SRINAGAR: Hurriyat Patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani died on Wednesday at his residence in the Hyderpora locality of Srinagar, leaving behind a divided legacy of secessionism that he had nurtured for decades as the first pro-Pakistani voice in J&K. He was 92 years old and had been feeling unwell for months.
An ANI report cited Vijay Kumar of the PGI (Kashmir area) that Internet services had been suspended across the valley as part of a series of precautionary sidewalks.
Referring to Geelani as a “Kashmiri freedom fighter,” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced, “The Pakistan flag will fly at half-staff and we will observe a day of official mourning.”
His body will be moved to his ancestral village of Sopore to be buried, family sources said.
Geelani’s death came days after speculation over an impending ban by the two factions of the Hurriyat that led to the hasty removal of a Tehreek-e-Hurriyat sign from the annex of his family home. Somehow, it seemed to mark the passage of the Hurriyat mantle to the other faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was still defying amid the murmurs of a ban.
An ANI report cited Vijay Kumar of the PGI (Kashmir area) that Internet services had been suspended across the valley as part of a series of precautionary sidewalks.
Referring to Geelani as a “Kashmiri freedom fighter,” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced, “The Pakistan flag will fly at half-staff and we will observe a day of official mourning.”
His body will be moved to his ancestral village of Sopore to be buried, family sources said.
Geelani’s death came days after speculation over an impending ban by the two factions of the Hurriyat that led to the hasty removal of a Tehreek-e-Hurriyat sign from the annex of his family home. Somehow, it seemed to mark the passage of the Hurriyat mantle to the other faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was still defying amid the murmurs of a ban.