| Geelani, Mirwaiz not to attend JAH seminar on Talaaq judgment | | Hurriyat head appeals scholars, clerics to study court verdict | |
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Srinagar, Nov 3: Even as top functionaries of the Islamic Shariat Court were reportedly undecided, neither of two heads of the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference---Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq---would be participating in Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith (JAH) sponsored conference on the J&K High Court's recent judgment on Talaaq (divorce) here on Sunday.
According to informed sources, JAH has invited over a hundred clergymen, separatist politicians, academicians and intellectuals in day-long deliberations on the Jammu & Kashmir High Court judge Mr Justice Hasnain Masoodi's recent judgment on Talaaq. The conference would begin at JAH's headquarters at Barbarshah tomorrow at 11.00 a.m. Sources said that representatives of all schools of thought in the religion of Islam have been invited by e-mail, telephone and written letters.
It was not immediately clear as to how many of the invitees would make it to the conference but JAH functionaries were expecting a "fairly large gathering". As regards the participation of Sadar Mufti, who has been heading a traditional Shariat Court for decades, sources said that Mufti Azam Mohammad Bashiruddin was undecided. However, the participation of his representative, most likely his successor son, was not completely ruled out by this evening.
Sources said that the capital city's most important cleric-politician and Chairman of Hurriyat's moderate faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, too would not attend the conference. However, he is understood to have asked his Secretary (Religious Affairs), Mohammad Sayeed-ur-Rehman Shams, to represent his political out, Awami Action Committee, and the religious organisation, Anjuman-e-Nustaul Islam. Mirwaiz Umar's aide, Shahidul Islam, confirmed to Early Times that Mr Shams would be participating in the JAH conference on behalf of the organisation.
Sources said that Chairman of Hurriyat's hardline faction, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who happens to be an eminent Islamic scholar, would not participate in the JAH conference. "We have not considered about participation in this conference till tonight", Geelani's aide Ayaz Akbar said. |
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