COAS Bajwa expresses deepest grief over demise of Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Geelani

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has expressed deepest grief on the sad demise of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, icon of Kashmir Freedom Movement.

 

In a tweet, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa wrote that, “His lifelong sacrifices and ceaseless struggle of Syed Ali Gilani symbolizes indomitable resolve of Kashmiris against Indian occupation.” 

 

“His dream and his mission will live on until people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) win their right of self-determination”, he added. 

 

Late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Gilani has been laid to rest in tight military siege at Haiderpora in Srinagar, just few meters away from his house early Thursday morning.

 

The occupation authorities had put strict restrictions on the movement of the people and the whole area was cordoned off. Although Syed Ali Gilani and his family wanted him to be buried at Martyrs Graveyard in Srinagar, but the Indian authorities did not allow it fearing agitation from people of occupied Kashmir.

 

Few people mainly some close relatives were allowed to participate in the funeral prayers of him and to have a last glimpse of the martyred leader. 

 

According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS), Veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani passed away in Srinagar Wednesday evening at the age of 92.  He had been under house arrest for the last many years.

 

Gilani was born on 29 September 1929, a veteran of Kashmiri politics was the Chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

 

He was a staunch opponent of Indian illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and led Kashmiris  struggle for right to self-determination. He was previously a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir but later on founded his own party by the name of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. He served as the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a forum of freedom parties in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

He was a member of Kashmir Assembly from the Sopore constituency of Jammu and Kashmir three times (1972, 1977 and 1987). Syed Ali Gilani all along his life strived for the cause of freedom of Kashmir from Indian illegal occupation.

 

He remained at the forefront of the Kashmiris struggle for right to self-determination. He remained associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for most part of his life but later founded his own party by the name of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. He led the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) until late quitting the pro-freedom amalgam due to his worsening health condition.