Shaken by the prospect of the BJP’s ascendance to echelons of power in Jammu & Kashmir, a jailed separatist ideologue has called the secessionist leadership to unite under hardline leader Syed Ali Geelani lest they are rendered “helpless under the fresh offensive of Indian leadership”.
Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, who is known as Dr. Muhammad Qasim since he was a top commander of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen outfit on Sunday said that separatists must unite under Geelani’s leadership and deliberate on strengthening their movement and developing a strategy for the future. Faktoo, who heads Muslim Deeni Mahaz, is serving life imprisonment for his involvement in plotting murder of a human rights activist Hardey Nath Wanchoo. He is married to hardline all-women Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Anadrabi, who is also known for pro-Pakistan and Islamist ideology.
“If entire pro-freedom leadership of Jammu & Kashmir does not unite under the leadership of Syed Ali Geelani on the basic and clear principle of freedom from India, time is not far away that they will be rendered helpless in front of the fresh offensive of Indian leadership,” Faktoo said in a statement. “The freedom movement in Kashmir is not any nationalistic revolution, in fact its foundation is laid on Islamic monotheism and it is a religious obligation on the Muslims of Jammu & Kashmir to keep this Islamic Movement going on,” he said.
“We request Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to get rid of people who have lost hope and become vestigial for the movement from his faction of APHC and similarly we humbly request Syed Ali Geelani Sahib to develop an accommodative approach,” Qasim said. He said that anti-India movement is a religious obligation for the Muslims in jammu and Kashmir. last year, J&K High Court rejected Faktoo’s plea for release saying life imprisonment means incarceration for entire life. Faktoo pleaded that he has served 14 years imprisonment and pleaded for his release. The court verdict irked separatists in Kashmir who called for a daylong shutdown against it.