Obituary | Syed Ali Shah Geelani: A pro-Pak. ideologue who witnessed Kashmir’s chequered history
The Hindu
The separatist leader’s ideology, accession to Pakistan, remained linear, single-point and unwavering, to the chagrin of many dispensations in both India and Pakistan.
The political career of separatist leader (1929-2021) spanned over six decades. He was a witness to all the critical phases of Jammu and Kashmir’s tumultuous history — the accession of J&K to India in 1947, the dethroning of then Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah in 1953, the ascension of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1970s, the rise of armed rebellion of 1990s, the secret dialogue in the 2000s on Kashmir and the end of J&K’s special constitutional position in 2019. The history Geelani witnessed may be chequered but his ideology, accession to Pakistan, remained linear, single-point and unwavering, to the chagrin of many dispensations in both India and Pakistan. Geelani was elected thrice as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from his bastion Sopore in north Kashmir since the 1970s but opposed electoral politics as a means to address the Kashmir problem after the 1990s. His outlook was shaped by the literature of Islamist ideologue Maulana Maududi and poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, about whom he wrote around 20 books. Though junior to many Jamaat patrons, Geelani fast emerged as an uncompromising ideologue and proponent of J&K’s accession with Pakistan.More Related News