his death.<ref name="Firstpost" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours and awards

On 14 August 2020, Pakistani President Arif Alvi conferred Nishan-e-Pakistan, Pakistan's highest civil award on Geelani to recognise his decades-long struggle for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.<ref name="award">Template:Cite news</ref>

Views

In February 2014, he said prisoners in Kashmir "are the victims of custodial violence and are harassed in Indian jails especially in Tihar Jail" after an incident where parents of Javaid Ahmad Khan, serving a life sentence, "had travelled thousands of kilometres and invested a lot of money to reach Delhi to meet their jailed son but were denied a meeting with him. "This is state terrorism", he said.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He is viewed as sympathetic to Jamat-e-Islami.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His official residence was viewed as Jamat property before he donated it to the Milli Trust.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2011, Geelani called for protests against the alleged "objectionable anti-Islamic" content on the social networking website Facebook, which he described as a "satanic audacity". His call triggered protests in various parts of the Kashmir Valley, leading to minor clashes between the protestors and the security forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geelani condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden by the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After Bin Laden's death in May 2011, Geelani said that he would lead last rite prayers in absentia in Srinagar for the slain al-Qaeda leader.<ref name="articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After holding prayers for Osama in congregation of thousands of Kashmiris, a European Union delegation snubbed Geelani by cancelling a scheduled meeting with him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He further supported 2001 Indian Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and one of 2008 Mumbai Attacks masterminds and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kashmir

Geelani said that while Pakistan supported "the indigenous struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, morally, diplomatically and politically ... this does not mean Pakistan can take a decision on our behalf."<ref name="Al Jazeera profile">Template:Cite web</ref>

Geelani would only support a dialogue process aimed at resolving Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of the state. But he believed that dialogue between India and Pakistan starts under diplomatic compulsions, and it is nothing but just a time delaying tactics. He was of the opinion that Kashmiris are not enemies of India or hold any grudge against its inhabitants. We are desirous of a strong India and Pakistan and it is only possible when Kashmir issue is resolved to pave the way for peace, prosperity and development in the region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He said, "Kashmir is not any border dispute between India and Pakistan which they can solve by bilateral understandings. It is the issue concerning future of 15 million people. The Hurriyat is not in principle against a dialogue process but without involvement of Kashmiri people, such a process has proved meaningless in the past. We don't have any expectations of it being fruitful in future too."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He further stated, "India should immediately and unconditionally release political prisoners, and withdraw cases against youth, which are pending in the courts for the past 20 years."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Separatism and relations with Pakistan

Geelani has been repeatedly criticised by Indian authorities for inciting violence in the Kashmir Valley and working as offshoot of Pakistan.<ref name="Al Jazeera profile" /><ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">"Protests outside Pakistani high commission as separatist leaders Yasin Malik and Syed Ali Shah Geelani meet envoy Abdul Basit" Template:Webarchive. The Times of India.</ref> Geelani said openly that he was not Indian. "Travelling on the Indian passport is a compulsion of every Kashmiri as Kashmir is an Internationally accepted Disputed region between India and Pakistan" are his words when applying for Indian Passport.<ref>"'Not Indian by birth, passport a compulsion': Govt slams Geelani's 'separatist jargon' – Firstpost" Template:Webarchive. firstpost.com. 5 June 2015.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>"After 'I am not an Indian by birth' comment, Geelani calls for anti-India seminar in Srinagar – Firstpost" Template:Webarchive. firstpost.com. 9 June 2015.</ref> "We are Pakistani; Pakistan is ours",<ref>"Account Suspended". paknationalists.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.</ref> he said in a big gathering of his supporters.

While Geelani's personal opinion about Kashmir was that it merge with Pakistan, he was known for standing up to both the Indian and Pakistani governments, snubbing anyone (including former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf) who did not support the right to self-determination for Kashmir.<ref name="Caravan 2010">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="Caravan 2021">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, a senior leader of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and son of Sheikh Abdullah criticised Geelani for working on "dictations" given by Pakistan. He accused Geelani of being "a double agent" on "the payroll of Pakistan's ISI".<ref name="outlookindia.com">"Geelani on ISI Payroll: NC Leader" Template:Webarchive. outlookindia.com.</ref><ref name="daily.bhaskar.com">"Geelani on payroll of ISI, says NC leader" Template:Webarchive. bhaskar.com.</ref><ref name="ibnlive.in.com">"Geelani on payroll of ISI, says NC leader". in.com. 16 July 2012. Retrieved on 23 July 2016.</ref>

Pakistan also openly supported Geelani, the three-member delegation from Pakistan High Commission led by Abdul Basit met Geelani at his Malviya Nagar residence in March 2015. Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit assured Geelani of complete support conveying that the country's stand on Kashmir remains unchanged despite regime change in New Delhi.<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com" /><ref>Dawn.com, (9 March 2015). "Pakistani high commissioner meets Hurriyat leader Geelani" Template:Webarchive. dawn.com.</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">"Pakistan assures Syed Ali Geelani of complete support |Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis" Template:Webarchive. dnaindia.com. 10 March 2015</ref><ref name="asianage.com">Template:Cite web</ref> Abdul Basit also invited Geelani for Pakistan Day function on 23 March. Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, ritually invites pro-separatist leadership of Jammu and Kashmir. On 14 August, the Pakistani government awarded him its highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan.<ref name="Nishan-e-Pakistan">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="award" />

In the last few decades, Geelani refused any proposal from Governments of India and Pakistan and was consistent in his demand for the United Nations promised plebiscite of 1948.<ref name="Caravan 2010" /><ref name="Caravan 2021" />

Works

Books

Some of his works include:<ref>Syed Ali Shah Geelani's profile Template:Webarchive on WorldCat</ref><ref name="hurriyat">Template:Cite web</ref>

Letters

Source:<ref name="hurriyat" />

Others

Source:<ref name="hurriyat" />

See also

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

Bibliography

Template:Jammu and Kashmir freedom movement

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