Srinagar: Poster boy of the 2010 agitation in Kashmir, Masarat Alam Bhat is currently in jail for his alleged involvement in funding of terror organisations. However, in spite of being behind bars, Masrat Alam Bhat , was Tuesday named as chairman of the hardline Hurriyat Conference. He will succeed Syed Ali Shah Geelani who died last week.
In a statement issued to media Tuesday, the hardline faction of the Hurriyat claimed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir look up to the Bhat’s leadership with great expectations. It said that Shabir Ahmad Shah and Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar have been elected as vice-chairmen. The appointments are temporary till elections are held according to the Hurriyat constitution, the faction informed.
Bhat was charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in October 2019. He is at present lodged in the Tihar Jail.
The NIA had said that immediately after his arrest, ‘Muslim League chairman Masarat Alam Bhat revealed in the investigation that Pakistan-based agents routed funds through Hawala operators and these were transferred to separatists, including Syed Ali Geelani’.
Geelani was an avowed Pakistani supporter. He had spearheaded the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir for over three decades. Though he was elected as the lifetime chairman of the amalgam, he stepped down and dissociated from it last year after developing rift with the Pakistani chapter over appointments in the Hurriyat.
The NIA had registered a case against members of the Jammat-ud-Dawa, Duktaran-e-Millat, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Hizbul Mujahideen and other separatist groups and leaders in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly raising, receiving and collecting funds to fuel separatist and terrorist activities, conspiracy to cause disruption in the Valley and waging war against India.
Bhat had become a prominent face of the 2010 agitation in the Valley for issuing protest calendars during the turmoil that was sparked off after the death of a youth due to tear gas shells during an demonstration. He was arrested on the outskirts of Srinagar city after a four-month search. There was an announcement of Rs 10 lakh award for information about him.
The 50-year-old science graduate was widely seen as the successor to Geelani. That is exactly what has happened.
