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| Latest Hurriyat factional fight reminiscent | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Oct 17
The factional fight within the separatist camp in Kashmir has taken a new turn. The war for supremacy, to capture the maximum space of separatist politics, which has been going on at low intensity during lat about one decade, when the all party Hurriyat Conference divided into two camps, one led by hardcore extremist Islamic fundamentalist and secessionist leader Ali Shah Geelani and the other by the so called moderates, presently led by Mirwaiz Maulvi Umer Farooq, has lately risen to high pitch. From wordy duels, maneuvers and counter maneuvers to project their faction of Hurriyat as the true representative of the voice of Kashmiris, trying to run down each other through media campaign, has lately spilled over to street fighting. Despite several attempts by some neutral separatist leaders and the pro separatist intelligentsia to iron out differences and bring unity among all groups of separatists, the rift has widened, with the two faction leaders calling names against each other and even taking recourse to physical force to browbeat and intimidate each other.
In the recent past no hold bared battle between the two Hurriyat groups betray their desperation to attain supremacy over the other. With Ali Shah Geelani always taking the hard and uncompromising stand and seeking truce only on his terms, of entering into no dialogue either with the government of India or with any mediator, unless the Indian government accepts his conviction of Kashmir being a disputed territory and its future to be decided by ascertaining the wishes of the Kashmiris, as per the United Nation's Resolutions of 1948, the unity among the separatists has remained elusive. While Maulvi Umer Farooq and other leaders of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference have charged Geelani of being the biggest obstacle in the way of unity among the separatists, Geelani in turn has charged the moderate Hurriyat leaders as stooges of India and working on behest of the Indian government, to sabotage the ongoing movement for Aazadi in Kashmir. In their continuing war for supremacy, the two factions made a bid too avail of the Eid festival and Eid prayers to reach to the maximum of Kashmirs, to convey their respective messages and view points. Although Geelani stole the march over the other faction by announcing first holding of Eid prayers at Eidgah in Srinagar on Eid-ul-Fitr, falling Sunday, October 14, the Mirwaiz faction took no time to announce their program of holding mass Eid prayers at Eidgah, where no Eid prayers were held for last 18 years of turmoil. The shrewd and highly craftsman as he has been, Geelani made a hasty retreat and announced abandoning of his program to hold Eid prayers and address the Eid gathering at Eidgah and instead holding prayers at Jamia Masjid, charging the other faction of conspiring to trigger violent clash and describing his decision as aimed at avoiding the fight among the Kashmiri Muslims.
However, the factional fight between the two warring factions of Hurriyat Conference took a violent turn on October 17, when Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani when to the Jamia Masjid area, to express his sympathy to the victims of fire, that had broken out in the locality. This part of Srinagar city has the strong hold of Awami Action Committee, led by Maulvi Farooq, which is the main constituent of Maulvi Farooq led Hurriayt Conference. Taking this as an attempt by Geelani and his supporters to intrude into their strong hold, the supporters of Maulvi Farooq held anti Geelani demonstrations, hackled him and forced him to make a hasty retreat. In the process the two factions indulged in stone pelting. Thus the feud for the first time took a violent turn. Ali Shah Geelani has got another excuse to charge his rivals of being bent upon creating open clashes and violence, working as stooges of the Indian establishment. This has earned him the sympathy of the neutrals in the separatists camp, including those who in the past were inclined more favourably towards the moderate faction of Hurriyat and found fault with Geelani for his uncompromising and stubborn attitude.
This factional fight between two main factions of the separatist, representing rival groups of Hurriyat Conference is somewhat reminiscent of the traditional "Sher-Bakra" fight in Kashmir valley, which was at quite high pitch in the pre partition days and in the times of Maharaja Hari Singh's rule. While Sheikh Abdullah's followers, right from the time Muslim Conference in Kashmir led by Sheikh Abdullah was converted into National Conference, wre called Shers, with the other faction forming a separate organization, under the name and title of Muslim Conference. The Bakras, as they were called due to sporting beards like Bakras, were led by the Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah, the uncle of Late Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, the father of present Mirwaiz and leader of the moderate faction of Huriyat Conference, Umer Farooq.
After country's partition and Kashmir's accession with India and Sheikh Abdullah taking the reins of power in the state Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah, along with pro Pak Muslim Conference leader migrated to Pakistan. With this the mantle of Mirwaiz of Kashmir, which is a religious title, fell on minor Farooq. Though titled as Mirwaiz of Kashmir, Farooq remained out of limelight in Kashmir, going almost in hibernation, during the first six year tenure of Sheikh Abdullah's rule in the state from 1947 to August 1953 and also for ten years of the rule of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. It was in the wake of a strong agitation and all over mourning among Muslims in Kashmir, following the theft of holy relic of Prophet Mohammad from the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, in the winter of 1963 that Maulana Masoodi, one time a close confident and brain behind Sheikh Abdullah, who too had gone into hibernation, after the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, sprung a surprise for the mourning Kashmiri Muslims, by bringing young Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq on a stage and addressing a huge gathering, he declared Maulvi Farooq to lead the Kashmiris in the movement for recovery and restoration of holy relic and punishing the culprits, who had committed sacrilege by stilling the holy relic from the Hazratbal Shrine. Mirwaiz formed the Awami Action Committee to spearhead the movement. The rest is history, which needs ample space to be recalled separately. |
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