PM pays tribute to Syed Ali Geelani on first death anniversary

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday paid tribute to the icon of Kashmir Freedom Movement, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, on his first death anniversary and said he was frail in body but firm in his resolve.

Taking to Twitter, Shehbaz Sharif said that Syed Ali Geelani personified the very essence of Kashmiris’ struggle.

“Frail in body but firm in resolve, he powered the resistance movement with belief in the idea of freedom from Indian yoke,” he said, that Syed Ali Geelani remains as relevant to the freedom struggle today as he was in life.

Syed Ali Geelani personified the very essence of Kashmiris’ struggle. Frail in body but firm in resolve, he powered the resistance movement with belief in the idea of freedom from Indian yoke. Geelani sahib remains as relevant to the freedom struggle today as he was in life.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) September 1, 2022

Other political leaders across the political divide across paid tribute to the icon of Kashmir Freedom Movement.

سید علی گیلانی کی برسی کے موقع پر کشمیریوں سے وفاکے عہد کی تجدید کرتے ہیں،سیدصاحب کا جنازہ پڑھنے کی اجازت مودی سرکار نے اس خوف دے نہیں دی تھی کہ عوام کا سیلاب تھم نہیں سکے گا لیکن آج رحلت کے ایک برس بعد بھی سید علی گیلانی کشمیر کی آزادی کی جدوجہد کا استعارہ ہیں، خدا فریق رحمت کرے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 1, 2022

In September 2021, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani was laid to rest in the wee hours amid a tight military siege at Haiderpora just meters away from his house.

While the Hurriyat leader had himself expressed his wish for burial at Martyrs Graveyard in Srinagar, and so his family insisted on it, the occupation forces not only restricted the proper burial rites but also scaled up curfew restrictions as the whole area was cordoned off.

The brute Indian authorities did not allow Kashmiri people to attend his funeral fearing agitation amongst the occupied masses.

Only the bereaved family members and some close relatives were allowed to participate in the funeral prayers and to have a last glimpse of the martyred leader.

Born on September 29, 1929, he served as the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

He remained a staunch opponent of Indian illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and led Kashmiris’ struggle for their right to self-determination.

He was previously a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir but later on founded his own party by the name of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. He remained a member of Kashmir Assembly from the Sopore constituency of Jammu and Kashmir three times (1972, 1977 and 1987).