Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), a constituent of the largest separatist grouping in Kashmir, the Hurriyat Conference (Geelani), on Monday elected Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai as its acting chairman, replacing Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has been the chairman since its formation in 2004.
For the first time since the Kashmir insurgency, a serving head of a separatist group has made way for a successor, reported Greater Kashmir.
According to Rising Kashmir, Geelani cited his health problems as the main reason why he was relinquishing the office. Since the outfit’s formation, Geelani won all the elections and continued to remain its chairman while Sehrai served as the general secretary.
Geelani will now continue to remain as chairman of the Hurriyat Conference (G) and also continue his association with the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) along with Hurriyat (Mirwaiz) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik. The Hurriyat Conference split in 2003.
The top leaders of TeH, including Peer Saifullah, Ayaz Akbar, Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah (Fantoosh), Mohammad Yousuf Falahi, Mir Hafeez-Ullah and Shakeel Ahmad Yatoo are all currently in jail.
The Economic Times said Sehrai, 72, also from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) like Geelani, is seen as a “straight forward” politician who at times has criticised Geelani in his personal communications on various issues and is known to be more rigid than Geelani. He is also an avid reader of politics and poetry, especially Iqbal, Faiz and Ghalib. He was nicknamed “jailbird” for spending many years in prison as a JeI and later TeH leader. He is seen as capable of building a cadre and organisation and has never been accused of any moral or financial corruption.
“For the last eight years of continuous house arrest, restrictions on interactions with my party colleagues have dented the function of the organisation. Merely holding a position without practical contribution is injustice not only to the post, but to the conscience as well, so today I willfully step down from the chairmanship,” Geelani said at the meeting which elected his successor.