http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/failing-to-secure-key-ideologues-release-in-court-secessionists-hit-the-streets/article4112610.ece
Failing
to secure key ideologue’s release in court, secessionists hit the streets
SRINAGAR : Having lost a
long-running legal battle to secure the release of high-profile ideologue Ashiq
Hussain Faktoo in Jammu and Kashmir High Court
last week, radical secessionists in Kashmir
have turned to the streets seeking their leader's release.
Failing
to secure key ideologue’s release in court, secessionists hit the streets
Large parts of the
Kashmir valley shut down on Monday in response to calls from Syed Ali Shah
Geelani's faction of the Hurriyat Conference and the Muslim League--a party led
by another key secessionist leader who is in prison, Massrat Alam Bhat.
Earlier a
top-ranking commander of the Islamist guerrilla outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen
(JM), Mr Faktoo has been serving life imprisonment awarded to him by Supreme
Court on account of his involvement in the assassination of a noted human
rights activist Hridhay Nath Wanchoo. Mr Wanchoo was kidnapped by the JM
militants and his bullet-riddled body was later recovered in a locality in
close vicinity of then J&K Police headquarters in December 1992.
After Mr Geelani, Dr
Faktoo’s profile remains unmatched among the separatist leaders for a variety
of reasons. Husband of the equally prominent separatist activist and
Dukhtaraan-e-Millat (DM) chief, Syeda Asiya Andrabi, Dr Faktoo enjoys the
distinction of being the only Kashmiri militant who has completed Ph D during
his 13-year-long continued detention. Dr Faktoo, as also Chairman of so-called
moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has been
awarded Doctorate of Philosophy by the Department of Islamic Studies of the University of Kashmir
During his
detention, Mr Faktoo has joined as head of Muslim League. His deputy, Massarat
Alam, played arguably the most important role in the street agitation over
Amarnath land row in Kashmir in the year 2008.
Legal battle:
Earlier this year,
Dr Faktoo had made a representation to the state government, seeking
termination of his detention with the argument that life imprisonment meant
imprisonment for 14 years. His application was also based on the fact that the
Srinagar Central Jail authorities had appreciated his conduct and behaviour,
including his voluntary assignment of teaching IGNOU distance education courses
to a number of jail-mates.
However, the state
Home Department dismissed Dr Faktoo’s representation on the ground that the
precedent of reducing the term of imprisonment was by no means binding on the
government. Subsequently, his counsel and former head of High Court Bar
Association, Mian Abdul Qayoom, who himself represented HCBA as a Hurriyat
constituent for about ten years, challenged dismissal of Mr Faktoo’s
application in High Court.
In his November 16
judgment, Mr Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir dismissed Dr Faktoo’s petition, ruling
that the life imprisonment meant ‘imprisonment for entire life’. Justice Mir
referred to a number of Supreme Court rulings, including Swamy Shradananda vs
State of Karnataka
Mr Geelani came out
with the first reaction from Hurriyat as he publicly attributed motives to
Justice Mir’s judgment and dismissed it as an extension of “political
vendetta”. Calling for a protest shutdown, he threatened to launch an agitation
if Mr Faktoo was not released from jail.
“In 2009 the Chief
Minster had said that he will look into the case and do justice accordingly.
But recently in an interview with the Hindustan Times, Mr Abdullah said that he
wanted to see Dr Qasim in jail for whole life. It directly shows that the
decision has been given at the behest of the Chief Minster,” Geelani said
addressing a press conference at his residence on Saturday last. He alleged
that the courts in this state and the country were not “free from the influence
of occupation”.
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