After remaining non-committal, the J&K authorities late on Thursday night finally buckled under growing pressure from the Centre and put hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and separatist leader Masarat Alam under house arrest ahead of their rally in Tral town of Pulwama district on Friday.
“Geelani has been placed under house arrest. A posse of policemen has been deployed outside the chairman’s house at Hyderpora as a preventive measure to maintain law and order,” a police officer said, adding that similar restriction has been slapped on Alam.
Coming under attack from all quarters, including PDP ally BJP, over Wednesday’s rally by separatists in Srinagar, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed denied permission for Friday’s congregation even as he said waving of Pakistani flags and raising pro-Pak slogans were “not acceptable” and “will not be tolerated”. Sayeed directed the police to refuse permission for a rally which was scheduled to be taken from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed allegedly by army while in their custody.
Geelani, against whom the police has registered a case, issued a statement late in the evening saying that he would not be cowed down by the state government. Sayeed was called hours after the rally in Srinagar on Wednesday by Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking him to take “immediate and stringent” action against the law breakers. Singh on Friday again asserted, “We will not tolerate anyone raising slogans like ‘Pakistan zindabad’ on Indian soil.
“There can be no compromise on national security. Politics cannot impinge on national security,” he told Sayeed. Pushed on the backfoot, Sayeed tried to defend his decision of giving permission to the rally but made it clear that hoisting of Pakistan flags and raising pro-Pakistan slogans “is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
“I think authorities have taken note of that. They have taken a video of what has happened. I think law will take its own course, action will be taken. “As far as the public meeting is concerned, I think it is okay. As I say, democracy is a battle of ideas. They are free to have their own way, speak their own mind but something which is not acceptable (waving Pakistani flags or raising pro-Pakistan slogans) will not be tolerated,” Sayeed added.
“Geelani has been placed under house arrest. A posse of policemen has been deployed outside the chairman’s house at Hyderpora as a preventive measure to maintain law and order,” a police officer said, adding that similar restriction has been slapped on Alam.
Coming under attack from all quarters, including PDP ally BJP, over Wednesday’s rally by separatists in Srinagar, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed denied permission for Friday’s congregation even as he said waving of Pakistani flags and raising pro-Pak slogans were “not acceptable” and “will not be tolerated”. Sayeed directed the police to refuse permission for a rally which was scheduled to be taken from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed allegedly by army while in their custody.
Geelani, against whom the police has registered a case, issued a statement late in the evening saying that he would not be cowed down by the state government. Sayeed was called hours after the rally in Srinagar on Wednesday by Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking him to take “immediate and stringent” action against the law breakers. Singh on Friday again asserted, “We will not tolerate anyone raising slogans like ‘Pakistan zindabad’ on Indian soil.
“There can be no compromise on national security. Politics cannot impinge on national security,” he told Sayeed. Pushed on the backfoot, Sayeed tried to defend his decision of giving permission to the rally but made it clear that hoisting of Pakistan flags and raising pro-Pakistan slogans “is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
“I think authorities have taken note of that. They have taken a video of what has happened. I think law will take its own course, action will be taken. “As far as the public meeting is concerned, I think it is okay. As I say, democracy is a battle of ideas. They are free to have their own way, speak their own mind but something which is not acceptable (waving Pakistani flags or raising pro-Pakistan slogans) will not be tolerated,” Sayeed added.