Geelani family treatment example of India’s ‘descent into fascism’: PM

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday denounced what India put the family of veteran Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani after his death through as “just another shameful example of India’s descent into fascism under the Nazi-inspired RSS-BJP government”.

“Snatching the body of the 92-year-old Syed Ali Geelani, one of the most respected and principled Kashmiri leaders, and then registering cases against his family is just another shameful example of India’s descent into fascism under the Nazi-inspired RSS-BJP govt”, Khan said on Twitter while referring to a report published in the Times of India.

The Prime Minister in his tweet also posted the newspaper’s report, according to which the Jammu and Kashmir Police lodged a criminal complaint against the family members of deceased Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others for raising anti-India slogans and draping his body in the Pakistani flag.

His family were been booked for police investigation under a sweeping anti-terrorism law for chanting anti-New Delhi slogans and wrapping his body with Pakistan’s flag after he died, occupation officials said.

The Times of India quoted a police officer as saying: “The FIR (first information report) was registered at Budgam police station against the family members of Geelani along with other elements for raising anti-national slogans and putting Pakistani flag on the separatist’s body at his home after his death on Wednesday.”

Geelani died on Wednesday at the age of 92 in the main city of Srinagar. Police in Kashmir said a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) — which effectively allows people to be held without trial indefinitely — was registered on Saturday against Geelani’s family.

The family were accused of “raising anti-national slogans and resorting to other anti-national activities” at the influential freedom leader’s home soon after his death. They had not yet been detained by police at the time of this report.

In India a booking may not necessarily lead to a formal charge, but is an incident that is officially recorded. Critics say bookings have been used by police to intimidate locals in the region.

The leader’s son Naseem Geelani did not deny the allegations but repeated earlier claims that police took his father’s body away to be buried in the middle of the night just hours after his death, and did not allow the family to perform last rites.

“We told the visiting police officers that they had taken control of everything after my father’s death and that we were mourning. We had no way of knowing who was doing what,” the son told AFP on Sunday.

A video widely shared on social media showed the leader’s body wrapped in a Pakistani flag before police officers took it away amid a scuffle with his family members. Chants of “we want freedom” were heard in the background during the mayhem.

Authorities on Sunday eased a lockdown imposed to maintain calm after his death across occupied Kashmir, allowing for limited movement. An internet and mobile phone shutdown was partially eased on Saturday.

Geelani, a popular figure in the disputed region, spent over five decades fighting for self-determination for people in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Islamabad observed a day of national mourning after Geelani’s death and funeral prayers for the leader were held across Pakistan and in Turkey. In Srinagar, Indian troops are guarding Geelani’s grave and no-one is allowed to approach it.

Anger has simmered in the territory since 2019 when New Delhi controversially revoked the region’s semi-autonomy and brought it under direct rule. Residents in the Muslim-majority disputed region say repression has intensified in the two years since the changes.

India has used the vaguely-worded UAPA legislation against thousands of Kashmiri residents, journalists and dissidents, according to activists.