The end of the Geelani legacy The Excelsior 06 Sep 2025 Maj Gen Harsha Kakar
https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/the-end-of-the-geelani-legacy/
The end of the Geelani legacy The Excelsior 06 Sep 2025
On 01 Sept this year, there was a rally in POK’s capital, Muzaffarabad, to mark the fourth death anniversary of Syed Ali Geelani, the former chairman of the APHC (All Party Hurriyat Conference). Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper referred to him as the ‘spiritual soul’ of the ‘Kashmir freedom struggle.’ This was solely because Geelani was an ardent believer of Kashmir being a part of Pakistan.
This was further highlighted by the fact that Geelani was conferred with Pakistan’s highest award, Nishan-e-Pakistan, and flags flew at half-mast, across Pakistan, on his death in 2021. Imran Khan, the then PM of Pakistan announced that Geelani’s death anniversary would be marked as ‘day of freedom.’
Recognition for Geelani stems from his backing Pakistan on Kashmir. In an interview in 2016 Geelani mentioned, ‘whenever it (Pakistan) supports self-determination for the people of Jammu-Kashmir, India is rattled and infuriated.’
On the contrary in Kashmir, life was normal with schools and colleges open and markets functioning, implying the region does not consider him a leader worth emulating or respecting as he was responsible for damaging lives of a complete generation due to violence and terrorism. Geelani spent his life officially demanding the right to self-determination, in reality, seeking merger of the region with Pakistan. He pushed for hartals and violence including stone pelting, all fuelled by Hawala funds flowing in from across the border.
Violence, hartals and stone pelting not only affected normalcy but also resulted in state retaliation causing further alienation. Forces responded with pellet guns causing injuries, education suffered and the drug menace grew. Currently there is a total change in the region. There is no violence as also no claims of highhandedness of security forces. Levels of terrorism have dropped. Education institutions remain open while sports events are witnessed by large crowds. Hence, the local population prefers to forget Geelani and his Hurriyat.
The only contribution of Geelani to Kashmir are graves of misguided youth pushed into confrontation with security forces either by violence or by taking up weapons. Young men were encouraged to cross over to Pakistan to be trained as terrorists and re-infiltrated into Kashmir, only to lose their lives. He broke the economy of the region by enforcing hartals and shutdowns, something the region is attempting to forget.
His hypocrisy knew no bounds. He was himself elected as an MLA from Sopore three times. He took oath under the Indian constitution and claimed pension for his tenures as an MLA. At the same time, he encouraged Kashmiris to reject democracy and boycott elections, including by violence and intimidation.
While Geelani forced schools to shut down he ensured his own grandchildren studied far away from the region. A generation of Kashmiris wasted their youth while his own family prospered, with his children living abroad.
It was Geelani who coined the phrase, ‘Hum Pakistani hain, Pakistan hamara hai,’ for which he was funded by Islamabad. No wonder he was honoured by their highest civilian award. At the time of his death, the man who never held proper employment throughout his life owned property worth over Rs 150 crores. Where did the funds flow from?
Anyone who questioned him, including his close associates Abdul Ghani Lone, Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq amongst others, were assassinated. Though never proved, it was known that Geelani was behind it. His aim was always to blame security forces for violence, whereas it was a cottage industry in Kashmir backed by Pak funds.
Demonetization and shutting down of his Hawala racket broke his hold on the region. Added was pressure from the NIA (National Investigation Agency), which went after his supporters, isolating him. Realizing he was at the losing end, Geelani began singing a different tune. The man who opposed talks with Pakistan, on the grounds that they were delaying tactics now claimed he was never against them. This only impacted his local standing.
While the BJP government in Delhi rightly accused him of being behind the violence in Kashmir, there were others who believed he could be engaged in dialogue, which could bring peace to the region. A political delegation led by Yashwant Sinha was the last to meet him in Srinagar in 2016. This was at the height of militancy in the region. Nothing emerged. Geelani was under almost continuous house arrest since 2010.
Geelani resigned from the leadership of the Hurriyat one year after abrogation of article 370, claiming the party did not ‘react properly nor guide the people’ correctly in protesting against the abrogation. The reality was that the people had become tired of protests and subsequent retaliation of security forces as also Geelani no longer had funds to orchestrate violence.
His death signalled the end of the separatists hold over Kashmir. The Hurriyat did nominate a successor, Masarat Alam Bhat, largely at the behest of Pakistan. Bhat remains in Tihar jail for terrorist funding. He neither has the charisma of Geelani nor his hold on the populace. The Hurriyat has since been a spent force unable to influence Kashmir as before.
Just a few years down the line, it is only Pakistan which remembers Geelani on his death anniversary. In Kashmir, people want to forget the dark period initiated by Geelani and his ilk, serving interests of his backers from across the border. Recent elections in Kashmir witnessed a voter turnout of over 65% indicating that people were pushed into protesting something they never desired all against their wishes.
Today Kashmir is moving forward with development, changing by the day. The presence of national level institutions including IIMs and AIIMS have changed the landscape. Coaching centres for central government competitions are mushrooming. Regions impacted by violence and once hotbeds of terrorism are places where sports events dominate. Kashmir has forgotten those who pushed them to the edge and seek a brighter future. The dark days of Geelani are a thing of the past.