Jammu: Separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was released from Baramulla prison last month by the PDP-BJP coalition government, has been booked for unfurling Pakistan's flag at Lal Chowk and shout anti-India slogans to welcome pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on his arrival in Srinagar from Delhi.
The Hurriyat hardliner was seen standing amidst a mob and holding an anti-India rally yesterday.
This was Geelani's first public rally after the 2010 summer agitation in Srinagar in which over 100 youth were killed.
The Centre has taken note of the development and reportedly asked the state government to take action against Alam and his supporters. As per ANI, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday night spoke to J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the issue of separatist rally held at Lal Chowk.
Reacting to the development, Congress slammed the PDP-BJP alliance and said that they have released a man who holds strong anti-India views.
“The first step that BJP and PDP did in J&K was to release Masarat Alam, a man responsible for stone-pelting and anti-India slogans. It's unfortunate, the incidents that are unfolding in Srinagar,” Congress leader RPN Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.
The BJP also reacted to the issue and said that the state government should take cognizance of the matter.
“The manner in which Pakistani flags were being raised during a protest in Srinagar is completely unacceptable. The government should take cognizance of the matter,” said BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao.
The BJP has also demanded immediate action and asked why the rally was allowed.
The rally was organised by Masarat Alam to welcome Hurriyat Conference hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani back to the Valley after several months in Delhi. As hundreds of Alam's supporters marched through the city and right in front of the office of the state's Director General of Police, several of them waved Pakistan flags.
Following the incident, the Jammu and Kashmir Police later registered a case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Alam, Geelani and other separatist leaders present at the rally.
FIR No 92/2015 under sections 13 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 120-B, 147, 341, 336, 427 RPC was registered in Police Station Budgam and investigation into the matter has begun, PTI reported.
Masarat Alam, 44, was allegedly the main organiser of the massive protests in 2010 that saw Kashmiris clashing for months with Indian soldiers and police officers. More than 100 people were killed in the violence. He was released controversially from Baramulla jail in March, days after the People's Democratic Party or PDP's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over as chief minister at the head of a government in which the BJP partners.
The latest controversy is likely to further strain the relationship between partners PDP and BJP, who are ideological opposites but have joined hands govern Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of a common minimum programme.
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